Ponder

[blue_healer_guy]

Scott, I think you answered your own ? The reason u throw a 3yd pass with 14 to get is you dont have faith in the qb. There is nobody on this board with a sane mind that thinks ponder is/will be a good qb.

[Scott K]

Well he didnt do so well throwing a 1 yard pass either, you might as well just take the gamble on a deep pass, and maybe the receiver will get tangled up and draw a flag.

[CaptainMusky]

I guess the 44 yard pass to Simpson didn't happen. He didn't look like a superstar but he certainly didn't have much time either. The o line looks like garbage.

[aanderud]

The 47 yard pass to simpson was one of the best catches I've seen out of a MN receiver in a couple years. It was NOT a good pass, just barely catchable. A good QB would have hit him in stride and it would have been an instant TD.

[Alagnak]

I guess the 44 yard pass to Simpson didn't happen. He didn't look like a superstar but he certainly didn't have much time either. The o line looks like garbage.

That's was ONE pass! LOL It's the first long pass in his career that wasn't behind the receiver by 5 yards. He must have had his eyes closed or something. The O-line looks like garbage? The o-line is stacked with talent too! AP seems to do pretty good behind that 'garbage' o line. I can't believe there really is a fan still out there making Frazier type excuses for this guy. CaptainMusky- are you his dad or something? That would explain your man love for this QB who won't even be 2nd string on another team in a year or two.

[hockeybc69]

Who deserves the most blame in this mess? Our GM? Head coach? Someone in addition to Ponder needs to be dumped before it will get better.

Ponder looked visibly confused and scared in close up shots. That was a pathetic performance to watch.

[CaptainMusky]

Alganak, are you even serious? Did you watch the game? The o line may be "stacked with talent" but the truth is they have looked like dump all preseason and again today. Peterson sure looked great on that first run then what 10 rushes for 5 yards? Good lord. People get blamed for drinking purple koolaid but wow you must not have even watched the same game.

Not sticking up for ponder as he didn't look good but therewas lots of blame to go around.

[Wensel]

Hey Gregg Jennings how's that working out for you?

[Alagnak]

Alganak, are you even serious? Did you watch the game? The o line may be "stacked with talent" but the truth is they have looked like dump all preseason and again today. Peterson sure looked great on that first run then what 10 rushes for 5 yards? Good lord. People get blamed for drinking purple koolaid but wow you must not have even watched the same game.

Not sticking up for ponder as he didn't look good but therewas lots of blame to go around.

I'm dead serious- and you're drunk on purple shots still aren't you? It's the only way you can honestly blame anyone but Ponder on the fact that he sucks. Ponder can have the pro bowl o-line and receivers. He's still going to look dazed and confused, miss the mark on easy passes more than not, throw weak azz wobbling ducks, and rarely even try to hit a timed route because he doesn't trust his own arm. His pump fakes aren't even timed right to throw a corner off- that's how bad this dude is. Oh, and I thought pre season was to evaluate 2nd and 3rd string talent ;-) Keep making excuses man. He's not my bff. He's going to break your heart man. lol

[gregg52]

the o line wasnt very good but ponder needs to go

he has no accuracy what so ever

i'm sure jennings use to catching bullets from rogers

was thinking man what did i do

this guy will get me killed reaching backwards all day

[CaptainMusky]

Yeah alganak you expert you. Peterson looked fanatastic on one play yet you think he had a great game. O line play was terrible. If you think otherwise you just have a boner to have someone's head. I could care less if ponder is in there or Cassel the result would have been the same. Guaranteed.

Ponder made errors no doubt one int was Simpsons fault one his arm was blocked due to collapsed pocket the other well I don't remember that one so we'll give that one solely to ponder.

I wonder who was drunk during the game. Good grief.

[Scott K]

A decent QB would have found an open receiver and got the ball to them. I watched most of the Packer Niners game, and they sure found away to get the receivers the ball. But Ponder cant.

[Big Dave2]

Other QBs don't need their O line to give them so much time on every play. Ponder looks confused and has a hard time making a quick decision. Remember watching Brett Favre? He got the ball out so quickly usually that he barely needed the o-line to protect him. Watch Payton Manning or Aaron Rodgers some time.

[Big Dave2]

After a 10-6 season the guy deserves 1 or 2 reg season games.

Too bad he had absolutely nothing to do with it.

[thatoneguy]

Yeah alganak you expert you. Peterson looked fanatastic on one play yet you think he had a great game. O line play was terrible. If you think otherwise you just have a boner to have someone's head. I could care less if ponder is in there or Cassel the result would have been the same. Guaranteed.

Ponder made errors no doubt one int was Simpsons fault one his arm was blocked due to collapsed pocket the other well I don't remember that one so we'll give that one solely to ponder.

I wonder who was drunk during the game. Good grief.

The first one Ponder threw high on a simple slant route, the second one Ponder made a HORRIBLE decision trying to throw downfield across his body while running left, and the third one was a terrible overthrow of an open receiver.

He played a gawdawful game, and there's no way around it. Week in and week out, he just won't give the Vikes a legit chance to win.

I get a little sick watching Dalton and Kaepernick and knowing we could have drafted either of those guys instead of Ponder.

[hockeybc69]

Anyone else frightened by the similarities of these stats/averages?

[creepworm]

While Dalton would be better than ponder, his stats are greatly inflated by the future hall of fame wr he has to throw to. A very large percentage of his stats are because of AJ Greene. Kaeper nick would be nowhere as good here as he is in San Fran. The coaching staff would not adapt to use his talents the way harbaugh did.

I guess what I am saying is, no qb will succeed here until we get a coaching staff that is capable of being at least a little bit creative.

[james_walleye]

Anyone Notice That When Musgrave Gets The Least Bit "Creative" ThatPonder Magically LooksPretty Good And They Walk Down The Field For A Td......? Then It Takes About 4 More Series Until He Gets "Creative" Again. And By Creative I Mean Calling Plays That 31 Other Offensive Coordinators Would Be Calling All Game.

[nofishfisherman]

I think 95% of us can agree that Ponder has been pretty brutal. No ability to throw a deep ball, no accuracy, gets flustered in the pocket, locks on to one reciever, lacks timing, and the list goes on.

With that said there are still others to blame as well.

1. O-line. They couldn't protect Ponder at all and they only opened up 1 hole for AP all day. Take that one play away and AP averages something like 1 yard per carry. The Lions were also only rushing 4 for much of the game and the O line still couldn't get it done. For those that argue the o-line looked good last year in helping AP go for over 2000, keep in mind there is a big difference between run blocking and pass blocking. I'm sure they'll open up more holes for AP this year than they did yesterday but I don't see them protecting the QB any better since over the last few years they haven't shown that ability.

2. Play calling. I'll put this one on the entire coaching staff. The offense is so vanilla that any capable D is going to be able to figure it out within the first series. They are almost over commited to the run that they start putting themselves in really bad situations on 3rd down. I'm getting tired of seeing a run on 1st, run on 2nd, and then face a 3rd and 9 on a regular basis. When you are facing a 3rd and long your odds of converting aren't very good if you look at the NFL as a whole. When teams know you have to pass it makes it very difficult for even the best QB's and virtually impossible for a guy like Ponder.

When you combine a bad QB, bad pass protecting o-line, and suspect play calling you get exactly what you saw yesterday. In another thread I predicted a 6-10 finish for the vikings this year, at this point I'm hoping i wasn't overly optimistic with that prediction.

[Scott K]

Just think how many close calls the Lions had against them, the Vikings got lucky they didnt blow us out by 30. We couldnt stop them, and they moved the ball at will. Our linebackers suck as bad as I thought they would. Ponder sucks as bad as I thought he would, our offense line sucks worse then I thought they would.

I predicted between 7-9 wins, I think I was being optimistic. I just dont see where we are pulling these 7 wins from after looking at the schedule again.

[BuckSutherland]

We should all remember that the Queens faced possibly the worst secondary in all of football yesterday. Ponder has more blame here than anyone. Way more than the Oline, way more than Musgrave. He flat out stinks. Gonna be about 3-4 really good QBs in the upcoming draft. Hopefully we stink enough to land one of them and I hope Cassel is bad enough that we dont use him for the next 5 years.

[CANOPY SAM]

Just think how many close calls the Lions had against them, the Vikings got lucky they didnt blow us out by 30. We couldnt stop them, and they moved the ball at will.

I was thinking the same thing numerous times throughout yesterday's game. We were amazingly lucky the game score came out as close as it did. It could have so easily been a complete blowout in favor of Detroit, and they're simply not that strong of a team. The final score of this game was not a true reflection of the quality of play by either team.

The Lion's "earned" more points than they actually scored, and the Vikes scored more points then they actually earned/deserved.

I'm not one to typically complain, but I still say we should build a winning team BEFORE we build a billion dollar stadium complex. Right now, we're putting the cart WAY out in front of the horse.

[Scott K]

But look how well it worked for the Twins and the Gophers, they got a new stadium, and became instant Champs!

[FISHINGURU]

Christian Blunder looked rock solid with the way he can manipulate a defense, his quick decision making, and precise touch is exactly why we took him in the 1st round a few yrs ago. He is making big strides in becoming one of the greatest QB's in the game today.

[Big Dave2]