Minnesota Claims Fourth Straight Victory, Vikings Beat Redskins, 19-9

The Minnesota Vikings posted their fourth win in a row, and their latest victims were the sorry Washington Redskins. In the end, it was 19-9 for the Vikings who are now 6-2 and look pretty good.

Fantastic Stefon Diggs and Kirk Cousins were leading the home team, and both of these guys had excellent stats once the game ended. Cousins couldn’t complete just three of his 26 passes, ending the game with 285 yards and without a single touchdown pass. But his impact on the field was superb, converting third downs, and setting up scores with several excellent connections with his wide receivers.

His primary target was Diggs, who ended the night with 143 passes on 7 catches. It was his third straight performance with 140 or more yards, which tied him with Randy Moss, who did that in 2001.

“Just a mindset, trying to execute at all times really and practice well,” Diggs explained his and the team’s current form. “It translates to the game.”

Mike Zimmer’s tactic was to run the football more than to go through the air, in order to control the clock, which eventually paid off. The Vikes had the football in their possession for more than 36 minutes, mostly because of Dalvin Cook, who was two yards short of reaching a 100 mark. That was especially noticeable in the final period when the Redskins offensive team spent just 2:20 on the field.

Meanwhile, the Redskins were heavily handicapped when Case Keenum stayed in the locker room at the halftime, because of a concussion. The rookie Dwayne Haskins didn’t have enough chance to show his skills, but he did toss one interception in the third period, ending the game with 33 yards, 3 of 5, and with 2 sacks for 18 negative yards.

Haskins was a bit down after the game, but the youngster is aware that this is just a beginning for him in this league.

“Is tough,” he said, “but is only year one for me, I got a lot of years left, and that is all learning experience.”

Haskins INT – Had McLaurin over the middle, sailed his throw. Aikman on commentary pointed to Haskins' low elbow which has a tendency to cause it to sail. #Redskins pic.twitter.com/Ci9q2J88FN

— Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) October 25, 2019

Keenum was 12 of 16 during his time on the field, for 130 yards and two sacks also. Apart from Keenum, safety Jeremy Reaves also left the game due to concussion.

The game opened with two straight fumbles, one on each side, but the home team managed to reach the lead in the first period, with Dan Bailey’s 50-yard field goal. Minnesota’s kicker would go out on the field three more times, and was accurate on each occasion. He scored from 29 yards, 27, and finally 40 in the last period.

The only touchdown of the contest came in the second period when Cook carried the ball into the endzone for a 4-yard rush. The former Redskins posted 171 yards from the scrimmage, completely destroying his old team.

Adrian Peterson moved up to place No.6 on the NFL all-time rushing list. The former Viking, one of the greatest players in the history of this franchise, had 14 carries for 76 yards and was pretty emotional once he appeared on the scoreboard during the game.

“It was special,” Peterson said. “It was bittersweet.”

AP got a standing ovation from his former team’s fans after becoming 6th all time in rushing yards. 🙌♥️ @AdrianPeterson @Vikings pic.twitter.com/ia9EQSgxhD

— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) October 25, 2019

For the Redskins, this is the worst start of the season since 1998. Bill Calahan is trying to put all the pieces together, but it seems that there isn’t going to be anything good coming out of it. Now, with Keenum probably out for the next game, Haskins will have a chance to change something and speed up his learning process.

The Redskins are playing against the Buffalo Bills, on the road on November 3.

Meanwhile, the Vikes might face Patrick Mahomes on the same date, as they head for Kansas City. The reigning MVP is recovering faster than anyone thought, and if that trend continues, he could easily be in the lineup against Minnesota.