An apology is required.

Yes, one may eventually be asked of Vikings coach Leslie Frazier for building a coaching staff filled with people who have either been demoted or have yet to prove they can succeed at their current jobs.

Today, though, let me be the one to offer the apology.

I’m sorry, Leslie, for questioning whether your vintage football philosophies could work in the modern world.

I’m sorry for questioning whether your vision of the bareknuckle 1985 Bears had skewed your perspective on the NFL in the Year of the Mayan Prophecy, when passes flew in NFL stadia like locusts in the Old Testament.

Whether your coaches and players will be good enough to win remains in doubt, but your philosophies will be on display all day Sunday, in the NFL’s conference championship games.

Three of the four remaining teams play black-and-white football in the age of 3D color. Sunday provides proof that Frazier’s vision of winning with a powerful running game and a stout defense doesn’t necessarily require that he undergo Lasik surgery.

After Roger Headrick hired him away from Stanford, Green assembled a staff that included Tony Dungy, Tom Moore, Monte Kiffin, John Teerlinck, Ty Willingham, Willie Shaw and Brian Billick. Green even brought in two players, Mike Tice and Jack Del Rio, who would become NFL head coaches.

At the time, nobody knew just how impressive that list of names would become.

Dungy rehabilitated a sagging career as Green’s defensive coordinator and became an outstanding head coach.

Tom Moore coached receivers for Green. Not until he mentored Peyton Manning as the Colts offensive coordinator would his methods gain fame.

Monte Kiffin coached inside linebackers. He would become one of the great defensive coordinators in NFL history.

Brian Billick coached tight ends. He would win a Super Bowl while running the Ravens.

Willie Shaw coached the secondary for Green; he would become an NFL defensive coordinator. His son now coaches Stanford.

Ty Willingham would become the coach at Notre Dame and Teerlinck would coach the Colts defensive line for Dungy when they won the Super Bowl.

Coaches are not the total answer: even the best coaching staff in the world is limited by the skills and talents of the players they have to work with. But a good player can elevate his game with the assistance of good coaching. The quality of your coaching staff will make a difference to the total performance of your team.

“This is what they wanted,” Dunbar said in a phone interview with the Star Tribune. “Coach Frazier told me the ownership wanted to go in a different direction. And for me, that’s fine. As football coaches, we know we’re all migrant workers and we go where the jobs are. Now, my job in Minnesota is over.”

Dunbar joined the Vikings in 2006 when Brad Childress became coach and helped the defensive line establish a reputation as a sturdy, run-stopping unit. Pat Williams, Kevin Williams and Jared Allen all earned Pro Bowl invitations while playing under Dunbar. And this season, despite the well-documented struggles of the entire defense, the d-line may have had the most solid season of any Vikings’ position group, ranking 11th in the NFL against the run. The Vikings also tallied 50 sacks as a team with defensive end setting a new single-season team record with 22.

Still, after a 3-13 finish, Frazier has vowed to shake things up and make significant changes to his coaching staff. Dunbar’s exit is likely just the start of the revolving door at Winter Park.

Dunbar said he wasn’t able to diagnose the root cause of the Vikings’ 3-13 freefall.

“I’m a position coach,” he said. “I’m not a coordinator. I’m not a head coach. When I look at what I did with the Minnesota Vikings, my piece of the puzzle was to make the defensive line play as well as they could. We played well against the run. I think we finished No. 11 against the run. And we finished No. 1 in sacks. And the guy I coached led the league in sacks with 22 on a team that really didn’t have a lead the last eight games of the year. So I thought that was my piece of the puzzle. I can’t worry about running backs, defensive backs, receivers, linebackers. When you do it, you focus on your job, put your piece of the puzzle in and go from there.”

If your defence was putrid — and it was, between injuries and legal issues — someone has to be seen to pay, but why is the only guy whose players more than earned their salaries the first one to go? I just don’t get it.

Tom Pelissero is predicting some swift changes in the coaching staff now that the season is done, almost certainly starting with the firing (or demotion) of defensive co-ordinator Fred Pagac:

Owners Zygi and Mark Wilf were expected to remain in the Twin Cities as well, increasing the chances that shakeups to the coaching staff that have been under discussion for over a month could be finalized by the end of the week.

“I think you’ve got to look at everything,” Frazier said. “I don’t think you can not look at everything.”

All indications continue to be that Frazier is safe, in spite of a 6-16 record since taking over on an interim basis on Nov. 22, 2010.

The same can’t be said for a defensive staff that mostly survived the cleanout process when Frazier was given the job on a full-time basis last January.

The questions are whether the Vikings will move away from the Tampa-2/Cover-2 scheme they’ve played for years and how Frazier will go about letting some assistants go — firing them or simply giving them permission to seek other jobs while he interviews potential successors, as he did with Darrell Bevell and Brian Murphy a year ago.

“We’ll see what happens,” linebacker Chad Greenway said, speaking generally. “You know it’s always room for change, but personnel or coaches — you don’t know. It’s always fluid in this league and you hope as many people can stick around, but you know it’s not possible.”

Barring a surprising change of course, the Vikings are expected to relieve Fred Pagac of his duties after one tumultuous season as defensive coordinator in which he wasn’t allowed to run his preferred Cover-1 blitz attack, lost the confidence of some players within the first month and was stripped of play-calling duties for a stretch in November. He remains respected as a linebackers coach, though, and could be retained if he accepts a lesser role.

I agree with Holler that the very last position the Vikings need to address next year is quarterback: between the development of Christian Ponder (both positive and negative as the season wore on and the offensive line wore down), the brilliant flashes Joe Webb gave in relief of Ponder, and either Sage Rosenfels or another veteran as the third quarterback, the Vikings are set for the next few years.

The running back position is not as solid now as it was just last week, with the season-ending injury to Adrian Peterson. Toby Gerhart played well in his place (although Gerhart doesn’t have the speed of Peterson, this season he’s developed into a good all-round back). Lorenzo Booker didn’t do enough with his opportunities and I’d be surprised if he’s back with the team next season. Ryan D’Imperio is adequate as a fullback, but it wouldn’t be out of possibility for the Vikings to draft a fullback late for development.

At wide receiver, there’s Percy Harvin. That’s just about it . . . Michael Jenkins probably played well enough to stick with the team next year, but after that there are lots of jobs that could have new occupants next season. Devin Aromashodu was able to get open a bit more as the season went on, but he dropped too many catchable balls. Aromashodu and Greg Camarillo are both free agents this season, and may not be re-signed. A mid-to-high draft pick will probably go to shoring up the receiving corps.

Tight End used to be a position of great strength for the Vikings, but that is no longer true: Jim Kleinsasser announced he’s retiring at the end of the 2011 season, and Visanthe Shiancoe is a free agent. Kyle Rudolph is the only TE on the team right now who is guaranteed a spot in 2012.

The offensive line is one of the top areas of need that must be addressed this offseason. John Sullivan is the only player on the line who showed improvement over last season and that was recognized with a contract extension late in the year. Charlie Johnson is too often over-matched against speedy defensive ends and might be better suited to playing guard. Steve Hutchinson has had a great career, but he’s not the player he used to be. Phil Loadholt is the source of frustration because he could be a Pro-Bowl-calibre player but he keeps having regression issues (false starts, “Olé!” blocks, and getting beaten too easily by less talented defensive ends). Anthony Herrera is struggling with the cumulative effects of injuries and hasn’t been anywhere near as effective as he once was. I see the Vikings using at least a high and a mid-round pick on shoring up this unit.

The defensive line is still the best unit on the team, but they’re not as dominant as they used to be: partly because they’re having to help the defensive backfield too often. Jared Allen will be going to the Pro Bowl as the only Viking this season, and the honour is totally deserved. He’s been the most valuable defensive player for Minnesota all season. Kevin Williams has been injured for much of the season with a nagging foot issue and also served a two-game suspension to start the season. He only started to look like his normal self in the last four or five games. Brian Robison has more than adequately filled the spot left when Ray Edwards took his mouth and his attitude to Atlanta. Remi Ayodele has been the invisible man on the line, and may not have done enough to be back with the team next year. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Vikings used a late-round pick on a developmental nose tackle.

The linebacking corps has been good in run support, but generally overmatched in pass support, and again that’s partly because they’re having to help out the backfield too often. Chad Greenway signed a big contract early in the season and will definitely be back next year. E.J. Henderson and Erin Henderson are both free agents next year and it’s not clear if either or both of them will return.

Special teams have been solid for the Vikings for several years, and they’ve got their core players signed for next year: kicker Ryan Longwell, punter Chris Kluwe, and long-snapper Cullen Loeffler. No worries there.

And now we come to the area of greatest need: an entire defensive backfield. You could spend four or five high-to-midrange draft picks in this area and it would still be an area of concern. Here’s John Holler’s view:

Defensive backs — Where do you start? The best player of the group is 35 and injury prone. Cedric Griffin has fallen out of favor with the coaching staff and Chris Cook’s next football action might not be in the NFL. When training began, it looked as though the Vikings were set at cornerback. Now it looks like they may have none of the top three on the Mankato depth chart. Safety was improved simply with the subtraction of Madieu Williams, but with Husain Abdullah’s concussion count (four and counting) and numerous injury/performance questions, safety becomes an issue as well. The Vikings may have to pay through the teeth in free agency and commit one of their top few picks to the secondary just to get to a point where it’s not a glaring weakness going forward.

Christopher Gates dips into his history texts to find the best way to describe yesterday’s game:

Pyrrhic victory (PIR-ik VIK-tuh-ree) n. A victory that is offset by staggering losses

The term “phyrric victory” is named after King Pyrrhus of Epirus, who did battle with the Romans in the Battle of Heraclea in 280 B.C. and the Battle of Asculum in 279 B.C. In both battles, the Romans suffered greater casualties than Pyrrhus’ army did. . .however, the Romans had a significantly larger base from which to draw troops. So, in essence, Pyrrhus’ victories came at too high a price, as he even went so far as to say that another such victory would be his undoing.

That’s pretty much what we saw today at FedEx Field in Washington, D.C., as the Minnesota Vikings fought like hell when it would have been easy to roll over, and got themselves a 33-26 victory over the Washington Redskins. The victory guarantees that they will a) not be the single-worst team in Minnesota Vikings’ history in terms of win-loss record, and b) no longer eligible for the top overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.

While I still think Christian Ponder will develop into a good, dependable NFL quarterback, I’ve been a fan of Joe Webb since he was drafted. I’m delighted to see that he is getting the opportunity to showcase his diverse skill set, and I’d be even happier if the team can work him into games more regularly.

Tom Pelissero thinks there’s a bit more of a dilemma for Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier now:

Two appearances. Two rallies.

That was enough for coach Leslie Frazier to open the door on Saturday afternoon for the possibility of Joe Webb as the Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback of the future.

“Some of the things he does, man, and what it does to the rest of our team — you can’t ignore it,” Frazier said after Webb led three touchdown drives in relief of injured Christian Ponder and the Vikings beat the Washington Redskins 33-26.

“It’s something we’re going to take a real hard look at as we go forward. He definitely lifts our team. He’s done it. He did it a season ago as well.”

Webb threw only five passes, completing four of them for 84 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran five times for 34 yards and another score after taking over with the Vikings trailing 13-10 and 10:40 left in the third quarter.

This, 13 days after Webb relieved Ponder at Detroit, sliced a 17-point deficit to six and had the Vikings only 1 yard from what could have been the winning touchdown.

“Magic. He’s gifted, man,” receiver Percy Harvin said. “He’s one of the gifted players that you can’t describe. You can’t practice it. Not too many teams got quarterbacks that can do what he does.”

Perhaps I should go into the predicting-the-future business:

Drew Brees’ performance against the Vikings on Sunday wasn’t just brilliant, it was historically brilliant. According to the experts at NFL.com (via @DanBarreiroKFAN), Brees on Sunday became the first QB in NFL history with a game of 400+ yards, 5+ TDs and an 80%+ completion rate with no INTs. In other words, Brees’ gashing of the Vikings’ defense today was arguably the most incredible such mauling in the entire long and storied history of professional football.

Update: To say that the Vikings secondary is awful is merely acknowledging reality:

Here is Quarterback A: 69.1 completion percentage; 31 TD passes, 6 INTs; 110.8 passer rating.

Here is Quarterback B: 71.5 completion percentage; 37 TD passes, 11 INTs; 109.1 passer rating.

Quarterback B is Brees. Quarterback A is a combination of everyone who has thrown a pass against the Vikings this season. Yes, that includes Brees and Aaron Rodgers (twice), who are having phenomenal years.

But essentially the Conglomorate known as Quarterback A is having — at the very least — a Pro Bowl season. And if you want to go deeper, the 110.8 rating would be the 8th-best single-season passer rating in NFL history were it one QB. So you could say QBA is having an historic season.

Update, the second: Christopher Gates on the toxic waste pit masquerading as the secondary:

If Sean Payton had wanted Brees to throw for six hundred yards and seven touchdowns, he could have, and there wouldn’t have been a damn thing that the Vikings could have done about it. Because this might be the worst secondary in Vikings’ history. Worse than the Willie Teal years. . .worse than the Wasswa Serwanga/Robert Tate years. . .worse than any collection of secondary players in the 51 seasons that the Minnesota Vikings have been playing football.

Of all the current defensive backs on the Vikings roster, I can’t think of a single one that should feel confident that they’re even going to be on the team next season, let alone playing a significant role. That may sound like hyperbole, but I’m really not sure that it is. I mean, I don’t count Antoine Winfield in that, because he’s done for the year, but really. . .and nobody’s a bigger Winfield fan than I am. . .the guy turns 36 before camp next season. How long can you rely on him?

Chris Cook? The odds are just as good that he’ll be in prison in Week One of the 2012 NFL season than they are that he’ll be in the NFL. Husain Abdullah? Possibly, but now he’s fighting a concussion, and you can never really gauge how well a guy is going to come back from that. Outside of that, there is not one guy in this secondary that should be under the impression that their job is secure. Hell, right now our best defensive back. . .by a significant margin. . .is Benny Sapp, a guy that was watching games at home on his couch three weeks ago.

Update, 20 December: This picture explains why it’s a bad idea for Minnesota to try to come up with trick plays:

Yep. That’s Joe Webb, backup quarterback, faking a hand-off to Christian Ponder, starting quarterback. On a team that includes Adrian Peterson, the best running back in football. I loved this comment at the Daily Norseman from dsludo:

CP7 and Musgrave convo
CP7: What’s the play call?
BM: Derp
CP7 What are you talking about coach?
BM: Derp Derpity Derp
CP7: Fuck it, I’ll be the running back
BM: Derpity Herpity Derp
CP7: Webb you shotgun this shit. AP get back to the sidelines where you belong, while fucking over everyone’s fantasy team. Loadholt pretend you’re an NFL caliber Olineman.
Ready break.
CP7: Damn coach that didn’t work
BM: Derp it again
CP7: Seriously?
BM: Do I look serious, I SAID DERP IT AGAIN BITCH.

Between interceptions and fumbles, Detroit scored 24 points off turnovers, most of them unforced. Things were going so badly for Christian Ponder that he was replaced with backup Joe Webb early in the second half. That upset the defensive scheme that Detroit had been using (Ponder can run, but is still limited with a hip injury — Webb is an even better runner than Ponder), allowing the Vikings to mount a comeback that almost succeeded. The last play of the game saw the Vikings on Detroit’s 1-yard line, only to fumble away the ball which Detroit finally recovered fifty yards upfield.

John Holler, Viking Update:

When all was said and done, the Vikings threw three interceptions, had a handful of other passes that could have been intercepted, five fumbles and three fumbles lost — shooting themselves in the foot early and late and handing the Lions a win with a fumbling, bumbling, never-ending turning point.

On the positive side (even games as bad as this can have their positive notes), Jared Allen regained the NFL lead in sacks, registering three of them against Matthew Stafford. He now has 17.5 on the season and 100.5 in his career. Joe Webb had the longest running play of the season with his 65-yard TD on a third-down scramble. He also scored his first career passing TD.

Jeremy Fowler, St. Paul Pioneer Press:

Once again, the Vikings were left with little consolation after another high-drama loss because of a disastrous start and a furious comeback.

Only this game came with an unexpected twist: the benching of the potential franchise quarterback.

The Vikings want to avoid a quarterback controversy despite Christian Ponder’s benching in the third quarter.

Ponder, who battled a hip injury all week, will remain the Vikings’ No. 1 quarterback despite Webb’s 109 rushing yards in the Vikings’ new scramble-till-you’re-tired offense.

“No issue,” coach Leslie Frazier said. “Christian’s our starting quarterback.”

Ted Glover, Daily Norseman:

There is no quarterback controversy. Christian Ponder is the quarterback of this team, and if you thought he wouldn’t make typical rookie mistakes, and have at least one facepalm game, then I doubt we can have an intelligent conversation about this.

Did he make poor throws? Yeah. Did he have a bad game? Yep. I can forgive the first turnover that was a strip sack for a TD, and those picks were terrible throws. But until he was pulled so he wouldn’t take more of a physical beating, he rallied. He still made throws, and he had a couple of nice TD passes. And Joe Webb rallied this team in a way that I frankly didn’t think was possible. I tip my cap to you, Spiderman. That was a yeoman’s performance out there, and if my vote for game ball of the week is worth anything, my vote goes to you, Mr. Webb.

[. . .]

Every Safety On The Roster: You guys are a black hole from which talent cannot escape. How many weeks in a row have we seen a cornerback release his guy to the safety, only to have the safety in row 6 ordering a dog and a beer? It happened at least three times today, and they went a long way to make Titus Young look like Jerry Rice. Titus Young. Seriously?? Their play makes me long for Madieu Williams.

Every Offensive Tackle On The Roster: Phil Loadholt and Charlie Johnson should be arrested as accomplices in attempted murder, because they damn near got Christian Ponder killed. On the first offensive play of the game, Phil Loadholt put his matador training skills to use, waving a red blanket and yelling ‘OLE!’ as Cliff Avril blew by him, forcing a fumble in the end zone that the Lions recovered for a TD. First. Play. Charlie Johnson wasn’t much better, and by the third quarter Ponder had been TKO’d, and Joe Webb took over. Thank God Webb has some wheels, or he’d be in intensive care next to Ponder.

The Vikings head to Detroit to challenge the Lions’ fifth-ranked passing attack with a depleted secondary that’s been embarrassing the past seven games.

How embarrassing?

Well, for starters, it’s allowed quarterbacks to complete 71 percent of their passes with 18 touchdowns and no interceptions. And the Vikings have one of the best pass rushes in the league.

Of course, it doesn’t help that the Vikings have used four left cornerbacks, three free safeties and been forced to use nine different combinations in the secondary.

“We talked in depth about it the last couple of days and what we can do to try and help our guys on the back end,” Frazier said Wednesday. “We’ll try some things. You can only do what you can do, but we’ll try to offset what’s happening with some of the quarterbacks that we’re facing. This is a pass offense that we’re facing (on Sunday).

This week’s lucky recipient of a possibly career record passing game? None other than Detroit’s Matthew Stafford. Next week, it’ll be Drew Brees racking up a personal best passing performance for the New Orleans Saints.

Aside from two bad decisions, Ponder played well enough to win and the Vikings could have won the game if the secondary had played even slightly better. Missing three of their top four cornerbacks, and two of their top three safeties, the secondary is cover-your-eyes awful. It’s hard to express just how wide-open Denver’s receivers were during the game. Tebow didn’t have to throw anything difficult, because the Vikings weren’t covering his receivers.

Dan Wiederer:

On Sunday, the Broncos won despite managing only 48 yards and one first down in the first half. They triumphed even after their usually reliable defense was shredded by the Vikings for 489 yards.

If you like twists and abrupt turns and fireworks shows, then Sunday’s game was all sorts of stimulating with five turnovers, 10 second-half scores and plenty of fourth-quarter drama.

If you were a Vikings coach, however, every positive development seemed to be negated by a costly mistake.

As good as Harvin was, making eight catches for a career-best 156 yards with two touchdowns, Demaryius Thomas also wanted his time in the highlight package. Denver’s young receiver had 144 receiving yards and twice broke through busted coverage for second-half touchdowns.

Ponder? He played brilliantly at times, amassing 381 passing yards and bouncing back from a rough start. But all told, his three turnovers cost the Vikings 13 points.

Ponder’s final throw was simply a poor choice, a failed attempt to lure Goodman down to cover Stephen Burton on a shorter route.

“I got a little too greedy,” Ponder said.

It was also Ponder’s ninth turnover in six starts, rookie growing pains that seem to be growing sharper.

However, Christopher Gates thinks the “kids are alright”:

We have to start with Christian Ponder. For the majority of the game, Ponder played a pretty damn good game of football. After all, the Vikings dropped him back to pass 50 times (47 pass attempts and three times that he got sacked). That’s an insane amount of passes for a rookie, and Ponder spent a good portion of the first half getting slammed. . .so much so that during one of the Broncos’ offensive possessions, he put on extra padding on the sidelines. He clearly wasn’t 100%, and despite all of that, he stood in there and he kept firing and kept firing.

Did he throw a couple of terrible passes? Yeah, he most certainly did. But again, that’s going to happen with a rookie quarterback. I think some of us have forgotten what it’s like to have a young signal caller behind center. The last young quarterback that this team started was Daunte Culpepper, and in his first season as a starter (after a full year of sitting on the bench, mind you), he still threw 16 interceptions. . .and he was throwing to Randy Moss and Cris Carter (among others) and playing behind an outstanding offensive line. Rookie quarterbacks are going to make bad throws, folks, there’s no way around that. Two ill-timed throws from Christian Ponder shouldn’t completely negate the fact that he, by and large, played an outstanding game.

[. . .]

But that’s not to say that there isn’t going to be talent developing around him, because clearly there will be. I’m running out of superlatives to describe Percy Harvin. Honestly, if he’s not the most dangerous open field runner in the league, he’s on the short list. But we expect that from Harvin. You know what we don’t expect?

We don’t expect six catches and 90 yards from Devin Aromashodu. We don’t expect 21 carries for 91 yards from Toby Gerhart. We don’t expect Stephen Burton, a seventh-round pick up from the practice squad that was supposed to be a project, to be making big catches on third downs and moving the chains.

And Kyle Rudolph? Seriously, what the heck else do I have to say about this guy other than “Why on earth is he only being targeted a few times a game?”

Of course, for all the concerns about Ponder throwing that last INT, if the secondary had been able to manage even a mediocre game, it never would have come down to the final series. Tom Pelissero was at the press conference after the game for Leslie Frazier’s statement:

Leslie Frazier was as mad at the podium as he’s been all season.

He ripped the Minnesota Vikings’ patchwork secondary and suggested some players may lose their jobs for letting Tim Tebow wind up (and wind up some more) and rack up chunk after chunk through the air in the second half of the Denver Broncos’ 35-32 win on Sunday at the Metrodome.

“Can’t make any excuses about it,” Frazier said. “Just a poor job, and we’ve got to identify somebody who can come back there and make a play for us when the ball’s in the air.”

In the first half, Tebow threw for 29 yards on 4-of-6 passing and took two sacks, looking every bit like the young quarterback with a round-the-world delivery who might be in over his head as an NFL passer.

In the second half, Tebow was 6-of-9 for 173 yards and two touchdowns, repeatedly exploiting the caverns that opened in the Vikings’ Cover-2 zones as the Broncos scored five times in their last seven possessions.

“We were just playing a basic coverage with a lead,” Frazier said. “To not be able to execute that is a bad thing, because it means you can’t play any coverage. …

“The fact that we’ve got new guys and we’re rotating guys because we’ve had some injuries — that happens. But when you’re out there as a professional athlete, you have to find a way to do your job, and we did not find a way to do our job.”