So far, so good

In Brad Childress’ first game as head coach in 2006 the Minnesota Vikings pulled off a tough road victory against Washington.

It was the kind of victory that had been unthinkable in the latter days of Dennis Green’s regime and during all the days of Mike Tice’s regime. It marked a promising start for Childress, one that signaled maybe he was the coach that could make the Vikings a difficult team to beat on the road, more disciplined at home and on the road and a future Super Bowl threat.

On Sunday in Leslie Frazier’s first game as a head coach, the Vikings also pulled off a tough road victory against Washington – the kind of victory that the team hadn’t been able to win with Childress as head coach in over a year.

Hopefully, Frazier’s time as Vikings head coach, however long it lasts, won’t be marked by the head-scratching decision-making, lackluster offensive showings and a litany of other shortcomings that ultimately got Childress fired last week.

And while it is impossible to make any judgment calls on Leslie Frazier as a head coach after one game, what we did see in this game was a team that took care of the football (no turnovers), got back to tackling well, protected the quarterback pretty well and seemed energized playing for Frazier.

The Vikings played a road game, and they played a good road game – for 60 minutes. It’s a start.

Some other positive signs from this win:

The defensive line: Let’s be honest, the Washington offensive line is not very good. But the Vikings front four has had a tough time of it no matter what the caliber of competition this year.

In this game, the front four looked like the dominant unit it was in 2008-2009 (In particular, Letroy Guion had quite a nice game). Washington couldn’t run the ball and Donovan McNabb frequently threw under extreme duress.

Brett Favre: The Vikings had a conservative offensive gameplan in this one, which got even more conservative after Adrian Peterson went out with an ankle injury (get well soon, A.P.).

That’s not a bad idea when playing on the road with a new head coach – as long as you execute it well. I thought Favre executed it well. He was much more accurate than he’s been most of the year. He made some key throws (the completion to Shiancoe in the third quarter setting up the second TD was a beauty). There were no bonehead throws. And that 10-yard scramble to ice the win late in the fourth quarter was pretty sweet.

Toby Gerhart: Like most Vikings fans, I’ve been less than impressed with Gerhart this season.

Today I was impressed. His longest run was just six yards, yet he consistently got extra yards after contact and had few running plays with negative yards. His play allowed the Vikings to keep running the ball even without Peterson. And it kept the Vikings from having to depend on Favre throwing it to win – which has mostly failed this season).

If a running back can have a great game while averaging just 3.5 yards per carry, Toby Gerhart did that today.

There are still concerns coming out of this game – mostly what the health status is of Peterson and defensive end Ray Edwards, and the play of the special teams.

However, it was a win – a road win – and it’s the kind of win that puts a smile on my face every time.