Christian Ponder needs to start throwing to his TEs more.  31-year old Visanthe Shiancoe has played in 11 games for the Vikings so far this year and he has caught 29 passes for 340 yards (11.7 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He is a big, veteran target with a good set of hands.  22-year old rookie Kyle Rudolph has played in 10 games so far this year and he has caught 17 passes for 177 yards (10.4 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Vikings’ QBs have connected on 46 of 80 passes (57.5%) when throwing to the TEs this year.

The Vikings have signed 27-year old Jarrad Page and 24-year old Andrew Sendejo.  Page played in 6 games for the Eagles earlier this year and he had 37 tackles and 2 passes defensed.  He has now played in 69 games in his first six years in the NFL and he has 247 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 4 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries, 32 passes defensed and 12 interceptions.  Page might be in the starting lineup as early as this weekend against the Broncos in Minnesota.  Andrew Sendejo has not played in the NFL so far this year.  He played in 2 games for the Cowboys last year and he had 1 tackle.

The Vikings have placed 26-year old safety Tyrell Johnson on the Injured Reserve List due to a hamstring injury.  Johnson played in 11 games for the Vikings this year and he had 38 tackles and 1 pass defensed.  He has now played in 49 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 123 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 fumble recoveries, 10 passes defensed and 2 interceptions.

The Vikings have placed 26-year old safety Husain Abdullah on the Injured Reserve List due to a nasty concussion.  Abdullah played in 9 games for the Vikings this year and he had 49 tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 1 interception and 5 passes defensed.  He has now played in 54 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 162 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks, 4 interceptions and 13 passes defensed.

The Vikings have placed 29-year old WR Michael Jenkins on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season due to a knee injury.  Jenkins played in 11 games for the Vikings this year and he caught 38 passes for 466 yards (12.3 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  He has now played in 114 games in his first 8 years in the NFL and he has caught 314 passes for 3,978 yards (12.7 avg) with 23 TD grabs.  The Vikings are going to miss him the rest of the season.

The Vikings will be without 30-year old long snapper Cullen Loeffler for the next 2-6 weeks due to a fracture in his lower back.  Loeffler played in 11 games for the Vikings this year.  He has now played in 123 games in his first 8 years with the Vikings.  The Vikings acted quickly to replace Loeffler as they have signed 29-year old long snapper Matt Katula to replace him.  Katula played in 8 games (0 starts) for the Patriots last year.  He has now played in 88 games (0 starts) in his first six years in the NFL.

UPDATE:  (11/30/2011) – The Vikings have placed Cullen Loeffler on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season.

The Vikings were just overmatched today against the Falcons.  Christian Ponder was so-so as he completed 17 of 25 passes for 186 yards with with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 9 yards.  Toby Gerhart got the start at RB today in the place of an injured Adrian Peterson.  He carried the ball 17 times for 44 yards (2.6 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 2 passes for 19 yards (9.5 avg).  Percy Harvin was busy in this game as he caught 8 passes for 95 yards (11.9 avg) with 1 TD grab and he also carried the ball 5 times for 11 yards.  Harvin also returned a kickoff 104 yards today, but he was stopped short of the end zone.  The Vikings finished up with only 64 yards rushing on 24 carries (2.7 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 25 passes (68%) for 162 yards as they had possession of the ball for 25:21.

The Vikings were excellent against the run but they had big time issues with the Falcons’ passing game.  LBs Chad Greenway (16 tackles and 1 QB hit) and E.J. Henderson (12 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 QB hit) led the way for the Vikings’ D today.  The Falcons finished up with 89 yards rushing on 29 carries (3.1 ypc) and they also completed 27 of 34 passes (79.4%) for 246 yards in this game.  The Vikings are now 2-9 on the season.

The Vikings have lost four of their last five games heading into this Sunday against the Falcons in Atlanta.  The Falcons, on the other hand, have won four of their last five games.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Vikings have the ball:  The Vikings are going to likely be without Adrian Peterson this Sunday.  Toby Gerhart will replace him at RB and he’s more of a straight ahead power runner.  That style might not work too good against a Falcons’ D that is only allowing 85.4 yards rushing per game and 3.8 yards per carry.  The Falcons only have 16 sacks this year and they are giving up 254.1 yards passing per game, so the Vikings might be smart to turn Christian Ponder loose.  Percy Harvin and Michael Jenkins are going to be the keys to the passing game as they should be able to stretch the field with their speed.

When the Falcons have the ball:  The Falcons are a pretty balanced team offensively.  Michael Turner (888 yards rushing) is going to get his fair share of carries against the Vikings who are only giving up 3.7 yards per carry this year, so something has to give.  The Vikings are going to be chasing after Matt Ryan in this game in an effort to screw up his timing with Roddy White, Tony Gonzalez and Harry Douglas.  The hard thing about blitzing Ryan is that his receivers are adapt at catching short passed and getting yardage after the catch.

PREDICTION:  FALCONS 23, VIKINGS 21

23-year old rookie QB Christian Ponder has been very inconsistent so far this year, but that should be expected.  He has played in 5 games for the Vikings so far this year and he has completed 75 of 144 passes (52.1%) for 955 yards with 5 TD passes and 6 INTs (67.3 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 16 times for 131 yards (8.2 ypc) so far this year.  Ponder will have to definitely step up with Adrian Peterson on the mend for the next few weeks.

26-year old starting RB Adrian Peterson will miss the next 2-4 weeks with a high ankle sprain.  Peterson has played in all 10 games for the Vikings so far this year and he has carried the ball 186 times for 872 yards (4.7 ypc) with 11 TD runs.  He has also caught 16 passes for 125 yards (7.8 avg) with 1 TD grab so far this year.  It will be up to 24-year old Toby Gerhart to replace Peterson as the main ball carrier.  He has played in 10 games for the Vikings so far this year and he has carried the ball 24 times for 118 yards (4.9 ypc).  Gerhart has also caught 5 passes for 61 yards (12.2 avg) for the Vikings so far this year.  Gerhart will likely do a solid job while Peterson is out, but he lacks A.P.’s explosiveness.