Vikings work their way back to .500

Just how fickle is life in the NFL? The Vikings found out again Sunday.

Three weeks after fans in the Metrodome called for coach Brad Childress to be fired during an ugly victory over Detroit, an announced crowd of 62,839 in the same building registered few dissenting words toward the home coach or his team.

The Vikings didn't play a perfect game against the Houston Texans -- far from it -- but a 55-yard completion on the first play from scrimmage proved to be a positive start in an entertaining 28-21 victory.

It was the Vikings' third victory in the past four games and ended Houston's three-game winning streak.

"It's good to beat a team like that, that I thought had a good deal of confidence coming in," Childress said. "But our guys have a little stake in the action. I think the bye helped them all, and it was a good overall team effort."

Childress could really see his approval rating rise if the Vikings can knock off Green Bay this Sunday at the Dome. The Packers lost at Tennessee and are tied with the Vikings at 4-4 in the NFC North, one game behind the Bears.

The Vikings used an interesting formula to improve to 3-0 under Childress following the bye.

The game plan included the quick 55-yard strike from Gus Frerotte to Bernard Berrian that set up a 1-yard touchdown by Adrian Peterson, and a defensive philosophy that centered on holding Houston Pro Bowl receiver Andre Johnson in check.

Johnson had only four catches for 62 yards and a touchdown after a three-game stretch in which he had double-digit totals in receptions and more than 100 yards each time.

The tradeoff: Texans quarterbacks Matt Schaub and Sage Rosenfels completed short passes time and time again -- often to tight end Owen Daniels -- and combined to throw for 363 yards, the most the Vikings defense has surrendered this season. Houston has the NFL's fourth-ranked offense, and didn't miss a beat when Schaub was forced from the game after the first half because of a sprained left knee.

"We felt like, 'If we don't give up the big play over the top, we're going to be all right,' " Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said. "They had made so many explosive plays [to Johnson] that we wanted somebody else to make some plays and if they got some yards you've got to be able to deal with it.

"But not the quick-strike touchdown. Not the 50-yard touchdown, not the 60-yard touchdown. That means you're going to give up some yards. And they scored two touchdowns [on offense]. If you can hold a team that was doing as good as they were doing to two touchdowns, you've got a chance."

Especially when you eliminate mistakes. The Vikings did, taking only three penalties and forcing three Houston turnovers while committing one. The one did prove costly as Berrian accidentally tipped a Frerotte pass into the hands of Texans cornerback Jacques Reeves, who returned it 44 yards for a first-quarter touchdown to tie the score 7-7.

But Chad Greenway's sack of Schaub in the second quarter resulted in a fumble that linebacker Ben Leber recovered, and three plays later Frerotte hit Berrian for a 49-yard touchdown and a 21-7 lead.

Frerotte threw for only 182 yards, but he finished with a season-best three touchdown passes and a 111.6 passer rating. Despite being sacked three times, Frerotte gave much of the credit to an offensive line that opened up holes for Peterson to rush for 103 of his 139 yards in the second half.

Said Frerotte: "We made mistakes, things happen, but we were able to overcome them. I look at it as our offensive line, our line played just incredible today. That's a big reason why I think we were able to put points up today. Our line -- not that they haven't been --- but today they were playing against a good, big, physical team, and they were able to go out and do their thing."

The defensive line got four of the Vikings' five sacks. Defensive end Jared Allen had two, giving him four in the past two games, and is tied with defensive tackle Kevin Williams for the team lead at seven. The Vikings also had key interceptions by cornerback Antoine Winfield and safety Madieu Williams that ended drives deep in Minnesota territory.

"We kind of had a new attitude after the bye," Leber said. "I think everybody has bought into the 'one week at a time' [philosophy].

"We're 1-0 now, and that's all we can be. Hopefully next week we'll be 1-0 again."

Safe to say, Childress might even start to hear some positive comments about his work if that happens.

Judd Zulgad • jzulgad@startribune.com