I'm used to the Vikings futility at Soldier Field. But Sunday's 39-10 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday night was one of the more unenjoyable ass kickings I've watched the Vikings take in some time.
That's because at no point in this game did the Vikings look like they were ready to offer any resistance against the Bears. The receivers dropped some catchable passes early. Adrian Peterson couldn't get going. The offensive line couldn't run or pass block effectively. The Vikings defensive line (a team strength this season) was totally dominated by a weak Bears offensive line. Punter Chris Kluwe was brutal. The coverage units gave up the usual soul crushing big returns to Devin Hester. The Vikings were very bad in almost all facets of the game in this one.
One person you can't pin the blame for this debacle on is Vikings (I hope former) starting quarterback Donovan McNabb. So it's ironic that McNabb's best game as a Viking (19 for 24, 177 yards) might very well be his last game as a starter for the 1-5 squad.
Look, I was completely on board with the Vikings decision to trade for McNabb. My hope was he would play better than he did in Washington, keep the Vikings competitive and buy some time for rookie Christian Ponder rather than throwing the Florida State product into the deep end.
But things haven't worked out as planned and Ponder's encouraging play during garbage time against the Bears gives head coach Leslie Frazier a plausible case to start the rookie against the Green Bay Packers next Sunday.
The Vikings offensive line is weak (and it will get weaker if backup Patrick Brown has to play for regular right tackle Phil Loadholt for an extended period), but Ponder is the faster, more elusive player at this point, better able to extend plays than McNabb.
He's also a better scrambler than McNabb and more prone to take off running when things break down early. That's probably a good thing because the Vikings receivers are having trouble getting open at the best of times. We might as well have a quarterback that takes off early rather than wait for an open receiver that never gets open. Ponder also showed just as strong an arm as McNabb tonight and showed good accuracy on the kind of throws McNabb's struggled with this season – slants, screens and the like.
The bottom line is the 2011 season is over from a playoff standpoint for the Minnesota Vikings. These final 10 games will only be valuable if the Vikings coaching staff allow themselves to see what they have in Ponder and get a head start on the development process for 2012.
That won't help McNabb get himself one last big contract in 2012. But the Vikings can't be worried about his future right now. The future wears #7 and it's time to put him under center in live action other than garbage time during a blowout loss on the road.
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