Week 4: Vikings at Detroit Lions

In typical Vikings fashion, they end up pulling off what nobody thought they might be able to do. On a day in which most were betting they'd fall to the 49ers, somehow they pull out a victory. Many Vikings fans were surprised by this outcome. Christian Ponder fared very well against the 49ers defense and the Vikings defense allowed a grand total of only 13 points against a 49ers team that many had pegged for a deep NFC run. As it turned out, the Vikings took San Francisco to the proverbial woodshed and pulled out a victory against the previously unbeaten team. Meanwhile the Detroit Lions lost a very close game to the Tennesse Titans. They will undoubtedly be looking for a rebound performance to their disappointing overtime loss. We're very much looking forward to what these teams will be bringing to the table this week.

Welcome back, Jerome Simpson
The Vikings didn't sign too many big name free agents this past offseason, but one they did end up signing was the acrobatic Jerome Simpson, who signed out of Cincinnati. Most rubes will remember his reception that resulted in a somersault touchdown. What rubes might not know is that in 14 games last season, Simpson managed 725 yards on 50 receptions. which was an average of nearly 15 yards per reception. Thus far, the Vikings have been relying on Percy Harvin for the majority of the time. We're very curious to see if Jerome can help provide the deep threat that the Vikings have been craving, and finding more than just Harvin as a serious target.

Christian Ponder avoiding second year Blues
Most Vikings fans looked at Christian Ponder's first season and saw a rookie quarterback that needed more exprerience to really show what he was made of. To be fair, Ponder only started ten games in his rookie year. Add the 3 from this year and Ponder has only started 13 total games over his first two seasons. This game against Detroit will only be his 14th total game started in his career. Many people will tell you that two full NFL seasons will give you the best indication of whether a player might be qualified to duke it out in the NFL. Since Christian hasn't even played a full season, you have to look at how he's done thus far. This year Ponder has completed 68 out of 97 total passes, or 70.1% total. He's also been very good on second and third downs. We'll be looking to see if he can continue this trend against the Lions. In Ponder's career against the Lions thus far, he's thrown two Touchdowns against three intereptions. Then again, that's only one game. Can he keep up this year's performance for a fourth week? We'll be looking forward to seeing what happens.

Shutting down Calvin Josnson
Calvin Johnson has been one of the best wide receivers in the NFL the past handful of years. Historically the Vikings haven't had the best luck with Calvin, but the last time they played him they managed to hold him to only one catch for three yards. It's unlikely that the team will be able to hold him to anything similar this year, but they will be looking to keep him out of the passing game as much as possible. Will it work? Only time will tell, because this secondary has been anything but consistent over the last handful two years. We'll be looking very closely to see how the Vikings cover Megatron this year, as it could be the deciding factor in how this game turns out.

Today's game against the Lions kicks off from Detroit 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 "Drunken-1", 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 plot line 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.