Oct 14, 2012; Landover, MD, USA; Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III (10) scrambles towards the sideline during the third quarter at FedEx Field against the Minnesota Vikings. Mandatory Credit: Paul Frederiksen-US PRESSWIRE
It was an ugly day for the Vikings in Washington. Ugly on offense. Ugly on defense. Just plain hideous. Where to begin? How about the defense. The Vikes have excelled on that side of the ball during their recent run of wins but today was a total reversal. The run defense had its issues and the pass defense was dismal. Robert Griffin III had all kinds of time to complete passes and found plenty of open receivers. And when Griffin needed a big play to seal the deal he got it with his feet, turning a QB draw into a 67-yard TD.
RG3 played like a star today. For the most part, the Vikings’ defensive players did not. It was a bad day for everyone in the secondary except Antoine Winfield who made some plays early including an interception. The defensive line wasn’t much better. The front four was pushed around all day the by Redskins’ offensive line. Only late in the game when the Vikings were trying to come back did the defense show the spunk we’ve seen from them lately. Except for the RG3 run.
The offense wasn’t much better than the defense. Christian Ponder was way off on a lot of his passes, especially in the red zone. Fans will question some of the red zone playcalling and there’s reason for them to. Why is it so hard to find Percy Harvin in those situations? Ponder made the huge mistake of the day throwing a pick-six to Madieu Williams. Just a terrible throw by Ponder. His stats ended up looking good but that was only because the Vikes were forced to throw to try and come back and the Redskins played soft defense, allowing lots of underneath completions. Percy Harvin and Adrian Peterson showed a lot of heart, fighting to the end, but those two guys can’t do it by themselves. They need better QB play. Better blocking. Better defense. Better playcalling.
Better everything.
Like The Viking Age on Facebook.
Follow Dan Zinski on Twitter.
Get the all-new FanSided iPhone app.
Want to blog about the Vikings? Fill out the blogger application and join the team. Serious homers, negative types, tape wonks and general wack-jobs all welcome.