Mark Craig's Five Extra Points

Updated: December 17, 2012 - 12:00 AM

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Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder dove into the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

Photo: Carlos Gonzalez, Star Tribune

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1. First drive's fine for Ponder

Christian Ponder, not Adrian Peterson, carried the Vikings on their first possession of the game. Peterson had minus-3 yards on five carries, yet Ponder put together a 45-yard touchdown drive by playing decisively and aggressively, two things he has shown little of recently. He went 3-for-3 for 38 yards to three different receivers. He threw an 11-yard pass through tight double coverage to Jerome Simpson. When coach Leslie Frazier decided to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the St. Louis 7, Ponder knew exactly when to take off and run for 3 yards. And on third-and-goal from the 5, he ducked under a certain sack by Robert Quinn and ran for the TD. "I got slapped right in the face [by Quinn] and just kind of reacted," Ponder said. The quarterback wasn't nearly as good the rest of the game, completing 14 of his 21 other passes for 93 yards.

2. Bradford hates pressure

Bradford is no Ben Roethlisberger when it comes to staying upright and delivering the ball in traffic. No, Bradford is kind of the anti-Ben. The Rams quarterback seems to drop to the ground at the slightest of hits. Maybe that's why the Vikings brought more pressure than they typically do. The Vikings sacked Bradford four times. Chad Greenway, Christian Ballard, Erin Henderson and Brian Robison got to him. "Looking at the percentages, this was one of the lowest-percentage [blitz] pressure teams that we had faced," Bradford said. "They hadn't shown a lot of pressures, but they heated us up pretty good today."

3. Sherels adds to his value

Marcus Sherels is a classic NFL overachiever. The former Gopher made the Vikings during a rookie free-agent tryout in 2010. He won the punt return job in 2011, but then most of us expected him to be replaced in 2012 because he's too much of a liability from a depth standpoint at corner. But he not only made the team, but he had to step in for an injured Percy Harvin as a kickoff returner. On Sunday, he returned one kickoff for 24 yards and one punt for 15 yards. Not bad. But that's not all he did. When Frazier decided to rest 35-year-old corner Antoine Winfield late in the game, Sherels saw time at corner. He pressured Bradford on fourth-and-10 from the St. Louis 49. He blitzed and got a hand on Bradford's throwing arm, causing the pass to flail harmlessly away. "It should have been a sack," said Sherels, whose one career sack came against Aaron Rodgers. "But we got off the field, and that's all that matters."

4. Too cautious before the half?

Yes, the Vikings led 30-7 at the half. But one couldn't help but think they were too cautious to play for a field goal right before the end of the half. With first down at the Rams 24, the Vikings let nearly 20 seconds run off before calling time out for Blair Walsh's 42-yard field-goal attempt, which he made as time expired. Even if the four extra points weren't necessary, it would have been nice to see Ponder get some experience trying to work the ball into the end zone. Or give Peterson another chance to run the ball. Said Ponder: "It would have been a pretty small chance of us getting a touchdown. [St. Louis] missed that [57-yard] field goal, so it was just important for us to turn that into points, especially since we got the ball to start the second half. To get the ball back with a minute left and to get points was important."

5. Momentum dies on screen to Carlson

Chad Greenway's NFL-high 11th fumble recovery since 2007 gave the Vikings the ball at the Rams 28 with 10:52 left in the second quarter. It was quite the gift that Bradford delivered when he fumbled the snap from center with the Vikings up 14-7. So what did the Vikings do? They called a screen to John Carlson. Not surprisingly, it was unsuccessful. Carlson was dropped for a 4-yard loss and the momentum vanished. The Vikings settled for a 50-yard field goal on a "drive" that went 4 yards backward.

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explore the Vikings/NFL

Full Scoreboard

Cincinnati	3:30 PM
Houston

Minnesota	7:00 PM
Green Bay

Indianapolis	1/6/13 12:00 PM
Baltimore

Seattle	1/6/13 3:30 PM
Washington

Full Scoreboard

Cleveland	106	FINAL
Charlotte	104	FINAL

Brooklyn	115	FINAL
Washington	113	FINAL

Sacramento	105	FINAL
Toronto	96	FINAL

Atlanta	84	FINAL
Detroit	85	FINAL

Chicago	96	FINAL
Miami	89	FINAL

Indiana	75	FINAL
Boston	94	FINAL

Philadelphia	85	FINAL
Oklahoma City	109	FINAL

Portland	86	FINAL
Memphis	84	FINAL

Houston	115	FINAL
Milwaukee	101	FINAL

Utah	87	FINAL
Phoenix	80	FINAL

LA Lakers	102	FINAL
LA Clippers	107	FINAL

Full Scoreboard

TX A&M-CC	57	FINAL
Sam Houston St	61	FINAL

Yale	61	FINAL
Holy Cross	54	FINAL

Manhattan	55	FINAL
Saint Peters	53	FINAL

Iona	66	FINAL
Siena	62	FINAL

George Washington	41	FINAL
Georgia	52	FINAL

Brown	47	FINAL
Rhode Island	59	FINAL

Cleveland State	50	FINAL
Valparaiso	74	FINAL

Rider	65	FINAL
Loyola-Maryland	71	FINAL

Wofford	48	FINAL
Tulane	62	FINAL

Savannah State	59	FINAL
Saint Louis	67	FINAL

Memphis	85	FINAL
Tennessee	80	FINAL

Texas Southern	57	FINAL
Alcorn State	48	FINAL

Grambling St	56	FINAL
Alabama State	69	FINAL

Jackson State	87	FINAL
Alabama A&M	88	FINAL

Prairie View	45	FINAL
Southern U	50	FINAL

Fordham	68	FINAL
Ole Miss	95	FINAL

(5) Oregon	35	FINAL
(7) Kansas State	17	FINAL

(10) Texas A&M	41	FINAL
(12) Oklahoma	13	FINAL

Pittsburgh	12:00 PM
Ole Miss

(25) Kent State	1/6/13 8:00 PM
Arkansas State

(2) Alabama	1/7/13 7:30 PM
(1) Notre Dame

Siena	62	FINAL
Canisius	65	FINAL

Fordham	71	FINAL
American Univ	50	FINAL

TX A&M-CC	46	FINAL
Sam Houston St	65	FINAL

Jackson State	48	FINAL
Alabama A&M	66	FINAL

Grambling	60	FINAL
Alabama State	68	FINAL

Texas Southern	61	FINAL
Alcorn State	45	FINAL

Prairie View	55	FINAL
Southern U	60	FINAL

Navy	59	FINAL
Richmond	65	FINAL

Youngstown St	58	FINAL
VA Commonwealth	45	FINAL

Temple	58	FINAL
Howard	61	FINAL

Loyola-Maryland	54	FINAL
Fairfield	64	FINAL

Iona	76	FINAL
Niagara	65	FINAL

UCF	59	FINAL
Bowling Green	56	FINAL

Marist	62	FINAL
Rider	47	FINAL

Bradley	54	FINAL
Indiana State	55	FINAL

Northern Iowa	41	FINAL
Illinois State	72	FINAL

(7) California	55	FINAL
Utah	50	FINAL

SD Mines & Tech	53	FINAL
Colorado State	97	FINAL

USC	56	FINAL
Oregon State	55	FINAL

(16) UCLA	89	FINAL
Oregon	80	FINAL

Arizona	71	FINAL
Washington St	65	FINAL

Arizona State	74	FINAL
Washington	77	FINAL

(4) Stanford	57	FINAL
(20) Colorado	40	FINAL

Date/Opponent	Time	W	L	Score
2012 preseason
Aug 10 - at San Francisco	8:00 PM		X	17-6
Aug 17 - vs. Buffalo	7:00 PM	X		36-14
Aug 24 - vs. San Diego	7:00 PM		X	12-10
Aug 30 - at Houston	6:00 PM		X	28-24
2012 regular season
Sep 9 - vs. Jacksonville	12:00 PM	X		26-23
Sep 16 - at Indianapolis	12:00 PM		X	23-20
Sep 23 - vs. San Francisco	12:00 PM	X		24-13
Sep 30 - at Detroit	12:00 PM	X		20-13
Oct 7 - vs. Tennessee	3:25 PM	X		30-7
Oct 14 - at. Washington	3:25 PM		X	38-26
Oct 21 - vs. Arizona	12:00 PM	X		21-14
Oct 25 - vs. Tampa Bay	7:20 PM		X	36-17
Nov. 4 - at Seattle	3:05 PM		X	30-20
Nov 11 - vs. Detroit	12:00 PM	X		34-24
Open
Nov 25 - at Chicago	12:00 PM		X	28-10
Dec 2 - at Green Bay	12:00 PM		X	23-14
Dec 9 - vs. Chicago	12:00 PM	X		21-14
Dec 16 - at St. Louis	12:00 PM	X		36-22
Dec 23 - at Houston	12:00 PM	X		23-6
Dec 30 - vs. Green Bay	3:25 PM	X		37-34
2012-13 playoffs
Jan. 5 - at Green Bay	7:00 PM