Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears: Third Quarter Open Thread

Facing a 3rd-and-6, the Minnesota Vikings started the second quarter with. . .a false start by Matt Kalil to make it 3rd-and-11. But following that, Teddy Bridgewater found Matt Asiata for a 12-yard gain to keep the drive alive. Bridgewater then found MyCole Pruitt for a 9-yard catch, and then Adrian Peterson took an 11-yard run into Chicago territory at the 45. A short pass to Stefon Diggs and two more runs by Peterson got the Vikings down to the Chicago 20-yard line. Unfortunately, the Vikings' red zone troubles reared their heads once again, and the drive stalled at the 15. Blair Walsh came on for a 43-yard field goal attempt, and he put it through the uprights to extend Minnesota's lead to 10-3.

On Chicago's next drive, the Vikings' defense registered a third consecutive three-and-out and got the ball back in good position, with the punt going out of bounds at the Minnesota 37-yard line. Peterson took the first play of the drive for 12 yards to near midfield for a quick first down. But the drive stalled out, and the Vikings were forced to punt it away. The punt from Jeff Locke was fair caught by Chicago at their own 13-yard line.

The Bears got a big play from Jay Cutler to Martellus Bennett out to their 28-yard line, and Chad Greenway was called for roughing the passer to put the ball at the Chicago 43. The Bears failed to cross midfield, however, and punted the ball back to Minnesota. Marcus Sherels made the fair catch at the Minnesota 16, and the Vikings took over with two timeouts and 1:46 left in the half.

Jerick McKinnon took the first carry of the drive to the 32-yard line. However, on third down, Bridgewater was looking for Stefon Diggs and threw a pretty bad interception to Bears' cornerback Kyle Fuller. Bridgewater locked onto Diggs and didn't even see Fuller in position to make the play. Fuller returned the pick to the Minnesota 34-yard line, and the Bears had an opportunity to end the first half with points.

Cutler hit Alshon Jeffery for 13 yards down to the 21-yard line, and on the next play the two of them hooked up again for a 21-yard touchdown pass that saw Jeffery beat Xavier Rhodes for the score. Rhodes had pretty good coverage on the play, but Jeffery just went up and got it. Robbie Gould added the extra point, and the Bears tied the game at 10 going into the locker room.

Adrian Peterson has looked much better than he did in Detroit last week, as he has 14 carries for 75 yards thus far. Jerick McKinnon has two carries for 18 yards so far on the afternoon. Teddy Bridgewater has had a rough afternoon thus far, as he's completed 7-of-14 passes for just 41 yards and an interception. Kyle Rudolph has been leading the way in receiving thus far with two catches for 22 yards.

For Chicago, Jay Cutler has completed 10-of-13 passes for 72 yards and a touchdown. Alshon Jeffery is the Bears' leading receiver, hauling in four passes for 43 yards and a score. Minnesota has done a pretty decent job of containing Matt Forte thus far, as he's carried the ball eight time for 35 yards.

At halftime at Soldier Field, the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears are tied at 10-10, with the Bears getting the ball coming out of the locker room at halftime. Can the Minnesota Vikings right themselves after a bad ending to the second half?