Vikings defensive coordinator Alan Williams managed to smile Tuesday about comments a few veterans made questioning his play-calling on the final drive of a 27-23 loss to Dallas on Sunday.
Williams dropped a lineman into pass coverage on four of the Cowboys' nine plays on a 90-yard game-winning drive. Afterward, Brian Robison and Kevin Williams questioned why the Vikings stopped rushing four linemen after their front four generated consistent pressure on quarterback Tony Romo all game.
"I don't take that in a negative way at all," Alan Williams said. "Our guys are competitive. They put a lot of work in. Good players ask why: 'Hey coach, why did you make this decision? What were you thinking?' I have no problem whatsoever about a guy asking me why. We explain it, we talk about it and we move on."
Williams said he decided to drop a lineman because the Cowboys were using screen passes to get the ball out of Romo's hands fast and offset the pass rush.
"We've been plagued by screens all year long," he said. "Our rush was heating them up for sure so the balls were coming out extremely quick."
Williams said he heard similar complaints from defensive linemen when he worked as an assistant for the Indianapolis Colts.
"Since I've been in the league for 10-plus years, that's always been a concern about guys that rush the passer well that, 'Hey Coach, we don't want to drop,' " he said. "My experience with good rushers is that they want a four-man rush. They don't want you to bring five, they don't want you bring three. They want a four-man rush. I have no problem with our guys with that."
What might have been
The Vikings held the No. 3 overall pick in the 2012 draft. Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III, who went No. 2 overall, said Tuesday that he did not have any contact with the Vikings before the draft but that he heard from other parties that the team would have selected him if he had fallen to No. 3 — one year after drafting Christian Ponder 12th overall.