Christian Ponder Gets This Week's Game Ball

by Christopher Gates on Oct 27, 2011 6:25 AM CDT in Minnesota Vikings 2011 Season

After putting some spark into the offense, quarterback Christian Ponder has been awarded the Daily Norseman Game Ball of the Week, sponsored by Samsung. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

Well, let's keep Ponder-mania going for just one more post, shall we?

Our young quarterback was voted by you, the people, to be the recipient of this week's Samsung Game Ball of the Week, and by one of the slimmer margins we've had since we started giving this award out. Of the 822 votes cast, Christian Ponder received 350 votes (42.6%), narrowly edging out Adrian Peterson, who garnered 338 votes (41.1%).

Jared Allen finished a fairly distant third, picking up 94 votes (11.4%), while Michael Jenkins finished an even more distant fourth with just 38 votes (4.6%). Only two people managed to vote for "Other," and I'm not exactly sure who they wanted to see up there that wasn't already listed, but their 0.2% of the vote is important, too.

So, in his first National Football League start, Christian Ponder has already picked up his first major award. What, you don't think a Game Ball from us is important and/or prestigious? I beg to differ.

Hopefully there are a whole lot more of these where this one came from.

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Well deserved.

I thought Ponder would win by a landslide though. Without Ponder, AD only gets 100 yards.

"Let's go our there, and stick our fists through their ribcages, rip our their hearts, eat them, and shit them back out on the field!!" - Blue Mountain State

by Alittlemore_cowbell on Oct 27, 2011 8:41 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs

I see what you are getting at but it wasn't like all of APs big runs he was uncontested at the line of scrimmage.

They still had 8 or 9 in the box. AP was a fricken terror!

IF YOU THINK REEM SHOULD BE RATED ANY HIGHER THAN AROUND THE #5 HEAVYWEIGHT (AND THAT IS STRETCHING IT) THEN YOU ARE A FLIPPIN MORON, PLAIN AND SIMPLE.

by Edgecrusher71 on Oct 27, 2011 8:56 AM CDT up reply actions

Sometimes yes, but the kid kept them honest. They didn’t do that the WHOLE game like we’ve seen in the past, and when they did he proved that he could hurt them through the air. AP just did what AP does..but you have to admit that he wouldn’t have had near as many without the QB play.

by PURPpplEATER on Oct 27, 2011 9:10 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions

It could go either way

One might argue that Ponder’s passing lanes were open because AP was ripping off big runs left and right. Look Ponder played well for his first start. He did move the offense way better than McNabb has. He did provide a spark. But most of his completions were on 3rd and long, obvious passing situations. AP did his damage on 1st and 2nd down. The pack knew the run was coming but could not stop him.

How about a game ball to the offensive line? That was their best performance all season too!

"God always comes first, then grades, (and lastly) football." 11-year old phenom Demias Jimerson on his reaction to being told that he cannot score more than 2 TD's per game in his Arkansas Pee-Wee football league.

by NMVike on Oct 27, 2011 10:16 AM CDT up reply actions

Exactly what I was going to come in and say. I think Ponder got help because AP was on the field. Not so much the other way around.

IF YOU THINK REEM SHOULD BE RATED ANY HIGHER THAN AROUND THE #5 HEAVYWEIGHT (AND THAT IS STRETCHING IT) THEN YOU ARE A FLIPPIN MORON, PLAIN AND SIMPLE.

by Edgecrusher71 on Oct 27, 2011 10:25 AM CDT up reply actions

Balance is the key, don't over analyze it.

The best offense is a balanced one. By that I mean that you can still favor the run or the pass 60% of the time, but the effective mixture of being able to do both well has always kept defenses guessing & always will. We have seen what happens when the other teams just gang up on A.P. without fear of the passing game. A.P. will be far more effective with a little help from the passing game & vice versa. I would sell my soul for a top 5 offensive line.

by iowaron on Oct 27, 2011 11:52 AM CDT up reply actions

They feedback on each other

But that opening play went a long way to establishing that we were going to pass too. That threat wasn’t there against Chicago, and the Bear were able to contain AP.

by amiller92 on Oct 27, 2011 1:20 PM CDT up reply actions

Yes and No

I agree with you about the AP helping Ponder part, but the offensive line does not get a game ball for playing mediocre at best. I am not rewarding them for going from absolute crap to semi passable.

14 halll of famers. Wait Cris Carter isn't in the Hall of Fame yet!? Wtf is wrong with these people!?

by Thor82 on Oct 27, 2011 10:28 AM CDT up reply actions

Wow dude

They “allowed” 2 sacks against Matthews and opened up holes for AP to rush for 175 and still no love? Notice the quotations on allowed, Ponder was running on both of those losses so technically a sack but not really the fault of the line.

by NMVike on Oct 27, 2011 10:32 AM CDT up reply actions

Yep..

Green Bay ranks 17th in sack percentage, down from third last season and 12th in 2009. The Packers rank 31st in passing yards allowed and 27th in total yards, numbers that reflect not only disappointing coverage by defensive backs and linebackers but also the disappointing pass rush. They rank 9th in run defense giving up over 100 yrds per game. 175 yrds from Ap is another day at the office and has more to do with his ability than the offensive line.

14 halll of famers. Wait Cris Carter isn't in the Hall of Fame yet!? Wtf is wrong with these people!?

by Thor82 on Oct 27, 2011 10:49 AM CDT up reply actions

Green Bay is vunerable on the defensive side.

Problem is Rodgers gets the job done when it counts. Even though we were faced with 4th & 10 we should have took a shot. Their offense has carried them this year & it ran out the clock on us too. New Orleans came back on them but ran out of time. If we convert & take it down & score leaving them with little or no time. That’s the way you beat them with their defense on the field.

by iowaron on Oct 27, 2011 12:07 PM CDT up reply actions

My opinion

was that it was the right call to punt the ball away. If you don’t convert the 4th and 10 the game is basically over. We knew they were going to run the ball to eat up the clock and Frazier had faith in the ability for the D to stop the run. We had up to that point. Force them to punt, get the ball back and drive for a winning score.

14 halll of famers. Wait Cris Carter isn't in the Hall of Fame yet!? Wtf is wrong with these people!?

by Thor82 on Oct 27, 2011 2:27 PM CDT up reply actions

totally agree with that

by NMVike on Oct 27, 2011 2:34 PM CDT up reply actions

And going into the bears game many people thought Jared Allen would decapitate Jay Cutler

based on JA’s production and the bears inability to protect Cutler up to that point. In the same sense why do you think that a lot of people thought that facing the Pack would be a tall order for Ponder? I think #52 on their team had a lot to do with that opinion.

Point is that statistics don’t play the game. Players do. And coaches approach each game differently in terms of scheme. Musgrave did not use max protect very often vs. the Pack. Instead he rolled Ponder out a lot and the Oline did their part when Ponder stayed in the pocket.

I am by no means implying that the oline issues are fixed. I am simply saying that they played better vs. the pack than they have all season.

by NMVike on Oct 27, 2011 2:06 PM CDT up reply actions

I will agree with that.

I am still not giving them any rewards for the way they played. That was easily the best OL showing we have had this season, but again that doesn’t say much.

14 halll of famers. Wait Cris Carter isn't in the Hall of Fame yet!? Wtf is wrong with these people!?

by Thor82 on Oct 27, 2011 2:23 PM CDT up reply actions

Cool

And I was being a little facetious with my game ball comment in the first place. But I do feel that with all the Ponder hype and AP love, the line did get overlooked. And considering that 2 starters were out, I just wanted to mention them. Perhaps thats the key, Berger and Fusco are upgrades?

by NMVike on Oct 27, 2011 2:30 PM CDT up reply actions

Let's hope they are.

Herrera wil be out this week so we’ll get another look to see how Fusco does. I just don’t think Herreras’ knees are going to hold up anymore. Sullivan, I am not a fan of and it seems that Berger should take his place.

14 halll of famers. Wait Cris Carter isn't in the Hall of Fame yet!? Wtf is wrong with these people!?

by Thor82 on Oct 27, 2011 3:35 PM CDT up reply actions

Looks like

That Sullivan will be starting and Berger will take Herrerra’s place.

I’m OK with that for now. I do think both Fusco and Berger did well.

by Arif Hasan on Oct 28, 2011 8:26 AM CDT up reply actions

I guess I'd rather see what Fusco can do

As he’s the young guy, but oh well.

by amiller92 on Oct 28, 2011 10:12 AM CDT up reply actions

I am big Fusco fan since the preseason. Granted he was up against guys that most likely are no longer in the league, but it looked like he was dominating them. Every run play it seemed like he was pushing his guy a couple of yards downfield. I hate to see any of our guys get injured but I was not upset to see Sullivan go down, Herrera seems like he is on his last leg and the Berger / Fusco combo in the middle could very well be the difference.

by MNSportsGuy on Oct 27, 2011 5:05 PM CDT up reply actions

Without AP

Ponder would have not had the game he had, Peterson brought in all the defenders leaving coverage in our favor (like he has ALL season)

game ball should have gone to Peterson, but Ponder fever is running a little too high I guess

by Grape Drank on Oct 27, 2011 4:49 PM CDT up reply actions

Yeah, a ypc of 6+ is pretty amazing

But, I guess that doesn’t matter when a new QB is in town. Maybe Peterson should’ve hit the endzone a couple more times or something.

I mean, yes, it was a promising game by Ponder, but in no way was it more outstanding than Peterson’s.

by REVENGE4KLUWE on Oct 27, 2011 9:46 PM CDT up reply actions

its nice to see the results

as when the post went up and I tried voting it suddenly disappeared completely from the page. the site was kinda wonky last couple of days. hope thats been fixed.

Will the Real Thor Please Stand Up ... ?

by the Real Thor on Oct 27, 2011 8:50 AM CDT reply actions

I think it is just with IE.

Chrome seems to work just fine, but IE sucks.

P.S. Is your real name Thor? Otherwise you are not. :)

14 halll of famers. Wait Cris Carter isn't in the Hall of Fame yet!? Wtf is wrong with these people!?

by Thor82 on Oct 27, 2011 10:30 AM CDT up reply actions

Nice show of support

For hopefully a future superstar.

by scottfromcmh on Oct 27, 2011 10:54 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs

I voted Peterson but Ponder was a good choice too.

I just went with the decision for my vote that while Ponder played great for his first start, Peterson played great period.

by Crosseyes on Oct 27, 2011 3:45 PM CDT reply actions

If there was any doubt as to whether Ponder played well

it was answered tonight on ESPN’s “Audibles”. Even TRENT DILFER, (yes, the same Trent Dilfer who has done nothing but criticize CP7 and the Vikings picking him in the draft) said he was impressed with Ponder’s performance against Green Bay. He talked about Ponder’s poise and how he “looked down the gun” in the fourth quarter, “and made those throws”. To think that not that long ago Dilfer was saying that Ponder would never make it in the NFL because he “disappeared” when the pressure was on.

by Vikinole on Oct 27, 2011 8:31 PM CDT reply actions