Jason LaCanfora of NFL Network is reporting that the Vikings have decided to go with Christian Ponder as the starter for next week’s game. LaCanfora reported: “Vikings are changing QBs. Leslie Frazier has made the change and notified those involved. Christian Ponder takes over as starter”
Ponder gets a tough call, as his first start will come against the World Champion Green Bay Packers.
Donovan McNabb was brought to Minnesota to start, but the team is not having at all the type of season they were expecting. Christian Ponder got his first live game action this past week in the fourth quarter of a 39-10 loss to the Bears that dropped the team to 1-5.
While McNabb hasn’t been the whole problem, he does have to take a measure of blame. The Vikings offense is 3rd in the league in rushing and 31st in passing, averaging an anemic 168 yards per game through the air.
“Donovan did a lot of good things in that ball game; took us down and got a scoring drive,” Frazier explained. “Christian came in and provided a spark when he was in there, but when you score 10 points as a team it’s hard to find anything that brightens you up.”
Sitting at 1-5 with the second last rated passing game, the Vikings have to start thinking about the future, which for them is their rookie quarterback. Ponder is the latest rookie quarterback to get the call, as Cam Newton in Carolina, Andy Dalton in Cincinnati and Blaine Gabbert in Jacksonville are already at the helm of their respective teams.
