The Fourth quarter started off with a bang. On a third and six, Christian Ponder threw a nice pass to Kyle Rudolph who got some blocking from Michael Jenkins on a walk-in touchdown. Then, with a 12 points lead, Leslie Frazier called for a two point conversion which was successful when Adrian Peterson pounded it up the gut.
A stupid late hate from Mistral Raymond gave the Lions a fresh set of downs after the defense seemed to be on top of the Lions offensive plans. Then, Mikel Leshoure gashed the defense across midfield which was followed by a decent catch from Calvin Johnson.
On the very next play, Johnson made another leaping catch inside the five and then another stupid penalty struck as Jasper Brinkley delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit on Johnson. That play was followed up by an all-too-easy catch on by Titus Young on a slant in front of A.J. Jefferson.
A pair of positive runs from Peterson was then followed by a tough non-call on a pass to Kyle Rudolph and the Vikings were set to punt, which Stephen Logan returned for 27 yards, and may have gone for a touchdown if not for a Chris Kluwe touchdown.
Chad Greenway led the defense, aided by an important holding call, in holding the Lions offense to a three and out and they were denied the chance to even kick a field goal.
The Vikings drive started out great with a pitch to Adrian Peterson that went for long yardage, but then a delay of game penalty set them back. The very next play, however, Peterson took the ball to the right side and went 61 yards, high stepping for the score. This is Peterson’s fourth 100+ yard rushing game in a row.
The Lions, of course, started out by gunning towards Calvin Johnson. Jamarca Sanford, however, punched the ball out of Johnson’s clutch and Antoine Winfield recovered it.
Then came even more yards from Peterson, on a cutback to the left, that went for a big gain on first down, getting the Vikings into field goal range. More Peterson, a Lions penalty, and then more Peterson set up an easy field goal for Blair Walsh who was able to extend the Vikings lead to 17 points.
The Vikings then went into a bend don’t break defense allowing Stafford to dink and dunk his way down the field, with Erin Henderson coming up with some nice plays on a few occasions. Harrison Smith and Josh Robinson, both rookies, had some good defensive plays on the series as well.
At the two minute warning, the Lions just entered into the red zone on a Calvin Johnson completion, but the Metrodome knew that even the Vikings couldn’t blow this one. On the first play following the two minute warning, Calvin Johnson caught a short pass and was able to push for a touchdown that cut the Vikings lead to 10.
A pooch kick, successfully recovered by Marcus Sherels, pretty much signaled the end of the end for the Lions. A couple of short runs from Peterson drained the Lions of their remaining timeouts and then a quarterback bootleg to the left ended in a personal foul, after Ponder made the rare choice to slide feet first, gave the Vikings a first down and the Lions a nail in their coffin.
Ponder was then able to kneel down and take the victory, which was much needed for the Vikings who now get to head into the bye week with a 6-4 record (2-0 against NFC North teams) and some positive things to build off of.
View Comments
ponder having a good game is huge for his confidence going into the bye. 2 TDs, no INTs, and running at the right time. very cool. 6-4 is good already for this year and we have 4 shots to beat the bears or the phackers
ponder needed today, good bounce back game for him. enough can’t be said for AP’s year so far, might be running into the HOF after this season if he continues like this
Did I miss something? I thought the call on Jasper Brinkley for helmet to helmet was one of the most ridiculous I've seen all year. He was running through the play and Johnson came down into him and his helmet got grazed by Brinkley's. Am I the only one that thought that was a retarded call? Great team win, nice to see Ponder resemble a starting QB again and nice to see them feed AD the ball late. The Lions actually did a great job on him for 3 1/2 quarters, then AD finished them with those explosive 4th quarter runs.
I personally disagree. While the Brinkley call sucks when it is against someone on your team, it was the right call to make. It was the right call and I don't see much way to argue the call, but whether or not the rule is a good one... now that can be argued.
it did look a little questionable because he didn't hit him hard, and he also didn't try not to hit him with his head, and as i remember it, if anything, he maybe even lowered it a little, idk, but he sure didn't pull up or try to avoid helmet to helmet contact and that's why he got called, imo
they get tired by the fourth qtr.
Call weren't you calling for Ponder to be benched? I think I was the only one that still wanted Ponder. I said lat week Webb sucks!! Remember the preseason. Short memories for Vikings fans. I am proven right one good game and short memories are back. Support you young QB let him develop. This team is ahead of schedule, enjoy it.
I meant CAL.
i'd still like to see, at some point, what MBT can do, but i know a new QB can take 2-3 years to develop and the vikings aren't going to sit him
I'll have to watch it again, I know I was still peeved about something else they had called that I thought was a ticky-tack call, so maybe that played into my opinion at that time. The rule is clear in regards to intent not mattering one way or the other, but I thought it was completely incidental and thought he hit more shoulder than helmet. It's been happening all year long though, to the Vikings and every other team in the league. Personally I think the Vikings have been one of the teams who seem to do what they can to avoid those type of hits. The call didn't really matter anyway, it was a one yard penalty.
They still need to work on clock management at the end of the half, geez. They got lucky with the Lions being just as dumb. I'm glad Ponder bounced back and how about that Wright kid?