Ponder's cool under fire sparks new Vikings spirit

Quick: Name Christian Ponder's top three highlights from Sunday's 24-21 victory at Carolina.

Having trouble? That's OK.

After all, the rookie quarterback's effort in his first NFL road start wasn't necessarily made for "SportsCenter." But it was designed for the win column, a steady effort with few mistakes.

And if you needed further proof that this charismatic 23-year-old not only has big-time potential but the patience to stay within himself, that came in the fourth quarter.

The Vikings defense had just forced its third consecutive three-and-out. Score tied 21-21, Ponder took over the huddle with 9:53 left. Ball on the Vikings 15-yard line.

Over the next seven minutes and change, Ponder played as if he were just slinging the ball around the backyard. He had a surgeon's combination of calm and urgency.

He engineered a game-winning drive.

The first, with Carolina cornerback Captain Munnerlyn blitzing, went to Percy Harvin, a laser into the flat that the slippery receiver turned into an 11-yard gain, converting a key third-and-7 from the Vikings 18.

Two snaps later, on play action, another Ponder dart over the middle stuck in Devin Aromashodu's sternum. Fifteen yards. Another first down.

Two plays after that, on second-and-15, Ponder's 22-yard completion to Harvin pushed the Vikings into field-goal range.

Eventually, on the drive's 13th play, Ryan Longwell's 31-yard field goal with 2:47 left won the game.

"Pressure is what you put on yourself," Ponder said Monday with a shrug. "It's not what the fans and everyone else puts on you."

"He just plays with a lot of calm confidence," Frazier said. "It's uncanny."

Small sample

It's now been two weeks since Ponder jumped into the starting lineup to replace Donovan McNabb. Sure, it's a limited sample size. But in two games -- a near-upset of the defending Super Bowl champion Packers and a road victory over Carolina -- Ponder has taken a pair of defibrillator paddles to the Vikings offense.

Yet beneath all the glowing praise at Winter Park lies a complicated hypothetical: Would the season have turned around had Ponder gotten his chance earlier?

"I really don't go there," Frazier said.

The Cliff's Notes version: At season's outset, Frazier believed he had a team that could contend in the NFC North, a squad with enough talent to hang around in games, needing only one or two big plays in the fourth quarter to win.

At season's outset, McNabb seemed like the more reliable choice to deliver those plays.

By Week 7?

"When you get to 1-5 and you've played all of these close games and you haven't been able to pull them out, then you have to start rethinking some of that," Frazier said.

Showing a knack

Most impressive?

"Just his understanding of defenses," Frazier said. "Knowing what you need to attack if they are in man coverage, knowing what we need to attack if they are in zone. Just his wherewithal to process that information at the line of scrimmage, it shows his maturity and his knowledge of football."

It's no coincidence that running back Adrian Peterson's career high in receiving yards (76) came Sunday.

The Vikings' 20 second-half points the past two weeks? Not prolific by any means, but still only nine fewer than McNabb produced in his six starts.

The Vikings' 58.8 percent third-down conversion rate after halftime in the past two games? That's additional evidence of progress.

"That's championship football," Frazier said. "It just energizes your entire team. That had been lacking a little bit. And now you are seeing it and guys are beginning to believe even more."

That includes Visanthe Shiancoe. The veteran tight end was asked Monday if Ponder's two starts had given the Vikings a new level of excitement or if it was dangerous to harbor so much optimism after only two games.

"No, man," Shiancoe said. "You always have to be excited over improvement. And build on it. The excitement is going to cause the building process. It has to be there."