twins/mlb
Jim Souhan analyzes the local sports scene and advises you to never take his betting advice. He likes old guitars and old music, never eats press box hot dogs, and can be heard on 1500ESPN at 2:05 p.m. weekdays, and Sundays from 10 a.m.-noon.
Find him on Twitter
Posts about Vikings offense
Ponder this
Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: December 21, 2012 - 9:44 AM
Big weekend for Mn sports
Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: December 17, 2012 - 9:12 AMPondering Ponder Again
Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: December 9, 2012 - 6:07 PMYou can look at it as a positive, that the Vikings' running game and defense were strong enough on Sunday that they rarely needed to throw the ball.
Or you can look at it realistically and say that quarterback Christian Ponder continues to regress.
Sunday, he completed 11 of 17 passes, which is fine, but he threw for just 91 yards against a defense stacked up to stop Adrian Peterson. He took just one sack, but almost fumbled while foolishly trying to throw the ball away on a play that could have turned into a game-turning fumble.
He threw one awful interception into triple coverage. And he continued to look skittish in the pocket.
His post-game press conference lasted less than two minutes, because we have nothing left to ask him and he has nothing left to say.
He's a nice guy, if that sort of thing matters to you. He really is. He's accountable and friendly and honest and all that good stuff. But he's playing lousy football.
If there was a positive development in the passing game, it was that there were a few Michael Jenkins sightings on Sunday. He caught four of the five passes thrown his direction. With Kyle Rudolph catching zero passes, Jenkins at least helped move the chains a few times.
My Monday column is about what the victory meant for the team and Leslie Frazier.
I'll be on WJON in St. Cloud on Monday at 7:15, and on 1500ESPN at 2:05 p.m. with Reusse & Mackey.
Please follow me on Twitter at @Souhanstrib.
Wild day at Lambeau
Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: December 2, 2012 - 6:45 PMIn the first 47 years of Vikings history, Viking running back produced one 200-yard game.
Scine 2006, Adrian Peterson has produced three.
He rushed 21 times for 210 yards and a career-long 82-yard touchdown on Sunday. Because of Christian Ponder's two horrific interceptions deep in Packers territory, Peterson's efforts weren't enough, and the Packers won, 23-14.
Since Washington ``held'' him to 79 yards, Peterson has rushed for: 153, 123, 182, 171, 108 and 210 yards. On the season, he's rushed 213 times for 1,236 yards and seven touchdowns. He's averaging 5.8 yards per carry.
His previous career-high was 5.6 yards per carry in limited action as a rookie. His yards per carry starting in '07: 5.6, 4.8, 4.4, 4.6 and 4.7 before this season.
He's never been better. With four games remaining, he could challenge his career high of 1,760 yards, set in 2008.
The question of the day is whether the Vikings are wasting the best years of one of the best running backs ever to play the game.
``It's very disappointing, especially the way we ran the ball today,'' Peterson said.
What struck me, watching it live, was that the Packers entered this season once again as a Super Bowl contender, and the Vikings were thought to be rebuilding, and yet the Vikings would have won at Lambeau with a competent performance from their quarterback.
If you want to play the good news/bad news game, the good news is that the Vikings look capable of beating the Bears and Packers with decent quarterback play; the bad news is they're not getting decent quarterback play.
As I wrote in my column for tomorrow's paper, the Vikings are making a mistake, hanging the entire season on Ponder. If he plays poorly, he should be benched, just like anybody else on the team.
-I'll be on WJON in St. Cloud at 7:15 a.m. on Monday, and on with Reusse and Mackey on 1500ESPN tomorrow afternoon.
My Twitter handle is @Souhanstrib.
What a mess
Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: November 4, 2012 - 8:53 PMWatching the Vikings lose on Sunday, I started to wonder:
Would they be better off just handing the ball to Adrian Peterson or Percy Harvin (when he's healthy) in all situations?
First down? Of course. Third and short? Of course. Third and 20? Why not? When a back averages almost 11 yards a carry against a good defense, and the quarterback throws for 44 net yards, wouldn't you be better off treating third-and-long as a running down?
Of course, that's not realistic. The Vikings are obliged to try to throw the ball. But it's not working right now.
Remember, through four games, Ponder was completing about 70 percent of his passes. Now he looks like he's afraid to throw a bubble screen to Harvin.
I still think Ponder has the arm strength and athletic ability to be a good NFL quarterback. His slump has made me question his fire and toughness. I think I'd feel better about his play if he was making mistakes of aggression, instead of looking tentative.
That's the subject of my Monday column.
I don't know if I've ever seen a game in person where two backs ran harder than Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch did on Sunday.
``To watch those two guys run the football, you don't see it too often in a lifetime,'' Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson said.
Both dish out punishment. What's even more impressive to me is that they will subject themselves to so much extra punishment to twist for an extra yard, or push the pile forward.
Peterson might win the rushing title in his first season after major knee surgery. I'm having trouble comprehending that.
-I'll be on 1500espn at 2:05 on Monday, and on WJON in St. Cloud at 7:15 a.m. My Twitter handle is @Souhanstrib.
ADVERTISEMENT
Post By Category
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
inside the StarTribune
-
425 Portland Av. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55488
(612) 673-4000
- Company
- Subscriber Services
- Website
- Buy Ads
- Store
- Connect with Us
© 2013 StarTribune. All rights reserved.
StarTribune.com is powered by Limelight Networks
Newspaper Subscriptions
eEdition
RSS
Newsletters