Philadelphia Eagles at Minnesota Vikings: Second Quarter Open Thread

The Philadelphia Eagles won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half, so the Minnesota Vikings got the ball first to start the penultimate game in Metrodome history. The Vikings actually put together a very nice drive, featuring a couple of rushing first downs by Matt Asiata and a nice 19-yard pass from Matt Cassel to Chase Ford. However, the Vikings found themselves facing a 3rd-and-13 that they didn't convert, and brought on Blair Walsh for a 55-yard field goal that the NFL's best kicker pushed wide left. That's the third straight miss for Walsh from 50+ after he went 12-for-12 to start his NFL career.

The Vikings managed to force a three-and-out on the Eagles' first possession, not even allowing them to gain a yard. Minnesota was backed up to their own 9-yard line, but Cassel found Jarius Wright for a big gain to get the Vikings out of the hole. Matt Cassel started off on fire, completing his first seven passes. . .with the seventh one finding Greg Jennings open down the field for a 57-yard touchdown pass. It was a great throw by Cassel, who showed great patience in the pocket to get the ball deep to Jennings. Blair Walsh hit the extra point, and the Vikings had a 7-0 lead following the four-play, 91-yard drive.

The Eagles then moved the ball downfield, thanks to the nimble feet of quarterback Nick Foles, who put together runs of nine and 21 yards. A screen pass to LeSean McCoy took the ball down to the Minnesota 20-yard line, but the Vikings got a sack from Jared Allen on 3rd-and-4, and the Eagles had to settle for a 35-yard field goal to cut the score to 7-3.

Philadelphia kicked short, away from Cordarrelle Patterson (as they did on the opening kickoff), giving the Vikings good field position from the Vikings' 38-yard line. Cassel continued his hot streak, finding Greg Jennings for 22 yards and Jerome Simpson for 19 to get the ball to the Philadelphia 20. A run by Matt Asiata has the Vikings looking at 2nd-and-7 from the Philadelphia 17-yard line as we hit the second quarter of play.

Cassel has started this one a perfect 9-for-9 for for 168 yards and a touchdown. Great job by the veteran to this point.

The Vikings lead the Eagles 7-3 after one quarter of play and are pushing for more as we hit the second quarter. Come on in and join us, folks!