The last time I saw Tarvaris Jackson in person, his head coach appeared to be in the process of shortening both of their careers. A week removed from running back Adrian Peterson's breakout performance against the Chicago Bears, Brad Childress pulled the plug on the Vikings' best player and inexplicably placed the game in the hands of second-year quarterback Tarvaris Jackson in a 24-14 loss in Dallas on Oct. 21.
Armed with one of the most curious game plans of the modern era, Jackson was 6 of 19 for 72 yards and sacked three times before leaving the game with a broken finger. The following week, a former Super Bowl-winning quarterback told me he'd never seen a head coach put a quarterback in a worse situation.
That Jackson now has the Vikings in prime position to grab the NFC's final wild-card playoff spot is one of the league's most remarkable storylines.
Instead of calling for routes that allowed Jackson to release the ball quickly against the Cowboys, Childress asked his group of nondescript receivers to race downfield in hopes that their quarterback could buy enough time to find them. The Vikings fell to 2-5 after a loss to the Eagles the following week, and it appeared certain they would be in the market for a new quarterback and head coach.
Jackson suffered a concussion during a Week 9 victory over the Chargers that kept him out of a 34-0 loss to the Packers the following week. He was re-inserted as the starter against the Raiders on Nov. 18, in part, because the Vikings were out of options.
Over the past four games, Jackson, once owner of the league's 30th-best passer rating, has completed 61 of 83 passes (73.4 percent) with four touchdowns and only two interceptions. And the Vikings won the first two of those games without Peterson, who was recovering from a knee injury suffered against the Packers.
"I think we had to concentrate more without him back there," Jackson told Hashmarks on Saturday. "We eliminated a lot of the mistakes to compensate for missing a great player. And I've said this a million times, but Chester Taylor's a pretty nice running back."
It's also no coincidence that the Vikings' four-game winning streak occurred after Jackson committed to watching more film. He arrived early at the team's training complex to watch film with quarterbacks Brooks Bollinger and Kelly Holcomb before scheduled meetings, and then started taking tapes home with him.
And since I've been one of Childress' harshest critics, it's important to note the former Eagles offensive coordinator stopped trying to turn Jackson into Donovan McNabb and played more to his strengths. Once defenses began designing their entire game plans around stopping Peterson, Jackson decided to think of himself as more of a playmaker than a game manager.
Last week, the 49ers blitzed both of their corners at least 20 percent of the time in an effort to slow Peterson. The strategy worked against Peterson, who gained three yards, but Jackson and Taylor made enough plays to lead the Vikings to a 27-7 victory.
"Early in the year, I was trying not to make mistakes," Jackson said. "Now, I feel like they're more confident in me. I know the Giants game in the Meadowlands was huge for us. I think people started to believe that I could make some plays in that game."
Jackson was 10-for-12 for 129 yards and a touchdown in a 41-17 win over the Giants on Nov. 25, and he showed much better recognition of when it was time to take off and run (5 carries, 38 yards).
If you've watched enough Vikings football over the past few years, you know it's too soon to go overboard about Jackson's progress. And that's why the quiet player is tempering his own enthusiasm.
He's a SportsCenter junkie (non-paid plug) and reads everything he can get his hands on, but he had to stop when the criticism heated up early in the season. Jackson spent his downtime calling home to check on his son, Tarvaris Jr., who was born a month and a half early, in September.
"My quarterbacks coach (Kevin Rogers) said my demeanor completely changed when he was born," Jackson said. "He said I used to be a lot edgier. Now, I'm happier all the time, and I think it helps me focus."
Because he arrived early, Tarvaris Jr. only weighed 4 pounds, 11 ounces at birth. Now, he's approaching 10 pounds, according to his proud father.
In Minneapolis, all the talk of coaching and quarterback changes has subsided for now. The Vikings enter Monday's division game against the defending NFC-champion Bears as a probable playoff team.
The MNF cameras will focus on Peterson, but Jackson's supporting role shouldn't be underplayed.
