MINNEAPOLIS — Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder has gone, during the past five games, from being propped up to poised, ineffective to downright incisive.

All in a month-plus stretch with green and gold as the bookends.

Ponder imploded in a winnable game in Green Bay on Dec. 2, taking the rest of his teammates down with him in a 23-14 loss. But Sunday in the Metrodome, Ponder had the best game of his short career in the Vikings’ 37-34 victory. Which is why, after walking up to the podium for his news conference Tuesday, Ponder grinned and did his best Jim Mora impersonation: