Washington Redskins at Minnesota Vikings: Second Quarter Open Thread

The Minnesota Vikings lost the coin toss in their Week 9 matchup with the Washington Redskins, and the visitors deferred to the second half, giving the Minnesota offense the football first. The kickoff from Kai Forbath resulted in a touchback, and the Vikings started out from their own 20-yard line.

The first drive did not go well for the Minnesota offense, as Teddy Bridgewater misfired on two passes, including the first play of the game that saw him overthrow an open Greg Jennings. The three-and-out led to a Jeff Locke punt and, after a penalty on the Redskins, the visitors started out on their own 20-yard line.

The returning Robert Griffin III led the Washington offense on to the field, and got a quick first down on a pass to Pierre Garcon. The Redskins converted on a third down throw to Andre Roberts, and found themselves close to midfield. The Vikings forced another third down, but Chad Greenway whiffed on an opportunity to sack RGIII, and he completed a pass to Roy Helu for a big gain into Minnesota territory. A screen pass to Alfred Morris got the Redskins into the red zone at the 13-yard line, but the Vikings defense put the clamps on after that with a tackle for loss by Sharrif Floyd and Anthony Barr's fourth sack of the season. The Redskins couldn't convert another third down, and had to settle for a Forbath field goal from 36 yards out to take an early 3-0 lead.

The ensuing kickoff went short to MarQueis Gray, who took the ball to the Minnesota 21 to start the next Vikings' drive. Things got off to a much better start, as after a short run by Jerick McKinnon, Bridgewater found Jennings for a 17-yard gain. Unfortunately, Bridgewater quickly followed that up by overshooting Cordarrelle Patterson, who literally didn't have anyone within 20 yards of him. However, Matt Asiata salvaged the drive with a big third down conversion to get the Vikings near midfield. Bridgewater was then sacked by Trent Murphy, and the Vikings were forced to punt. Jeff Locke got a decent punt away, and the Vikings forced the Redskins to start from their own 9-yard line.

RGIII found DeSean Jackson for a 44-yard completion into Vikings' territory to get their next drive started. Jackson took a huge shot from Harrison Smith, who got Xavier Rhodes in the process. Rhodes was helped off the field and appeared to be getting evaluated for a concussion. A couple of runs by Morris put the Redskins on the edge of the Minnesota red zone again, and as we head to the second quarter of play, the Redskins are looking at a 2nd-and-6 from the Minnesota 19.

The Washington Redskins lead the Minnesota Vikings by a score of 3-0 after the first fifteen minutes of play. Can the Vikings turn things around as we move to the second quarter?