NFL Preview
(SportsNetwork.com) - You may think that Leslie Frazier is a big fan of duck, duck, goose but he's really just a desperate NFL coach grasping at straws.
Early indications are that the ineffective Christian Ponder is the goose this week and will remain under center for the 1-6 Minnesota Vikings as the try to stop an ugly three-game skid against a Dallas Cowboys team coming off its own crushing loss in Detroit.
The Vikings have been outscored 102-48 during their current losing streak and have used three different quarterbacks -- veteran backup Matt Cassel against Carolina, newly acquired Josh Freeman versus the New York Giants, and Ponder last Sunday night in a 44-31 drubbing at the hands of Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.
Ponder, who is 0-4 as a starter this season, was his usual ineffective self against the Pack, completing 14-of-21 passes for just 145 yards. Adrian Peterson ran for 60 yards and a score on 13 carries, while also adding three receptions for 23 yards for Minnesota.
The bigger problem was the defense, however. Rodgers and the Packers converted on 13-of-18 third-down attempts and were two-for-two on fourth down as Green Bay never punted and scored on all seven drives that didn't end either the half or the game.
And understand the Packers did all of that without the services of receivers Randall Cobb and James Jones -- two of their top three receivers who were lost to injury against the Baltimore Ravens on Oct. 13 -- along with dynamic tight end Jermichael Finley, who suffered a scary neck injury during a win over Cleveland.
'We couldn't find a way to get off the field on third down, and it really came back to haunt us,' Frazier understated.
The Cowboys are also coming off a disappointing setback, albeit one in which they were far more competitive.
The Lions' Matthew Stafford lunged for a touchdown in the finals seconds to give Detroit a 31-30 victory over Dallas in a thriller at Ford Field last Sunday.
Detroit trailed by six points with 1:02 left and started the winning drive at its own 20. A 17-yard catch from Calvin Johnson was followed by Stafford's toss down the left sideline for Kris Durham for 40 yards. Stafford then went back to Johnson for 22 yards down to the Dallas 1 and raced to set up a spike.
However, Stafford leaped after the snap and just got the ball over the goal line. After a review determined he had crossed the plane, David Akers kicked the extra point and the Lions had a 31-30 lead with 12 seconds to play.
Dallas had one shot after the kickoff, but didn't get anywhere with a catch and laterals as time ran out.
Stafford finished the game with 488 yards passing and Johnson set a career- high with 329 yards on 14 catches with a score for the Lions, coming just seven yards short of the NFL record for most receiving yards in one game, set by Flipper Anderson.
Tony Romo was 14-for-30 for 206 yards and three touchdown passes, with Dez Bryant catching three balls for 72 yards and two scores for the Cowboys, who had won two straight coming in and still lead the dismal NFC East by one game over Philadelphia despite being at .500.
'We didn't do what we needed to do to win the ball game, period,' said Dallas head coach Jason Garrett. 'They did, we didn't and we have to live with that. It starts with me, then the coaching staff, and then the players. We had opportunities to end the game, and we didn't.'
Just Win, Baby. Then win again.
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