Joe Webb

The Vikings close the preseason schedule tonight when they play at Houston against the Texans at 6pm, pregame on WJON at 5:00. The Vikings will sit many of their starters including quarterback Christian Ponder. Joe Webb will get the start at quarterback followed by Sage Rosenfels and McLeod Bethel-Thompson. The Vikings will also get a long look at receivers Manny Arceneaux, Devin Aromashodu, Stephen Burton, and Jarius Wright.

The Vikings lost 17-6 in their preseason opener Friday night. Christian Ponder engineered both scoring drives that led to two field goals in the first quarter from rookie Blair Walsh. Ponder was 4-10 passing for 80 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. Joe Webb was less impressive passing throwing for just 20 yards on 4-11 passing. McLeod Bethel-Thompson was the 3rd quarterback and he was 3-7 passing for 49 yards in the 4th quarter.

The Vikings lost 17-13 at home to the Chicago Bears Sunday afternoon to close the season with a 3-13 record. Jared Allen had 3 1/2 sacks to set a franchise record for most sacks in a season. He finishes with 22 sacks and finishes 1/2 sack back of Michael Strahan for the most in a single season. Christian Ponder (hip) and Toby Gerhart (knee) both left the game early with injuries.

The Vikings rallied in the 2nd half to beat the Redskins in Washington 33-26 Saturday afternoon. Minnesota and Washington were tied at 10 at halftime and early in the 3rd quarter Adrian Peterson left the game with a knee injury and on the next play quarterback Christian Ponder suffered a concussion and didn't return. Joe Webb and Toby Gerhart led the Vikings for 3 2nd half touchdowns. Webb was 4-5 passing for 84 yards and 2 touchdowns and he ran for 34 yards and another touchdown.

The Vikings lost 34-28 at Detroit to the Lions Sunday afternoon. Joe Webb fumbled the football on the last play on a first and goal from the Lions 9-yard line and the game ended with the Lions recovering. Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy appeared to grab the facemask of Joe Webb on the final play contributing to the fumble. No flag was thrown.

The Vikings play their final preseason game tonight when they host Houston at Mall of America Field inside the Metrodome. Rookie Christian Ponder gets the start at quarterback with Joe Webb set to replace him at halftime. The Vikings will play without running backs Adrian Peterson, Toby Gerhart and Lorenzo Booker. The starters will either not play at all or play sparingly tonight. Starting quarterback Donavan McNabb will not play.

The Vikings announced Monday that rookie Christian Ponder will get the start at quarterback Thursday night in their final preseason game against Houston. Kickoff Thursday night at 7pm, pregame on WJON at 6:00. Ponder will likely play the first half with Joe Webb playing the 2nd half. The two players are competing for the #2 quarterback job behind starter Donavan McNabb.

The Vikings lost 20-13 at Detroit against the Lions Sunday to close the season. Minnesota trailed 10-0 at halftime and managed just 1 touchdown in the game and that came on defense. Jared Allen took a 36-yards interception back for a touchdown. Ryan Longwell added 2 field goals for the Vikings.

The Minnesota Vikings stayed 2 days longer than expected but it turned out it was worth their wait as Minnesota upset Philadelphia 24-14 Tuesday night in Philly. The Vikings and Eagles were tied at 7 apiece at halftime after Antoine Winfield forced a Michael Vick fumble and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown.

Viking interim head coach Leslie Frazier said at his press conference Tuesday that the Vikings will not place quarterback Brett Favre on injured reserve at this time despite Favre suffering a concussion Monday night against the Chicago Bears.