Should the Vikings find themselves in the playoffs — or atop the NFC North — at the end of the regular season, the quality of their performance against Washington on Thursday night won’t have any bearing on their final record. And as they improved to 6-2 with a 19-9 victory Thursday night, the Vikings could take solace in the fact their issues weren’t unseemly enough to cost them a game against a lowly opponent.
Whatever issues the Vikings had at U.S. Bank Stadium — whether they were with cornerback Xavier Rhodes in pass coverage or their interior offensive line — were ameliorated by the fact they were facing a 1-6 Redskins team that began with little to play for and finished the night without their starting quarterback.