By Chris Tomasson
St. Paul Pioneer Press
GREEN BAY, Wis. - The Teddy Bridgewater era is on hold. So is any momentum the Vikings had entering Thursday night’s game at Green Bay.
Bridgewater, the rookie quarterback who passed for 317 yards last Sunday in an encouraging 41-28 win over Atlanta, sat out because of a sprained left ankle suffered in that game. He was replaced by Christian Ponder, who made his first start since Dec. 1, 2013.
Less than two weeks ago, Ponder was a third-stringer, and that showed. Ponder had a rugged showing in Minnesota’s 42-10 loss at Lambeau Field.
Josh Freeman’s ill-fated start last October against the New York Giants has been regarded as one of the worst quarterback performances in team history on national television. Freeman had a passer rating that night of 40.6.
Ponder entering the fourth quarter at 30.2 in the game televised by CBS and the NFL Network. At least he had a late flurry against Green Bay reserves to finish at 45.8.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers gave the Packers a 14-0 first-quarter lead with a pair of touchdown passes. Then it was Ponder’s turn to start throwing balls to guys in green.
Ponder threw an interception midway through the first quarter that was run back 49 yards for a touchdown by Green Bay linebacker Julius Peppers for a 21-0 lead. Then Ponder had a ball picked off by linebacker Jamari Lattimore, which led to another Rodgers TD pass and a 28-0 halftime lead.
On a rainy night, Ponder completed 22 of 45 passes for 222 yards with the two interceptions, and was sacked six times. Rodgers completed 12 of 17 for 156 yards with three touchdowns while sitting out the fourth quarter.
The Vikings fell behind 42-0 after the third quarter and were in jeopardy of suffering their first shutout since a 34-0 loss at Green Bay in 2007. But Ponder at least avoided that by scrambling for a 6-yard TD run on the first play of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 42-7.
That touchdown and a Blair Walsh field goal later in the fourth also assured Minnesota of not having its worst-ever loss to the Packers. That came in 2011, when the Ponder-led Vikings lost 45-7 at Lambeau Field.
Rodgers’ TD passes in the first quarter went 8 yards to Randall Cobb and 66 to Jordy Nelson. His third touchdown pass was 11 yards to Davante Adams with 4:51 left in the second quarter to account for the 28-0 halftime lead.
The Vikings earlier in the day had called up from the practice squad quarterback Chandler Harnish, who never has played in an NFL game. Harnish, signed Monday, was active but did not play.
Bridgewater was inactive after having been listed as questionable. He didn’t practice Monday and Tuesday before being a limited participant Wednesday. But the short week ended up making it impractical for the rookie to play.
Minnesota rushed for 241 yards against the Falcons in the third game that star running back Adrian Peterson sat out following a Sept. 12 indictment in Texas on a felony charge of child abuse. With Peterson out yet again Thursday, they only managed 111 yards on the ground, with Matt Asiata getting 72.
Meanwhile, Packers running back Eddie Lacy carried 13 times for 105 yards. He had touchdown runs of 11 and 10 yards in the third quarter to put Green Bay up 42-0.
The Vikings got just two catches on the night from wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson for eight yards. He suffered a hip injury in the third quarter and sat out the rest of the game.
One of the few bright spots for Minnesota was wide receiver Adam Thielen getting his first two career catches in the second half. The product of Minnesota State Mankato made the practice squad last year before landing on the 53-man roster this season.
Minnesota hasn’t won at Lambeau Field since 2009, when former Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre returned and engineered a 38-26 win. The Vikings are 0-5-1 this decade at the legendary stadium, including a playoff loss after the 2012 season.
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