Jim Souhan: Around here, it's a reflex to blame it all on Childress

In his first season coaching the Vikings, Brad Childress proved predictable, aloof and stubborn. He was to blame for his team's 6-10 record.

In his second season, he became more adaptable, and his team improved to 8-8.

In his third, he ran a playoff team with an offense more explosive than its quarterbacks should have allowed it to be, and finished 10-6.

In his fourth, he took advantage of shrewd personnel moves made by him and his fellow Vikings decision-makers, and ran a team good enough to win 10 of its first 11 games.

This December, his team has lost three of four games, and now fans who turned against him in Year 2 are renewing their old complaints.

While it is accepted behavior for NFL followers to turn against the head coach when the home team loses, the complaints this time around are more the product of that dementia unique to fandom -- and the paranoia shared by most Vikings fans -- than intelligent analysis.

While NFL head coaches should be judged on the direction and performance of their teams over time, it is difficult to discern how Childress is responsible for this slump.

Perhaps he should be held responsible for his team playing poorly at Carolina ... but the Vikings are clearly a lesser team on grass (they have lost three of their past four games on grass, and the franchise history on grass since the team moved into the Metrodome is abysmal) than they are on turf, and Carolina proceeded to destroy the Giants in a game the Giants were desperate to win last week.

Perhaps he should be held responsible for his team playing poorly in Chicago ... if you hold the head coach responsible for the special-teams lapses that cost the Vikings the game.

Here is what Childress should not be held responsible for:

• Adrian Peterson's lack of explosiveness. When a Vikings running play doesn't work, fans term the play-calling "conservative." But handing the ball to Peterson when he is at full speed is not conservative -- it has been one of most productive strategies employed in the NFL the past three years.

• The offensive line wearing down. When the line was healthy and playing well, this offense was perhaps the most balanced in the NFL. Now, with Favre getting brutalized and the running game in neutral, magically the play-calling doesn't seem so sharp.

Wrong on both counts. Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell called the plays in the first half; Bevell called the plays in the second half.

• Injuries. If Antoine Winfield were at full strength, the Vikings probably would have won their past two games. The loss of middle linebacker E.J. Henderson has made the Vikings' already-porous pass defense more vulnerable in the middle of the field, further exposing their mediocre safeties.

Here is what Childress is responsible for:

• He needs to at least temporarily abandon his power-running philosophy and adopt the principles of the version of the West Coast offense that his old boss (Andy Reid) and his new quarterback prefer: the short-passing version of that offense.

With the offensive line underperforming, expecting to overpower defenses is foolish. The Vikings began moving the ball on Monday night once they allowed Favre to start throwing quick passes, which kept him on his feet, got the ball into the hands of receivers capable of making yards after the catch, and created space for the running game.

The Vikings' defense and running game don't seem strong enough to sustain a long playoff run, but letting Favre do what he does best -- throw short, quick passes -- should allow the Vikings to beat the Giants on Sunday, and win at least one playoff game.