Wow

[PurpleMilk]

I had this bad feeling all offseason that last season was mostly a fluke, and today did nothing to change my mind. If Peterson didn't have that God-like season, we would have been nowhere close to sniffing the playoffs. With that out of the way......wow. If we play like this the rest of the season, we are looking at a 6-10 type season, if that.

I've been saying it since we've had Ponder that he isn't the long term answer, but I am now putting him at the bottom 5 of NFL starting QB's. This guy is just God-awful. Are you telling me that you have a 2,000+ MVP rusher behind you, and you can't play better than you did today? I honestly believe this guy isn't even an average NFL QB. He is now below average in my book. An average NFL QB would play better with AP behind him and the weapons that we have. Ponder still looks completely lost out there. He still stares down receivers, can't find an open receiver in a NFL QB amount of time and still makes terrible decisions....and has no arm. I'm done with him, put someone else in.

And the defense is downright sad. I know the TO's didn't help, but they did absolutely nothing positive in my eyes, lots of time on the field or not. The only standout was Smith, and who cares if he's popping someone after a 15 yard gain? Our defense is not close to what it once was, and it shows. If the Lions weren't beating themselves, they were marching right up and down the field with very little resistance. Sad.

And where was Jennings? Patterson? Rudolph? I put a lot of it on Ponder. He just doesn't see the field well at all and it's painfully obvious. I have a feeling the Jennings pickup will prove to be a waste, especially while Ponder is in there.

I know it's only one game, and a tough one on the road. But this is kind of what I expected from the team this season, unfortunately. And now off to Chicago? Yikes.

[allday1991]

Been saying this since last year, But there is a group of people who believe Ponder was a big reason we went 10-6 last year, there has been countless thread breaking down he season, weather he played well in the last four game stretch yada. yada...

It basically comes down to the people that defend Ponder and obviously see something the people who don't believe in Ponder can't. After the end of last season my first question was if Christian Ponder could put up a 10-6 season with a.p rushing for 2000 yards, Again this place was full of threads focusing on Ponders skills, and how underrated he was in some of our games last year. Ponder for some reason after the 2012 season was not on the hot seat because a.p managed to go for 2000 yards and make him look good, truth is if a.p didn't have a 2000 yard season last year and we relied on Ponder more he would probably already be gone by now. Last thing I don't get is Viking bring in Matt Cassel, you figure no matter what draft pick you spent on a guy you let them compete for a starting spot and that's how you get the best player. But for some reason Ponder is given the job, despite and most people here might agree not even being the best qb on the roster.

[Eli]

They weren't expected by many to win this game on the road. It's how they lost that is worrying.

I'm not sure what to think of the Lions quite yet. They've got some great talent on both sides of the ball and Reggie Bush looks like an incredible pickup and a perfect fit for their offense. But their discipline sucks. Could be the coaching, or it could just be a giant assemblage of knuckleheaded football players.

[PurpleMilk]

Been saying this since last year, But there is a group of people who believe Ponder was a big reason we went 10-6 last year, there has been countless thread breaking down he season, weather he played well in the last four game stretch yada. yada...

It basically comes down to the people that defend Ponder and obviously see something the people who don't believe in Ponder can't. After the end of last season my first question was if Christian Ponder could put up a 10-6 season with a.p rushing for 2000 yards, Again this place was full of threads focusing on Ponders skills, and how underrated he was in some of our games last year. Ponder for some reason after the 2012 season was not on the hot seat because a.p managed to go for 2000 yards and make him look good, truth is if a.p didn't have a 2000 yard season last year and we relied on Ponder more he would probably already be gone by now. Last thing I don't get is Viking bring in Matt Cassel, you figure no matter what draft pick you spent on a guy you let them compete for a starting spot and that's how you get the best player. But for some reason Ponder is given the job, despite and most people here might agree not even being the best qb on the roster.

I agree with you man. And another thing that really, really bothers me but you don't hear many people talk about it, is Ponder's passion and leadership. He looks really ho-hum out there with no sense of urgency. After he throws a pick or the team is losing in a key point in the game, he is either smiling or just has no fire or drive in his eyes. This guy is a total and complete bust in my opinion. I think Matt Cassel would be a major upgrade at this point.

Heck, even Geno Smith looked better today and showed more passion. And that's saying something.

[allday1991]

I agree with you man. And another thing that really, really bothers me but you don't hear many people talk about it, is Ponder's passion and leadership. He looks really ho-hum out there with no sense of urgency. After he throws a pick or the team is losing in a key point in the game, he is either smiling or just has no fire or drive in his eyes. This guy is a total and complete bust in my opinion. I think Matt Cassel would be a major upgrade at this point.

Heck, even Geno Smith looked better today and showed more passion. And that's saying something.

Not to mention once its get so far in a game the look in his eyes and the fire or believe that he can win fades. We got the ball on our 1 yard line at 3:19 in the 4th quarter, with the lions playing soft high zone coverage it took Ponder 1 minute and 30 seconds to get the ball to our own 30, and still went to fourth down and a pick.

[PurpleKoolaid]

They weren't expected by many to win this game on the road. It's how they lost that is worrying.

I'm not sure what to think of the Lions quite yet. They've got some great talent on both sides of the ball and Reggie Bush looks like an incredible pickup and a perfect fit for their offense. But their discipline sucks. Could be the coaching, or it could just be a giant assemblage of knuckleheaded football players.

The road excuse doesn't work here, because the Lions literally gave us every chance to win. We were still in preseason mode, esp. our coaching staff, and Ponder ofc, and the Lions were the Lions. They were making the dumb mistakes and penalties, even at home. We just made more.

[BGM]

The road excuse doesn't work here, because the Lions literally gave us every chance to win. We were still in preseason mode, esp. our coaching staff, and Ponder ofc, and the Lions were the Lions. They were making the dumb mistakes and penalties, even at home. We just made more.

Well, not "literally". I mean, they didn't lie down and look up at the roof of the stadium and let the Vikes do whatever they wanted. But it was darn close.

[Laserman]

I can only imagine what Greg Jennings must be thinking now

[Eli]

I can only imagine what Greg Jennings must be thinking now.

"I've committed professional suicide." is probably a pretty close guess.

[allday1991]

I can only imagine what Greg Jennings must be thinking now

I thought that after he made that amazing catch that was hugely underthrown.

[Eli]

"Maybe I can talk them into trading for Matt Flynn."

[CalVike]

"I've committed professional suicide." is probably a pretty close guess.

More likely he's thinking no single game makes a season and that he's pretty lucky to be with an organization that wanted him at a high price, when few others did. Players never overreact like fans. It's just a job to them.

[Eli]

More likely he's thinking no single game makes a season and that he's pretty lucky to be with an organization that wanted him at a high price, when few others did. Players never overreact like fans. It's just a job to them.

Jennings is 30. It's highly unlikely he'll play out his contract in Minnesota. So when he's looking for a job at 33 or 34 years old and has 120 catches total over the past three seasons, he's not going to be worth much. I'm sure he's ecstatic about being overpaid in Minnesota, but he's also smart enough to see what's about to happen to his career.

[Demi]

More likely he's thinking no single game makes a season and that he's pretty lucky to be with an organization that wanted him at a high price, when few others did. Players never overreact like fans. It's just a job to them.

Jennings is 30. It's highly unlikely he'll play out his contract in Minnesota. So when he's looking for a job at 33 or 34 years old and has 120 catches total over the past three seasons, he's not going to be worth much. I'm sure he's ecstatic about being overpaid in Minnesota, but he's also smart enough to see what's about to happen to his career.

Yep. He's thinking about all those zeros on his bank account. That's why he came here. Blow smoke all you want up Ponder's butt, he knew what he was getting into. He saw it twice a year and on tape. The Packers were ready to move on, and no other team was interested in an old receiver asking over ten million per year.

The only thing he can really do now is push behind the scenes for a change. Which hopefully he does after watching those horrible passes Ponder threw in his general direction.

[BGM]

I'm upset and angry, but last season a fluke? Come on... the team had a great season when very few, if any, people thought they were any better than an 8-win team. At least let me have my good memories!