the .500 Club

Another Sunday another loss. Vikings are now 0-4 and are facing a very serious dilemma about the remainder of their season. There are few reasons to be hopeful that the Vikings could string together an 10-2 stretch that would put them in wild card contention at the end of the season, so what is to be done about the elephant in the room (McNabb)?

The only thing that should determine whether or not Ponder starts next week is whether or not he is ready. If the Vikings staff thinks he has a handle on the playbook and will not hinder his development by being unable to handle things, then the only logical thing to do is to either bench or cut McNabb, whichever he'd prefer.

I realize this is counter to the opinions i've stated earlier on this site, but after watching this team for 4 weeks, I cannot stand to see this QB miss easy throws and make poor decisions. If I'm going to watch a QB do that, I'd much prefer it be a rookie. McNabb is not an awful QB, but he is simply medicore, and far too content to watch drives fail. It appears to me that he's checked out already, perhaps due to him knowing that the season is over, and that he is going to lose his job.

McNabb may stick as the starter for much longer than any of us can stomach though. McNabb and Frazier have a strong relationship that goes back to when Frazier was a coach on the Eagles during McNabb's tenure there. It appears that there is a strong loyalty to McNabb from coach Frazier who probably believes his best chance of winning is with McNabb at QB, and as a new coach he needs every win he can get.

Positives!

Chris Cook is maturing into a starting corner right in front of our eyes. The Vikings first draft pick of the 2010 draft (2nd round) didn't make a huge impact last season due to injuries that derailed a promising start to his season. He looks healthy now and has the ability to matchup with some of the league's biggest receivers. In both the Chargers and Bucs games the wide receivers were non-factors, and Cook was a big part of that. Despite Calvin Johnson's big stat line, Cook had a great game matched up against CJ and was only responsible for 1 TD in which MegaTron made an elite receiver play (jump balls between the 2 ended 1-1). Today Cook had another solid game, Dwayne Bowe made some good catches against him but it was not for a lack of coverage. Cassell made some great throws, but Cook was always there to make the tackles.

Negatives:

Cedric Griffen. After 2 season ending tendon injuries (one for each leg) has not looked up to snuff in his return. He appears to have some difficulty making cuts, and on several occasions this season he has lost his balance and given up some big plays. Dwayne Bowe's 52 yard TD was a direct result of Griffen falling on the play. He was also falling on the play when Calvin Johnson made a long catch to put the Lions in FG range during OT. I'm not ready to give up on him yet, as his footwork likely has some catching up to do since he hasn't been able to run for most of the last 2 years.