Washington Redskins At Minnesota Vikings: Third Quarter Open Thread

The Minnesota Vikings started the second quarter in Redskins territory, and continued to move the ball down the field. A couple of passes to Cordarrelle Patterson and Greg Jennings got the ball into the red zone, and a personal foul penalty on the Redskins set the Vikings up with 1st-and-goal on the 3-yard line. From there, Christian Ponder faked a handoff to Adrian Peterson, rolled to his right, and found Patterson in the end zone for his first receiving touchdown in the National Football League. Blair Walsh hit the extra point, and Minnesota retook the lead by a score of 14-10.

Washington took possession, and the Vikings' defense again offered little resistance. The Redskins converted a couple of third downs on the drive, and Pierre Garcon had a ridiculous 32-yard catch-and-run that saw him run over both Chad Greenway and Andrew Sendejo. The Vikings' tackling has been nothing short of atrocious tonight, and the Redskins are taking advantage of it. The Redskins capped the drive with yet another third down conversion, as Robert Griffin III found tight end Jordan Reed in the middle of the field for an 11-yard touchdown pass. Kai Forbath's extra point made the score 17-14 in favor of the Washington Redskins.

The Vikings had the game's first three-and-out on the ensuing drive, and a big punt by Jeff Locke put the Redskins at their own 24-yard line. The Redskins. . .stop me if you've heard this one. . .again moved the ball down the field fairly easily. The Redskins kept converting third down after third down, and found themselves with 3rd-and-goal at the 1-yard line after a scramble by RGIII. Griffin then completed his third touchdown pass of the game, finding another tight end, Logan Paulsen, for a 1-yard pass to put the Redskins up 24-14.

Fun fact. . .it has been 93 minutes and 44 seconds of game time since a Vikings' opponent punted at the Metrodome.

Fun fact #2. . .despite the previous fun fact, at least half of the fans of the Minnesota Vikings will put this performance on the quarterback.

At the half, Christian Ponder has completed 10-of-13 passes for 85 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, including nine straight completions after his interception. Adrian Peterson has carried the ball seven times for 44 yards and an 18-yard touchdown run. For Washington, Robert Griffin III has been ridiculous, completing 16-of-21 for 179 yards and three touchdowns. Alfred Morris has picked up 88 yards on 17 carries on the ground for the Redskins thus far.

The Minnesota Vikings trail the Washington Redskins by a score of 24-14 as we move to the third quarter of play, and the Redskins will get the ball first to start the second half. Will it get uglier, or can the Vikings actually make their way back in this one? We'll find out together!