Brad Childress is finally gone. The next question is how long Brett Favre will last.
A battered and beaten Favre will lead the Childress-less Minnesota Vikings into FedEx Field on Sunday against the Washington Redskins and their own embattled veteran quarterback.
The Vikings (3-7) mercifully fired head coach Childress earlier this week after a disastrous 31-3 loss to NFC North Division foe Green Bay last week. The Vikings, expected to challenge for the Super Bowl once Favre decided to return for his 20th season, have been a huge disappointment.
Childress put a big X on his back when he publicly criticized the play of Favre after several games, which forced rebuttals from Favre and sparked anonymous statements from several players stating their dislike and lack of respect for their head coach.
With Childress gone, defensive-coordinator-turned interim coach Leslie Frazier has reaffirmed that Favre will remain the starter despite one of his worst seasons.
Favre has thrown an NFL-high 17 interceptions, has fumbled six times – he had seven picks and two fumbles last season - and has posted a passer rating of 52 or less in three of the last five weeks.
After finding the fountain of youth with a career-high 446 yards in a comeback win against the Arizona Cardinals, Favre has looked like an old man against the Chicago Bears and Packers and sounded like a defeated one during his postgame press conferences.
If anybody can relate with Favre, it would be the 33-year-old Donovan McNabb.
The longtime Philadelphia signal caller was basically told he wasn’t wanted after last season and signed with Washington (5-5). He was benched during the two-minute offense during crunch time against Detroit a few weeks back, as head coach Mike Shanahan said the ’Skins were worried about his cardiovascular conditioning and grasp of the offense.
Speculation has persisted ever since that McNabb is not long for the Shanahan system despite the 12-year veteran signing a five-year extension last week.
Shanahan didn’t have any concerns about McNabb last Sunday, when Washington topped Tennessee 19-16 in overtime.
McNabb completed 30 of 50 passes for 376 yards and one touchdown. He engineered two long drives at the end of each half using the two-minute offense, but kicker Graham Gano missed field goals both times. McNabb also took the Redskins on a 13-play, 57-yard drive in overtime, setting up Gano’s 48-yard game-winner.
McNabb is getting run support from rookie running back Keiland Williams, who has 287 scrimmage yards in the past three games and four touchdowns in place of Curtis Portis, who was placed on injured reserve earlier this week.
Although Shanahan seems content with McNabb for now, he should be concerned about a defense that is allowing 411 yards per contest.
The Redskins will need to win this game and start a roll to make a push for a playoff berth. They are two games back of the Eagles in the NFC East and there are two teams at 7-3 and the Giants at 6-4 ahead of Washington for the two wild card spots.
Favre is 4-0 as a starter in his career vs. Washington, while McNabb is 5-0 in his career against Minnesota.