Childress tells NFL he doesn't agree with call

A day later, Vikings coach Brad Childress still didn't agree with the critical tripping penalty called on fullback Jeff Dugan in Sunday's 27-17 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In fact, Childress voiced his displeasure Monday morning in a phone call with Mike Pereira, the NFL's vice president of officiating.

"I'm satisfied that I was able to tell my side of it, and he could see my side of it," Childress said.

The penalty negated a 10-yard touchdown catch by Sidney Rice in the fourth quarter. It proved to be a double whammy, because three plays later the Steelers got a 77-yard fumble return for a touchdown by LaMarr Woodley.

On the play, Dugan lined up in the backfield and cut block linebacker James Harrison. Dugan's right leg came up as he twisted to the ground, but it certainly looked like a questionable call.

Childress said he would not change a thing about how Dugan executed the block. "I know there are 32 other clubs in the league that coach the same way to block the end of the line of scrimmage," Childress said. "I thought it was a job well done."

Childress didn't second guess the play-calling after his team failed to score a touchdown despite having a first down at the Pittsburgh 1-yard line in the third. The Steelers stopped Adrian Peterson on two runs (the first was negated by an offsides penalty). Brett Favre then threw two incomplete passes before the Vikings settled for an 18-yard field goal by Ryan Longwell.

That prompted questions about why Peterson didn't get the ball again or whether the Vikings should have gone for it on fourth down.

"That's what you guys [the media] do and that's what the fans do," Childress said. "Those are opinions and you do what you see fit right there. We took our stabs at it, and we thought the avenue way to go [was passing it]. We ran it in down at the other end [on Peterson's 2-yard TD run in the second quarter]."

Cornerback Cedric Griffin received his second delay of game penalty of the year Sunday. The first one came against San Francisco when he waved his hand close to the wide receiver before the snap. On Sunday, Griffin made the receiver flinch by moving his feet.

"I don't know what happened," he said. "I was going on the ball snap and [quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's] voice."

Childress said it's no different than a defensive lineman trying to draw a false start penalty against a lineman by jumping before the snap.

"I don't know that Cedric, in this instance, jumped with his hands," he said. "I think he may have fired his feet. ... His feet moved, but his hands didn't. So again, that's a subjective thing."

Eric Frampton said he isn't sure why Pittsburgh's Nick Eason ripped off Frampton's helmet and threw it about 10 feet after the two got tangled in a pile on a kickoff return. Eason was not penalized.

"I ran in there and he just jumped on me and ripped my helmet off," Frampton said. "It was a regular tackle but then after [it] for some strange reason the ref told me, 'Go to the sideline and tell your coach that you threw your own helmet off.' And I go, 'But I didn't throw my own helmet off.' I just kind of jogged off. It was a little bit weird."

• An official scoring change took away one of Favre's completions from Sunday, leaving him 33-for-50 instead of 34-for-51. Favre was mistakenly given a completion for no yards to Rice on the touchdown pass nullified by Dugan's penalty. Rice finished with 10 catches for 136 yards, not 11.

• Pro Bowl left guard Steve Hutchinson committed his first penalty since 2007 when he was called for a false start in the fourth quarter. Hutchinson had not drawn a penalty in 26 consecutive games.

• Green Bay is expected to be without Jermichael Finley on Sunday after the tight end suffered a sprained left knee at Cleveland. Finley had six receptions for 128 yards with a touchdown against the Vikings on Oct. 5.

• Rookie Asher Allen said he wasn't sure how many snaps he played in his NFL debut. Asked what he saw on film after being inactive the first six games, Allen said, "I was just happy to see me on film."