New England Patriots at Minnesota Vikings: Third Quarter Open Thread

The Minnesota Vikings started the second quarter with the ball deep in their own territory, and appeared poised to go three-and-out again, but got a holding penalty against Darrelle Revis on third down to keep the drive going. However, a couple of plays later, Matt Cassel tried to force a pass to Greg Jennings, and Revis made up for his penalty by intercepting the pass at the New England 39-yard line.

On a 3rd-and-14 play, Julian Edelman got behind Xavier Rhodes and burned him for a 44-yard gain down to the Minnesota 21-yard line. The drive progressed, and on first-and-goal from the 9, Tom Brady found Edelman again for a 9-yard touchdown pass to extend the New England lead to 17-7 with 9:30 left in the half.

Cordarrelle Patterson finally got an opportunity to return a kickoff, but did not make it to the 20-yard line, putting the Vikings in bad field position again. The Vikings managed a couple of first downs, but the drive stalled and Jeff Locke came on to punt once again. The Patriots fair caught the punt at their own 19-yard line, and that's where their next drive started.

The Patriots managed a first down on their next drive, but Harrison Smith made a great stop on Stevan Ridley on a third-and-1 carry near midfield to shut the drive down, and the Vikings took over again at their own 18-yard line. The Vikings looked like they might go three-and-out again, but a short pass from Cassel to Patterson got them into New England territory on a 26-yard gain.

The Vikings continued the drive and appeared to have a first down on a short completion to Greg Jennings, but Jennings was flagged for offensive pass interference to negate the play. The Vikings brought Blair Walsh on for a 48-yard field goal attempt. The kick was blocked by the Patriots, and returned for a 58-yard touchdown by Patriots' defensive lineman Chandler Jones. So, rather than going into the locker room down 17-10, the Minnesota Vikings instead trail 24-7 at halftime.

The Patriots have three touchdowns, all of which have come as a direct result of Vikings mistakes. . .the two interceptions by Cassel and the blocked field goal. That'll get you beat, ladies and gentlemen.

Oh, and the Patriots get the ball to start the second half.

The halftime stats for the Vikings look like this:

Passing: Cassel - 12/20, 144 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Asiata - 10 carries for 27 yards, Cassel - 3 carries for 16 yards, McKinnon - 1 carry for 3 yards, Wright - 1 carry for -5 yards
Receiving: Asiata - 4 catches for 40 yards, 1 TD, Patterson - 3 catches for 39 yards, Rudolph - 2 catches for 26 yards, Ellison - 1 catch for 24 yards, Wright - 1 catch for 12 yards, McKinnon - 1 catch for 3 yards

Tom Brady is 9/10 for 105 yards and a touchdown for New England.

The Minnesota Vikings trail the New England Patriots by a score of 24-7 at halftime at TCF Bank Stadium as we get ready to start the third quarter of play.