Packers Will Face Vikes Rookie QB
Christian Ponder is reportedly set to make his first NFL start against the Packers this Sunday.
By PackerAaron
From NFL Network's Jason LaCanfora:
Vikings are changing QBs. Leslie Frazier has made the change and notified those involved. Christian Ponder takes over as starter.
Dom Capers and company can probably expect a healthy dose of Adrian Peterson (not that they weren't going to get that anyway with McNabb at quarterback) when they travel to the Metrodome to take on the Vikings this Sunday afternoon.
Ponder was taken 12th overall by the Vikings in the NFL Draft this past April. This will be his first NFL start.
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Comments (28)
October 18, 2011 at 01:10 pm
In other words, we REALLY better win this game.
October 18, 2011 at 01:15 pm
Remember Josh Freeman's first career NFL start?
PackerAaron
October 18, 2011 at 01:48 pm
Exactly.
October 18, 2011 at 02:27 pm
Shut your mouth.
October 18, 2011 at 02:41 pm
Exactly. ;)
October 18, 2011 at 03:32 pm
This has been my exact thought....
October 18, 2011 at 01:33 pm
One thing I always hate is when this team gets to face a guy with little tape on him.
Certainly the Packers' defense should have the advantage and I suspect they'll fill the box committed to shutting down Peterson, daring Ponder to beat them. But something tells me they could get gashed for some big plays in the passing game ... hopefully they'll be dialed in and it won't matter.
October 18, 2011 at 01:35 pm
Probably, but they'll also probalby confuse the hell out of him with different coverage and blitz packages. Should be plenty of big plays by the Packer D as well.
October 18, 2011 at 01:55 pm
The Packers will probably play exactly the same as in the last weeks: Play good run defense, control the gaps, no crzy blitz stuff until a firm lead is established and tighten up near the end zone. It worked until now.
It's kind of a trap game though, as they an even bigger favorite now.
October 18, 2011 at 01:53 pm
I'd rather McNabb play. Is it possible to be worse than he's been?
October 18, 2011 at 01:59 pm
Curtis Painter looked like Peyton in the 3rd preseason game,the one that is suppose to matter and then Newton looked like HOFer against us and now Ponder.
An unknown again but this time with A.P. and a return guy who does well against us in Harvin and some natural hate of the Packers along with that calf Rope(ing)-a-Dope Allen who seems to have Rodgers number in his grasp all to often.
A couple of good returns and a dose of AP and this game may not be so easy especially if we fall behind 14 as with the Panthers.
October 18, 2011 at 04:36 pm
Allen the Hunter didn't do SHIT last year. But we don't have Cliffy. Lets see what happens. I'm pullin for Marshall, if he handles this, he's a real man.
October 18, 2011 at 05:58 pm
It was 13.
October 18, 2011 at 02:31 pm
Unknown, unshmown. This changes nothing, we go in there and pillage, plain and simple. The days of worrying what the opposition is bringing to the table are over, it's all about the GBP. Everything else is just semantics.
GBP 4 LIFE
October 18, 2011 at 02:49 pm
Atta boy!! This is indoors, on a fast track and against a division opponent. They know what to do and simply have superior talent on both sides of the ball. It simply doesn't matter who is throwing the ball...the Vikings won't keep up and it will be a good week to be a Packer fan in Mn.
October 18, 2011 at 03:17 pm
Well CMIII start licking your chops. This OL line has been terrible and two starters might be out so it could get ugly for the QUEENS!!! Plus OC doesn't know how to use his best personal. Harvin is the best recieving threat and he only got 44% of snaps... We proved a couple years ago that we can handle a steady dose of AP. When we shut them out in GB!! GO PACK GO!!!
October 18, 2011 at 03:18 pm
So Ponder can go out this week and watch balls hit receivers in the hands and be dropped. Might as well indoctrinate him in a culture of losing right out of the gate. As a division opponent, with AP, and a chance to be 7-0 at the bye, I don't see the Pack looking past this game and falling into a trap.
October 18, 2011 at 05:47 pm
On golden Ponder, pressure there is.
- Yoda
October 18, 2011 at 05:56 pm
I kind of hate myself for this, but with this team the regular season is kind of a snoozer.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE watching the games on Sundays, but I feel very little anticipation and excitement leading up to them. It's hard to get amped up for the games, when in your heart you know it should be a walkover. I hope the Pack handles success better than me ;)
October 18, 2011 at 09:00 pm
"I feel very little anticipation and excitement leading up to them."
Dude, I feel ya and I've actually been 'self scouting' about just that the last couple weeks.
Years past I would get myself worked up into such a lather it was really ridiculous, just because there was a bit of question going into the games. This year aside from the Saints, I feel your lethargy. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I'd say good because we know what a badass team we have and we know we should and probably will win every game we play in. But I will honestly admit, a part of me has wondered why I'm not more pumped? Cuz we're the shit and we both know it, that's why.
GBP 4 LIFE
October 18, 2011 at 09:16 pm
I kind of got up for the atlanta game. The bottom line is the pack has played the teams on their schedule, but the schedule has been soft. Im looking forward to the Lions. Hopefully the Pack do not look past everyone on their way there.
October 18, 2011 at 11:01 pm
Shoot, for me the Atlanta game was the epitome of this. We were freaking down 14 in basically the first quarter, and I still wasn't worried.
I swear I was, this, close to changing to the redzone channel in the second half on Sunday.
My new hash tag #superbowlproblems
October 19, 2011 at 04:30 pm
I think it's mainly the 6-0 thing. We just have a cushion right now. There's no reason to be on edge, because the team is NOT on the edge of losing anything now.
If we lost a few, the nervous excitement would ramp back up.
NOT complaining. I like being undefeated, just find, it's just a little different.
October 18, 2011 at 06:54 pm
First off I like Ponder. Hate that he is a Viking because I wanted to see him succeed and be able to cheer for him. Can't happen now. That said....
I don't think this is a good situation FOR PONDER. The Vikings next 5 games are GB, @ Car, @ GB, Oak, and @ Atl. They will be lucky to win one of those games. After that they have Den, @Det, NO, @Was, and Chi. They have a pretty good chance in 4 of those 5 games. Why not let McNabb fail more for the next five games giving Ponder more time and improving your draft position and then give Ponder the shot for the last five games. It's quite possible they would go into their Dec 4th game with only two wins and it's quite possible they could win two of the last five with Ponder. Matching the wins in the last month of the season with Ponder that you had all year with McNabb could go a long way for Ponder and the teams confidence going forward.
Really seems like the Vikings aren't thinking far enough ahead to do what's best for their QB of the future and team in general. Since it's the Vikings though I'm more than ok with that.
October 18, 2011 at 07:10 pm
This is going to be awesome.
October 18, 2011 at 09:17 pm
I'm hoping MM burns the Bears-Vikings tape and takes a good look at ARZ @ MN a couple of weeks back. The Vikings are pissed they looked so pathetic Sunday night - remind anyone of the Bears and their Monday night performance last week? And with memories of Josh Freeman dancing in my head, I get a little concerned. It probably won't matter but I've scored some nice tickets to the game Sunday and don't want to give the Queens any reason for hope (let alone deal with the excessively obnoxious Vikings fans). This is their Super Bowl!
October 18, 2011 at 10:01 pm
The Queens actually made Chicago look like a respectable team last sunday, which isn't the case. This is a bad team, and no way a rookie QB steps in a wins this game, regardless of what Peterson does. This should be another easy win. Should be.
October 19, 2011 at 06:10 am
Ponder is still green. Yeah he's likley better than McNabb (but then I'm likely better than Mcnabb right now) but he inherited a bad team that is mistke-ridden right now.
Their performance against the Bears was awful. Leslie Frazier is just plain BAD at play calling (the guy gets away from AP soooo quickly it's a joke).
I'd say we have NOTHING to worry about.