EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – Christian Ponder and the Minnesota Vikings picked up a little something to take with them on their midseason vacation.

A victory.

“I don’t think a win has ever felt so good,” linebacker Chad Greenway said, reflecting on how the Vikings beat Carolina 24-21 on Sunday.

Still very aware of their 2-6 record, the Vikings nonetheless scattered Monday afternoon with smiles on their faces as the bye on their schedule arrived. Players were given a week off until their next gathering Nov. 7.

They’ll get a little extra rest time, too, because of the Monday night game against Green Bay, and won’t have another full practice until Nov. 10.

“One and seven wasn’t going to cut it, so we had to pull this one off,” tight end Visanthe Shiancoe said. “And we did. We fought all four quarters.

“Everybody fought, fought, fought, fought. We played a physical game, and that’s what we were trying to do.”

They’re practically eliminated from the playoff chase, but the promotion of Ponder as the starting quarterback has injected life into the locker room and provided coach Leslie Frazier some relief from the scrutiny of his performance and second-guessing of some of his decisions.

“Sure does feel good to be able to come here on a Monday after a win,” Frazier said as he clutched the podium with each hand and grinned broadly.

Later in his news conference, the coach was asked whether he remained unsettled by the Panthers’ conversion of a fourth-and-15 pass late in Sunday’s game that gained 44 yards to set up an attempt at the tying field goal.

“I told our coaches this morning, ‘Nothing is gnawing at me after a win,’ ” Frazier said, smiling again. “We won the game. We’re going into the bye.

“Vikings win. That’s all I’m concerned about. We’ll fix all that other stuff during this bye week.”

His new quarterback has sure helped him feel better.

Ponder has plenty to improve upon, including a 51.9 completion percentage, but his poise — particularly in the clutch on third down — has transformed an offence that didn’t have a spark or an edge when Donovan McNabb was starting. Considering the big leads blown by the Vikings in each of their first three losses, it’s natural to wonder what their record would be if Ponder had the job from the start.

“I know why the decision was made and why we made the decision to start him when we did,” Frazier said, declining to speculate on the possibility. “So I really don’t go there. I just know where our team was and where we were and what we needed to do.”

Sometimes teams are wary of sending a rookie into action too soon for fear that bad habits will develop and frustration will taint his development.

“I think it all goes back to the quarterback himself. I think guys respond to things differently. One guy who makes a mistake is going to be a head case for the rest of the game or rest of the season no matter what it is and won’t be able to get over it,” Ponder said. “But there’s other guys that … realize that you’re going to make mistakes and just learn from them.”

Worried the lockout limited Ponder’s learning time, Frazier pushed the Vikings to acquire the 13-year veteran McNabb in a trade. But he pulled the plug on that experiment after Minnesota lost five of its first six games.

Ponder’s debut against the Packers on Oct. 23 was impressive, resulting in what Greenway called the most positive loss of his life.

The sample size is small, so some caution must be applied to the praise being heaped upon Ponder, especially when there are many other flaws this team has. But Shiancoe dismissed the danger of getting too excited too soon.

“You always have to be excited over improvement and build on it,” Shiancoe said. “The excitement is going to cause the building process, so it has to be there.”

Adrian Peterson caught five passes for 76 yards, a career-high in receiving for him, and Ponder was credited for surveying the defence and checking down to throw his star runner the ball out of the backfield. The Panthers kept their safeties back a lot, a look the Vikings aren’t used to. Usually, one of them is up near the line to try to stop Peterson.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to help Adrian achieve his goal of 2,000 yards rushing if we start getting a lot of two-high safeties,” Frazier said, flashing that grin again.

Frazier saw a buildup in practice by Ponder that told him the rookie was ready. It was the way he ran the huddle, the maturity he showed on the field and the type of throws he was able to make. Relieving McNabb on Oct. 16 at the end of a blowout loss at Chicago, then, solidified in Ponder the game experience he needed to build off his strides and natural strengths.

“He didn’t get flustered. He came off the field after one of those series and said, ‘Coach, I’m glad you put me in there!’ ” Frazier said. “He embraced that moment.

“That game kind of told me that it’s time. And then looking at where our team was at the time.”

The first-round draft pick from Florida State shrugged off his role in the team’s mood swing, but his confidence is clear.

“Pressure is what you put on yourself,” Ponder said with the same calm he’s showed in the pocket.

With his popularity increasing by the day, Ponder is headed on a hunting and fishing trip in South Dakota with teammates Greenway, Cullen Loeffler and John Sullivan. He’ll return to Minnesota with, at least, the opportunity to make these games in November and December meaningful.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP)—Christian Ponder(notes) and the Minnesota Vikings picked
up a little something to take with them on their midseason vacation.

A victory.

“I don’t think a win has ever felt so good,” linebacker Chad Greenway(notes)
said, reflecting on how the Vikings beat Carolina 24-21 the day before.

Still very aware of their 2-6 record, the Vikings nonetheless scattered
Monday afternoon with smiles on their faces as the bye on their schedule
arrived. Players were given a week off until their next gathering on Nov. 7.
They’ll get a little extra rest time, too, because of the Monday night game
against Green Bay, and won’t have another full practice until Nov. 10.

“One and seven wasn’t going to cut it, so we had to pull this one off,”
tight end Visanthe Shiancoe(notes) said. “And we did. We fought all four quarters.
Everybody fought, fought, fought, fought. We played a physical game, and that’s
what we were trying to do.”

They’re practically eliminated from the playoff chase, but the promotion of
Ponder as the starting quarterback has injected life into the locker room and
provided coach Leslie Frazier some relief from the scrutiny of his performance
and second-guessing of some of his decisions.

“Sure does feel good to be able to come here on a Monday after a win,”
Frazier said as he clutched the podium with each hand and grinned broadly.

Later in his news conference at Winter Park, the coach was asked whether he
remained unsettled by the Panthers’ conversion of a fourth-and-15 pass late in
Sunday’s game that gained 44 yards to set up an attempt at the tying field goal.

“I told our coaches this morning, `Nothing is gnawing at me after a win,”’
Frazier said, smiling again. “We won the game. We’re going into the bye.
Vikings win. That’s all I’m concerned about. We’ll fix all that other stuff
during this bye week.”

His new quarterback has sure helped him feel better.

Ponder has plenty to improve upon, including a 51.9 completion percentage,
but his poise—particularly in the clutch on third down—has transformed an
offense that didn’t have a spark or an edge when Donovan McNabb(notes) was starting.
Considering the big leads blown by the Vikings in each of their first three
losses, it’s natural to wonder what their record would be if Ponder had the job
from the start.

“I know why the decision was made and why we made the decision to start him
when we did,” Frazier said, declining to speculate on the possibility. “So I
really don’t go there. I just know where our team was and where we were and what
we needed to do.”

Sometimes teams are wary of sending a rookie into action too soon for fear
that bad habits will develop and frustration will taint his development.

“I think it all goes back to the quarterback himself. I think guys respond
to things differently. One guy who makes a mistake is going to be a head case
for the rest of the game or rest of the season no matter what it is and won’t be
able to get over it,” Ponder said. “But there’s other guys that … realize
that you’re going to make mistakes and just learn from them.”

Worried that the lockout limited Ponder’s learning time, Frazier pushed the
Vikings to acquire the 13-year veteran McNabb in a trade. But he pulled the plug
on that experiment after the Vikings lost five of their first six games.

Ponder’s debut against the Packers on Oct. 23 was impressive, resulting in
what Greenway called the most positive loss of his life.

The sample size is small, so some caution must be applied to the praise
being heaped upon Ponder, especially when there are many other flaws this team
has. But Shiancoe dismissed the danger of getting too excited too soon.

“You always have to be excited over improvement and build on it,” Shiancoe
said. “The excitement is going to cause the building process, so it has to be
there.”

Adrian Peterson caught five passes for 76 yards, a career-high in receiving
for him, and Ponder was credited for surveying the defense and checking down to
throw his star runner the ball out of the backfield. The Panthers kept their
safeties back a lot, a look the Vikings aren’t used to. Usually, one of them is
up near the line to try to stop Peterson.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to help Adrian achieve his goal of 2,000 yards
rushing if we start getting a lot of two-high safeties,” Frazier said, flashing
that grin again.

Frazier saw a buildup in practice by Ponder that told him the rookie was
ready. It was the way he ran the huddle, the maturity he showed on the field and
the type of throws he was able to make. Relieving McNabb on Oct. 16 at the end
of a blowout loss at Chicago, then, solidified in Ponder the game experience he
needed to build off his strides and natural strengths.

“He didn’t get flustered. He came off the field after one of those series
and said, `Coach, I’m glad you put me in there!”’ Frazier said, adding: “He
embraced that moment. That game kind of told me that it’s time. And then looking
at where our team was at the time.”

The first-round draft pick from Florida State shrugged off his role in the
team’s mood swing, but his confidence is clear.

“Pressure is what you put on yourself,” Ponder said with the same calm
he’s showed in the pocket.

With his popularity increasing by the day, Ponder is headed on a hunting and
fishing trip in South Dakota with teammates Greenway, Cullen Loeffler(notes) and John
Sullivan(notes). He’ll return to Minnesota with, at least, the opportunity to make
these games in November and December meaningful.

Follow Dave Campbell on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DaveCampbellAP

Read More: Chris Cook (CB – MIN), Minnesota Vikings

Presently, the Minnesota Vikings have cornerback Chris Cook suspended without pay following his arrest in a domestic abuse incident. Cook was charged with felony strangulation and, according to ESPN, the team is typically allowed to keep Cook suspended for about four weeks. It looks like the team is going to consider their options and potentially do something much sooner, however.

During a Monday press conference, Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier was asked if Cook could be cut, and responded with “We’ve got a lot of things to talk about.” Cook’s next court date isn’t until Nov. 22 and based on those words, it seems like the Vikings are taking it very seriously. A decision may be coming before the date, and the decision will be a big one.

Cook has been earning his way into the starting role, and was looking better just about each game. He’s just 24-years old and was the team’s top pick in 2010. Losing him would be a big blow to a team in transition, but the charges against him are serious and the Vikings don’t want to show that acting out as Cook did is alright. 

Christian Ponder(notes) of the Minnesota Vikings celebrated his first career NFL win yesterday with an impressive performance against the Carolina Panthers. Ponder was 18 of 28 passing for one touchdown and no interceptions, leading the Vikings to only their second win of the 2011 campaign.

The fact that Minnesota has looked respectable in Ponder’s first two career starts cannot be overlooked. Of course, no true Vikings fan could ever be pleased with a loss to the Packers, but for a rookie quarterback to put his team in a position to win against the reigning Super Bowl Champions, one has to have hope that his development will lead to success for the franchise in the near future. Although Carolina was certainly no football powerhouse, Cam Newton(notes) has been one of the best performing quarterbacks in the NFL this year. Ponder stepped up to the challenge in both games, and fans should take notice.

Donovan McNabb’s(notes) play through the first several games of the season left Minnesota fans looking for something more. The Vikings have the league leader in sacks in Jared Allen(notes), the league’s leading rusher in Adrian Peterson, and one of the league’s worst records at 2-6. Something didn’t quite add up, and Christian Ponder’s insertion into the starting lineup has provided fans a look at the future of the Vikings as well as hope that this year might not be totally lost just yet.

Christian Ponder is still a young kid by NFL standards; he is 23 years old and likely to stick with the Vikings as long as his performance allows. Donovan McNabb, despite being a great NFL quarterback in his prime, has now aged to where he might still be able to find success in the NFL, but only in the right schemes.

One thing is for certain: Rookie quarterbacks will make rookie mistakes. We have seen a few from Ponder, especially in his first game. But the positive thing to take away from the situation is that his second game was better. In a year where the playoffs are pretty unlikely barring a major collapse by Detroit or Green Bay and a monumental run by the Vikings, maybe improvement each week is asking for enough.

Jack Grunpe has been a lifelong Minnesota citizen, and avid fan of the Minnesota Vikings.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

The Minnesota Vikings are a different team with Christian Ponder in the lineup. And that’s a very good thing.

After going 1-5 under veteran Donovan McNabb, the Vikings turned to the rookie quarterback. Ponder made his second straight start on Sunday and his first on the road. After dropping a close 33-27 game to unbeaten Green Bay in his debut, Ponder delivered in Carolina as he helped the Vikings rally past the Panthers 24-21.

Sure the Vikings dodged a bullet when Olindo Mare missed a 31-yard field goal in the final minute that would have sent the game into overtime. But it was Ponder who guided the Vikings on a pair of long drives in the second half to produce a game-tying touchdown and a go-ahead field goal.

With McNabb at the helm the Vikings offense at been stale and basically non-existent in the second half this season. Ponder has jump-started the offense. Against the Panthers he was 18-for-28 and threw for 236 yards, a season-high for the Vikings in 2011.