The game at Washington was never going to change much in the playoff picture: neither team is going to the post-season this year, but both teams were playing for pride. In the end, the Vikings won despite losing their starting quarterback and all-world running back on sequential plays. The win was a bit of a palliative for a doomed season, but the injury to Adrian Peterson sets next season into question.
Christopher Gates dips into his history texts to find the best way to describe yesterday’s game:
Pyrrhic victory (PIR-ik VIK-tuh-ree) n. A victory that is offset by staggering losses
The term “phyrric victory” is named after King Pyrrhus of Epirus, who did battle with the Romans in the Battle of Heraclea in 280 B.C. and the Battle of Asculum in 279 B.C. In both battles, the Romans suffered greater casualties than Pyrrhus’ army did. . .however, the Romans had a significantly larger base from which to draw troops. So, in essence, Pyrrhus’ victories came at too high a price, as he even went so far as to say that another such victory would be his undoing.
That’s pretty much what we saw today at FedEx Field in Washington, D.C., as the Minnesota Vikings fought like hell when it would have been easy to roll over, and got themselves a 33-26 victory over the Washington Redskins. The victory guarantees that they will a) not be the single-worst team in Minnesota Vikings’ history in terms of win-loss record, and b) no longer eligible for the top overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.
While I still think Christian Ponder will develop into a good, dependable NFL quarterback, I’ve been a fan of Joe Webb since he was drafted. I’m delighted to see that he is getting the opportunity to showcase his diverse skill set, and I’d be even happier if the team can work him into games more regularly.
Tom Pelissero thinks there’s a bit more of a dilemma for Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier now:
Two appearances. Two rallies.
That was enough for coach Leslie Frazier to open the door on Saturday afternoon for the possibility of Joe Webb as the Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback of the future.
“Some of the things he does, man, and what it does to the rest of our team — you can’t ignore it,” Frazier said after Webb led three touchdown drives in relief of injured Christian Ponder and the Vikings beat the Washington Redskins 33-26.
“It’s something we’re going to take a real hard look at as we go forward. He definitely lifts our team. He’s done it. He did it a season ago as well.”
Webb threw only five passes, completing four of them for 84 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran five times for 34 yards and another score after taking over with the Vikings trailing 13-10 and 10:40 left in the third quarter.
This, 13 days after Webb relieved Ponder at Detroit, sliced a 17-point deficit to six and had the Vikings only 1 yard from what could have been the winning touchdown.
“Magic. He’s gifted, man,” receiver Percy Harvin said. “He’s one of the gifted players that you can’t describe. You can’t practice it. Not too many teams got quarterbacks that can do what he does.”
