Coach 'couldn't predict that'

Second-guessing his decision to have Gus Frerotte hand off to Adrian Peterson in the third quarter, Brad Childress said he'd thought Peterson would come open on the play.

Last update: October 20, 2008 - 12:18 AM

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CHICAGO - The Vikings trailed Chicago by three points in the third quarter of Sunday's game at Soldier Field when coach Brad Childress decided to go for it with his team facing a fourth-and-1 at the Bears 36-yard line.

A handoff to running back Adrian Peterson seemed to be in order. Instead, quarterback Gus Frerotte dropped back to pass, rolled right and then threw a short pass to Bernard Berrian that was incomplete.

Childress said afterward that he thought Peterson would come open on the play, but that failed to happen. "We were trying to give it a hard run fake inside," Childress said. "Obviously, [Bears linebacker Brian] Urlacher was able to run up there. I don't know if Adrian had a step or not. Those are the kind you would love to have back, but you've got to make the call. We wanted to be aggressive throughout the day."

Childress said he did not consider having Ryan Longwell attempt a 53-yard field goal because the kick would have been into the wind.

He did have Longwell attempt a 23-yarder to make it 48-34 in the fourth instead of going for it on fourth-and-3 from the Chicago 5. The Vikings needed 17 points to tie, and he saw no reason not to take the field goal at that point. It could have been debated the Vikings would have been better off trying to get two touchdowns to set themselves up for a last-second field goal to tie.

"We knew we were going to need a field goal regardless to get it to 14," he said. "I had gone for a fourth and a yard or so in that first series. We just knew we were going to need three. Can I predict we were going to get down there again? Couldn't predict that. So you need three, you take three at fourth-and-5."

JUDD ZULGAD