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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, November 17, 2009

NFL: Vikings coach Childress calls league over roughing call against Edwards


By Chip Scoggins
Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Brad Childress did not hide his displeasure over several officiating calls in his team’s 27-10 victory against the Lions on Sunday, but the Vikings coach showed restraint when asked about those plays Monday.

Childress was particularly upset about an unnecessary roughness penalty on defensive end Ray Edwards against Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford in the third quarter. Edwards went flying through the air after Lions running back Maurice Morris blocked him at the knees and made contact with Stafford’s helmet.
Childress called NFL vice president of officiating Mike Pereira before he addressed the media in his postgame news conference Sunday, but declined to elaborate much Monday.
“I thought it was a good play (by Edwards),” Childress said. “I’ll just leave it at that. (My opinion) hasn’t changed from yesterday.”
Childress also briefly commented on a non-call on Adrian Peterson’s second fumble. Lions cornerback Phillip Buchanon grabbed Peterson by the back of the shoulder pads with his left hand and punched the ball out of Peterson’s right arm with his right hand. Buchanon dragged Peterson down with a horse-collar tackle as the ball bounced into the end zone, where the Lions recovered it.
Asked if Buchanon should have received a horse-collar penalty, Childress said: “It appears that way and it kind of continued, but I’ll let somebody else figure that out.”
FOURTH-DOWN REVIEW
Childress’ decision to give fullback Jeff Dugan the ball on fourth-and-1 at the Detroit 8-yard line in the second quarter caused some second-guessing among fans. Lions defensive tackle Grady Jackson stuffed Dugan for no gain.
Dugan had converted five consecutive third-and-1 runs before that play, but fans wondered why they didn’t give the ball to Peterson in that situation.
“Obviously, you have something in your game plan that’s on your card and that’s the way you’re seeing it,” Childress said. “You make enough of those decisions, some are going to end up right and some are going to end up where you get stopped. You stick by it. I’m sure that Adrian would have liked (the ball) in that situation but it was six inches and that’s our six-inches call.”
Asked about TV replays that showed him grimacing on the sideline after that play, Childress said: “I just didn’t like the execution. I didn’t like penetration. That will typically stop plays like that. We know Brett (Favre) is not a great sneaker so we weren’t going there. I didn’t like the result either.”
WINFIELD UPDATE
Pro Bowl cornerback Antoine Winfield said during his weekly appearance on KFAN that there’s an “85 percent chance” he’ll play Sunday against Seattle.
Winfield has missed three-plus games because of a right foot injury suffered Oct. 18 against Baltimore. Winfield said he was getting more treatment at Winter Park on Monday and then planned to do some running to see how his foot responded.
Winfield said this past Friday that his foot felt fine running straight ahead and side to side but that he still experienced a little pain when he planted and cut.
Benny Sapp started in place of Winfield against the Lions, but he suffered a groin injury in the third quarter and did not return. Sapp also received treatment on Monday.
ETC.
—Childress on the season-high 13 penalties Sunday: “Yes, an anomaly, absolutely. The pre-snap ones are ours. The other ones, some of them are there and why the other ones got called, I don’t know. Those ones I have questions about. I’m not happy about it. We will get it corrected. It raised its ugly head so you have to address it and look at and clean up your own backyard.”