GREEN BAY, Wis. — Christian Ponder was the guy, is the guy and always will be the guy — from here to eternity.

Just to clarify, here’s where it stands: Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said he did not consider replacing his quarterback at any time against the Green Bay Packers. He also said that he will not consider changing quarterbacks for the upcoming game against the Chicago Bears.

“Christian is our quarterback,” Frazier asserted after the 23-14 loss to Green Bay. “We are going to do all we can to help him have a good game against Chicago and to help our team go out and get a win.”

I understand. Frazier and general manager Rick Spielman are all in with Ponder. They have invested a tremendous amount of time and effort. And to give up now, which would be tantamount to admitting a catastrophic mistake, wouldn’t cast anyone in a particularly good light.

Yet there are hard-working veterans in the locker room who are nearing the end of their careers. Is it fair to them to continue with this sometimes painful project without considering even a temporary alternative? Can Frazier keep selling Ponder to those fellows? Because if he can, he’s a got a future earning big commissions in sales somewhere.

“I don’t think it will be a tough sell,” Frazier insisted. “These guys are teammates that want the same thing. They know we can win with the personnel that we have. We’ve shown that we can. We just have to do a few things better.”

The game against the Packers was unsettling. I don’t know if it is it fair to cry over spilled milk that probably never should have been poured. The Vikings had no business playing the Packers so closely. But because they played a very good game in a hostile environment, they had an opportunity to pull off a stunning upset. Adrian Peterson, after all, ran for 210 yards, which is even more impressive considering the Vikings had the ball for about one-third of the time.

But Ponder had one of his clunkers. Twice in the third quarter after Peterson had carried them to the doorstep — once on a 48-yard run and once on a 23-yard run — Ponder threw ghastly interceptions.

“The No. 1 rule as a quarterback is: Don’t throw across your body across the middle of the field,” Ponder noted.

On second and 6 from the Green Bay 8, Ponder threw across his body across the middle of the field. The football landed directly in the arms of Packers safety Morgan Burnett in the end zone.

Probably the No. 2 rule for a quarterback is: Set your feet.

Later in the third quarter, on first and 10 at the Green Bay 26, Ponder attempted to hit Kyle Rudolph.

“I kind of ran up in the pocket and then tried to throw it without setting my feet,” Ponder said. “I definitely should have set my feet.”

Burnett again intercepted.

I don’t know what the No. 3 rule is, but he probably violated that one, too.

Heading into the final four minutes, Ponder had completed five passes for 36 yards. Not one of those completions went to a wide receiver. Of course, he doesn’t have any wide receivers, but that’s still a startling statistic. He padded those stats a bit with the Packers in a prevent defense, finishing with 12 completions for 119 yards.

The thing is that no one needed him to be a hero. All he had to do was manage the game. With the way Peterson was running, Ponder basically had to avoid making any costly, oh-my-God mistakes. He couldn’t, and an otherwise stalwart team effort was wasted.

“For what this game means to the team, the state, with how Adrian played, it’s disappointing to go out and throw two interceptions,” Ponder lamented. “There’s a couple more plays besides that I wish I could have got back. All I can do is come back to work tomorrow and try to get better.”

Immediately after the game, Frazier had a brief conversation with Ponder. He basically expressed faith in him and told him to learn from the day’s mistakes.

“I really appreciate the guys on this team and the staff and the coaches and coach Frazier for supporting me,” Ponder said. I’m going to come back to work and work hard, and I’ve got to keep getting better, obviously. We’ve got to move on and put this one on behind us.”

“He will be the guy that will lead us to victory when we line up against Chicago next week,” Frazier said. “We need him to lead us.”

He very well could. But this has been the bumpiest ride ever. As frustrated as some Vikings fans are with the quarterback position, I have to imagine that, at this point, some of the Vikings players might be even more so.

Tom Powers can be reached at tpowers@pioneerpress.com.