BEARS 17, VIKINGS 13: PONDERING THE WEBB OF LIES

The truth after Minnesota’s loss to Chicago: this was probably the Vikings worst season in their history.

Even though the team was in a good amount of the games it played, I didn’t have much hope the team would win many of those games. In fact, I didn’t think the Vikings would win many games this year and would compete in the “Suck for Luck” sweepstakes, which they did at a couple of points. But the season concludes with the No. 3 overall pick belonging to the Vikings.

Those are just some of the truths. I will go through more of them later in the week in my season recap.

The lies: Christian Ponder is the Vikings’ No. 1 quarterback going into the offseason and into next year.

I am sorry, I refuse to believe Ponder is the best quarterback and has the most potential to be the best quarterback on the team. Ponder has major accuracy issues, gets scared in the pocket way too easily, doesn’t have a strong arm, and even though he’s smart, he doesn’t fully use his intelligence on the field, and he is a major injury risk.

Even though Ponder has shown flashes he can be an NFL quarterback, all of these issues existed when he was coming out of Florida State, and it doesn’t seem after his rookie year that he has been able to shake a single one of those marks. Remember, he had potential at Florida State, but the team always played better when EJ Manuel started to see more and more time.

Same with the Vikings when Joe Webb comes in for Ponder, either because of injuries or Ponder’s ineffectiveness. The team seems to respond when Webb is out there. This is the first game when the team wasn’t putting up points with Webb in, but you could tell there was a spark still since Webb is one of the toughest quarterbacks in the league to sack. The play is never done until the whistle blows with him, and the team knows it.

Webb has shown more accuracy (albeit he did have a bad pick to end the game), more mobility, a stronger arm and more smarts on the field. Oh, and more potential.

So, while Webb gets the team to play better and can stay healthy so far, why is Ponder the No. 1 going into the offseason? Well, that’s what happens when you completely reach on a quarterback who wasn’t ready to play in the NFL.

Webb wasn’t the reason Minnesota lost the game. While Minnesota didn’t have a great offensive game, he made key passes and had key scrambles to keep plays alive. Without him, the team would have never been in the game.

The Vikings lost because of key special teams gaffs on field goals, an awful job by the offensive line and an injury to Toby Gerhart.

OVERALL: C+

It’s a game Minnesota lost and scored 13 points, so I can not give the team a B-.

QUARTERBACK: B

Ponder was Ponder, of course, so he brings the grade down. Plus Webb had a couple of picks, but man, he was almost unsackable. It took until a sack late in the game when Julius Peppers, yes, Julius Peppers, struggled to bring Joe Webb down, and Webb almost got the ball off. Throughout the game, he had gotten the ball off. He extends the play so well and has a never-say-die attitude.

RUNNING BACKS: B

This would have been higher, but Gerhart got injured. The man is definitely a beast and would be a No. 1 back on most teams. He came back in late in the game, so it’s good to know the injury is not serious. I just do not know why Lorenzo Booker got carries late in the game. He is worthless and hopefully will not be back next year.

WIDE RECEIVERS: C

Percy Harvin and one catch by Greg Camarillo is the only reason this is a C. Harvin had a great game and did all he could for the team. Camarillo had a big fourth-down reception in the last drive. However, Devin A..a….I can’t catch a ball, is just so frustrating. It’s clear he has talent, but he cannot consistently catch a football. Plus, I don’t even know who the other two wide receivers are on the team. That needs to be fixed by next year.

TIGHT ENDS: C

Farewell, Jim Kleinsasser, you will be missed. Kyle Rudolph was good, but not a big factor, same with Vistanthe Shiancoe. I am guessing this was Shiancoe’s last game with the Vikings.

OFFENSIVE LINE: F

Wow, this unit never gave Ponder or Webb any time to throw, and usually Gerhart found his own holes it seemed. I would say the line needs an overhaul, but Sullivan has already been re-signed. Herrera is too injury-prone, but Hutcheson has one more year left, I think. Besides that, I don’t know if there is an actual NFL-ready offensive lineman on this team.

DEFENSIVE LINE: A

Gosh it would have been nice if Jared Allen had the sack title handed to him like the record was set last time. But that is not how Allen does things, and he will have a chance at the record again. Allen will go to the Hall of Fame, no doubt. Kevin Williams has been a beast these last five weeks and was again. Plus, Brian Robison was getting pressure from the left end spot again like he did early in the season. The defensive line has major potential again next year with Allen going after the record again, hopefully.

LINEBACKERS: B-

Chad Greenway was good, but EJ Henderson was EJ and Erin Henderson was Erin. Hopefully those two are not re-signed next season to get some capable linebackers in there. Greenway needs some talent around him.

SECONDARY: C

The secondary was not good, but it was also not horrible like it has been. However, Cedric Griffin looked like his old self with that great interception late in the game that should have been a game changer. That interception is enough to say Griffin has a spot on the team next year to see if he can regain some of his glory. The rest of the secondary was eh, but they didn’t get killed thanks to a lot of sacks, I think. Mistral Raymond is the worst safety on the Vikings, and that is saying a lot.

SPECIAL TEAMS: F

The Vikings actually kept Devin Hester under wraps, but they don’t know how to kick a field goal anymore. Just absolutely awful. This has been a problem way too often this season.

Well, all that is left is to recap the season. I don’tt have enough alcohol in the fridge for that. In fact, it might be so painful that I might have to wait to get Arkansas-made moonshine in a week when I move down there for my new job.

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WEEK 6 GRADES: BEARS 39, VIKINGS 10

Overall Grade: F

The Vikings were below average to terrible in just about every aspect of the game and wasted the Sunday night of the Minnesota fans who watched the game. This is an easy grade.

Coaching: F

The coaching was an utter disaster, even baffling at times. Defensively, the Vikings’ linemen weren’t able to get the pressure on Jay Cutler that they anticipated, and Fred Pagac didn’t do anything to adjust. Minnesota barely blitzed at all this game and Cutler had all day to throw on just about every play. Offensively, it was even more of a head-scratcher. I’ve wanted to see Joe Webb mixed into the offense more, but the way Bill Musgrave used him was idiotic and I’m glad Chris Collinsworth pointed it out. Once McNabb completed his first downfield pass late in the first quarter and seemed to be getting a bit of a rhythm, the Vikes put in Webb for two plays (an inside handoff to AD and a throw away). McNabb came back in to complete a first-down pass to Percy Harvin, but why would you take him out there? The same thing happened midway through the second quarter and McNabb was lined up as a receiver with Webb at QB on a 3rd-and-4 play. Webb was unable to run for the first down. What’s the point of having McNabb out there at receiver? So stupid. Not to mention the timeout called immediately after the two-minute warning to decide whether to go for it on a 4th-and-2. This coaching staff hasn’t done anything to gain any confidence from the Vikings fans so far this year.

Quarterback: B

Criticize Donovan McNabb all you want, but he was one of the better players for the Vikings in this game. He completed 19 of 24 passes for 177 yards with no interceptions, and at least two of those five incompletions were drops. Yes, he bounced a couple of balls in the dirt, but just about every QB in the league makes a couple bad passes a game. Christian Ponder got the whole fourth quarter to showcase his skills and he looked pretty decent. The kid has mobility and is good at escaping pressure. He also showed nice accuracy on slants and short passes. On the downside, the few deep balls he threw were just prayers. He doesn’t have any arm strength.

Running Backs: C

The Bears’ dedicated rushing defense and the Vikings’ poor blocking up front prevented Adrian Peterson from getting anything going in the game. Musgrave also abandoned the run game pretty quickly once the Vikings got down a couple scores. You can’t abandon the run when you have Adrian Peterson on your team.

Receivers: C-

Bernard Berrian continues to infuriate Vikings fans to no end.  On Minnesota’s second drive, he dropped a perfectly-thrown ball from McNabb on 3rd-and-5 that led to the Vikings second straight three-and-out. Berrian ended the game with five grabs for 54 yards, and I hope those are the final five catches he ever has in a Vikings uniform. Percy Harvin had seven catches for 78 yards and seemed to be Ponder’s go-to guy. Devin Aromashodu ended the game with more tackles (1) than receptions (none). Michael Jenkins had four catches, but none of them had as big of an impact as his false start on a 4th-and-2 that forced the Vikings into kicking a field goal (which Longwell missed).

Tight Ends: C+

Visanthe Shiancoe had five grabs for 45 yards and Kyle Rudolph had 20 yards on two catches. It was an average game for these guys. On the Vikings’ first possession, Shaincoe dropped a ball on 3rd-and-7 that was coming in a little high and hard, but it was still catchable. Maybe the Vikings would have won had he caught that ball and made the first down. That’s right, Minnesota should be 6-0 right now.

Offensive Line: F

The only hole Adrian Peterson had in the game was on his 4-yard touchdown run. AD was held to 39 yards on 12 carries, Donovan McNabb was sacked five times, and Christian Ponder was constantly evading pressure throughout the fourth quarter. The O-line was absolutely terrible.  John Sullivan had to be replaced at center with Joe Berger at the beginning of the second half because of a concussion. Everyone on the O-line looked like they were playing with concussions.

Defensive Line: D-

Jared Allen provided the only spark for this team with a sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery all on the same play. Unfortunately, that was the only time the Vikings got to Jay Cutler all night. The Bears were certainly focusing a lot of attention on slowing up Allen, but that should have opened up some of the other linemen to get some pressure on Cutler. That didn’t happen at all. This game was supposed to pit one of the league’s best defensive lines against one of its worst offensive lines, and it looked like the exact opposite.

Linebackers: C-

I hardly noticed the linebackers at all this game. While Matt Forte was slicing through the defensive line, these guys weren’t able to clean up the mess very well and let him get some nice runs. It looks like E.J. Henderson is beginning to get outplayed by his little brother, Erin, and that’s not because Erin is really raising his level of play. E.J. just seems to be regressing a bit lately. Chad Greenway was alright this game, but didn’t make any big plays.

Cornerbacks: F

Cutler and the Bears burned Cedric Griffin time and time again Sunday night. For a guy who was showing some promise before his knee problems, Griffin is looking like he’s just about done. Chris Cook had nice coverage on Johnny Knox on a pass to the end zone, batting the ball to Husain Abdullah, who couldn’t keep his feet in bounds while making the catch. That was about the only play the corners made all night. The Vikings desperately missed Antoine Winfield in this game. I don’t even want to think about what could happen if he doesn’t play next week against the Packers.

Safeties: F

There seem to be quite a few teams in the league that have safety issues this season, but none of them have it worse than the Vikings. On the Bears’ first possession, Husain Abdullah and Griffin both got burned by Hester for a 48-yard touchdown catch. Hester made a slight change of direction midway through his route and it totally fooled Griffin, and Abdullah let Hester get behind him. Jamarca Sanford left in the second half with a concussion, but it didn’t really matter since he wasn’t doing anything productive either. It’s like the safeties don’t understand that they’re supposed to make a play on the ball to help out the corners. They just give the receivers room to catch the ball and then come in to try to make the tackle, which they aren’t that good at doing either.

Special Teams: F

Why would anybody kick the ball to Devin Hester? There’s no logical answer. He killed the Vikings’ little bit of early second-half momentum by slashing through the kick coverage for a 98-yard score, and really didn’t even really need to make any nifty moves during the run. Also, Ryan Longwell missed a short kick and Chris Kluwe had a 17-yard punt.

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