Week 2: Vikings at Colts

Last week we were witness to a Vikings game that ran us through the gamut of emotions, but ultimately ended up resulting in a victory for our favorite hometown team. Adrian Peterson appeared to return to his normal self, Christian Ponder lived up to his "75% on 1st & 2nd down" promise, and, unlike the Vikings teams we were used to in 2011, the team showed up in the clutch and won a very close game. The opening game victory is the first the Vikings have seen since 2009. Brett Favre led that team to a 6-0 start and eventually the NFC Championship. Will Christian Ponder be able to copy that success off the off the opening day victory? You know what? Let's not get ahead of ourselves! Let's lavish in that win and look forward to week 2, another winnable game against a team that lost more often than any other in 2011. Here's what we're looking at in week 2.

Christian Ponder vs. Andrew Luck
Adrian Peterson is getting all of the headlines, but one guy that really stepped up in Week 1 was Christian Ponder. He might not have gotten off to the strongest start we've seen, but Ponder ended up 20-27 with 270 yards. For those that haven't been keeping track, that 270 yards was the second most he's ever thrown for, his 105.5 rating is the highest he's ever had, and his 74% completion percentage is the highest he's thrown for the Vikings. And yet, with the Blair Walsh and Adrian Peterson story lines, he practically flew under the radar. For a guy that had his fair share of critics(rightfully so) in his rookie season, we're kind of disappointed his opening game isn't getting as much credit as it probably deserves. Meanwhile, Andrew Luck had a typical type of rookie performance. He showed some flashes of brilliance and some flashes of sheer incompetence. He threw for 309 yards, which is a pretty impressive number, except when you consider it took him 45 passes to hit that mark. By comparison, his 2012 draft rival, number 2 pick Robert Griffen III only needed 26 passes to throw for 320 yards. The 51.1% performance was only made worse by the three interceptions that Luck threw. On the bright side, by all accounts, Luck was able to deliver to his targets when given ample time to do so. Will the Vikings pass rush be able to frustrate Luck into another multiple interception performance?

Reggie Wayne vs. The Vikings Secondary
Nobody was able to accumulate more yards in week 1 than Reggie Wayne. Wayne caught 9 passes for 135 yards. Andrew Luck targeted him 18 times in the loss. Needless to say, we expect Luck to be looking Wayne's way yet again in week two. Especially at home. We're curious to see how the secondary responds to the dynamic Wayne. The Vikings allowed 242 yards in week 1, but completely fell apart late in the second half and allowed the Blaine Gabbert-led Jaguars to take the lead with less than 30 seconds to go. The Jaguars were also able to convert half of their third down conversions(9 for 18) -- a trend that the Vikings cannot allow to continue if they want to be able to win consistently this year. Quarterbacks tend to throw at their favorite targets on third down. Will this Vikings defense be able to get off the field on third down this week? Their ability to do so could be instrumental in winning this game against the rookie.

Adrian Peterson's Comeback Tour Continues
Even the best NFL prognosticators weren't able to predict that Adrian Peterson would be able to return to form in his very first game back from a horrific knee injury. Our beloved AD suffered an ACL/MCL tear last December, and not many predicted that he would be back running at nearly full strength in the opener. Especially considering the guy didn't even play in the offseason! Adrian ran the ball 17 times, which was actually slightly higher than his 2011 weekly average(13 carries). That 84 yards would have been his 5th best rushing effort last season when he was healthy. Earlier this week, Adrian suggested that he was even closer to being 100% than he was last week, estimating his overall health at 95%. The Colts allowed 114 rushing yards to the Bears last week, which was good for 20th most among NFL teams. We're obviously impressed with Adrian's first game. Will he be able to continue it in week 2 against the Dwight Freeney-less Colts?

Today's game against the Indianapolis Colts kicks off at noon on the FAN. Paul Allen and Pete Bercich will handle the call on 100.3FM here in the Twin Cities and across the Vikings Radio Network.

Check out the graphic to the left. It was created by "worst case scenario", a regular in Purple Chat. Check out the other submissions in this week's competition on Purple Chat. Have a fresh idea for next week's game? Pay attention to Purple Chat for next week's Gameday Graphic thread. Did we miss out on a major plotline for today's game? Tell us below or on Purple Chat.

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This article was written by jab. You can normally find him meandering around Rube Chat. Or feel free to email him at jab@kfan.com.