By the time you read this, yours truly is either going to be getting ready to go into or already well into MOPP 4, so I'm writing this. . .with my mind.
Or it could be that I wrote it last night and just scheduled it to post this morning. Whichever one you think is cooler and/or funnier.
So, there aren't generally a lot of candidates for "manning up" in a game where your team loses by just shy of 30 points, but I'm going to put a few options out there anyway.
DE Jared Allen - We've been over what Allen did on the night, with the strip/sack that set up Minnesota's only touchdown. The Vikings didn't have a lot of impact plays, but that one was certainly the biggest.
CB Chris Cook - Because. . .well, on a night where a lot of Minnesota defensive backs took turns getting burned, Cook actually played relatively well. Or, at least, he didn't totally embarrass himself. That's gotta count for something, right?
QB Christian Ponder - For a guy that probably wasn't expecting to play, I thought Ponder came in and acquitted himself pretty well. . .you know, considering that he spent most of his 21 snaps running for his life. He went 9-for-17 for 99 yards, and was off target on six passes, according to Tom Pelissero. All in all, I thought he did pretty well.
So, those are pretty much the options. . .limited though they may be. If you have another nominee, you can put them in the comment section?