Minnesota Vikings At Detroit Lions: Fourth Quarter Open Thread

The Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions are entering the fourth quarter of play at Ford Field, with

The Vikings got the ball first in the second half, and immediately went three-and-out. The Lions got the ball in good field position thanks to a bad punt from Jeff Locke. . .who has not looked good today. . .and proceeded to cash in with Joique Bell's second touchdown of the afternoon to give Detroit a 20-14 lead.

Minnesota answered with one of their better drives of the day, seeing Christian Ponder complete a pass that Greg Jennings made a very nice catch on and a couple of decent runs from Adrian Peterson. They had to settle for a 52-yard field goal from Blair Walsh. . .who has still not missed from 50+ in his career. . .to cut the lead to 20-17.

The Vikings had an opportunity to recapture the momentum on the ensuing drive, as they had the Lions looking at 3rd-and-7 from their own 23-yard line, but Stafford found Reggie Bush for a 77-yard touchdown pass on a screen play to put the Detroit lead back to 10 at 27-17.

Minnesota then moved downfield again, as Ponder found Jerome Simpson for another beautiful gain of 47 yards to put the ball deep into Detroit territory. Cordarrelle Patterson's first NFL reception moved the ball to the 5-yard line for a first-and-goal, and Peterson found the end zone for a third time, this one on a 4-yard pass from Ponder to cut the deficit back to three at 27-24. That's where we sit going into the fourth quarter of play, with the Lions looking at third and less than a yard from their own 40-yard line.

Simpson has 119 receiving yards on five catches today, including gains of 44 and 47 yards. Ponder is 11-of-16 for 191 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Peterson has 87 yards on 15 carries to go with his 4-yard scoring grab.

We're on to the fourth quarter of play, folks. Can the purple and gold make a comeback? Hang out here with us and find out!