Formula For Success

For those who are still doubters after what I said after last week's win, I give you last night's game as further evidence that the Vikings cannot continue playing with such miserable quarterback play.

Frazier's formula for success? EVERY SINGLE ASPECT of the game has to go really well to pick up bad quarterbacking. So what happens when not every part of the team is playing on 8 cylinders?

Last night happens.

The Vikings defense looked horrible last night. Adrian Peterson had his yards but fumbled in a critical situation. Even Chris Kluwe couldn't figure out how to punt last night. Jerome Simpson fumbled one of Ponders' few early completions.

IF you look at the stats, you may think Ponder wasn't all that bad. You'd be wrong. He was horrible in the first half. He had MINUS ONE yards passing in the third quarter, and then when the game was over and the Bucs had a huge lead in the fourth quarter, they went into a prevent-defense that let Ponder complete short passes until the game was over. Those 117 extra yards were a gift by a very indifferent Tampa defense at that point.

The Vikings have Seattle, and two games with the Packers and two games with the Bears, and a game with Houston left on their schedule. That's SIX pretty good chances of getting clobbered worse than last night.

Last week Frazier said they didn't need a great QB to win in this league because they have a "formula for success."

He has it wrong. A good QB consistently LIFTS a team when other aspects aren't going well. We would never had known Chris Kluwe was having a bad night at punting IF Ponder could have got us a few first downs early. Adrian Peterson wouldn't be fumbling if we didn't have to use him on every play because Ponder can't pass. Our defense wouldn't look as bad as they do if Ponder would learn how to have a ball control offense that keeps the defense off the field and gives them some rest.

The FORMULA for success in this league is not some dumb philosophy that Leslie Frazier has concocted. It's having a good QB LEAD YOUR TEAM.

I don't think Joe Webb has the makings of a great QB, but I do think that a person with that kind of unnatural ability can make things happen. Things that Ponder can never hope or dream of. The team needs a spark of athleticism. And even if Webb isn't the answer to all that ails the Vikings, he couldn't be any worse than what Ponder is feeding the defenses right now. He'd also force defenses to think differently when he's out on the field.

Give Webb the last eight weeks of the season. IF he does poorly, re-tool for next season, and drop both he and Ponder form our QB position. BUT make the change now before you lose every Vikings fan on the planet.  I could stand watching a few Vikings losses with Webb at the helm, but I can no longer stomach Frazier's formula for success.

Did anything good come from last night's game?

Surprisingly yes, I got to watch Elementary on CBS last night during that dreaded second half that everyone else was forced to slog through.

Great show! I'll be watching it again.