Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder was, quite frankly, awful for the first 27 minutes of Sunday's 26-23 overtime victory over the Jaguars at Mall of America Field.
He had completed three of seven passes for 32 yards and should have been intercepted by safety Chris Prosinski on an ugly throw over the middle on his second pass of the game. The Vikings trailed 9-0 and the defense was exhausted following three consecutive drives that netted 34 yards and one first down.
"I don't know that I was uptight," Ponder said. "There were some nerves like there would be for anyone. Any time you're playing in the first game of the year, there's going to be a little nerves."
The nerves began to subside on a simple, short screen to Percy Harvin. Then another short screen to Harvin. Then another. Three consecutive completions netted 32 yards and led to Adrian Peterson's 3-yard touchdown with 45 seconds left in the first half.
"[Ponder] just got comfortable," said Harvin, who caught six passes for 84 yards. "We tried to get him into some short passing situations to get his confidence up. And we were able to do that."
After Ponder's 3-for-7 start, he completed 17 of 20 passes for 238 yards, no touchdowns, a 105.5 passer rating and one turnover, a fumble inside the Vikings 20-yard line.
"Christian has grown so much," coach Leslie Frazier said. "He's growing up right before our eyes, and we really feel like he's the guy who can lead us to big places, and today was a big step towards seeing that happen."
It was Ponder's first victory at home as a starter. He's 3-8 as a starter, although he left last year's victory at Washington with the Vikings trailing. Sunday's victory also marked the second time Ponder has led a game-winning comeback in regulation or overtime.
