1) Football is ultimately about money. Flashy plays put paying fans in seats. Defense wins championships, but offense sells tickets. Blow another team out, and your team's name will be the one talked about around the water cooler.

2) Calling a risky play when you're far ahead is a safe way to practice it in a live game. The Vikings may enter a situation in the upcoming weeks where they NEED to call that play. Having already done so under pressure will give the team confidence, and increase the likelihood of success.

3) This one is an opinion, but, to me, not trying to score is a lot more embarrassing than putting another few points on the board. Losing sucks, but when a team throws in the towel, it's just plain demeaning. At least when an opponent is still playing the game, you can try to redeem yourself with some flashy play of your own, even if it won't win the thing for you. Once they've called off the dogs, though, there's nothing you can do. If you do something great, no one cares, because the other team isn't playing. If someone's going to beat me, then just do it already. Don't patronize me, worrying about running up the score.

Anyway. In summary, I don't agree that putting more points on the board is disrespectful. Even if it is, I think that making the fans happy and gaining valuable play experience justifies the action. Obviously a coach has to weigh those benefits against the possibility of injuring a player, but that's his call. If he wants to do it, I think he has perfectly justifiable reasons to support his decision.