Washington Redskins at Minnesota Vikings: Third Quarter Open Thread

The second quarter started with the Minnesota Vikings' defense forcing another third down, and it appeared the Vikings had the Redskins stopped, but a penalty on Marcus Sherels. . .in the game because Xavier Rhodes is being evaluated for a concussion. . .allowed the Redskins' drive to keep going. They took advantage one play later, as Alfred Morris cruised into the end zone from 14 yards out to give the visitors a 10-0 lead.

The Vikings started their next drive at the 20-yard line after a touchback. The Vikings got a quick first down, and Bridgewater then misfired on another deep ball attempt to Cordarrelle Patterson. A holding penalty on Phil Loadholt pushed the Vikings back, and another sack of Bridgewater (this one by Jason Hatcher) put a stop to the Vikings' drive. Jeff Locke got another nice punt away, and nice coverage by Sherels caused Washington to start the next drive at their own 28-yard line.

The Redskins got a third down conversion to open their next drive, as Robert Griffin III scrambled for 4 yards on 3rd-and-1, and appeared to have another one when Sharrif Floyd jumped offsides on a 3rd-and-5. However, that set up a third and short, and Everson Griffen ran down Roy Helu for a loss to end the drive. A penalty on Robert Blanton on the ensuing punt return forced the Vikings back to their own 14-yard line.

On the next drive, after the officials missed a pretty blatant face mask on Jerick McKinnon, Teddy Bridgewater found Chase Ford on a third down play to keep the drive going. A pass to Greg Jennings for 11 yards moved the chains again, and it looked like the Vikings were rolling a bit. However, a false start on Charles Johnson (the receiver, not the offensive lineman) and a few bad plays put a screeching halt to the drive, and Jeff Locke came on to punt once again. Another nice bit of punt coverage by Sherels stopped the Redskins' returner for no gain, and Washington started from their own 26-yard line with just over four minutes left in the half.

The Vikings forced their first three-and-out of the afternoon on the ensuing drive, thanks to a nice play by Harrison Smith and great coverage on Pierre Garcon by a returning Xavier Rhodes (negative for a concussion, apparently) on third down. Marcus Sherels called for a fair catch on the punt, and the Vikings set up shop at their own 24-yard line with around three and a half minutes left in the half.

Minnesota got a quick first down on their next drive, and Bridgewater attempted to go deep for Patterson again and was nearly intercepted by David Amerson. (The Redskins challenged the play, but it stood as an incomplete pass.) At the two-minute warning, the Vikings had 3rd-and-4 from their own 45-yard line. Bridgewater found super weapon Chase Ford, and the Vikings found themselves in Redskins territory. The Vikings pushed their way to a 4th-and-2 from the Washington 39-yard line, and chose to go for it, but they failed to convert on a terrible throw by Bridgewater that would have been negated by an ineligible man downfield penalty on Matt Kalil (that you really can't blame him for, since he probably thought Bridgewater was going to run).

The Vikings got a spark of life, however, as Captain Munnerlyn collected his second interception of the season on the next play, setting the Vikings up again at the Washington 46-yard line. Bridgewater got the drive started by finding Greg Jennings for 22 yards down to the Washington 24. And the Vikings turned the Griffin interception into points on a 3rd-and-6 play from the 20, as Bridgewater found super weapon Chase Ford in the back of the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown pass. The extra point from Blair Walsh made the score 10-7, and that's where we stand going into halftime.

The offensive numbers haven't been great for the Vikings, as you might imagine. Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata have combined for just 14 yards on seven carries so far. Bridgewater has completed 17-of-28 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown, but has misfired badly on a couple of long passes. Jennings, Ford, and Asiata each have four receptions thus far, with Jennings leading the way yardage-wise with 57 and Ford with 45 yards to go with his touchdown. For the Redskins, RGIII has completed 8-of-13 (after going 5-of-5 on the first drive) for 112 yards and the interception. Alfred Morris has 56 yards rushing and a touchdown on 11 carries, and DeSean Jackson leads the Redskins with 45 receiving yards on his only catch.

Minnesota trails Washington by a score of 10-7 as we prepare for the third quarter of play from TCF Bank Stadium. The Redskins will get the ball coming out of the locker room. Can the Vikings come back and complete another victory?