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Smash Articles
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While you're all shatz & giggles over your Buck-Something Ponder neophyte, the storm front is raging. The Vikings win the contest and you're supposed to just look away. Don't peer into the compelling. So after last week, it might be safe to say that I was right. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this defense ... especially the way Ponder hung them out to dry last week. If the offense isn't doing their job then someone else has to pick up the slack. Isn't it odd that we previously blamed the defense for Ponder's absolute incompetence. Hey, it's 3rd & three ... put Ponder in the shotgun ... PUNT! This ain't Rodger Staubach. Did you ever consider handing the ball to Toby Gerhart on 3rd & three? Regardless of the result, it will change the complexion of every game that is played. The result ... the outcome of the carry is meaningless ... the action alone is earth shattering. It's a damn sight better than incomplete. The entire league has been set up & fine tuned to play passing teams (Manning, Brady, Rodgers, etc.). There is no team that can deal with what is spawn off of running the ball with Toby Gerhart used early & often (repeatedly), which will achieve the required result. There are only two possible answers to this insane mess that we call Viking football and the one answer is not even a virtual possibility. In short, there is no way our brain trust is calling play after play to feed ONLY Peterson & Harvin. There is no team on the planet that could possibly be that stupid. Why? Depletion! To waste & reduce the effectiveness of our elite strike force ... to use Harvin & Peterson as work horses. These two are thoroughbreds ... not pull cart warm bloods. On the other hand, it is a virtual lock that Ponder is being allowed to act like a petulant child & do whatever he wants ... to take the easy way out ... regardless of what it might cost the team. It's only about Ponder making Ponder look good. In this case, the answer is so compelling & irrational as to leave little doubt. I swear as God as my witness, if they use Harvin & Peterson as pound-me-in-the-head workhorses one more time ... I'm going to steal the hats off the "Nelly Horses" pulling the carts downtown and send it gift wrapped to them by courier ... as the greatest insult bestowed upon any Viking in its history. I'm sick of it. Without Peterson, we've proved that we have many weapons on this team to achieve our team goals, between the 20's, without Harvin & Peterson pulling the manure cart, with fly's swirling around their heads. Fantasy yards don't win Super Bowls where it is time that we start thinking like men and leave the horse Winnie for other fools. So what do we see? We see Peterson with a hundred fantasy yards, all between the 20's as if it means something. We see a team allowing Adrian Peterson to once again chase the rushing title without thought 1 in those tiny little brains of theirs. AD's injury occurred on December 24, 2011. It's been slightly over 9 months from that horrific injury. The gods have not yet completely cleared AD. At the end of the game, do we see Toby Gerhart carrying the rock pounding out those tough yards ... no, we see AD getting his brains pounded-in adding touches with virtually no yards ... in fact, negative overall yardage. What does this say? Our coaches are absolute cowards ... fearful that the sure handed Toby Gerhart might fumble ... which is nothing but absolute folly & dribble. AD has been cleared to run free between the 20 & the goal line ... not between the 20's. Heed this warning! He's also been cleared beyond the gaps, catching & converting 1st downs. In our last contest, AD didn't even touch the ball in the red zone and the result ... no offensive touchdowns. Instead, just like in the prior week, AD needs a blow on the side line and Percy Harvin is running the ball. Are you crazy? Are you absolutely nuts?. AD is your elite force and he comes off the field in the red zone or better yet he's worn out by the time we get into the red zone. Almost the entire team is being allowed to lollygag between the 20's so we can take out our greatest threat in the red zone. Just put a gun to my head and pull the trigger. Where was Toby Gerhart? Statistically, Toby Gerhart has the #1 greatest impact on keeping Adrian Peterson healthy throughout the entire year and the best you can do is have him block. If Toby, and this misfit offensive line are allowed to pound the crap out of the other team ... early and often, it stand to reason that Adrian Peterson is going to be running through defenses untouched in the later part of the game, raking up huge numbers. I'm over a thousand miles away, watching from my family room and even from that safe distance no one wants any part of AD galloping at full speed through defenses in the 3rd & 4th quarter after the defenses have been softened up by Toby Gerhart ... the A-frame incarnate. You've got to stop acting like complete morons as it's never been about how many touches AD has, it about when and where you unleash him. Stop running this team like AD is some sort of imaginary fantasy player. So you think Ponder is doing a great job? He's quickly acquiring the only moniker that he'll ever know ... he's a great game manager. Why is it that when Ponder looks good ... someone else has got to pay? Did you not see the last three long grind it out Lions drives all due in part to a completely ineffective offense scheme? We get into the red zone. Do we run the ball? No, we put the ball back into Ponder's hand and the drive stalls. Kick a field goal. Hello! Championships are not garnered by game managers. In four games, Ponder has four touchdowns passes with a fifth as a rushing TD. Not exactly stellar when compared to an elite quarterback that could put up 4TD tosses in one game? What does it say about your quarterback when your field goal kicker is being considered for the Pro Bowl or rookie of the year. Let's see. One TD was clean ... in a loss. One was on a deflection in that same game. One was on an incredible feat on a pass that should have gone to wide open Peterson? One was on a 4th down gamble ... as if the ball was just thrown to an open area of the end zone. As the season has progressed, Ponder's quarter back rating has been dropping. In the last two weeks, when forced to throw the ball down field, rather to the high percentage behind the line Harvin, his completion percentage has dropped to 60% & 61.5%, and the later was with Jerome Simpson. Are growing pains ahead? Are we all now well equipped with "Ponder-Blinders", as a good part of the season, Ponder has been wretched? Only time will tell. Where would we be without this defense? Where could we be with all this laden talent? I await the answer to this question and I'm impatient for its outcome. Here is the most important question of all to Ponder. Exactly why are we winning? The answer of course is ... not for the reasons that you think. Here's another really important question. Close your eyes and imagine, which quarterback do you see hoisting that Super Bowl trophy, Ponder or Webb? If it is true that there is no such thing as a stupid question ... there are only stupid answers then the answer stupid is that you don't get to chose. The Viking Ghost Writer http://MyVikingBlood.org Date: October 3, 2012 
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