Vikings simply showed too little game -- one half too little

Vikings owner Zygi Wilf came walking through the press box a few minutes before his team would kick off against the Washington Redskins on Sunday night in the Metrodome.

Wilf slapped Bob Lurtsema and Stu Voigt, a pair of former Vikings, on the back. The owner was so fired up that he even backslapped a sportswriter who has chided his organization over the idea that Minnesota's taxpayers are going to provide him with $750 million to build a new stadium.

Wilf was next spotted 3½ hours later coming out of the home locker room. He was ashen -- so ashen that it was the look of a man who had heard bad news about a loved one.

A week ago, the Vikings' offense had taken off the first half and Zygi's warriors still were able to rally for a 20-13 victory against the Chicago Bears.

This allowed the Vikings to take sole control of the final playoff position in the NFC. And when New Orleans lost at home to Philadelphia earlier Sunday, the Vikings were in position to clinch that playoff spot even before going to Denver next weekend for the regular-season finale.

It seemed unlikely that the Vikings' offense -- with this opportunity sitting there -- could come out and play as poorly against the Redskins as they had against the Bears.

Sorry. This turned out to be more of a surprise than the ending to "No Country for Old Men."

Maybe a novice quarterback can spend a half stumbling around his home turf against the Bears of '07, but this was a Joe Gibbs-coached team and advantage will be taken.

The lead was 25-0 midway through the third quarter before the Redskins' defense went into retreat. There was a moment when the lead was down to 25-14, and it appeared the Vikings had a remote chance to make the largest comeback in franchise history.

Then, Gibbs' spies in the coaches box detected 12 Vikings on the field, negating quarterback Todd Collins' fumble (when he couldn't execute a spike), and ending all hope.

Forget the brief glimpse of a comeback. The way the Vikings played in the first half, this 32-21 defeat was what they deserved.

The Vikings had a total of three first downs in the first half. They had the same total of turnovers. They ran only 22 plays and totaled a miserable 70 yards.

"It's turning the football over," Richardson said. "You can't turn the football over and put the defense in such a difficult situation. You turn it over, you're not running plays and the defense isn't getting any rest.

"That's how a game becomes one-sided. That's how this one became one-sided. You can't do what we did to our defense."

Jackson wasn't the only young player who fell victim to the veteran Redskins. Marcus McCauley, the third-round draft choice, started at left cornerback in place of the injured Antoine Winfield. He had done that previously without being abused by an opposing quarterback.

Collins, the eternal backup forced to play late in the season for the 'Skins, did not let the young corner off the hook in similar fashion.

Washington's second touchdown came when Collins threw a long floater toward the left side of the end zone. McCauley was there, but he let Santana Moss reach in front of him and take away the football. That made it 16-0.

Running back Clinton Portis rolled right, McCauley bit hard and Randle El was wide open for the touchdown.

Call it reality -- for a rookie corner, for a struggling quarterback and for an offense that discovered you can't take off two first halves in a row and get away with it.

Can't do it even in the NFC.