The Minnesota Vikings lost to another rookie in RGIII and the Washington Redskins 38-26. The Vikings had three first quarter drives ending deep in Redskin territory with field goals. That was the difference maker in the game. Last week we got away with not stomping on the Titans throat. This week we did not. The Redskins are too good a football team to not come back from a 'mighty' 9 point deficit -- 13, 17, 21 points, now that's a different story. And that's what good football teams do.
The Vikings fought hard to compete late in the game, but not scoring those early points kept them at an arm's length of RGIII and the Redskins. The defense fought all they could, but keeping RGIII in check for a whole game is a very difficult task. That's where the offense comes in. The Vikings couldn't win this game by silencing the Baylor alum. They needed to outscore him. The offense needed to not kick 4 straight field goals to start the game. The offense needed to not allow 24 unanswered points to play out. The Redskins defense was their weakness and the Vikings didn't take full advantage of that until far too late in the game when they actually scored touchdowns.
Christian Ponder had a decent day statistically, but he made far too many errant throws. Especially that awful interception to, gulp, Madieu Williams (funny, he made his first great play in a Vikings game against the purple). But what an idiot Ponder is for throwing that ball. That pick-6 dramatically changed the game. He clearly does not understand his role in the offense making a pass like that.
Some mental mistakes, some just poor passes. And some of that comes from the fact that he threw 52 times. 52! That is way too many passes for a 'game manager'. We were down and needed to pass the football, but you can't go that unbalanced. Come on Mike Musgrave. Seriously. AP is at your fingertips. The man tore his ACL at this very stadium 10 months previous. He's fired up and had some good carries. You cannot lean more on Christian Ponder than Adrian Peterson no matter the score. AP is a difference maker. AP isn't doing much out of the backfield? Run Percy. Ponder should never throw the ball 52 times.
Speaking of Mike Musgrave. I'm calling out your playcalling. In the redzone chances early in the game both AP and Percy were not on the field in certain plays? Huh? Even if they aren't the main targets, um, decoys? Two of the most dangerous weapons, on the sideline. Even aside from that, this was a poorly executed game plan by Musgrave and Frazier. Ponder clearly needs quicker looks. The looks downfield still are not working and Ponder is having difficultly finding long throws. So back to basics, short passes, check downs, and screens.
The Vikings fall out of first place with a record of 4-2.
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