Thursday Football Afterword: Vikings vs Redskins

Starting in place of injured TE Kyle Rudolph, John Carlson made
seven receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown in Minnesota's win.

Cory Puffett

Christian Ponder said a couple weeks ago that he was a different quarterback. He said that things were slowing down for him, that he was approaching the game differently, that, at least, things could get much worse after being benched.

Well, he certainly had a game last night. He completed 17 of 21 attempts for 174 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, earning a 113.1 passer rating and helping his team to a big win, their second of the season and their first on this side of the Atlantic.

When Ponder suffered what appeared to be an arm injury in the third quarter as he reached and fell a foot short of the pylon on a scramble, and Matt Cassel came in to finish the job, completing four of six passes but letting Adrian Peterson do most of the work down the stretch.

Ponder was seen smiling on the sidelines before being taken to the locker room. Hopefully for Minnesota, it was only precautionary that he did not return.

The Redskins’ offense looked fantastic in the first half. Robert Griffin III was slinging and had three touchdown passes. The Vikings were powerless against Alfred Morris, who may inspire some Washington fans to bring back the old diesel train horn back from the glory days of old with the way he’s trucking defenders.

But the Redskins struggled in the second half, and it didn’t look like it was anything the Vikings were doing. Washington got away from the ground game. Griffin III struggled to complete his passes, and the offensive line deserves some of the blame for that as he was sacked three times in the second half.

As Eric said after the game, “it’s always one step forward and two steps back with the Skins.” After a big offensive game last week and an important win against the Chargers, all signs pointed to a big win against a struggling Minnesota squad reeling after a last-minute defeat against Dallas four days earlier. Instead, Christian Ponder had a great day, Peterson ran well in the second half, and the Vikings improved to 2-7.

Thursday night’s loss pushed the Redskins down to 3-6. Incidentally, that is the same record they had at this time last season before reeling off seven straight wins and winning the NFC East title. It will take a miracle to pull of such a run this season with the Eagles, 49ers and Chiefs on the slate three of the next four weeks.

Minnesota will have a long week to prepare for a game in Seattle. The Vikings’ playoff hopes are long gone, but Seattle has not be invincible at home this season, nearly losing to a much worse Tampa Bay squad last week.

Final Score:
Washington Redskins – 27

Minnesota Vikings – 34