Minnesota Vikings at Miami Dolphins: Third Quarter Open Thread

To start the second quarter of play, the Minnesota Vikings found themselves in a short-yardage situation against the Miami Dolphins, as they had a 2nd-and-3 from their own 41-yard line. They could not convert, however, as the Dolphins sniffed out a run to Cordarrelle Patterson on third down and stopped the Vikings short, forcing them to punt. The punt from Jeff Locke was fair caught at the Miami 19-yard line, and that's where the Dolphins started their third drive of the afternoon.

The Dolphins started their next drive with a first down pass from Ryan Tannehill to Lamar Miller, and another one to Mike Wallace to get themselves to their own 45-yard line, but then Harrison Smith made a great play, as he rushed into the backfield and deflected a pass to himself for an interception. Smith took the ball down to the Miami 23-yard line, and the Vikings were in business with a short field once again.

It didn't take long for the Vikings to cash in, as Teddy Bridgewater dropped back on 3rd-and-8 and hit Greg Jennings for a 21-yard touchdown pass. I can't do it justice. . .just a great throw by Bridgewater and a great catch by Jennings. The extra point from Blair Walsh extended the Minnesota lead to 14-0 with just over eleven minutes remaining in the half.

Seriously, I love Teddy Bridgewater more every single week. I mean, how can you not?

The Dolphins started their next drive deep in their own territory, as a holding penalty on the kickoff pushed them back to their own 8-yard line. Miami picked up a first down to get their drive underway, and Ryan Tannehill then found Charles Clay for a big 33-yard pass down to the Minnesota 45-yard line. A pass from Tannehill to Miller moved them down to the Minnesota 30, and a few more plays had them into the Minnesota red zone. Soon after Tannehill found tight end Dion Simms for a 14-yard touchdown, with the extra point from Caleb Sturgis cutting the Minnesota lead to 14-7 with 4:53 remaining in the half.

The Vikings started their next drive with decent field position, as the Dolphins kicked it short to avoid Cordarrelle Patterson, and Justin Trattou took the ball to the Minnesota 35-yard line. The Vikings did nothing with the ball on that possession, as Teddy Bridgewater was sacked by Cameron Wake in the middle of a Minnesota three-and-out. (Wake was even held by Mike Harris and still managed to take Bridgewater down.) Jeff Locke got away a monstrous punt that was muffed by rookie Jarvis Landry at the Miami 9, and that's where the coverage team took him down, putting Miami deep in their own territory once again.

The Dolphins picked up a couple of first downs prior to the two-minute warning. Coming out of the two-minute warning, the Vikings were called for roughing the passer, as Sharrif Floyd took down Ryan Tannehill late, giving the Dolphins a big chunk of yardage. The Dolphins lost a couple of yards on a nice play by Xavier Rhodes, and the Vikings stopped the Dolphins on a 3rd-and-2 play by forcing an incompletion. Brandon Field punted the ball to the Minnesota 13-yard line, where Marcus Sherels called for a fair catch.

The Vikings looked like they might just run out the clock to close the first half, but Joe Banyard broke a nice run to the Minnesota 34. Bridgewater then hit Charles Johnson for a big gain to the Miami 41-yard line for 25 yards. Bridgewater then found Cordarrelle Patterson for an 18-yard gain to the Miami 23. After spiking the ball, Bridgewater dropped back to pass and found Chase Ford. Ford was initially ruled out of bounds at the 1-yard line, and the call stood up on review, even though it looked like Ford got across the goal line first. (The Vikings totally got hosed. Watch the replay if you get an opportunity.) The Vikings called on Blair Walsh for an 18-yard field goal, which he converted to give the Vikings a 17-7 lead.

For the Vikings, Bridgewater had a pretty solid first half, completing 7-of-11 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown (and it should have been two touchdowns). Matt Asiata leads the Vikings in rushing with 42 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Charles Johnson is the only Viking with multiple receptions, as he has two for 31 yards. Three other Vikings (Chase Ford, Greg Jennings, and Jarius Wright) each have at least 20 yards receiving.

For Miami, Ryan Tannehill has completed 16-of-24 passes for 160 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Lamar Miller has carried the ball 11 times for 52 yards for the Dolphins, and Miller also has 52 yards receiving on four receptions to lead Miami in that category.

After one half of play at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, the Minnesota Vikings lead the Miami Dolphins by a score of 17-7. Can the Vikings hold on in the second half of this game to get their seventh victory of the year?