Vikings, Childress Improving

In the 2007 NFL Entry Draft, the Minnesota Vikings had the glorious fortune of having Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson fall to them with the seventh overall pick. To their credit, the Vikings took Peterson, thus cementing offensive opportunity for what should be the next several years.One year before selecting Peterson, the Vikings made a change in coaches, going from the understaffed and seemingly over-matched Mike Tice, to an offensive coordinator from Philadelphia who did not call offensive plays while with the Eagles and who was best known for "molding" one of the best college quarterbacks ever into a good, if inconsistent pro.Brad Childress' first game as Minnesota's head coach, a 19-16 victory at Washington, suggested that the Vikings had turned the corner and were moving toward greater coaching professionalism. But that first season, following a non-playoff 9-7 season, ended in a non-playoff 6-10 season and included numerous questionable moves by a co...