By Mark Potts 

Brad Childress should be fired.
Simple as that. Not at the end of the year. Not tomorrow. Not today. Right now. In fact, he should have been fired about 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Up until Sunday I’ve been of the opinion that the Minnesota Vikings head coach deserved at least this whole year to prove himself… that was until I watched the travesty against the Tennessee Titans.
Is this a knee-jerk reaction?
You bet it is, but what he did last week was inexcusable.
It wasn’t the generic play-calling that finally broke the straw for me. Nor was it the fact the Vikings threw the ball on third-and-one when they have Adrian Peterson, one of the top running backs in the NFL. Or the fact Peterson wasn’t even in the game to be used as a decoy on that play.
It wasn’t the 1-3 start this year, or the inability of Childress and the front office to acquire a quarterback who would compete with and push Tarvaris Jackson in the preseason.
Well, maybe it was a little bit of all those things, but what finally pushed me over the edge and into Childress-hater territory was Childress himself. He gave up on his team last week. He waved the white flag, checked out mentally and gave up on his team.
Let me set the stage for you.
The Vikings are down by two scores to Tennessee late in the game. It’s a dire situation. Starting quarterback Gus Frerotte is out with an injury and Jackson is in the game. There’s two minutes left, the Vikings have no timeouts and are facing a fourth-and-13 deep in their own territory. With only two minutes left, and no timeouts, this is the game. If the Vikings are stopped, Tennessee kneels on the ball and runs out the clock. If the Vikings convert, they live to see another play.
So what does Childress do? He runs the one play that wasn’t an option. He punts. Down two scores, with no chance of getting the ball back and he punts the football. What!? Are you kidding me!? Seriously!? “Your favorite generic expression of disbelief!?”
When asked about the punt in a press conference on Monday here was Childress’ response: “Based on the way we were playing defense, I thought we’d have a chance to get it back.”
Huh?
Now whether he flat out gave up, or just checked out mentally has yet to be determined, but it was inexcusable. When Randy Moss walked off the field a few years ago in the final seconds of a game against Washington, he was crucified for “quitting” on his team. That action by Moss, along with some of his other antics, led to him being traded. Where are those critics now? Why am I one of the few calling for Childress’ head over this?
As dire as the situation was, teams have come back from a two-score deficit in the final minutes before. Purple faithful need look no further than the final game of the 2003 regular season against Arizona. Down two scores in the final two minutes Arizona scored twice, with the game-winning touchdown coming on fourth-and-26. Should Arizona have punted?
The bottom line is you never give up in the NFL. It’s the Cardinal Sin of the league. Crazy finishes have happened before and will happen again. Imagine the fallout this could have with Vikings players. If the coach quits on them, what is their motivation to keep risking their health in a dangerous game? Next time the Vikings are down two scores, what’s going to keep the players from checking out and just going through the motions.
After all, their coach and so-called leader did it, so why can’t they.