Christian Ponder
They both have byes this week and it’s unlikely a lot of NFL fantasy football players will notice. In fact, while most fans tuned into the Patriots at Pittsburgh last weekend or Dallas at Philly and while others got all giggly over the Lions’ seven sacks on Tim Tebow in Denver, the game of the future was actually being played in Charlotte, N.C.
It might have drawn a few yawns this week, but quite frankly, it’s unlikely to ever draw yawns again.
The folks in Charlotte and the fans back in Minnesota, people who will always follow their Vikings and Panthers through thick and thin, probably thought they were just doing what they always do on Sunday afternoon. It was another football game in the middle of a tough season
Heading into Sunday’s matchup, the Panthers were 2-5 while the Vikings were 1-6. Neither team was thinking about the playoffs and most NFL fans ignored the game like it was a blight on the sport.
And yet, the two people who were in control of the afternoon will, one day, be the Tom Brady-Ben Roethlisberger or Michael Vick-Tony Romo, of our future Sunday afternoons.
Sure, the teams were done. Eight weeks into the season and they were already thinking about Cabo, not Indianapolis, in January. Regardless, the two quarterbacks proved that they will soon be the guys everyone wants to watch. I guarantee it. In fact, this was the debut of the Ponder-Newton Extravaganza, a matchup that could last for the next decade… -plus.
Last Sunday’s final score read: Minnesota 24, Carolina 21. For Minnesota, rookie quarterback Christian Ponder went 18-for-28 for 236 yards and a touchdown. For Carolina, rookie quarterback Cam Newton went 22-for-35 for 290 yards and three touchdowns. However, with the help of a great runningback named Adrian Peterson, the Vikings emerged victorious. Peterson carried 21 times for 86 yards and a touchdown and caught five passes for 76 yards and another TD.
But while Peterson had already arrived, Ponder and Newton were the new kids on the block and they were the talk of the afternoon. Not because what they did was particularly spectacular, but because of the hints they handed football fans. This was just another game midway through a long season, but it was also a glimpse into the future. Cam Newton and Christian Ponder are the Next Ones.
Cam Newton
Newton, last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, had been nothing short of remarkable from the day he arrived in Charlotte. At 6-foot-5, 250-pounds he cuts an amazing figure on the football field. The fact he has 4.59 speed and a rocket arm doesn’t hurt either. As a rookie, he’s second to the Saints’ Drew Brees in passing yards with 2,393 already this season. He’s completed 60.6 per cent of his passes. He’s averaged 299.1 yards per game. He can also run, run for touchdowns, throw on the run and think on the run. He has every possible tool. He will be this year’s rookie of the year and a future MVP.
The kid on the other side, who just happens to be 6-foot-2, 230-pounds was playing only his second game as a professional, but with the help of Peterson and his sidekick, the electrifying Percy Harvin, the rookie from Florida State sent a note to the rest of the NFL, “I can play, boys.”
Poised, bright and fearless, Christian Ponder proved that he was worth a No. 12 draft pick to acquire.
Here’s how good he was: On third downs requiring 10 yards or more to convert, Ponder was successful on four of his six attempts. And he did it with a sorry collection of receivers who had neither hands nor speed. Were it not for Peterson and Harvin – who were formidable – Ponder might have been out there alone.
“We just took what the defense gave us,” Ponder said. “We didn’t try to force the ball quite as much as we did last week against Green Bay. Whatever they gave us, we tried to exploit.”
Now let’s not go too overboard on Ponder. He did lead his team to a three-point victory, but this all might have been moot if veteran Carolina kicker Olindo Mare didn’t miss a 31-yeard chip shot in the dying seconds, a kick that would have sent the game into overtime and might have provided a different result. And let’s also give credit where it’s due: Newton deserved a better fate. He was terrific.
But Ponder provided the Vikings and their fans with exactly what many pundits claimed he would. He won. And there are people on the sidelines this week saying that if Ponder had started all eight games – the first six belonged to veteran Donovan McNabb – the Vikings might be 6-2 as opposed to 2-6.
That’s mere speculation, of course, but one thing is certain: Newton and Ponder will do this again. And there is perhaps a time in the not-too-distant future when they will do it in an NFC Final.
Even though both Carolina and Minnesota are now 2-6 and likely out of the playoff hunt, the two head coaches will probably be given a reprieve, thanks to the two young QBs. Fans are quick to forgive coaches who let rookie quarterbacks — young stars selected high in the draft — develop into regular starters and team leaders. Ron Rivera in Carolina and Leslie Frazier in Minnesota will now get a few weeks off before the vultures in the mainstream media and on the blogosphere start demanding their heads again.
Vikings fans have quickly learned that young Ponder can play well on the road and win. In Carolina, they already know that 2-6 isn’t Newton’s fault, it’s the fault of a defense that would have a challenge stopping the opposing team’s cheerleading unit.
In years to come, Sunday’s matchup between Cam Newton, 22, and the Carolina Panthers and Christian Ponder, 23, and the Minnesota Vikings will be as highly anticipated as today’s meeting between Brady and Brees or Rodgers and Roethlisberger.
Some day, and some day soon, Cam Newton’s trip into Minnesota to exact revenge for a loss to Christian Ponder on that beautiful North Carolina afternoon of Oct. 30, 2011, will be the talk of football.
(The Coach and The Doc will have their NFL picks on Friday, Nov. 4)