The Minnesota Vikings have had a rough first half, but head coach Dennis Green knows the season is far from over. Green's Vikings are coming off an impressive rout of the San Francisco 49ers, but are still only 3-4 this season. On a recent appearance on Up Close with host Gary Miller, Green refused to concede anything.

"We still think we have a legitimate shot to be world champions," says Green. "I think we have a good chance like anyone else because we only have one team in the NFC with less than two losses. We just have to take the high road."

	Dennis Green watches his team lose to the Lions earlier this season.

Green also heaped high praise on the St. Louis Rams, the only unbeaten team in the NFL.

"I saw that game on video against San Francisco," says Green. "I watched it two times. I saw more speed and explosiveness on their football team than probably any other team in the NFC. They are legitimate."

The following is an edited transcript of Green's interview.

Miller: You got off to a 2-4 start, how right does it feel after winning yesterday against the San Francisco 49ers?

Green: I tell you what, it's been tough. You know, in 24 quarters of football, that's (the first) six games, 24 quarters of football, I've personally feel we've only played one really good quarter; that was the 3rd quarter against Detroit. That means offense and defense and special teams all feeding off each other. Now yesterday against San Francisco, we played four good quarters of football. We blocked the punt, we had a great return, we downed the ball on the 1-yard line, we had long touchdown passes, we had 100 yards rushing, we had interceptions, we had a fumble recovery. Those are the things you have to do and those are the things we have not done. Now, we have nine more games to keep on building on these four quarters against San Francisco.

Miller: You say only one good quarter of football; you're the coach, why do you believe you went 2-4?

Green: It's hard to say. Last year we made every field goal in the regular season, 16 games; this year we've had four blocked and we missed probably four other ones. Part of it is that we had some injuries. Robert Smith has not been healthy all year, where last year we got used to seeing Robert rip off for 40, 50 yard runs, that hasn't been there. His longest run from scrimmage was 15 yards. Our timing has not been there offensively. Could it be that Brian Billick (who was here for seven years) leaving? Could be. Chip Myers, my good friend and best fishing buddy, who died of a heart attack at a young age of 53, it could be. But the bottom line is that it just hasn't clicked and also, as you know, the coordinator can't call a play, throw the ball, catch the ball and protect all at the same time. So I think it's a combination of a lot of things.

Miller: It's easy to blame Randall Cunningham, the quarterback, for your problems, but you decided to start Jeff George. How much credit do you give him (for yesterdays win)?

Green: Well, I know this, I don't think it's only Jeff George, and when we didn't win it wasn't just Randall Cunningham. It's a tough business, it really is, and Randall Cunningham was MVP of the NFL last year, the No. 1 player. But somehow this year it hasn't worked; it's like a picture, things just haven't fallen into place. What Jeff George did yesterday was a solid performance where he got the ball to a lot of different people, made some smart plays, made some smart audibles, and for some reason, it all seemed to click.

Miller: Jeff George has been in the league for 10 years and only won 35 percent of his starts. Is he a winner?

Green: I think he's a winner. I think a quarterback can't win it by himself. You know some of our most well known quarterbacks have been fortunate enough to play on good teams. John Elway, good team; Joe Montana, good team; but you can't put all the blame on the quarterback. What Jeff has is a lot of ability, I think he's a tough guy, I think hes got a lot of guts, I think he wants to win. I don't think he's been fortunate enough to have continuity on the staffs he's been on, whether its Indianapolis, Atlanta or Oakland. I also don't think he's had a chance to win because everything hasn't fallen into place. Part of it would be on him and part of it on the rest of the team too. All I know is this: we think that he fits in well with our receivers. We have a big group of receivers, he throws a quick ball, he can throw a high ball, and we've got four guys who are over 6-3 to throw the ball to. If we can keep the trend going, particularly this week going into Mile High Stadium, I think we have a chance.

Miller: Randall Cunningham was replaced as a starter by Jeff George, but handled it in a very laudable fashion. Do you think he gave up on his job too easily?

Green: I don't think he gave it up easily. He knew it wasn't up to him, he knew that that was my call as head coach, it wouldn't matter what he said or what anyone else said. I think that Randall Cunningham handled this difficult situation and handled this year as well as anybody could. I don't just look at the six games; I also looked at the four preseason games and I felt that the first 10 games, really nine and one-half, that our rhythm was not really there. I also think that Jeff George handled his role as a guy on the bench and not playing, as well as anybody too. So I think both together, we have a guy now that is the starting quarterback, a guy who used to be the backup and a guy who used to be the starter and now he's the backup, and they're both team players. If an injury happens to Jeff George, I think that Randall Cunningham will come off the bench and do what he did last year, which is to help us win.

Miller: Robert Smith is out, but he wasn't out for the 2-4 start. How much has the criticism of you hurt this year?

Green: It doesn't hurt at all. We don't worry about criticism, that is really the least of our problems. A lot of guys are gone, we lost six starters off of our defense last year and we lost about eight or nine role players, guys that were really good players who are playing for other teams in the NFL, so we don't have our whole team back. But I think most people who criticize us look at our offense, that's what it is all about. We didn't win 15 games last year just because of our offense, so we don't worry about criticism. We still think we have a legitimate shot to be world champions. I think we have a good chance like anyone else because we only have one team in the NFC with less than two losses. We just have to take the high road.

Miller: Are the St. Louis Rams legitimate - are they the best team in the conference?

Green: Yes. I saw that game on video against San Francisco, I watched it two times. I saw more speed and explosiveness on their football team than probably any other team in the NFC. They are legitimate. Very good defense, extremely physical, Kurt Warner looks like Brad Johnson, big tall guy, nice touch, gets rid of the ball early. They have a lot of speed at wide receiver, very healthy Isaac Bruce, Hakim can make big plays all over the field, they are a legitimate team and that's why they are 5-0.

Miller: Do you think Jerry Rice is through and do you think Steve Young should quit?

Green: I think the Steve Young issue is medical, I don't think many people think Steve Young is going to come back. He's 38 years old, he's had a Hall of Fame career. I think Steve Young is the most competitive player to ever play in the game. You add in USFL, Tampa Bay, getting his brains beat out the first three years, patience to wait to play following Joe Montana. I think he's the most competitive player to play quarterback and he has the Super Bowl rings and the competitive game to prove it. Jerry Rice can still play: the question is, is he going to play after next year and will he play at the same competitive level, I think that's really crucial.

Miller: You took a chance on Dimitrius Underwood with a first round draft pick. He wound up leaving the team and later attempted suicide. How much did it affect you when he left the team, and how does this affect you now, especially concerning this latest situation?

Green: Well first off, we hope that Dimitrius is OK because that is the No. 1 thing. We had two first round picks; we had the No. 1 player on the board, we took (quarterback) Daunte Culpepper; we see him as our future quarterback. We had Dimitrius Underwood rated (like a lot of the other guys) as the second best defensive lineman on the board. That's where Miami had him, and a lot of other people. We took a chance on him because he did not play his senior year. We did not have a clue that he didn't want to play football, or we wouldn't have taken him. We thought we were thorough. We thought we investigated very clearly, we have been known to take some chances. We feel we have the type of program that if a guy is struggling, either professionally or some other way, that he can come in here and be around a lot of great guys, we have continuity in our program. We feel if we can get a guy here we can turn his career around; it doesn't always work that way and we failed miserably with Dimitrius Underwood.

Miller: You're going to be the co-chair of the Competition Committee come Feb. 1st. What does that mean to you and how do you feel about the realignment in 2002 and the fact that L.A. didn't get the expansion team?

Green: I'm sorry L.A didn't get a team. I was really excited about getting a team in L.A, hopefully it will happen quickly. Realignment is something that has to happen. I'm not sure if we are going to go further than the AFC, the 16 teams, the NFC, the 16 teams. I believe we will still have regions: the AFC and the NFC don't have as much significance now in the global economy. The big thing about the Competition Committee, I'm proud to be co-chair with Rich McKay, the general manager at Tampa. I'm vice president of Football Operations (in Minnesota), so I have that administrative side, I just look for the issues. We want to make sure that instant replay stays intact, that we don't want to criticize it and make it a panacea for everything. It isn't that, it isn't an answer for every issue, but instant replay is doing its job and we want to make sure we keep it that way.

Miller: You're playing in Mile High. How much of what they did to Green Bay (two weeks ago) scare you?

Green: I think a lot, because we're going to get the team that beat Green Bay at home; we're not going to get the team that lost to New England on the road. Like I said, we're going to have to play four quarters of good football like we did against San Francisco. We're going to need four quarters of defense, offense, and special teams all feeding on each other to get a win at Mile High Stadium.