Chicago Bears at Minnesota Vikings: Third Quarter Open Thread

The Minnesota Vikings started the second quarter deep in their own territory, as a punt from the Chicago Bears had given them a 1st-and-10 from their own 8-yard line. The Vikings picked up a first down on a third-down pass from Teddy Bridgewater to Rhett Ellison to get the drive started, but that was all they could manage, as a huge loss on an end-around attempt to Charles Johnson went for a huge loss and killed the Vikings' momentum dead. Minnesota brought Jeff Locke on to punt it away, and the Bears started out with good field position at their own 44-yard line to start their first possession of the third quarter.

The Vikings managed to force the Bears into a fourth-and-short on the drive, and Jay Cutler dove forward to keep the Chicago drive going in Minnesota territory. The Bears picked up another first down, but a penalty and a sack that was split between Linval Joseph and Gerald Hodges helped the Chicago drive to stall out. The punt from Pat O'Donnell went through the end zone, and Minnesota started their next drive at their own 20-yard line.

Minnesota started their next possession with a false start penalty on Kyle Rudolph, and the result was a three-and-out for the Vikings after a completion to Jarius Wright came up short of the sticks on third down. The punt from Jeff Locke was eventually downed at the Chicago 28-yard line, and the Bears picked it up from there.

Chicago managed a first down on the second play of their next drive on a pass from Cutler to Bennett, and at the two-minute warning found themselves with a second down at their own 47. Cutler then found Alshon Jeffery for the first time on the afternoon, picking up 19 yards to move the Bears to the Minnesota 35-yard line. The Chicago drive stalled out, and the Bears called on Jay Feely (replacing the injured Robbie Gould) for a 48-yard field goal attempt. Feely knocked it home, and the score was tied at 3 with just over a minute left in the half.

The kickoff return by Matt Asiata (the Bears kicked it short) gave the Vikings the ball at their own 32-yard line with 51 seconds left on the clock. A couple of passes from Bridgewater to Rhett Ellison got the ball to midfield and let the Vikings burned their second time out. However, Bridgewater was sacked by Jay Ratliff, and that was enough to end things for Minnesota. The teams went into the locker room with the score tied at 3-3.

As you'd expect from a game that has only featured two field goals on the scoreboard, the offensive numbers aren't exactly pretty. Bridgewater has completed 9-of-14 passes for 85 yards. Matt Asiata leads the Vikings in rushing with 22 yards on four carries, with 19 of those yards coming on one run in the first quarter. Jarius Wright and Rhett Ellison are leading the Vikings in receiving, with both players having three catches for 23 yards.

For Chicago, Jay Cutler has completed 14-of-19 passes for the same yardage total as Bridgewater, 85 yards. Matt Forte leads the Bears in rushing with 42 yards on 11 carries, while Martellus Bennett leads the Bears receivers with 36 yards on five catches. Forte also has five receptions, but they've netted just 10 yards.

We're heading into the third quarter of play at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, and the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings have each managed a field goal for a score of 3-3, with the Vikings getting the ball to start the second half. Can the Vikings get their seventh victory of the season?