Udeze's sackless streak ends on game's final play

Kenechi Udeze tried to run quickly off the field Sunday after the Vikings' 24-3 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. But a screaming mob of players and coaches -- including head coach Brad Childress -- wouldn't let him.

Udeze sacked Falcons quarterback Joey Harrington on the game's final play, his first sack in nearly two years. Childress -- who mentioned the sackless streak during a team meeting Saturday night -- rewarded him with a game ball.

"I take great pleasure," Childress said, "in telling [reporters] that you can't say that the guy didn't have a sack all year long. We put that to bed in Game 1, so that's why he got a game ball."

Udeze's last sack came against New Orleans on Sept. 25, 2005 -- the same game in which he suffered a season-ending knee injury. He returned to play in all 16 games last season but did not record a sack.

Udeze, however, went out of his way to downplay Sunday's developments and said he tried to run away from the mob because "I don't want anybody to praise me for something that I'm supposed to be doing."One in the bank is a great feeling," Udeze said. "But nobody should be applauding me for stuff I'm supposed to be doing. That's what I'm here for and that's what I'm supposed to be doing."

Childress, however, said: "I think it meant something to him, and it meant something to the guys. Our guys gave a hoot."

Win No. 1 for Jackson

Childress emphasizes "game management" with second-year quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, and Jackson managed to do enough to help the Vikings win Sunday.

He didn't throw downfield frequently or with much accuracy, but his swing pass to running back Adrian Peterson in the fourth quarter beat a blitz and led to a 60-yard catch-and-run touchdown.

Jackson turned the ball over only once, on a bad pass that skipped off the hands of tight end Visanthe Shiancoe.

Jackson went 13-for-23 for 163 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He didn't get sacked, and he ran twice for 10 yards en route to his first NFL victory as a starter.

"It felt good to win the first one, especially after last year when I went 0-2," he said. "It's a new season, and it's good to get the first one out of the way."

Childress said a "frequency" problem with the headsets made it difficult for Jackson to hear some play calls. "I thought he looked comfortable back there," Childress said. "I didn't see any jitteryness. I thought he slid in the pocket decently."

During the preseason, Childress said he wanted Jackson to avoid "long foul balls" -- deep sideline passes that don't give receives a chance to catch the ball inbounds.

Jackson threw two "foul balls."I think we saw one to Troy Williamson, who had his guy beat, and then the one to Sidney Rice down the sideline that we left out of bounds," Childress said. "We just have to command the football a little bit better. We'll get better and better on those throws up the field."

Man in the middle

E.J. Henderson made a successful return to the middle linebacker spot after two seasons of playing on the weak side. He tied for second on the team with eight tackles and also had two sacks and two quarterback hurries. Henderson, the first Vikings linebacker to have two sacks in a game since Ed McDaniel in 1999, seemed to embrace the leadership role that goes with his position, providing a vocal presence on and off the field.

"It's nobody's responsibility but mine to get guys lined up," he said. "Miscommunication is always going to be on me. Whatever you want to get across, you've got to stress it."

Chad Greenway, meanwhile, took over on the weak side, playing in his first NFL game after sitting out last season because of a knee injury. Greenway led the Vikings with 10 tackles.

"It took a while to get comfortable out there, the speed of the game and stuff, but I expect that with my first game," he said. "I was just excited out there playing with this [defense]."

At the controls

Childress said offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell made "a great call" on Peterson's 60-yard touchdown. The game was the first in the regular season in which Bevell was in charge of calling plays. Childress handled that duty last season.

"Obviously, the intensity stepped up in the regular season compared to the preseason," Bevell said. "I think it will get more comfortable [each week]. ... Our offense staff is a good staff, we work well together, we communicate well together."

Bevell said that while Childress still has plenty of input, the system works well this way because the offense assistants are able to make adjustments between series.

A familiar move

Rookie defensive end Brian Robison can expect a talking to from Darren Sharper today. Robison, who had two sacks in his NFL debut, did a celebration move after his first sack that looked very close to the "Sharper Shake" that the veteran safety reserves for big moments.

"I have to tell him don't ever do that, ever again," Sharper said. "I'm going to talk to him about that as soon as we watch it on film. He actually ought to pay me because I've got it copyrighted and patented."

Robison, though, claims he wasn't ripping off Sharper's move. "The reason I did that was because when I was a kid, watching the Houston Oilers, [receiver] Ernest Givens used to do the electric slide," said Robison, who is from Houston. "So that's where I really got that from."

Life without Michael

The Falcons are officially fed up with questions about quarterback Michael Vick, who, in case you missed it, pleaded guilty to federal dogfighting charges and is suspended indefinitely by the league as he awaits sentencing on Dec. 10.

"We dealt with that a long time ago," Atlanta quarterback Joey Harrington said. "For almost two months now, this is something we've dealt with very well, I think. We've had to move on and come together with the pieces that we have. I think we've done that very well. To the point where I don't think it's an issue anymore."

Falcons: Peterson 'a load'

Needless to say, Atlanta defenders were impressed with Peterson. There also was some talk in the locker room that the Falcons caught a bad break when the Vikings' other running back, Chester Taylor, left the game because of a hip injury.

"[Peterson] is a great back, but we already knew that," Pro Bowl cornerback DeAngelo Hall said. "He is a load. With Chester Taylor going out today, it might have hurt us because he is a bit smaller of a back, not really going to deliver a blow like an Adrian Peterson did."

Etc.

• Was this a defensive struggle or what? Consider this: Neither team ran a play in the red zone (inside the 20-yard line) Sunday.

• The 21-point victory was the largest margin of a Vikings victory in Childress' two seasons.

• The Vikings' inactives included defensive end Erasmus James, who continues to recover from a knee injury suffered last season, as well as receiver Robert Ferguson (ankle) and safety Mike Doss (calf). Healthy scratches included tailback Mewelde Moore, tight end Garrett Mills, tackle Chase Johnson and defensive end Jayme Mitchell. Kelly Holcomb was the third quarterback.

• The Vikings have won nine of the past 12 season openers. Childress is the first coach in team history to win his season openers in the first two seasons.

• Making his NFL debut, Atlanta kicker Matt Prater missed his first field-goal attempt from 44 yards. It ruined the Falcons' 14-play drive from their 3-yard line to the Vikings 26. Prater made his other attempt, from 45 yards.

KEVIN SEIFERT, JUDD ZULGAD,

MARK CRAIG AND JIM SOUHAN