Bollinger comes in cold, lets opportunity slip away

DETROIT - Brooks Bollinger said it was the toughest situation he'd ever been thrown into, and it was going exactly as he had hoped -- right up to the moment that he and center Matt Birk failed to execute the most basic football fundamental: the snap from center.

With starting quarterback Tarvaris Jackson on the sideline because of a groin injury on the first play of overtime, Bollinger had just completed three of four passes for 26 yards and a nifty 91.7 passer rating, moving the Vikings from their 20 to the midfield stripe.

Not bad, considering 61,771 Detroit Lions fans were screaming their brains out for their defense to clobber the Vikings' backup quarterback.

But then, on third-and-8, Birk snapped and Bollinger immediately began frantically looking for the ball on the ground. Lions defensive tackle Shaun Rogers fell on it, and the Lions marched 31 yards in five plays to set up Jason Hanson's 37-yard field goal, a 20-17 victory and the Lions' first 2-0 start since 2004.

"I just fumbled it," Bollinger said. "I don't know exactly what happened. It all happened so fast. I don't know if I pulled out or whatever. One way or the other, it can't happen. That's Day 1 football stuff."

Bollinger was forced into action just four seconds into overtime. He had time to make only three warm-up tosses, then head into the game on second-and-10.

"I thought we had an injury timeout," Bollinger said.

"But we didn't. I had to go out there right away, and they called a pass. But that comes with the territory. I have to be ready."

Bollinger threw a horrible incomplete pass intended for Bobby Wade. Then, on third-and-10, he completed a short pass to fullback Jeff Dugan, who bulled 11 yards for a first down.

Bollinger also completed an 11-yard pass to running back Adrian Peterson and a 4-yard pass to Wade after a 2-yard sack.

"It's a shame, because I thought we had some momentum going," Bollinger said.

"We were getting close to field goal range. Another first down and we'd have been real close."

Vikings coach Brad Childress acknowledged the difficulty of a backup coming in cold on the road against a division opponent in overtime.

"The backup quarterback gets minimum reps, and it's not like he's standing there warming up in the bullpen," Childress said. "He gets to spit in his hand, run his arm around one time and that's it. That's the role that they play, and that's why they're professionals."

Jackson is expected to be OK, but Childress wouldn't say whether Bollinger's performance will affect whether the team decides to make veteran Kelly Holcomb the No. 2 quarterback next week at Kansas City. Holcomb has more experience than Bollinger, but he hasn't been with the team long enough to have a grasp of the offense.

"I don't know," Childress said. "It's tough for me to talk about that right now. Not until I go back and look at that stuff."

Mark Craig • mcraig@startribune.com