It wasn't pretty, but it ended up being gritty, as the Minnesota Vikings beat Washington 29-26 at TCF Bank Stadium. The Vikings rallied from behind three times in the game and outlasted Robert Griffin III and his teammates to go to 4-5 on the season and remain relevant in the playoff race.
At times the Vikings offense struggled, and at times the Vikings defense gave up big plays, but both sides of the ball pulled it together and made enough plays to hold on for their first two-game winning streak of the season.
The Vikings now go into the bye week at 2-1/2 games out of first place in the division, but a half game out of the basement. That kind of thing can create some positive vibes in a team that will take a few days off and return to play three home games out of the next four. Looking ahead is good for Minnesota right now.
Trending
Teddy Bridgewater's going to be talked about this week. He led his team to its third fourth-quarter comeback win of the season (which is a record for a Viking rookie quarterback), but it took him a bit to get that point. Bridgewater struggled in the first half to hit receivers. Too-High Teddy showed up early and often, most famously missing receiver Cordarrelle Patterson, who was 30 yards clear of any defender. (It is not clear whether Bridgewater overthrew him of Patterson lost the ball in the sun, but it was an easy score that went by the wayside.)
Bridgewater also missed the opportunity to run for a couple first downs. There was a decent pocket for him at times, he would step up well and then force a check down or sideline pass that would work for the first down. He stood in the pocket and took hits, but he needed to take advantage of the open field in front of him. He was playing like the Anti-Ponder.
Bridgewater appeared to get the word by halftime, because he made two big scrambles for first downs on a big scoring drive in the second half. Bridgewater finished the day going 26-42 (matching last week for his career high in attempts) for 268 yards, one touchdown—at least two throws that could have been picked. He added three rushes for 20 yards and had an 88.2 quarterback rating.
"I thought Teddy did a great job today of taking advantage of what he was given," head coach Mike Zimmer told the Star Tribune. "He moved in the pocket great today and found some receivers open. I talked to him one time during the game: using his legs a little bit, if he's got it, take it. He started doing that, which allowed I think other things to open up for people."
Bridgewater eventually made the plays to secure the win, but his propensity to throw high passes is something he needs to work on. He is still a rookie, but his overthrows are becoming more frequent, so if it's mechanics, he will need to spend more time on it. Zimmer praised him after the game, and we will also for his resiliency in continually coming back and getting the win.
Tight end Chase Ford must be hearing the saunter of Kyle Rudolph behind him. In the past two weeks, Ford has put together two decent games in Rudolph's absence. Rudolph is rumored to be coming back from his sports hernia surgery after the bye week, so Ford is trying to make hay while he can.
Ford caught six passes last week for 61 yards and followed it up with five more for 66 yards this week—including the first touchdown reception of his career. Ford's role will be reduced when Rudolph returns, but his increasing numbers show that he provides decent depth at a position that has needed it for a few years.
The Vikings defense is still the star of the first half of the season, and they showed it again on Sunday against Washington. Although they gave up 26 points (which was way too many according to nose tackle Sharrif Floyd on KFAN radio), they forced a turnover, held Washington to six of 13 third-down conversions and sacked RGIII five times. Takeaway the DeSean Jackson to touchdown that really shouldn't have been allowed to happen (see below), and they really didn't play too poorly after allowing their traditional first two scores to the opponent. When they play Chicago and Green Bay in the weeks ahead, they won't be able to spot those offenses two scores.
Worth Defending
The Vikings offensive line wasn't perfect, but it was certainly improved over what they have done so far this season. Going up against a top five defense, they gave their quarterback time to throw the ball. Bridgewater was hit five times and sacked twice, which is definitely better than he has been used to the past few weeks.
Unfortunately the running game, which had shown some signs of life the past two weeks, faltered. The team rushed for 100 yards (with 20 of it going to the scrambling quarterback). Jerick McKinnon, coming off a his second 100-yard game last week, rushed 14 times for 54 yards, and Matt Asiata had 10 carries for 26 yards. Asiata did have three rushing touchdowns, so the line opened the holes at crucial times. All in all, though, some baby steps for the offensive line.
I am going to get behind the improved play of cornerback Captain Munnerlyn. He did get victimized for DeSean Jackson's 13-yard touchdown pass and later was burned by Jackson for a 56-yard reception down the sidelines. Both were backbreakers for a unit that was playing well.
But in his defense, Munnerlyn did make his second pick of the season in as many games, and the Jackson touchdown should never have taken place but for a terrible roughing the passer call on Harrison Smith (once again, see below). Throw in the fact that since day one, he has stood up in the locker room and copped to his poor play, and it's worth pointing out that it is getting better. Besides, Jackson is a speedy receiver and outside of those two receptions was kept in check with only four in the games.
Zimmer said he was going to continue to operate his backfield with a running back by committee approach. He said that even though McKinnon would start, he would work to get both backs carries in the offense. It didn't work so hot this week for either player (at least from a yardage standpoint), but he does seem to be utilizing the talents of each player.
Asiata (who has played 33 games in his career with no touchdowns and three games with three touchdowns in each) is working well as a short yardage back. McKinnon, although he didn't show it today, can rush between the tackles and get to the edge. And both can catch the ball out of the backfield—Asiata and McKinnon had four and three receptions, respectively. So it may be a good plan for now and going forward—unless things change. And that, reportedly, could happen as early as Tuesday. Things could really change then.
Should be Ending
We have to talk about Smith's roughing the passer penalty that extended a stalled Washington drive and resulted in a touchdown pass to Jackson on the next play. When I saw it, I wondered what options Smith had. It's third down and short, the quarterback had turned himself into a running back and as he neared the first down line, Smith needed to make the stop. If you start your tackle at full speed, because you need to make the play, and suddenly the quarterback slides, how do you stop your momentum? It's as if Griffin morphed from a QB to an RB and back to QB right before your eyes.
According to referee ombudsman Mike Pereira, Smith did no wrong. "The protection on the sliding player (doesn't have to be QB) is to head or neck area," he said on Twitter. "I don't think Smith got either of those in MN."
Smith agrees, according to the Pioneer Press: "I didn't do anything wrong. (So) I didn't worry about it."
Somebody should be worried about the interpretations of this rule.
Penalties nearly derailed the Vikings' win. The Vikings were penalized nine times for 60 yards, and while Zimmer didn't want to get into the Smith penalty during his press conference, he was not pleased that the defense had three penalties on third down that allowed Washington to extend drives. He has harped on the fact that the team has done things that prevent them from winning games and penalties are one of them. Last week they were penalized six times for 59 yards against Tampa Bay and seven times for 50 yards the previous week against Buffalo. The Vikings are not moving in the right direction when it comes to playing clean, disciplined football.
Enough is enough, it's time for Dan Snyder to change the nickname of his football team. It just seems weird that it still exists. The protest before the game was well attended, and people were chanting, "Change the name, not the mascot." It seems that Native American's could get behind the team if the nickname were not so derogatory. Seems like a no brainer. Change the name. And if you would like to call me politically correct, or a Blue Stater or something else because of my view on this, go ahead. I can take it, because those names still aren't as bad as Washington's team nickname.
Head over to VikingsJournal.com where you check out A.J. Mansour's article on the play of Everson Griffen and then join in the conversation on the Vikings Journal forums, where everything Purple is dissected and discussed.
Joe Oberle is a senior writer at VikingsJournal.com, covers the NFL for The Sports Post and is managing editor of Minnesota Golfer magazine. He is an author and longtime Minnesota-based writer.