2011-Present: The Leslie Frazier Era
With Favre's retirement and Tarvaris Jackson's departures at the end of the season, Joe Webb was widely expected to take over as the starting QB. However, the Vikings front office reportedly did not believe he was suitable for the position and the team instead drafted Florida State QB Christian Ponder with the 12th overall pick in the 2011 draft.
Aside from drafting Ponder, the Vikings also had to deal with a highly-unpopular league lockout that lasted from March to July. As soon as it ended, unrestricted free agents Tarvaris Jackson and Sidney Rice both found new homes in Seattle. Most importantly, the team acquired veteran QB Donovan McNabb from Washington with the intention of him starting until either Ponder or Webb were deemed ready enough.
The Vikings had a disastrous start to 2011 when they lost in San Diego 24-17. McNabb threw for a meager 39 yards and only one pass greater than 10 yards. A 103 yard Percy Harvin kick return was the highlight of the game. In Week 2, the Buccaneers beat Minnesota 24-20 and their fortunes continued to slide in Week 3 as Detroit rallied from a 20-0 deficit to win in OT 23-20 and end a 9-game losing streak against the Vikings, who now got off to their first 0-3 start since 1967. Minnesota headed to Kansas City in Week 4 hoping for a victory over the winless Chiefs, but the game was another loss at 22-17, and the Vikings now began 0-4 for the first time since 1962 (the franchise's second year of existence). After finally beating Arizona in Week 5, Minnesota's season continued to unravel after an overwhelming defeat in Chicago. Donovan McNabb was benched and Christian Ponder took over as starting QB. The Vikings only won two more games during the rest of the season; against the Panthers and Redskins for a 3-13 finish. McNabb meanwhile was cut from the roster in Week 12. During the Redskins game, Adrian Peterson sustained a severe ACL tear and Ponder a head injury. With Joe Webb starting, the Vikings ended an abysmal season by losing at home to Chicago.
The off-season saw Minnesota clean out a number of old and unproductive players such as Jim Kleinsasser (who retired after 10 seasons), Ryan Longwell and Cedric Griffin. They brought in OT Matt Kalil from USC with the #4 pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.
2012 began on a positive note with a 26-23 win at home over the Jaguars. In Week 2, the Vikings traveled to Indianapolis, but solid offense performance was negated by poor clock management and a series of personal fouls in the 4th quarter, costing them the game. Returning home for Week 3, Minnesota faced 2-0 San Francisco, which had soundly beaten Detroit and Green Bay, and was being touted as the best team in the conference. The Vikings' two-pronged offense (Percy Harvin and Adrian Peterson) proved effective at overstretching the 49ers defense and they rode to victory 24-13. Christian Ponder continued to show progress as a QB and Minnesota preserved its 20-year long home win streak against San Francisco.
The Vikings made the playoffs for the 27th time in franchise history, but fell to the Green Bay Packers 24-10.
Read more about this topic: History Of The Minnesota Vikings
Famous quotes containing the word era:
“How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)