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| Robert Griffin III returns, but Redskins come up short in 29-26 loss to the Vikings | Robert Griffin III returns, but Redskins come up short in 29-26 loss to the Vikings |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Vikings spoiled the return of Robert Griffin III, outlasting the Washington Redskins in a seesaw battle, 29-26, after scoring 22 second-half points and coming up with a defensive stand with just more than a minute left. | MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Vikings spoiled the return of Robert Griffin III, outlasting the Washington Redskins in a seesaw battle, 29-26, after scoring 22 second-half points and coming up with a defensive stand with just more than a minute left. |
| Washington had its two-game winning streak snapped and will enter the bye 3-6 — a mark the team now has held after nine games for four consecutive years | |
| . The Redskins will return to action in Week 11 at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, again in a desperate situation and in need of a dramatic, near-flawless run to save their season. | |
| The task could have proved significantly easier had things played out favorably for Griffin & Co. against the Vikings. And for a while, victory appeared within reach. | |
| After making a number of impressive plays throughout his first game since he dislocated his left ankle in Week 2, Griffin found himself in a storybook situation. | |
| With 3 minutes 27 seconds left and his team down by three, Griffin had a chance to orchestrate a game-winning or game-tying drive from the Washington 20. | |
| The offense moved the ball in increments as time ticked off the clock. With 1:09 left and facing fourth and six from his 43-yard line, Griffin took a shotgun snap, slid to his left and tried to get a pass off to Pierre Garcon on a crossing pattern. But the quarterback didn’t have time to set his feet, and the pass sailed low, killing the drive. | The offense moved the ball in increments as time ticked off the clock. With 1:09 left and facing fourth and six from his 43-yard line, Griffin took a shotgun snap, slid to his left and tried to get a pass off to Pierre Garcon on a crossing pattern. But the quarterback didn’t have time to set his feet, and the pass sailed low, killing the drive. |
| Then, with one last prayer after getting the ball back with 10 seconds on the clock, Griffin rolled out and heaved the ball in the direction of DeSean Jackson, but that pass sailed out of bounds. | |
| “You get one drive to go win the game, and that’s what you want to do for your team,” Griffin said. “So . . . I put that on me. I put that on my shoulders because I didn’t get it done at the end of the game. So say what you want. Say what you want about any other phase of the game. The way I look at it, I could’ve played better to help us win at the end of the game.” | |
| Griffin completed 18 of 28 passes for 251 yards and a touchdown in his return. He also threw an interception and was sacked five times. In the second half, he completed 10 of 15 passes and 6 of 8 in the fourth quarter, but the two incompletions, particularly the next-to-last, loomed large. | |
| “Not good enough to win. That’s all that matters,” he said. “We lost the game. Guys fought really, really hard. We know how bad we need wins right now, and we didn’t come out here and do it today. I have to play a lot better for that to happen.” | “Not good enough to win. That’s all that matters,” he said. “We lost the game. Guys fought really, really hard. We know how bad we need wins right now, and we didn’t come out here and do it today. I have to play a lot better for that to happen.” |
| Running back Alfred Morris added two touchdown runs — his first multi-touchdown game since Week 2 — and 92 yards on 19 carries, and wide receiver DeSean Jackson had four catches for 120 yards and a touchdown, but it was not enough, thanks largely to struggles on the other side of the ball. | Running back Alfred Morris added two touchdown runs — his first multi-touchdown game since Week 2 — and 92 yards on 19 carries, and wide receiver DeSean Jackson had four catches for 120 yards and a touchdown, but it was not enough, thanks largely to struggles on the other side of the ball. |
| Six days after carrying the team to a win at Dallas, Washington’s defense wilted in the second half as Minnesota’s Matt Asiata rushed for three touchdowns. Twice in the fourth quarter, the unit failed to protect leads and surrendered long scoring drives — and ultimately the game. | |
| “It bothers me,” Coach Jay Gruden fumed in his postgame news conference. “We had a lead. We got down. We came back to get the lead. We let them drive 80 yards to take the lead. We go back down to score and take the lead. We go down to take the lead, and they come back again. Very, very, very sickening.” | |
| The day couldn’t have started in less favorable circumstances for Washington. | The day couldn’t have started in less favorable circumstances for Washington. |
| Roughly three hours before game time, two team buses transporting the first wave of coaches and players (including Gruden and his son Jack) from the hotel to the stadium got in a wreck when the police cruiser escort missed the exit ramp and lost control. The first bus swerved and stopped to avoid the cruiser, but the second bus rear-ended the first, driving it up and over an embankment and leaving passengers shaken and some of them with bruises. | |
| Around the same time, a report popped up on ESPN’s game-day broadcast about locker room discord involving Griffin and another that the decision to start Griffin on Sunday may have come down from team owner Daniel Snyder and General Manager Bruce Allen, against Gruden’s wishes. People within the organization, both publicly and privately, maintained all week that the decision had come from Gruden. | |
| And if that wasn’t enough, in the hours leading up to the game, a crowd that police numbered at 3,200 gathered to march to and around the stadium in protest of the Redskins’ nickname. | And if that wasn’t enough, in the hours leading up to the game, a crowd that police numbered at 3,200 gathered to march to and around the stadium in protest of the Redskins’ nickname. |
| Gruden and some of his assistants, as well as a number of players, shook their heads in disbelief at all of the extracurricular activities that swirled around the team. | Gruden and some of his assistants, as well as a number of players, shook their heads in disbelief at all of the extracurricular activities that swirled around the team. |
| But once that quieted down and the game got underway, Griffin didn’t exhibit the rust that could have stemmed from his seven-week layoff, completing his first six passes, and also receiving a couple of designed runs early. | |
| Griffin’s best display of mobility came on the opening possession, when he was faced with third and seven from the Washington 49. Griffin slipped free of the grasp of linebacker Chad Greenway and defensive end Everson Griffen, scrambled to his left and tossed the ball to running back Roy Helu Jr., who gained 24 yards. | |
| The Redskins settled for a field goal, but on its next possession, Washington marched 91 yards in six plays and scored on a 14-yard run by Morris. | |
| Appearing to dust off a game plan from Kyle Shanahan’s 2012 offense, Gruden and offensive coordinator Sean McVay went with a variety of pistol formations, zone-read runs and the play-action attack to keep the Vikings off balance during the 10-0 start. | Appearing to dust off a game plan from Kyle Shanahan’s 2012 offense, Gruden and offensive coordinator Sean McVay went with a variety of pistol formations, zone-read runs and the play-action attack to keep the Vikings off balance during the 10-0 start. |
| Meanwhile, the defense sacked Teddy Bridgewater twice in the first half and forced five consecutive punts. | Meanwhile, the defense sacked Teddy Bridgewater twice in the first half and forced five consecutive punts. |
| But Washington’s offense fizzled midway through the second quarter. Then, with 1:04 left in the half, Griffin had his first poor throw of the day, a soft lob to Andre Roberts that was picked off by cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, who played the ball to the inside while Roberts appeared to be running an out route. | |
| The first turnover of the game breathed life into Vikings, who scored on a 20-yard pass from Teddy Bridgewater to tight end Chase Ford to cut the lead to 10-7 at halftime. | |
| Things further unraveled for the Redskins as the third quarter began. Back-to-back sacks of Griffin killed the first possession, and Minnesota needed just six plays to take a 14-10 lead on a one-yard Asiata run. | Things further unraveled for the Redskins as the third quarter began. Back-to-back sacks of Griffin killed the first possession, and Minnesota needed just six plays to take a 14-10 lead on a one-yard Asiata run. |
| The Redskins answered in seven plays — the last a 13-yard strike from Griffin to Jackson (the quarterback’s first passing touchdown of the season) with 7:28 left in the third. Two minutes later, Washington used a Kai Forbath field goal to extend the lead to 20-14. | The Redskins answered in seven plays — the last a 13-yard strike from Griffin to Jackson (the quarterback’s first passing touchdown of the season) with 7:28 left in the third. Two minutes later, Washington used a Kai Forbath field goal to extend the lead to 20-14. |
| But Minnesota regained the lead on another long drive, capped by a seven-yard run by Asiata with 13:04 left. | |
| A second Morris touchdown, with 9:01 left, put the visitors up 26-21, and so Gruden went for two. But the Vikings’ pass rush swallowed Griffin up to keep it a five-point game. | |
| Minnesota took the lead for good on a 12-play, 73-yard drive capped by another Asiata one-yard touchdown run, and Asiata ran for the two-point conversion to make it 29-26. | Minnesota took the lead for good on a 12-play, 73-yard drive capped by another Asiata one-yard touchdown run, and Asiata ran for the two-point conversion to make it 29-26. |
| “We’re all frustrated. We knew what we had on the line,” nose tackle Chris Baker said. “This was like a must-win game going into the bye week. We have to continue to get back to work and figure out what’s going wrong and fix it.” | “We’re all frustrated. We knew what we had on the line,” nose tackle Chris Baker said. “This was like a must-win game going into the bye week. We have to continue to get back to work and figure out what’s going wrong and fix it.” |
| More Redskins and NFL coverage: | More Redskins and NFL coverage: |
| Summary: Vikings 29, Redskins 26 | Summary: Vikings 29, Redskins 26 |
| Wise: Uninspired loss with no shortage of distractions | Wise: Uninspired loss with no shortage of distractions |
| Reid: Griffin’s play encouraging in loss | Reid: Griffin’s play encouraging in loss |
| Photos: Images from the loss at Minnesota | Photos: Images from the loss at Minnesota |
| Video: The Wrap on Griffin’s return and the loss | Video: The Wrap on Griffin’s return and the loss |
| Bog: Best and worst from the Redskins’ loss | Bog: Best and worst from the Redskins’ loss |
| Redskins-RGIII drama just never ceases | Redskins-RGIII drama just never ceases |
| Redskins defense collapses in second half | |
| Gruden calls loss ‘very sickening’, pregame reports ‘amateurish’ | Gruden calls loss ‘very sickening’, pregame reports ‘amateurish’ |
| DL Chris Baker says Griffin ‘played his butt’ off | DL Chris Baker says Griffin ‘played his butt’ off |
| A missed opportunity before the bye week | A missed opportunity before the bye week |
| Redskins team buses involved in accident before game | Redskins team buses involved in accident before game |
| Thousands of Native Americans protest Redskins’ name | Thousands of Native Americans protest Redskins’ name |
| Style: What the Redskins and the fashion world share | Style: What the Redskins and the fashion world share |