McKinnie Was Benched In Carolina Game; Coach Takes Some Blame

Minnesota Vikings’ left tackle Bryant McKinnie was benched in Sunday night’s game against the Carolina Panthers, coach Brad Childress confirmed after the game.

Panthers’ defensive end Julius Peppers had his way all night, rushing quarterback Brett Favre with ease.  Reserve lineman Artis Hicks replaced McKinnie in the game, but didn’t play any better against the pass rush.

“I had a off day,” McKinnie said via Twitter.  “This was not a good night for me.  There is something we gotta fix this week to put me in better position.”

McKinnie was not the only player that deserved a benching, with the defensive secondary allowing quarterback Matt Moore to throw all over the defense.  Although it could be a personnel/coaching issue, safety Madieu Williams was caught playing up close to the line on a third and really long situation that resulted in a long bomb to his side for a touchdown pass to receiver Steve Smith.

Replays showed both Williams and cornerback Antoine Winfield chasing Smith from behind as he caught the touchdown pass.

Players on defense were missing tackles and the offensive lineman did not run- or pass-block.

The Vikings have a lot to do this week as they prepare to play against the Chicago Bears in what will likely be a much colder atmosphere.

“I’m going to make sure it gets fixed this week,” McKinnie said.

Update:  Favre said during the press conference after the game that Childress wanted to take the quarterback out of the game.

Update:  Childress took some blame on not giving McKinnie some help on the left side.

“Yes, that’s me,” Childress said to the Star Tribune.  “I’ll take that.  We didn’t do a good enough job with getting him help, whether it was chip help or tight end help or fading a guard that direction.  We actually had it set up that way a couple of times but it didn’t occur and it should have occurred. But then a lot of it was just a 1-on-1 type of operation. [Peppers] is a good player.”

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