Vikings Message Board.Com

First, it was a great play, no one can deny that (although certainly some on this board will).

My question is, how could they not have called a 15 yard blow to the head on the Rams defender? I didn't watch the first half, so they may have, but I didn't see a flag on the replay.

PurpleMustReign wrote:First, it was a great play, no one can deny that (although certainly some on this board will).

My question is, how could they not have called a 15 yard blow to the head on the Rams defender? I didn't watch the first half, so they may have, but I didn't see a flag on the replay.

There is no reason to deny that was a great play, just like there's no reason to deny that Joe Webb can make many great runs.

Ponder's best asset is his legs. Today, though, the most significant stat for Ponder wasn't the 1 rushing TD but the 0 turnovers. He came close a couple of times but at the end of the day, he had 0. And that is critical if this time is going to compete without a productive passing game.

The criticism against Ponder is not an argument that the Vikes are incapable of ever making the playoffs with him, but an argument that he isn't going to allow them to contend for a Title. That, of course, can also be said (presumably) for Webb. But on any given day, the team can win with either, and it was nice to see them score 36 points despite having only 130 yards passing.

Wow Danas way to completely hijack the thread on the very next post from origin, class act, cause what we really need is another anti ponder or pro webb thread. Just answer his question or ignore it.


I agree it should have been called, I have no idea why it wasnt

DanAS wrote:The criticism against Ponder is not an argument that the Vikes are incapable of ever making the playoffs with him, but an argument that he isn't going to allow them to contend for a Title. That, of course, can also be said (presumably) for Webb. But on any given day, the team can win with either, and it was nice to see them score 36 points despite having only 130 yards passing.

The team is winning how they were built to win. They showed me something today. They are tough! They will fix the Ponder issue in the off-season. Today's game was fabulous and enjoyable in every way.

I mentioned it in the game thread right after the touchdown. There should have been a flag for a blow to the head. It wasn't even a slight brush... it was a pretty good forearm to the head.

DanAS wrote: There is no reason to deny that was a great play, just like there's no reason to deny that Joe Webb can make many great runs.

Ponder's best asset is his legs. Today, though, the most significant stat for Ponder wasn't the 1 rushing TD but the 0 turnovers. He came close a couple of times but at the end of the day, he had 0. And that is critical if this time is going to compete without a productive passing game.

The criticism against Ponder is not an argument that the Vikes are incapable of ever making the playoffs with him, but an argument that he isn't going to allow them to contend for a Title. That, of course, can also be said (presumably) for Webb. But on any given day, the team can win with either, and it was nice to see them score 36 points despite having only 130 yards passing.

Dan, I have respected your posts since the day I came to this board. However, this response irks me a little because you didn't even address my question a.k.a. the reason I wrote the thread. There are plenty of other threads for you to voice your displeasure of Ponder.

soflavike wrote:I mentioned it in the game thread right after the touchdown. There should have been a flag for a blow to the head. It wasn't even a slight brush... it was a pretty good forearm to the head.

Everson Griffen had a similar hit on Bradford. At least they called it consistent.

I didn't see what I'd call a flaggable blow-to-the-head hit on the play. Ponder went in headfirst and while the defender contacted him there was no substantial impact. It just wasn't enough to throw a flag IMHO, although if the refs had thrown it the flag could be defended.

One thing Ponder can do to help himself get those flags is learn to act a bit. Take a page out of the Coleman handbook for drawing flags. If he feels contact around his head, just lay on the ground for a minute or so and roll around a little.

Then again, one of the things I hate about soccer is flopping, and if the NFL goes that route, it would be hard to watch, so I guess all things considered I'd rather Ponder just play ball and let the chips fall.

CalVike wrote:The team is winning how they were built to win. They showed me something today. They are tough! They will fix the Ponder issue in the off-season. Today's game was fabulous and enjoyable in every way.

I agree. It's no accident that Frazier is leaning on AD and the defense, not to mention Blair kicking long FGs. From what I saw today, Ponder and the passing game was serviceable in that there weren't any hair-brained turnovers. Bottom line, the Vikings are playing physical football because it's the ONLY way they can win, especially on the road. I applaud them for being able to do that.

On another note regarding Ponder's TD run (which I thought was cool), I honestly didn't see the defender strike Ponder in such a way that I expected a flag to be tossed. Not that I would have been shocked if it had been flagged, but I just didn't expect a flag when it happened.

soflavike wrote:I mentioned it in the game thread right after the touchdown. There should have been a flag for a blow to the head. It wasn't even a slight brush... it was a pretty good forearm to the head.

I may sound like a whiner but the Vikes never get those calls ever . The Ponder fumble was actually an incomplete forward pass just like Bradfords but we all know how that went .

S197 wrote: Everson Griffen had a similar hit on Bradford. At least they called it consistent.

I noticed that too...

PurpleMustReign wrote:My question is, how could they not have called a 15 yard blow to the head on the Rams defender?

Because Ponder ducked the rusher.

Valhalla wrote:I'd have to see it again, I know they did not mention it on TV, wonder if the radio coverage mentioned it??

I did not see it as being that serious and thought he as said, sort of slipped (ducked) under the defender. That said, I do think one does take a second looking at that and wonder if there could have been a late hit.

I was listening to the game on the radio and I heard nothing about a hard blow to the head.

Did anyone else notice in the fourth quarter the rams were driving and the play clock went down to 0, play was called almost a full second later but no penalty called?

Orion wrote:Did anyone else notice in the fourth quarter the rams were driving and the play clock went down to 0, play was called almost a full second later but no penalty called?

Come on people, what does this have to do with Ponder's run?