Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions: Second Quarter Open Thread

To start the game at Ford Field in Week 15, the Detroit Lions won the toss and elected to receiver, Blair Walsh kicked it away for the Minnesota Vikings, and the ball went through the end zone for a touchback, and the Lions started from their own 20-yard line. The defense held the Vikings to a three-and-out, and the punt from Sam Martin went to Marcus Sherels, who fielded it at the 14-yard line and broke a huge return, taking it 35 yards and giving the Vikings the ball at their own 49-yard line.

The Vikings got a quick first down on a pass from Teddy Bridgewater to Matt Asiata to take the ball inside the Detroit 40. However, the Vikings could only get the ball to the 35, and they called on Blair Walsh for a field goal try from 53 yards. Unfortunately, Walsh's cold streak continued, as he pushed the attempt wide to the right, and Detroit took over with pretty good field position.

The Minnesota defense came up big once again, as they forced a second straight three-and-out, only allowing the Lions to gain two yards. Martin punted again, and Sherels called for a fair catch at the Minnesota 10-yard line, pinning the Vikings pretty deep in their own territory to start their next drive.

The next drive started with an offsides penalty on Ndamukong Suh to give the Vikings five quick yards, and Bridgewater then found Kyle Rudolph for a 21-yard gain to get Minnesota out of the shadow of their own end zone. However, a sack of Bridgewater by former Vikings lineman George Johnson pushed the Vikings back, and they were forced to punt the ball away. The punt from Jeff Locke went to the Detroit 18, and Jeremy Ross brought it back to the Detroit 32 for the Lions' third drive of the afternoon.

For the third consecutive drive, the Lions were forced to go three-and-out, with cornerback Xavier Rhodes getting shaken up on a play going for a jump ball against Calvin Johnson that fell incomplete. Martin came on to punt again, and the Vikings took over on their own 16-yard line.

Bridgewater got the drive started with a nice 20-yard pass to Charles Johnson on a screen, and followed that up with another 5-yard hit to Johnson. A pass to Asiata took the Lions into Detroit territory at the 49. A couple of plays later, it appeared that Bridgewater had hit Greg Jennings on a big play to the 12-yard line. Jim Caldwell threw the challenge flag for the Lions, and the call was upheld by the officials to put the Vikings inside the Detroit red zone for the first time today. A couple more plays gave the Vikings 1st-and-goal at the 2, and Asiata took the ball over for the touchdown! Walsh came in and drilled the extra point, making the score 7-0.

As we move to the second quarter, the Lions are looking at a 1st-and-20 from their own 10-yard line after a holding penalty on Brandon Pettigrew negated a big play on a screen pass from Matthew Stafford to Joique Bell.

After one quarter of play at Ford Field, the Minnesota Vikings lead the Detroit Lions by a score of 7-0. Can the Vikings keep this momentum going?