Childress’ answer was in response to a rather innocuous question about playing time for rookie defensive back Chris Cook against a New England passing attack led by Tom Brady, and whether or not the Patriots might try and exploit a matchup involving the youngster. The Vikings coach said New England would “probably” operate “by coverage,” and then referenced a 2006 Monday Night game between New England and Minnesota, a game where the Patriots crushed the Vikings in the Metrodome, 31-7.
In that contest, Brady was masterful, going 29-for-43 for 372 yards and four touchdowns.
“I’m mindful of the last time we faced them here on Monday Night Football, where it was like a surgical procedure,” Childress said. “That’s back when we used to signal and things like that. I remember having a conversation with [ex-Minnesota defensive coordinator] Mike Tomlin about [the fact that] these were some of the all-time great signal stealers. In fact, that’s what was going on — they were holding, holding, holding, holding. We were signaling from the sideline. And they were good at it. It’s like stealing signals from a catcher.”
Childress, who said his own teams would engage in some sign-stealing from time to time (at least before the communication devices were installed in the helmets of defensive players in 2008), said he knew what was going on from him time as an assistant with the Eagles, where he was quarterbacks coach (from 1999 to 2002) and offensive coordinator (from 2003 through 2005).
“I had a notion, having played them at the Eagles before,” Childress said. “It’s something we do as well. If it’s good for one, it’s good for the other. [But] we didn’t change it up. We didn’t use wristbands. We didn’t change the menu at halftime. They were good at that. And obviously you don’t need to give Tom [Brady] any added advantage.
“If you know that as a quarterback, that’s as good as you can do,” Childress added. “And they did as good as they could do.”
