The Vikings have lost four games in a row – a first under head coach Mike Zimmer.
After taking a 6-point lead into halftime, Minnesota went scoreless the rest of the contest while Washington kicked its way to a 26-20 victory.
Washington came out clicking.
The Redskins scored on their opening two drives, both touchdown passes from Kirk Cousins (a 4-yard toss to Jamison Crowder, then a 38-yard strike to tight end Vernon Davis).
Then the Vikings found their offense … for like, 10 minutes.
Sam Bradford hit Stefon Diggs with a looping 36-yard throw on 2nd and 10 with about 9:24 left in the half. That seemed to get the Vikings offense into a groove, and they scored on three consecutive drives:
- A Matt Asiata 1-yard run on 3rd-and-goal.
- A short pass to tight end Kyle Rudolph, who took it 20 yards into the end zone.
- Then – after the defense recovered a Washington fumble with 50 seconds left – a short, 3-yard pass to Adam Thielen, making it 20-14 Vikings. (Blair Walsh missed the extra point on this one.)
And then halftime happened, and Minnesota reverted to having the same offensive woes that have marred the past month.
Their four second-half offensive drives ended with a punt, punt, Bradford interception on the Washington 39-yard line, then a sack on 4th-and-17 with less than 10 seconds to go.
Meanwhile the Washington offense reached field goal range four different times. Kicker Dustin Hopkins capitalized, going 4-for-4 in the game to make it 26-20.
And that was that.
Stefon Diggs had a big game, catching 13 passes for 164 yards, and was a frequent target of Bradford (who went 31-for-40 with 307 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 INT). The Vikes’ O-Line was again inconsistent, and starting left tackle Jake Long (in for original starting left tackle Mat Kalil) went down on the second-to-last play of the game, so that’ll be an injury worth keeping an eye on.
On the other side, Cousins managed to avoid most of the Vikings’ pass rush while throwing for 262 yards and a couple touchdowns. Washington also had 128 yards rushing.
Minnesota (5-4) hosts the Arizona Cardinals (3-4-1) next Sunday, Nov. 20, at noon.
