For the second time in three seasons, the Vikings staged a comeback to beat Washington, earning a victory that damaged their draft position.

In 2011, the Vikings' victory at Washington cost them a chance to draft Robert Griffin III. Thursday, their second-half pass rush beat up Griffin, enabling the Vikings to pull out a 34-27 victory at the Metrodome.

Someday, the Vikings may regret this. Thursday night, just like Christmas Eve 2011, the Vikings ignored what might be best for the franchise and won in impressive fashion.

Christian Ponder played his best game of the season before leaving with a left shoulder injury. Adrian Peterson scored two touchdowns. John Carlson ably replaced Pro Bowl tight end Kyle Rudolph. And Kevin Williams recorded 2 ½ sacks – his first two-sack game since 2009 – to help the Vikings' defense dominate the last 25 minutes of the game.

It was a strange, surprising, and maybe costly victory.