Minnesota Vikings at Baltimore Ravens: Second Quarter Open Thread

It's snowing like heck in Baltimore, Maryland, and the Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens are through one quarter of play at M&T Bank Stadium with the Ravens on top by a score of 7-0.

The Vikings won the toss and elected to defer to the second half, which I can only guess was a weather-related choice. It looked like the Vikings had the Ravens stopped for a three-and-out on the first drive, but the measurement gave Baltimore a first down. Really can't complain about the spot today, given the conditions on the field. But, the Baltimore drive did eventually come to a halt as Joe Flacco was intercepted by Chad Greenway at the Minnesota 18-yard line to stop their march.

After a couple of Adrian Peterson runs, the Vikings wound up going three-and-out on their first possession, and a short punt by Jeff Locke gave the Ravens the ball at their own 40. The Ravens answered with their own three-and-out, but a nice punt by Sam Koch pinned the Vikings at their own 6-yard line. The Vikings got a third down conversion from Matt Cassel to Jerome Simpson. Simpson fumbled and it was recovered by John Carlson, giving the Vikings about ten extra yards. Unfortunately, a couple of plays later Toby Gerhart fumbled and it was recovered by Ravens' safety Matt Elam. Though it looked like his knee was clearly down before the ball came out, the referees allowed the call to stand and the Ravens took over at the Minnesota 26-yard line.

The Gerhart fumble was an absolutely atrocious call by the officials, but there isn't much you can do.

After a ridiculous run by Flacco to make it first-and-goal for the Ravens, the Vikings made a couple of stops to bring up third down. The Ravens eventually found their way into the end zone, however, as Flacco found tight end Ed Dickson in the back corner of the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown pass to give the Ravens a 7-0 lead.

The snow finally slowed down a bit on the Vikings' next drive, and Cassel found Cordarrelle Patterson for a very nice 24-yard completion where he was clearly being interfered with. However, the Vikings couldn't convert on a 3rd-and-6 from midfield, and Jeff Locke pinned the Ravens down at their own 7-yard line.

On Baltimore's next drive, they went three-and-out (even after getting 1st-and-5 after a 12 men penalty on Minnesota), thanks to a sack by Brian Robison. But Sam Koch blasted a huge 69-yard punt, thanks to a fortuitous bounce, and that's where we stand right now, with the Vikings looking at 1st-and-10 from their own 19-yard line.

The Vikings are down 7-0 after one quarter of play, folks. What do we have in store for the second quarter? Come and watch it with us!