Minnesota Vikings Week 12 Report Card: Grading Each Unit

Well, after another insufferable loss, the Minnesota Vikings find themselves under the microscope once again in today's Week 12 report card.

There was, at one point, a little bit of hope, as the Vikings were beginning to mount what appeared to be a comeback, but a stagnant offense interrupted Sunday's possibility of an upset.

Let's see how the rest of the Vikings units grade out after 12 weeks.

The Passing Game

As a whole, the passing game is worlds away from being anything close to threatening. The outside receivers continue to struggle off the line, and in one-on-one coverage, but there is a bit of hope within the mire of under-performance.

Percy Harvin continues to grow and progress as an all-around offensive player and continues to provide weekly value as a RB, WR and a return man.

Christian Ponder also continues to grow as a rookie quarterback, showing his ability to take chances with his throws while showcasing his ability to keep defenses off-guard with his mobility.

Ponder, however, seriously needs to start learning the second level aspects of a quarterback if he is too succeed, such as looking off the safety and getting rid of the ball when the play is not there.

Overall WK 12 Grade: C+

The Ground Game

The Vikings ground game was led by backup RB Toby Gerhart, and Gerhart had quite the tall order to deal with in Atlanta's stout run D.

While Gerhart didn't do all that much, his 44 rushing yards, single touchdown and 19 receiving yards were pretty much right on par with what I expected out of him.

Adrian Peterson's availability is still up in the air this week against Denver, but this unit is much better than they appeared against Atlanta.

The Ground game in Minnesota does benefit from great first and second level blocking and is overall the best aspect of this team, but without Peterson, they are average at best.

Overall WK 12 Grade: C+

The Offensive Line

This unit continues to struggle, but not on a consistent basis, which is what makes things even more frustrating for the coaches and fans.

Not to mention Christian Ponder, I would imagine.

The Vikings offensive line simply can't get off their snaps fast enough to get into position, especially against faster defensive lines, as we saw with both Oakland and Atlanta.

In addition to this, it is their inconsistent play that has many wondering just how the Vikings are going to remedy this situation the offseason.

Either way, this unit needs a ton of work.

Against Atlanta, the Vikings O-Line struggled to handle the power rushing up the middle and struggled heavily to open up lanes for their ground game despite providing some nice protection here and there for Ponder.

Overall WK 12 Grade: D

The Defensive Line

The Atlanta Falcons served up the best defense against the stout Minnesota defensive line attack by deploying a menacing no-huddle approach.

This strategy kept the Vikings front four—who have been stellar all year—off their guard and unable to really reach Matt Ryan in damaging fashion.

The Vikings did still manage to dial up two sacks on Ryan, which does show just how capable they really are at getting to the quarterback.

Up front against the ground game, the Vikings also were able to keep Falcons running back Michael Turner under wraps pretty much all day, allowing only 60 rushing yards to Turner.

Hey, any silver lining here is much appreciated, right?

Overall WK 12 Grade A

The Secondary

I am only talking about this unit because I have to.

The Vikings secondary as a whole put on one miserable performance this Sunday that was filled with blown coverage, missed tackles and an all-around deplorable performance.

The problem here is the fact that the Vikings secondary just didn't seem to even be in it mentally.

These guys, whether they like it or not, are still playing for a job, whether it be in Minnesota, or possibly elsewhere after this year, but the way things are going right now, there's going to be a few unemployed Vikings players after this season that may not even find a starting job again if things don't improve.

Against Atlanta, the Vikings secondary just couldn't cover at all, but it was their tackling that really stood out as the worst aspect of Sunday's performance.

With a curiously mobile Denver team coming into town next week, this Vikings team needs to get it together now.

Overall WK 12 Grade: F

Special Teams

The Vikings special teams has been up and down for most of the 2012 season, and we pretty much saw more of that in Sunday's contest.

Obviously, the highlight was Percy Harvin, but it was the blocking for Harvin that played just a little better than usual in Week 12.

Another small bright spot for Minnesota in light of another loss.

Overall WK 12 Grade: B