Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress received a contract extension offer from the team today. Notice I said offer—because nothing has been agreed to yet. Coach Childress said after practice today that not only has he not signed the offer, he hasn’t even read it.

Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings / Image: Zuma Press

I’m going to go out on a limb and assume the deal gets done, though. This was a make-or-break season for coach Childress. He pulled out all the stops by getting quarterback Brett Favre to unretire for a second time and join the Vikes. And at 8-1, he answered his critics by having his best year ever—so far. There are still seven games to play and perhaps there is some wording in that contract that refers directly to those last seven games and beyond—as in how the team fares in them and the impending playoffs. I wonder. At any rate, coach Childress has some paperwork to look over and his future is looking secure in Minnesota.

UPDATE: It didn’t take long for coach Childress to read and agree to the extension. The new deal runs through 2013 at a salary of $4-5 million per year. In a statement released by the team, coach Childress said:

“My family and I are very fortunate to be a part of the Minnesota Vikings organization. I value the opportunity to continue to lead this team over the next several years as we work toward our ultimate goal of winning a Super Bowl for our passionate fans everywhere.”

Sources: Vikings.com, ESPN.com, NFL.com

Miami Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown (the NFL player I have interviewed more times than any other—I lost track around five) won’t be running the Wildcat anymore. In fact, he won’t be running any plays. The Dolphins officially placed him on injured reserve today with what they were initially calling a foot injury. But more specifically, he has a Lisfranc fracture in the middle of his foot. He suffered the injury in last Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Bucs.
The injury is by no means career threatening, but it is severe enough to sideline Ronnie for a couple months, thus …read more

The Buffalo Bills fired head coach Dick Jauron today. This really doesn’t come as any surprise. It was more an issue of “if not now, when?” And what better time than when you’re 3-6 and coming off three-plus seasons with a .421 winning percentage? Coach Jauron, while certainly a kind man who gave it all he had, simply could not revive a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 1999. That streak ties the Detroit Lions for the longest active dry spell for any non-expansion team. All this being said, the Bills’ problems run deeper than the head coach, but …read more

This seemed like a perfect match. A malcontent running back with a criminal record and the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals signed running back Larry Johnson—released by the Kansas City Chiefs last week because he was more trouble than he was worth—to a short-term deal that runs through the end of this season. Details of the contract were not available yet.
I figured the only other team that would even take a look at this guy would be the Oakland Raiders. The Bengals might be playing better football, but they still make some very questionable decisions when it comes to the character …read more

Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams stuck both of his middle fingers in the air like he just didn’t care yesterday as the Titans were wrapping up a 41-17 win over the Buffalo Bills. I’m not sure what would possess an 86-year-old man to do this in front of 70,000 people. It’s bad enough when a player does it, but when an owner goes down this road, it’s pretty embarrassing.
What’s with “the finger” anyway? It’s like the Jerry Seinfeld joke. It seems like such an arbitrary, ridiculous thing to just pick a finger and show it to someone. It’s a finger. …read more

Judging from his demeanor at press conferences this season, I think Terrell Owens is just about ready to pop. He’s obviously frustrated. And rightfully so. The Bills are 3-6 and T.O. only has 26 catches for 366 yards and one touchdown. To put it mildly, this season has been a complete disaster thus far.
After a sideline outburst during today’s 41-17 loss to the Tennessee Titans, Terrell was visibly annoyed with the media and sarcastic with his responses in his postgame presser. He continues to use the phrase: “I’m just going with the plays that are called.” Translated, that means the …read more

Professional football is a game of inches. As the New England Patriots were in the process of squandering a 17-point 4th quarter lead, they gambled on a fourth-and-two from their own 28-yard line—and lost by an inch. A Tom Brady to Kevin Faulk completion was ruled just short of a first down and the Indianapolis Colts proceeded to turn it into a 29-yard yard touchdown drive to come from behind and shock the New England Patriots 35-34.
The Pats couldn’t challenge the controversial decision because they wasted two timeouts on their final drive and had nothing left to possibly overturn that …read more

If you had told me a year ago that Minnesota Vikings receiver Sidney Rice would be one of the National Football League’s best at his position this season, I would’ve raised my eyebrows in disbelief. Sure, he appeared to have all the physical tools necessary for success. And after two seasons—when he wasn’t injured—he showed flashes of what might someday be. But predicting he would be anything better than a third option for any NFL team was probably being rather generous.
Nevertheless, after nine games, there can really be no question that Sidney ranks among the NFL’s best receivers. With today’s …read more

When the Cincinnati Bengals were chosen for HBO’s annual reality series Hard Knocks this past offseason, I kind of laughed it off and figured the show was in trouble if the best team they could come up with were the lowly Bengals. Well, the laugh’s on me now as the Bengals are off to an impressive 7-2 start. And this afternoon, they took control of the AFC North with an 18-12 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
After the game, quarterback Carson Palmer credited his team’s work in the trenches:
“We kept grinding, and at the end of the day, I think the …read more

After last night’s disgusting five interception performance in a 10-6 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was fined $20,000. That sentence is a bit deceptive, but it’s true. Jay should’ve been fined $20,000 because of his mistakes. After all, just a couple weeks ago the guy signed a contract extension through 2013—to the tune of roughly $20 million guaranteed and $30 million in new money. The Bears are obviously expecting more.
The truth is, Jay was fined $20,000 for abusive conduct toward a game official in last week’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals. So, it really …read more