No priase for Ponder?

[Mothman]

There's been some praise for Ponder in threads this morning. You probably just missed it.

I've thought for a long time that he looks best when he's given a chance to get comfortable, throw in rhythm, etc. He can play but he has to play his game. There are passes he throws well, routes he sees well, etc. and then there are routes he just throws poorly or doesn't seem to see at all. He definitely looked good running the offense yesterday. Hopefully, he and the team can build on that and get some much-needed wins.

[dead_poet]

For some reason, this no-huddle approach, that gives Ponder more control, it actually worked. he made smarter decisions and didn't rely on one player play after play after play. things were spread out and Adrian was able to do a lot more too.

I agree. Yet, inexplicably, Musgrave once again went away from what was working. Maybe he was able to read the defense and allowed more liberty at the line? I'm not sure.

And I hate to say this, but even if Freeman is healthy, I think Ponder has earned one more week to start, to show if this is for real, or just a one off.

Going to Freeman on a short week after Ponder looked decent doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

[maembe]

Is it just me or did the offense looks completely different? We had a bunch of wide receivers on the field and we were in the hurry up and it looked good. I feel like there were a lot of formations that we don't normally see and Ponder looked more comfortable running the offense.
Naturally, we stopped doing that toward the end of the game in favor of roll-out dump-offs to Carlson, but still, we looked decent for a little while there.

[chicagopurple]

As I said early on this season, Ponder is one of those nightmare players who gets a big contract but NEVER shows up when you need him. In his case, he will ALWAYS find the worst time to make a horrible decision ( holding ball too long in end zone, throwing a floater up instead of out of bounds, etc) and cost us each game. BUT he will ALWAYS show just enough of a glimmer of talent to justify a GM keeping him around for "another chance". Ponder needs to just go. He is just a watered down version of Vinnie Testaverde. VERY watered down.

[dead_poet]

As I said early on this season, Ponder is one of those nightmare players who gets a big contract but NEVER shows up when you need him.

Yes, him and that rich, four-year, $10.15 million contract. He's making $1,298,518 this season, less than AJ Jefferson, Fred Evans, Jerome Simpson, Jamarca Sanford, John Carlson, and Matt Kalil. Heck, he's getting the least out of the three football-throwers on the roster!

In his case, he will ALWAYS find the worst time to make a horrible decision ( holding ball too long in end zone, throwing a floater up instead of out of bounds, etc) and cost us each game.

Are there ever good times to make a horrible decision? Come on. He makes horrible decisions all the time, not just in big moments.

BUT he will ALWAYS show just enough of a glimmer of talent to justify a GM keeping him around for "another chance".

They might keep him around next season as a backup, or in "competition" for a starting spot if the high-round draft pick doesn't wow right out of the gate. But he's already been benched. If we're lucky, there's a much better starter back there week 1.

[LesSteckellives]

1) Fumble in the endzone for a touchdown for Dallas.
2) Horrible pick thrown to Scandrick.
3) Laughable "Hail Mary" at the end of the game that didn't even reach the endzone.
4) Has lost every game he started this year.



How much praise should we heap on him?

[dkoby]

I praised him in another thread. For a while he was decisive and the ball was coming out on time which in effect keeps the heat off of him. I also love the fact that they came out in hurry up mode. I've been screaming for that for a while. At least for a whole drive. Sadly, I think it wore out Loadholt. They went back to what this team is supposed to be about.....AD. At least thats the way it is currently built.
The last play was so anti climatic that all the positive feeling that were built up throughout the game came crashing down with the hail mary throw. When he launched the ball I though that we had all been wrong about his arm strength because he seemed to put such little effort into the throw. Then I saw it hit the 5 yard line.....6 to 7 yards short of any receiver. Deflation prevailed. Doesn't he know how to get it there??

As I said in the other thread, this game is right at or near his ceiling. I don't think you are ever going to get a much more improved performance from him.

[The Breeze]

I've been wanting more no huddle since last season, and Mondry has been on point about getting Ponder going early.

Musgrave is just bad IMO. He designs great plays and seems to have a decent imagination but his application of that is horrible.

It's like he can't see what anyone who pays attention finds quite obvious...whether it's Ponder, AD or the way he telegraphs his intent via formations.

The way things have been run has not helped Ponder all that much considering his strengths and weaknesses....still it seems moot. Neither of them have future here IMO.

[PurpleKoolaid]

The fumble in the end zone was the result of stupid play calling and J'Marcus Webb.

And Ponder holding onto the ball too long.

Why put in a new tackle, and the first play the end zone, call that play? Musgrave is an absolute moron at times.

[mondry]

I've been wanting more no huddle since last season, and Mondry has been on point about getting Ponder going early.

Musgrave is just bad IMO. He designs great plays and seems to have a decent imagination but his application of that is horrible.

It's like he can't see what anyone who pays attention finds quite obvious...whether it's Ponder, AD or the way he telegraphs his intent via formations.

The way things have been run has not helped Ponder all that much considering his strengths and weaknesses....still it seems moot. Neither of them have future here IMO.

Yeah, it was just one of those things that I noticed where when they've made an effort to involve Ponder early and not just have him be the QB for 3rd down plays he's done better. This game felt a lot like it was designed around Ponder and doing what he likes to do. It's not just Ponder though, everyone seemed to have a better game, even AD and it was more of what a few of us have been saying about spreading the field out and keeping 3 WR's out there much more often. I didn't get to post in the game thread much but I did stop in to say "hey this actually looks kind of like a West Coast Offense for a change!"

Ponder completed passes to 9 different targets so that's pretty huge as well, ran for 29 yards and a TD.

And then Musgrave got tired of winning so we went back to the typical stuff that hasn't worked.

Personally, Collin Kaepernick, Russel Wilson, Christian Ponder, they're all the same prospect to me for the most part, 1 read guys with athletic ability and sure I'd take Kaepernick out of the bunch because of his arm strength or Wilson because he has the it factor / confidence but for the most part the big difference is the coaching and game plans each receives. Harbough reworked his entire freaking offense when Crabtree went down and focused on Kaepernick's strengths. Musgrave just now finally implemented something his QB likes to do only to stop doing it in the 4th.

That's what I mean by Bridgewater would be bust here.

[The Breeze]

Yeah, it was just one of those things that I noticed where when they've made an effort to involve Ponder early and not just have him be the QB for 3rd down plays he's done better. This game felt a lot like it was designed around Ponder and doing what he likes to do. It's not just Ponder though, everyone seemed to have a better game, even AD and it was more of what a few of us have been saying about spreading the field out and keeping 3 WR's out there much more often. I didn't get to post in the game thread much but I did stop in to say "hey this actually looks kind of like a West Coast Offense for a change!"

Ponder completed passes to 9 different targets so that's pretty huge as well, ran for 29 yards and a TD.

And then Musgrave got tired of winning so we went back to the typical stuff that hasn't worked.

Personally, Collin Kaepernick, Russel Wilson, Christian Ponder, they're all the same prospect to me for the most part, 1 read guys with athletic ability and sure I'd take Kaepernick out of the bunch because of his arm strength or Wilson because he has the it factor / confidence but for the most part the big difference is the coaching and game plans each receives. Harbough reworked his entire freaking offense when Crabtree went down and focused on Kaepernick's strengths. Musgrave just now finally implemented something his QB likes to do only to stop doing it in the 4th.

That's what I mean by Bridgewater would be bust here.

I agree with you. I think it's amounted to little more than a bold face lie when it was said that our scheme would be tailored to the players strengths. Either that or the OC hasn't fully grasped said strengths....or he understands the idea but lacks something when it comes to actually implementing the idea.

I've often wondered if it wouldn't serve Musgrave to call the game from the box, like Norv Turner and some other guys do.

Either way, it doesn't appear to me that these players are consistently put in winning situations.

I remarked a couple of days ago about how I would not want to be drafted here if I was a blue chip QB. Like Elway and Eli, I would consider holding out for a trade.....seriously.

[LesSteckellives]

Can we name a quarterback who never did the first? Maybe Montana.
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1992-1 ... ck-cowboys

Or #2, #3, if we had made the point after, maybe we could have been trying for a FG, Hail Marys are called exactly that, they don't often work.

as to #4, the QB is the most important position on the team but some displays by the defense as in the prior 3 games have been a horror show.

I won't claim that Ponder was the only reason we are 1-7. I will say he has been far from praise-worthy.

I wasn't expecting the "Hail Mary" to work. I was expecting it to reach the endzone. Apparently, I expected too much.

Montana and Aikman won championships. Ponder? Not so much......


I could be a cheerleader and say "Golly, he's really doing a great job!" Perhaps that is what you want to hear. The truth, however, is that he's not doing a great job, or even a good one, and it seems silly to pretend otherwise.

[dead_poet]

Christian Ponder will start on Thursday, per Frazier. #Vikings

[VikingHoard]

The fumble in the end zone was the result of stupid play calling and J'Marcus Webb.

Those are both to blame, but so is Ponder holding the ball to long and having no pocket awareness, (even after watching Selvie get about 95% of the way around Webb). Other people's additional mistakes do not erase Ponder's.

[Eli]

Ponder had his best game of this season. Which isn't saying much.