Griffin escapes for 76-yard TD as Skins prevail

LANDOVER, Md. - Robert Griffin III dropped back, waited a beat, then quickly took off. A first down on third and 6 might have been enough to put the game away.

Instead, the Washington Redskins rookie left the Minnesota Vikings defense behind as he streaked down the left sideline for 76 yards. He didn't stop until he took a seat on the front row, performing what is quickly becoming known as the "Landover Leap."

He might have suffered his first NFL concussion the week before, but RG3 was still RG3. The Heisman Trophy winner rallied his team from an early hole, ran for 138 yards and threw for 182 on Sunday in a 38-26 victory that snapped the Vikings' three-game winning streak as well as the Redskins eight-game run of futility at home.

Minnesota paid the price for promising drives that produced 3s instead of 7s, with four field goals from Blair Walsh accounting for all their points through the first three quarters.

The Vikings finally found the end zone on Michael Jenkins' 9-yard catch with 8:02 to play and Kyle Rudolph's 1-yard snag - set up by Josh Wilson's pass interference penalty - with 3:36 to go, to cut the Redskins' lead to 31-26.

But Griffin, sporting a huge gray bandage on his chin, responded with the longest touchdown run by an NFL quarterback since Kordell Stewart scampered 80 yards for the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Carolina Panthers in 1996. The Vikings had started to use their timeouts, hoping to get the ball back with a chance to win, but Griffin dispelled that notion to put the Redskins up by 12 with 2 minutes, 43 seconds left.

Griffin left last week's loss to the Atlanta Falcons when he was hit in the head in the third quarter while trying to get some extra yards on a third down scramble. He passed the NFL's post-concussion tests over the following days and was cleared to play, but coaches and teammates hoped that he had learned a lesson about when to keep running and when to get out of bounds.

Christian Ponder completed 35 of 52 passes for 352 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions and was credited with a lost fumble when the ball slipped out of his hand as he went back to pass.

Adrian Peterson, who at times appeared to be limping on his sprained left ankle, had 79 yards on 17 carries for the Vikings.

Redskins 38, Vikings 26

Minnesota 9 0 3 14 – 26

Washington 0 17 7 14 – 38

First quarter

Min–FG Walsh 20, 11:31.

Min–FG Walsh 27, 6:18.

Min–FG Walsh 27, 1:47.

Second quarter

Was–FG Forbath 50, 10:51.

Was–Morris 1 run (Forbath kick), 2:27.

Was–Young 6 pass from Griffin III (Forbath kick), 2:14.

Third quarter

Was–Griffin III 7 run (Forbath kick), 9:37.

Min–FG Walsh 37, 4:18.

Fourth quarter

Was–M.Williams 24 interception return (Forbath kick), 12:40.

Min–Jenkins 9 pass from Ponder (Rudolph pass from Ponder), 8:02.

Min–Rudolph 1 pass from Ponder (pass failed), 3:36.

Was–Griffin III 76 run (Forbath kick), 2:43.

A: 78,476.

Min   Was

First downs 27   20

Total Net Yards 421   361

Rushes-yards 24-94   32-183

Passing 327   178

Punt Returns 1-(-2)   1-1

Kickoff Returns 3-100   0-0

Interceptions Ret. 1-0   2-24

Comp-Att-Int 35-52-2   17-22-1

Sacked-Yards Lost 4-25   1-4

Punts 2-50.5   3-38.3

Fumbles-Lost 2-1   1-0

Penalties-Yards 5-29   7-66

Time of Possession 31:32   28:28

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: Minnesota, Peterson 17-79, Ponder 4-13, Harvin 2-1, Gerhart 1-1. Washington, Griffin III 13-138, Morris 16-47, Royster 1-0, Banks 2-(minus 2).

Passing: Minnesota, Ponder 35-52-2-352. Washington, Griffin III 17-22-1-182.

Receiving: Minnesota, Harvin 11-133, Peterson 7-50, Jenkins 6-67, Rudolph 6-56, Gerhart 2-10, Ellison 1-16, Aromashodu 1-13, Carlson 1-7. Washington, Moss 4-46, F.Davis 3-46, Morgan 3-42, Hankerson 2-23, Banks 2-3, Morris 1-9, Royster 1-7, Young 1-6.

Missed Field Goals: None.