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wtfvikesfan (458)Yes, Christian Ponder’s elbow has prevented him from starting this playoff game, and the Vikings will instead turn to Joe Webb to lead them to their first playoff victory since 2009. Webb hasn’t played more than a few garbage time snaps all season long.
I’ll get the rest of the inactives up momentarily.
The news is crazy.
That is all.
Even with plenty of concerns about whether or not Christian Ponder has what it takes to be a long term solution at quarterback, the Vikings brass has done a great job of keeping quarterback controversies at bay for all of 2012.
Welcome to 2013.
Numerous rumors and “reports” are floating around that Christian Ponder’s “questionable” status was actually more legitimate than many originally thought. Apparently his elbow bursitis, and the need to drain that elbow, could be enough to keep him off the field tonight.
Yes, that means Joe Webb is being rumored to start against the Packers in the biggest game of the year.
We’ll know a concrete answer soon enough, but if you weren’t anxious enough about this game, these rumors are certainly making life interesting for Vikings fans on this Saturday afternoon.
As I mentioned earlier this week, injuries on both teams make Saturday night’s game between the Vikings and Packers a completely unique matchup compared to their previous two.
The Vikings special teams struggled last week with linebacker Tyrone McKenzie leaving due to a shoulder injury. He has been ruled out once again making the Vikings coverage team a point of interest in this one, especially since electric return man Randall Cobb (ankle) is probable to return to the field.
In fact, Cobb’s return means that the Packers talented group of receivers are now healthier than they have been all season long. Greg Jennings is at 100% now while Jordy Neson (knee) and Jermichael Finley (quadriceps) are both listed as probable.
The sudden health of Aaron Rodgers passing weapons unfortunately coincides with the Vikings secondary having some substantial health questions. Rodgers threw a pass in Antoine Winfield’s direction only once prior to Winfield leaving last week’s game with a broken hand that swelled up on him, and then proceeded to pick on his replacement, Marcus Sherels, 10 times in the remainder of the game.
Winfield is listed as questionable but has indicated he will be wearing a new cast on the hand and plans on playing through the pain. His injured teammates in the secondary are Harrison Smith (knee) and A.J. Jefferson (ankle) are both listed as probable, however.
Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder was only able to prepare for his latest biggest career game on a limited basis this week due to an elbow injury in his throwing arm. Leslie Frazier indicated that Ponder is doing everything possible to get ready for this game, and it seems highly unlikely that anyone else gets the start, but one can’t help but wonder if Joe Webb might be making an appearance Saturday night.
Adrian Peterson (abdomen), Brian Robison (shoulder), Jared Allen (shoulder), George Johnson (quadriceps), Chris Kluwe (knee), and Phil Loadholt (knee) are all listed as probable.
Packers receiver Jarrett Boykin and defensive end Jerel Worthy have both been ruled out after suffering injuries last week. Running back James Starks (knee) is listed as questionable.
Cornerbacks Tramon Williams (illness) and Davon House (hip) are both considered probable. Also probable is Charles Woodson (collarbone) who is expected to give the Packers a boost in pass defense after missing considerable time.
The weather forecast for Green Bay is looking to be sub-freezing conditions and possible frozen precipitation. Considering the Packers passing prowess, and Adrian Peterson’s dominance on the ground, I say the nastier the weather is the better off the Vikings are.
After all, an ice pellet or two clinking off of Mason Crosby’s helmet might just be enough to…
Well, here we are, fans of a team that nobody expected to make the playoffs. Now that they have, nobody expects the Vikings to do much in the playoffs.
Here is the best of the best from around the net:
.Three players. The undetermined futures. Three attempts at an answer.
Antoine Winfield
As readers pointed out to me last night, I was wr-wr-wr-wr-mistaken in saying that Antoine Winfield would be playing for a $3 million salary next season. Winfield played enough snaps this season to trigger an escalator for 2013, and reverse a de-escalator for 2012, and he will be owed $7.25 million if the Vikings keep him next season.
The way Winfield has been playing at age 35, there is little reason other than the salary to expect the Vikings to part ways with him, as he has arguably been as valuable as any member of this defense. Evidence of this can be seen by watching last weekend’s game and seeing the passing game of the Packers pick up after Winfield made his early exit.
All indications are that Winfield will do everything possible to play this Saturday night, and he has also reportedly has no interest in hanging up his cleats after this season. Depending on just how much longer Winfield plans on playing may determine his willingness to renegotiate a contract extension to reduce his 2013 cap number.
Percy Harvin
I got this question more than once since the Vikings qualified for the postseason, and the answer is “no,” Percy Harvin cannot be reactivated from the injured reserve and make a playoff appearance. In a new rule, teams are allowed to designate one player per season as “eligible for return” when they are placed on injured reserve, but the Vikings has already used this designation on Chris Cook prior to Harvin’s injury. Cook, of course, has since been able to return and have an impact in the last two games.
Disclaimer: The rest of this is 100% pure speculation.
Harvin suffered a ligament tear in his ankle and was placed on injured reserve on December 5th, a time when the Vikings playoff hopes looked to be all but dead. He has since had an emergency appendectomy.
What isn’t know, however, is whether or not Harvin would otherwise be healthy enough to return at some point during a playoff run if the rules allowed it. Earlier in December, there was some speculation that Harvin has once again grown disgruntled with the Vikings brass and his decision to rehab in Florida instead of Minnesota will only fuel such speculation, whether it is founded or otherwise.
I just can’t help but wonder if we will soon be getting word from Harvin, via Twitter of course, that he feels healthy enough to play football and wishes he were on the field.
This type of development would prove that Harvin is not happy with the Vikings, but also divide a fan base with half of them wondering if Leslie Frazier and Rick Spielman prematurely ending his season was a huge blunder. After all, guys like defensive end George Johnson, who found a roster spot thanks to Harvin’s absence, haven’t exactly had a huge impact at the bottom of the roster. A guy like Harvin could potentially be a game changer at any point in any game.
His future with the team remains a mystery, but I expect we’ll be hearing much more very soon.
Jerome Simpson
A troubled receiver receives a prove-it deal in Minnesota. Said receiver proceeds to get himself constantly hurt and underperform greatly. If that wasn’t enough to guarantee his ticket out of town following the season, then calling one of the local media’s most respected beat writers a “douchebag” ought to do the trick.
Tom Pelissero of 1500 ESPN said that on Tuesday Jerome Simpson, for unknown reasons, called him a douchebag and that Leslie Frazier later called the reporter to apologize for his receiver’s words.
Now, I don’t know Pelissero personally, but I have spoken with him on a couple of occasions and interacted with him plenty and would not characterize him as anything other than honest, opinionated, and hard working.
I don’t know the whole story, but I am guessing that if Frazier is anything like any boss I have ever had, having to call and apologize for one of his employee’s actions will not sit well with him.
What can I say, this is awesome! A year removed from a three win season, the Minnesota Vikings are in the playoffs, while Detroit and Chicago are seeing heads roll. Like I said, this is awesome!
I have been unable to think of a specific “format” to follow this week when it comes to writing on this site, so to kick things off I want to just offer up a few observations pertaining to last week’s victory over Green Bay and this week’s trip to Green Bay.
Here we go:
Was That Progress We Saw?
I am certain that any evaluators with complicated analysis and formulas for grading players will be giving Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder his highest marks of his career for his latest performance. Ponder was 16 of 28 for 234 yards and three touchdowns, posting a career high passer rating of 120.2. Most importantly, he did not turn the ball over at all and completed some crucial third down passes that kept Adrian Peterson on the field, and Aaron Rodgers off of it.
Some Negative Nellies out there (i.e. Me) might be quick to point out that Ponder had some luck aid his efforts and also made a number of questionable throws, but there is no denying that what we saw on Sunday was progress, or at the very least something that looked like progress.
For the sake of starting the new year on positive notes I will not point out the negatives and instead focus on what I thought was Ponder’s best throw of the season. The fourth quarter bomb to Jarius Wright, that went for 45 yards and set up a touchdown, was a work of art. So far this season, I have not seen Ponder confidently stand in the pocket and step into a throw the way he did on that one.
As most of you reading this know, I am not a 100% sold on this kid, but at the same time it is obvious he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. So, it only stands to reason, us fans should be thrilled to witness the progress we did at the most opportune time possible.
Now we get to include post season play in Ponder’s evaluation, which can only be viewed as a bonus when this team is forced to move on with self-evaluation.
Imagine The Possibilities
I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself here, but I want to say this anyways: If there is one team in these playoffs I feel the Vikings matchup great against it is the Atlanta Falcons.
Why do I bring that up?
Well, if the Vikings manage to come out of Saturday’s game as victors; their reward will be a trip to Atlanta to take on the Falcons. In that case, I would strongly predict a win because I feel that strongly about the matchup.
I’m not saying it would be easy, but what I am trying to say here is that it is not inconceivable to me that this team could indeed end up playing in the NFC Championship Game.
A Matter Of Exploitation
Green Bay may not employ all of the same strategies in the upcoming game that they did on Sunday, but if it was pretty obvious what they tried to do to the Vikings… exploit their weaknesses.
The Packers picked on A.J. Jefferson as the weakest link in the secondary. Once Antoine Winfield had to leave due to pain in his broken hand, it was reserve cornerback Marcus Sherels that was viciously targeted. As a result, Aaron Rodgers completed 70% of his passes for 365 yards and four touchdowns. It worked, but just not well enough.
On defense, the Packers schemed to have monster nose tackle B.J. Raji bull rush on obvious running downs and ensured he was lined up against Brandon Fusco, the Vikings weakest link along the offensive line. Raji was consistently getting penetration and made a number of big stops as a result. It worked, but just not well enough.
The health of certain players, particularly Winfield, will be of great importance as the Wild Card weekend draws nearer.
Special Teams Worries
Jeremy Ross has been unable to beat out Randall Cobb as the primary return man in Green Bay, but Cobb’s injury that forced him out of the week 17 lineup gave Ross an opportunity and he took full advantage of it.
Ross averaged 28 yards on three kick returns, including a 44 yarder that he nearly took to the house. He also averaged a whopping 20 yards on two punt returns. Ross is essentially the only return man to shred yardage out of the otherwise stout coverage unit of the Vikings this season.
While the rest of the team is getting hot, however, it was worrisome to see the coverage unit struggle so much heading into the playoffs. The importance of special teams cannot be underestimated, especially for a team that really needs all three phases of the game to be in synch in order to continue their winning streak.
Leslie Frazier Deserves No Small Amount Of Credit
Before the Vikings pay anyone on this roster, Zygi Wilf and Rick Spielman really need to get Leslie Frazier’s contract extended well into the future.
He has handled so many situations with grace, grace that kept things from becoming a media circus, that I just think he is a huge breath of fresh air after the Childress era.
If Frazier has really been able to successfully mentor Everson Griffen, Chris Cook, and Jerome Felton into men of character, after they each made serious off field transgressions, then their success this season (of which there has been plenty) should be directly attributed to his abilities as a head coach.
If Christian Ponder is really going to become the franchise quarterback that flashed last Sunday, then his devotion during the trying times of November should be reciprocated from above.
If Adrian Peterson’s incredible season can ever possibly be duplicated or improved upon in the future, then why not stick with the guy that oversaw the action this season?
If so many rookies can be coached up and produce in such a big way, like they have this season, then why would you want to leave that coaching staff in any sort of limbo state?
It is time for Frazier to be rewarded. Actually, scratch that, it was time for him to be rewarded four wins ago.
Well, this is it. The Vikings need to win to secure a ticket to the postseason, and here is who will not be on the field today:
VIKINGS: QB Bethel-Thompson, WR Burton, CB Burton, S Blanton, LB Cole, OL Kropog, and DE Reed.
This means that the Vikings will have both Brian Robison and Antoine Winfield at their disposal. Meanwhile, the Packers have put receiver Randall Cobb on the inactives list which is considerable news since he has been such a productive member of their offense this season.
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