I Can't Stop Watching Adrian Peterson Trucking Dirty Brandon Meriweather

Lost amid Stanford’s stunning upset of Oregon, Dwight Howard bricking free throws in the clutch, and hourly updates on Richie Incognito: Vikings 34, Redskins 27. Washington led 27-14 early in the third quarter and then suffered a calamitous collapse. A 4th-and-game pass in the closing seconds was caught in the end zone by Santana Moss, but he couldn’t keep both feet in bounds. Washington, a year after making the playoffs, fell to 3-6, but isn’t quite dead in the NFC East because it still has four games against the Eagles, Giants (2) and Cowboys.

Besides Christian Ponder’s heroic dive to the end zone – he was injured and left the game on the play – Adrian Peterson plowing dirty Brandon Meriweather was the game’s best play. Nobody likes Meriweather, the noted headhunter, and I imagine everyone who watches or participates in football took glee when Peterson trucked him.

Sidenote: How Washington lost this game remains a mystery. Washington scored on all four possessions in the first half, and virtually every stat for the game was in favor of the Redskins:

Total yards: Washington +126
Third down efficiency: Washington 9-for-16, Minnesota 6-for-10
Robert Griffin: 281 yards passing, 3 TDs, 7.6 ypa
Alfred Morris: 26 carries, 139 yards, 5.3 ypc
Yards per play: Washington 5.6, Minnesota 5.9
Turnovers: 1 Minnesota, 0 Washington
Time of possession: 36:01 to 23:59 in favor of Washington