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 Vikings running back Matt Asiata scored his third touchdown of
the day with 3:27 left in the game, and capped it with a two-point
conversion plunge to give Minnesota the three-point lead.
The Vikings stopped the Redskins' final drive at midfield.
Asiata only averaged 2.6 yards per attempt on 10 carries Sunday, but
scored on a pair of 1-yard runs. His longest run of the day was a
7-yard scoring scamper two minutes into the final quarter.
Griffin was far from perfect in his first game action since Week 2,
but passed several critical physical tests. On the first drive of
the game, Griffin kept a read-option play, moved well out of the
pocket and drove the Redskins into position for a 36-yard field goal
by Kai Forbath.
Washington led 10-0 after a 14-yard run by Alfred Morris early in
the second quarter and the Vikings offense failed to do much of
anything until a gift interception from Griffin late in the first
half gave Minnesota life, and the ball in Redskins territory with a
chance to get on the board before halftime.
"I just threw it inside," Griffin said. "Dre ran a great route, just
left the ball inside, didn't come out of my hand right, wind caught
it, doesn't matter. It was left inside at the end of the day and I
can't let that happen."
Four plays later, Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater connected on
a 20-yard score to tight end Chase Ford to pull Minnesota within
three at intermission.
"Anytime you can score right before the half, for some reason, it
builds a lot of things going into the locker room," Vikings coach
Mike Zimmer said. "I thought that was a big lifting part of the ball
game."
Asiata got in the end zone for the first time on Minnesota's opening
drive of the second half to give the Vikings their first lead at
14-10.
Griffin and the Redskins answered on their next drive, taking
advantage of a questionable roughing-the-passer call on third down
to keep a drive alive. On the next play, Griffin hit wide receiver
DeSean Jackson on a slant route for an 13-yard score.
A 26-yard field goal by Forbath made it a 20-14 game headed to the
final quarter.
"We need to look at the film and find out if it's schematic or if
they just out-physicaled, outworked us, out-prepared us, I don't
know," Redskins coach Jay Gruden said. "That was unacceptable
football."
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Following Asiata's 7-yarded to open the final quarter, Griffin hit
Jackson on a 53-yard pass to set up Morris' second scoring run of
the day from two yards out. The drive went 80 yards on eight plays,
and gave Washington its final lead of the day at 26-21 with nine
minutes to play.
The Vikings answered with a 73-yard drive in 12 plays to score the
winning touchdown. Bridgewater went 5-for-7 on the drive, converting
a third and 10 with a 21-yard pass to Jarius Wright and a third and
five with a six-yarder to Greg Jennings.
Asiata's one-yard scoring play came on third and goal.
"I thought our team grew up a lot today," Zimmer said. "They could
have folded their tents early, we fell behind 10-0, but they kept
fighting and fighting."
Griffin was 18-of-28 passing for 251 yards and a touchdown.
Bridgewater, who struggled for much of the first half, threw a
career-high 42 passes, completing 26 for 268 yards and one
touchdown.
"Sometimes you're going to have a slow start," Bridgewater said.
"But it's all about how you finish the game. Today, it was a great
team win. The guys continued to fight."
NOTES: The Redskins team bus was in an accident on the way to the
TCF Bank Stadium Sunday morning. Coach Jay Gruden said several
players sustained whiplash and RB Silas Redd, Jr. did not play
Sunday because of back spasms sustained in the crash. ... Vikings CB
Xavier Rhodes left the game in the first quarter and was evaluated
for a concussion. He returned later in the game. ... The
second-quarter score by Vikings TE Chase Ford was his first NFL
touchdown. ... Vikings RB Matt Asiata scored three touchdowns in a
game for the third time in his career.
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