Fans rooting for the Vikings to lose the rest of their games in order to get a higher draft pick were elated to see the winless Jaguars and Buccaneers finally get off the schnide with their first victories of the season last week.
Minnesota, Tampa Bay and Jacksonville had been the three lowest-ranked teams in power rankings for the last month, but things are suddenly looking up (sort of).
NFL.com: No. 28 — Big victory for the Minnesota Vikings, who were clearly in need of one. It’s amazing how Adrian Peterson can affect the game, even when he rushes for just 75 yards. With the Redskins forced to respect the Vikings’ ground attack, their secondary was burned by none other than Matt Cassel on play-action. Peterson’s physical, bruising style seemed to lift his teammates on a night when they knew they were the only game on television AND had a chance to win. Not everything is about fantasy stats.
ESPN: No. 30 — Christian Ponder’s shoulder injury has his status up in the air for Sunday. Ponder completed 81 percent of his passes for 174 yards in Thursday’s win over the Redskins.
CBS Sports: No. 27 — The Vikings put a stop to a four-game losing streak with a win over the Redskins last week but now head to Seattle. It’s going to be hard for this team to win six games this year.
FOX Sports: No. 25 — Christian Ponder was an efficient 17 of 21 and threw two touchdowns. So of course he would have to leave the game with a dislocated shoulder. The QB carousel continues in Minnesota.
Yahoo! Sports: No. 30 — It would be entertaining if Christian Ponder played just well enough the rest of the season to get the Vikings front office talking themselves into another season of him at quarterback.
ProFootballTalk: No. 31 — They’ve finally won a game this year in the United States.
Pro Football Focus: No. 26 — No comment
