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So how did Brad Childress celebrate the fact his team had achieved this lofty status for the first time since he was hired as coach in 2006? “I had a vodka as big as your head (Sunday) night,” Childress told a reporter whose noggin isn’t exactly small.
Considering Childress exhibited no signs of the hangover that would have accompanied such a binge, one has to assume he was exaggerating. Nonetheless, the fact that Childress was about as close to jovial as he’s going to get spoke volumes about where his 7-5 team resides these days.
Childress’ job now will be keeping the Vikings in position to win their first division title since they captured the old NFC Central with an 11-5 record in 2000. This is the latest the Vikings have been in first place since 2004, which also is the last season they made a playoff appearance.
With four games remaining, the Vikings have an excellent opportunity to take another step toward a postseason berth Sunday when they play at winless Detroit. But going against the 0-12 Lions is exactly what worries Childress — no matter how bad Detroit looked in a 47-10 Thanksgiving Day loss to Tennessee at Ford Field.
That’s why moments after the Vikings beat the Bears on Sunday, Childress attempted to shift the focus to the next game and made it clear that nothing is assured and plenty of work remains.
“If we handle and take care of our business everything is set up for us pretty good,” safety Darren Sharper admitted. “That’s all you can ask for come December. This league is so tough that only a couple teams each year have everything set, like divisions sewn up come the middle of December. A lot of times teams are trying to fight for playoff spots. The fact that we know if we just win and beat the teams that we’re supposed to beat, which is every team, hopefully, we’ll be fine and we’ll be where we wanted to be at the beginning of this season. Which is one of our goals, to get to the playoffs and win the NFC North.”
It shouldn’t take Childress much effort to make sure the Vikings take the Lions seriously. Detroit gave the Vikings a scare, losing 12-10 on Oct. 12 at the Metrodome. The Vikings did not assure themselves of victory until Ryan Longwell made a 26-yard field goal with nine seconds left in regulation. That was the closest loss of the season for a team that has been beaten by an average of 15.8 points.
“It can be scary because you know (Detroit is) going to come out fighting,” Sharper said. “That old adage of a dog backed into a corner. They’re going to know that we’re the first-place team now in the NFC North and they’re going to give us their best shot.”
The Vikings will be facing quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who signed with the Lions in early November and has started the past four games. Culpepper, a former Viking who didn’t leave Minnesota on the best of terms shortly after Childress was hired as coach, lost at the Metrodome last year as a member of the Oakland Raiders and certainly would love to get some payback.
As is customary this time of year after a victory, Childress did not make it mandatory for players to be at Winter Park on Monday, and Tuesday is their official off day. Sharper and a few others were around the facility Monday to get medical treatment or lift weights, but the sense of urgency that Childress has embraced really won’t return until practice resumes Wednesday.
Childress is sure to again drive home his point about the Lions.
“It’s just that (the players) come back here while everybody is patting them on the butt and that type of thing, that they realize that anybody beats anybody in this league, and in fact Detroit could have had our measure here at home,” Childress said. “So I think that you realize that there are a lot of prideful people in the National Football League, and I don’t think those guys on that team want to be attached with not having a win. So that is a different kind of motivation, but nonetheless motivation.”
