LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Out for the game – and now much longer – with a serious knee injury,
Adrian Peterson
was on his way back from the X-ray room in the depths of the stadium when he looked at a television monitor.

“I see Toby break up the sideline,” Peterson said. “So, `Go, Toby, go.”‘

What else could happen to the
Minnesota Vikings
in one of the worst seasons in franchise history? How about losing Peterson to a direct hit on the left knee and
Christian Ponder
to a possible concussion on back-to-back plays to start the second half? It just didn’t seem fair.

And the news only got worse as Saturday went on. The Vikings said an MRI showed that Peterson tore the anterior cruciate ligament
in his left knee, and coach Leslie Frazier will provide a further update at his news conference Monday.

But here’s a twist: They won the game.
Toby Gerhart
and
Joe Webb
answered the call, leading Saturday’s 33-26 victory over the
Washington Redskins
that snapped a six-game losing streak and helped make up for the fact that their best player was standing on crutches in the
locker room.

“I can enjoy my Christmas now,” Frazier said.

Gerhart scampered for a 67-yard run – the play Peterson saw on TV – to start Minnesota’s next series after the Peterson-Ponder
injuries and finished with 109 yards on 11 carries. Webb again made a case to be a starting quarterback by throwing for two
touchdowns and running for another as the Vikings (3-12) kept alive their hopes to not finish with the worst record in team
history. A win next week against Chicago would put them ahead of the dubious 1984 Minnesota team that went 3-13.

Asked if it’s time to give the option-running Webb a look at the No. 1 job, Frazier didn’t hesitate.

“Some of the things he does, and what it does to the rest of our team, you can’t ignore,” Frazier said. “So it’s something
we’re going to have a real hard look at as we go forward. He definitely lifts our team.”

He might get the start next week, at least, because of Ponder’s injury, but Webb surely was an inspiring presence Saturday,
completing 4 of 5 passes for 84 yards and rushing five times for 34 yards. His 9-yard touchdown run came on the option, and
he put a perfect 17-yard scoring pass into the arms of rookie tight end
Kyle Rudolph
, a touchdown appropriate for Christmas Eve, to give the Vikings a 23-20 lead late in the third quarter.

“When they bring in a weapon like that,” Redskins linebacker
Perry Riley
said of Webb, “not a secret weapon – we’d seen him on tape and we had a feeling – but it’s hard to prepare fully on a short
week for two quarterbacks. … It’s hard to change it mid-stream like that.”

Webb’s 8-yard pass to
Percy Harvin
broke a 23-all tie early in the fourth quarter, and rookie
Mistral Raymond
‘s first career interception set up
Ryan Longwell
‘s 23-yard field goal to give the Vikings a 10-point lead with 4:05 to play. Minnesota had gone nine games without a pick
before Raymond’s big play.

The Redskins pulled within a touchdown on
Graham Gano
‘s 47-yard field goal with 1:25 remaining. They got the ball back after a punt, but
Rex Grossman
‘s final long fling to the end zone fell incomplete to give Washington (5-10) a sixth straight home loss, its longest such
skid since 1994.

Peterson said he knew “it was something bad” the moment he was hit by safety
DeJon Gomes
at the end of a 3-yard gain on the first offensive play of the second half. The X-rays were negative, but Peterson had an
MRI late Saturday after the team returned to Minnesota.

“It’s such a special person that you want to be right before you prognosticate on what might be,” Frazier said before the
exam.

The torn ACL, the worst-case scenario, will likely sideline Peterson for some nine months and make it difficult for him to
return for the start of next season.

“Anytime you take a blow to the knee like that, you’re concerned about the ACL, MCL,” Peterson said before the diagnosis.
“I’m trying to stay as positive as I can.”

On the play after Peterson was hurt, Ponder suffered a head injury when sacked by
Adam Carriker
and
London Fletcher
. Ponder remained in the game for one more play – a third-down incomplete pass – before heading to the locker room.

Frazier said Ponder had “concussion-like symptoms.” The coach said he’s uncertain whether the quarterback will play in next
week’s season finale against the Bears.

“We’ll have to weigh it when we get back,” Frazier said, “and I’ll follow the doctor’s lead.”

With the way Webb is playing, Ponder might get the week off anyway.

Notes: Grossman had two more giveaways – a lost fumble and interception – to put his total at 24 for the season. He was already
tied for the most turnovers in the NFL entering the game. … Washington’s
Evan Royster
, getting the start with fellow rookie
Roy Helu
out with an injury, ran for 132 yards on 19 carries. … Minnesota’s
Jared Allen
had one sack to raise his total to 18 1/2. … The Vikings were also short-handed along the offensive line, with guard
Steve Hutchinson
inactive with a concussion and guard
Anthony Herrera
sidelined for part of the game with a lower back injury.

—

© 2011 STATS LLC

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — New images of a proposed Minnesota Vikings stadium in Arden Hills, Minn. released Tuesday show potential options for development.

Both summer and winter illustrations were released that give an idea of what the former Twin Cities Army Ammunitions Plant site could look like with a new stadium.

The summer proposal features running and biking trails, multi-use practice fields and a “Main Street” concept that would mix retail, residential, commercial and park space surrounding a community pond.

The winter image shows fire pits, ice skating on the community pond and cross-country skiing. A “lake house” next to the pond could provide indoor and outdoor space for community events, according to the team.

Summer. (credit: Minnesota Vikings)

Winter. (credit: Minnesota Vikings)

Read More: Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions, Dec 11, 2011 12:00 PM CST

The Minnesota Vikings are starting a rookie at quarterback in Christian Ponder. Sometimes, rookie quarterbacks make throws that they shouldn’t. That was clearly the case early in the second quarter at Ford Field against the Detroit Lions.

On a second down play, Ponder dropped back to pass and once again found a wide open Alphonso Smith. As we intimated earlier on this afternoon, Smith still plays for the Lions and not the Vikings, so that’s a bad thing. Smith went untouched into the end zone for a 30-yard return, and the Lions had pushed their lead back to three touchdowns at 28-7.

It has been a rough afternoon for all three phases of the Vikings’ team thus far. The sad part? We’re only two and a half minutes into the third quarter. A long afternoon has the potential to get even longer for fans of the purple and gold.

As it stands now, we have 12:33 left in the first half of play, and the Minnesota Vikings trail the Detroit Lions by a score of 28-7, with 21 of Detroit’s points coming directly off of Minnesota turnovers.

Read More: Stephen Tulloch (LB – DET), Cliff Avril (DE – DET), Phil Loadholt (OT – MIN), Toby Gerhart (RB – MIN), Christian Ponder (QB – MIN), Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions, Dec 11, 2011 12:00 PM CST

Once again, the Minnesota Vikings have given up an early touchdown when the defense was nowhere to be found.

After allowing one first down to the Lions on their first series, Minnesota forced a punt that was taken at the 9-yard line. On the Vikings’ first play from scrimmage, Christian Ponder faked a handoff to Toby Gerhart and dropped back to pass, and Lions’ defensive end Cliff Avril beat Phil Loadholt like a drum around the right edge. Avril got to Ponder and forced a fumble that wound up bouncing into the end zone. Stephen Tulloch jumped on the fumble in the end zone, and the Lions had an early touchdown.

This is the second game in a row that the Vikings’ offense has surrendered a touchdown early, as last week the Denver Broncos got an interception for a score for their first score in Minneapolis.

We have 12:56 left in the first quarter, and the Detroit Lions have already staked themselves to a 7-0 lead.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder has a hip pointer after taking a hard hit early in Sunday’s game against Denver.

Ponder was seen favoring his left leg when he scrambled or walked back to the huddle and clutching his right side in discomfort during the game, though coach Leslie Frazier didn’t specify.

The coach said Monday that Ponder’s injury was the one the Vikings are “most concerned about” this week, but he added later that trainers told him the rookie “should be fine” for this Sunday’s game against Detroit.

“He’s a guy that has relied on his mobility at times, and they can be a little tricky,” Frazier said.

Frazier said Joe Webb would play if Ponder couldn’t. The Vikings signed Sage Rosenfels last week as their third-stringer, but he’s not “at that point” yet with the offense where he can start.

Running back Adrian Peterson could return from a two-game absence due to a sprained left ankle. Frazier said the team believes “he’s very close.” The Vikings will have a better indication about Peterson’s progress once they return to practice Wednesday.

Linebacker Chad Greenway hyper-extended his right elbow late in the game, but Frazier said he will probably recover in time to play this week. Defensive end Brian Robison suffered and concussion and will have to be evaluated throughout the week. Tight end Visanthe Shiancoe showed up with a swollen hand, but X-rays showed no break.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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With twelve minutes left in the game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Oakland Raiders, Raiders’ wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey caught a pass on a crossing route across the middle of the field, and was brought down by Vikings’ cornerback Cedric Griffin. At the end of the play, Vikings’ linebacker E.J. Henderson came flying into the play and caught Heyward-Bey in the back of his head with either his knee or his thigh.

Though it didn’t look like it was terribly serious on the replay, Heyward-Bey remained down on the field and didn’t get up. He eventually had the training staff come out and check him out, and the end result was him getting placed on a stretcher and, ultimately, on a cart and taken off of the field.

Heyward-Bey appeared to have movement in his arms and his legs, and gave his teammates a thumbs-up as he was being taken off the field, so hopefully he will recover without any serious issues.

For further updates on Heyward-Bey’s status, be sure to check out SB Nation Bay Area, as well as SB Nation’s Oakland Raiders’ site, Silver and Black Pride.

Read More: vikings football, minnesota vikings football, raiders football, oakland raiders football, raiders at vikings, raiders vs vikings, oakland at minnesota, oakland vs minnesota, vikings raiders scores, vikings raiders updates, vikings raiders injuries, Michael Jenkins (WR – MIN), Ryan Longwell (K – MIN), Adrian Peterson (RB – MIN), Percy Harvin (WR – MIN), Christian Ponder (QB – MIN), Oakland Raiders, Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders at Minnesota Vikings, Nov 20, 2011 12:00 PM CST

After what can charitably be described as an ugly first quarter, the Minnesota Vikings have dented the scoreboard first in their game against the Oakland Raiders.

After the two teams exchanged punts on their first possessions, the Vikings took the ball from their own 23-yard line. The Raiders appeared to have the Vikings stopped on several occasions, but just kept committing penalties to keep the Minnesota drive going. The Raiders committed personal foul penalties on two consecutive plays, one of which negated what would have been a third down sack of Christian Ponder that would have ended the drive.

There was also an interesting situation after what could have been a Vikings’ touchdown. Percy Harvin took an inside handoff from Ponder and appeared to have a 40-yard touchdown run, but Michael Jenkins was called for a penalty that brought it back. The Vikings had a rare 1st-and-2 after the spot foul, but the officials showed it on the field as 2nd-and-2. As a result, when the Vikings failed on second down, they thought it was third down and had sent Ryan Longwell onto the field. But, after the Vikings called a time out (which they ultimately weren’t charged for), they converted a third down and kept the drive alive.

A couple of plays later, Adrian Peterson took one right though the heart of the Oakland defense for a 12-yard touchdown run, giving the Vikings a 7-0 lead. It’s Peterson’s 11th rushing touchdown of the season, extending his NFL lead in this category.

With a little more than five minutes remaining in the first quarter, the Minnesota Vikings lead the Oakland Raiders, 7-0, at the Metrodome.

I seriously think the football gods set up this weekend to torture Minnesotans. As if a Gophers-Badgers game isn’t bad enough, the Minnesota Vikings have yet another face off against the Green Bay Packers. And this time, the Vikes won’t have the home field advantage.

The Packers are currently at 8-0, and many enthusiastic fans are predicting a 16-0 season and another Super Bowl victory. This week, the Vikings’ big job is to wipe that smug smile off the Packer Backers’ faces.

There are a few signs of hope for Sunday’s game. First, there’s Christian Ponder(notes). I really wish Leslie Frazier would have gotten Ponder in the game several weeks ago, because the Vikings might have had more than two wins by now. My Packer-loving friends like to point to the fact that Christian Ponder is nowhere near Aaron Rodgers(notes) in playing ability. Still, watching a Vikings game led by Ponder is far less embarrassing than watching one with Donovan McNabb(notes) as starting quarterback.

Another promising development: better use of running back Adrian Peterson. Everybody knows Peterson can rush, but he also makes a great receiver. Peterson’s abilities were not fully utilized during the first few weeks of the football season. He complained about this in a recent interview: ” Sometimes I don’t get the ball and I’m like grrr I was wide open.” But when the Minnesota Vikings played the Carolina Panthers, Peterson had five catches for 76 yards and a touchdown.

The Minnesota Vikings lost to the Green Bay Packers when they hosted at the Metrodome three weeks ago, but they did not lose by much. In fact, for a brief period, they were actually leading the Packers. If they can pull it together this week, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t hand the Pack their first loss of the season. Tight end Visanthe Shiancoe says it best: “[The Green Bay Packers] need a loss, don’t they? They need one. We’re going to see what we can do about that.”

Born and raised in Minnesota, S. Gustafson has remained faithful to the Vikings through their many ups and downs.

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

The fantasy football season has already passed the halfway point. You are probably suffering big time right now if you chose a bust this season (ahem, Donovan McNabb(notes)). The good news is, the fantasy football season isn’t over yet and there are still several good players available on the waiver wire.

If you are among the leagues of disappointed Minnesota Vikings fans, you probably have been following the Christian Ponder(notes) debut closely. A few weeks ago, most fantasy leagues were avoiding both Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks, as it was still impossible to know who would end up as starting for the remainder of the 2011 season. Now that Donovan McNabb has been benched in favor of Christian Ponder, Vikings fans can start snapping up Ponder from the waiver wire.

Although he was only picked 12 ^th in the draft, Ponder has proven a good choice so far. In his first two games as starting quarterback, the Minnesota Vikings have actually been fairly competitive, winning against the Carolina Panthers and losing by a narrow margin to the undefeated Green Bay Packers. Much of the credit for this success goes to Ponder, who has displayed impressive mobility in the pocket and an ability to perform under pressure.

Ponder’s stats in last Sunday’s game were enough for fantasy managers to sit up and take notice. The Minnesota Vikings rookie QB threw for 236 yards and a touchdown. Not too shabby, especially on a team that has struggled in passing all season. He did even better against the Green Bay Packers, throwing for a total of 318 yards and two touchdowns. Of course, Ponder also threw two interceptions, but on the whole, he could’ve done a lot worse.

Overall, Ponder’s performance is pretty good, but nothing extraordinary. This can be expected for a rookie quarterback who started in the middle of a rough season. He isn’t going to turn around a struggling fantasy football team, but he might be a good choice for the two quarterback leagues. Otherwise, be sure to keep an eye on Christian Ponder for 2012.

Born and raised in Minnesota, S. Gustafson has remained faithful to the Vikings through their many ups and downs.

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

It wouldn’t be an NFL Sunday without a fight between two players. The below incident happened during the Carolina Panthers/Minnesota Vikings game when Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin was thrown into the Carolina Panthers bench area by Carolina’s Captain Munnerlyn (what a name!).

Percy didn’t take it kindly being thrown into the bench area and decided to fight the Captain but had to also deal with Panthers tight ends Jeremy Shockey and Greg Olsen:

***

Percy Harvin and Captain Munnerlyn Mix It Up [Cosby Sweaters]

Percy Harvin Fights the Panthers [Outside the Boxscore]

Read More: vikings football, minnesota vikings football, panthers football, carolina panthers football, minnesota at carolina, minnesota vs carolina, vikings at panthers, vikings vs panthers, vikings panthers score, vikings panthers updates, minnesota carolina scores, minnesota carolina updates, Greg Olsen (TE – CAR), Adrian Peterson (RB – MIN), Christian Ponder (QB – MIN), Cam Newton (QB – CAR), Minnesota Vikings, Carolina Panthers, Minnesota Vikings at Carolina Panthers, Oct 30, 2011 12:00 PM CDT

The Carolina Panthers have taken the lead over the Minnesota Vikings in Charlotte by a score of 14-7.

After forcing the Vikings to punt again, the Panthers needed just five plays to move 49 yards for a score, largely because the touchdown that was scored was a 39-yard connection from Cam Newton to former Chicago Bear Greg Olsen in which Olsen was wide open. It was Newton’s second touchdown pass on the day, and he currently has 119 yards on 7-of-12 passing.

The Vikings still haven’t gotten Adrian Peterson going, as he only has four yards on seven carries. The Vikings are driving, however, as they’re at the Carolina 25-yard line as Christian Ponder has made a couple of very nice plays to keep the drive going.

With a little more than six minutes remaining in the first half at Bank of America Stadium, the Minnesota Vikings trail the Carolina Panthers by a score of 14-7.