Vikings At Texans: Third Quarter Open Thread

We witnessed NFL history in the second quarter of the game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Houston Texans. . .and, no, it has nothing to do with Christian Ponder actually completing passes (which he's done quite well this afternoon).

No, with a little more than eight minutes remaining in the second quarter, after an incomplete pass on third down, the Vikings called on kicker Blair Walsh for a 56-yard field goal attempt. Walsh drilled the kick. . .it would have been good from 66, never mind 56. . .and with that set the NFL record for most field goals of 50 yards or more in a season. Not only was it his ninth of the year (and he's 9-for-9 from 50+ this season), but it also tied the Vikings' franchise record for longest field goal, set by Paul Edinger in 2005.

That drive was set up by a fumble forced by the combo of Erin Henderson and Jasper Brinkley, as they made Texans running back Arian Foster cough one up after a fairly lengthy drive by the Texans. Houston doesn't turn the ball over often, and the Vikings took advantage of it.

(Now may or may not be a good time to point out, again, that the Vikings haven't lost a game all year when they're on the positive side of the takeaway/giveaway ratio. They're currently +1 at halftime.)

(Knocks on wood.)

Towards the end of the half, after a nice punt return from Marcus Sherels, the Vikings started out in Houston territory. A nice pass to Jarius Wright moved the Vikings further into Houston territory, but the purple and gold once again had to settle for a Blair Walsh field goal, this one from 41 yards out, to make the score 13-3. That's where we stand at halftime, and the Vikings will get the ball coming out of the locker room.

As we go to halftime, the Texans have done a nice job of slowing down Adrian Peterson, as he only has 40 yards on 13 carries. Christian Ponder has more than made up for it thus far, however, completing 10-of-17 passes for 119 yards and the Vikings' first touchdown.

Peterson is now 148 yards away from 2,000 and 254 away from passing Eric Dickerson, if you're scoring at home.

The Vikings' defense has done an outstanding job thus far, holding the Texans' running game to just 12 yards on 9 carries and getting pretty consistent pressure on Matt Schaub. They've also deflected several passes and had several chances at interceptions. We'll see if those trends continue in the second half.

We have 30 minutes of football remaining in the Vikings' final road game of the 2012 season. Where will the second half take us? Let's find out!