Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings: Third Quarter Open Thread

The second quarter between the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers got underway with Joe Banyard getting the Vikings into Green Bay territory with two carries for 14 yards, the first two carries of his career. The Vikings got themselves into a 4th-and-5 at the Packers' 39, and elected to go for it. Teddy Bridgewater appeared to throw an interception to Morgan Burnett on the play, but a defensive holding penalty gave the Vikings a fresh set of downs. A pass to Greg Jennings gained nine yards, but the Vikings faced another fourth down, this time 4th-and-1 from the Green Bay 25. Mike Zimmer rolled the dice and went for it again, and Jerick McKinnon converted for the first down. And the Vikings made it work as Bridgewater found Charlie Johnson for his first even NFL touchdown catch, a 22-yard strike! The extra point by Blair Walsh was good, and the score was tied at seven.

The Packers started their next drive at the 20 after another Walsh touchback, and they started with an Aaron Rodgers scramble for 15 yards. A pass to Jordy Nelson got the Packers close to midfield, but they couldn't do anything more with it and were forced to punt it away once again. Marcus Sherels made the fair catch at the Minnesota 12, and the Vikings took over on offense again.

It looked like the Vikings were going to go three-and-out, but a nice catch and run by Joe Banyard on 3rd-and-6 picked up a first down for Minnesota. Unfortunately, on the next play, Bridgewater tried to go deep for Charles Johnson and wound up getting intercepted by Micah Hyde at the Green Bay 47.

It didn't take long for the Packers to take advantage of the mistake, as Rodgers found Andrew Quarless for a big pass to the Minnesota 1-yard line (with the aid of a missed tackle by Harrison Smith), and the drive concluded with a 1-yard pass to tight end Richard Rodgers for the score and a 14-7 Green Bay lead.

The Vikings moved into Green Bay territory in relatively short order, thanks to a pass from Bridgewater to Kyle Rudolph to the Packers' 46. A pass to Cordarrelle Patterson picked up another first down, and the Vikings got to the Green Bay 26 just before the two-minute warning. McKinnon picked up a first down, but then a face mask penalty on Matt Kalil pushed the Vikings back. Bridgewater got some of the yardage back with a 19-yard completion to Johnson, but they could get no more. The Vikings brought on Blair Walsh for a 39-yard field goal, and he was good to make the score 14-10 going into the locker room at halftime.

It has been a rough afternoon for Bridgewater thus far, as he is just 11-of-22 for 122 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Jerick McKinnon has 11 carries for 33 yards at halftime, with Bridgewater carrying twice for 16 yards and Joe Banyard carrying twice for 14 yards. Charles Johnson leads the Vikings in receiving with two catches for 41 yards and a touchdown, with Kyle Rudolph chipping in with two catches for 34 yards. Cordarrelle Patterson, Greg Jennings, and Chase Ford each have one reception so far for the Vikings. McKinnon has three receptions, but has only gained nine yards on those.

For the Packers, Rodgers is 9-of-14 for 127 yards and a touchdown. Eddie Lacy has carried ten times for 51 yards and a score. Quarless, Jordy Nelson, and Randall Cobb each have two receptions thus far, with Rodgers touchdown going to tight end Richard Rodgers.

With 30 minutes in the books from TCF Bank Stadium, the Minnesota Vikings trail the Green Bay Packers by a score of 14-10, and they will get the football coming out of the locker room at halftime. This has been a lot closer than most of us expected so far. Can the Vikings get off to a quick start for the second half?