SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 7, 2013
Vikings 34, Redskins 27: Christian Ponder threw a pair of touchdown passes before he was injured and host Minnesota erased a 13-point second-half deficit to snap a four-game losing streak.
Adrian Peterson ran for 75 yards and two touchdowns as the Vikings (2-7) earned their first win in the United States; their only other victory came over Pittsburgh in London. Tight end John Carlson had seven catches for 98 yards and a TD for Minnesota, which scored the final 20 points.
Robert Griffin III threw three first-half touchdown passes but couldn't get Washington (3-6) into the end zone in the second half, with the final drive stalling at the Vikings' 4-yard line with 28 seconds to play. Griffin finished 24-of-37 for 281 yards and Alfred Morris ran for 139 yards on 26 carries.
Ponder's 2-yard pass to rookie Cordarrelle Patterson gave the Vikings a 14-10 lead with 12:59 left in the first half, but the Redskins responded with consecutive long scoring drives to take a 24-14 lead into halftime. Griffin capped an 80-yard march with an 11-yard pass to tight end Jordan Reed before hitting tight end Logan Paulsen with a 1-yard pass with 10 seconds left in the half.
Kai Forbath's 40-yard field goal on the opening possession of the second half extended Washington's lead to 27-14, but Minnesota answered with 20 unanswered points. Ponder tossed a 28-yard scoring strike to Carlson and set up Peterson's 1-yard run on the play that knocked him out of the game. Blair Walsh kicked a pair of field goals - the second a 40-yarder for a 34-27 lead with 3:36 to play.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Ponder suffered a left shoulder injury diving for the end zone with just over a minute left in the third quarter. He finished 17-of-21 for 174 yards with an interception and backup Matt Cassel was 4-for-6 for 47 yards. ... Griffin's three first-half TD passes tied a career high and surpassed his total in the opening 30 minutes from the previous eight games combined. ... Morris became the third running back in the league with back-to-back 100-yard games this season, joining San Diego's Ryan Mathews and St. Louis rookie Zac Stacy.