Minnesota Vikings at Arizona Cardinals: Second Quarter Open Thread

To start their Week 14 match-up at University of Phoenix Stadium, the Arizona Cardinals won the toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff from the Minnesota Vikings. The game started with Blair Walsh blasting the ball through the end zone for a touchback, giving the Cardinals the ball from their own 20-yard line. The Cardinals, slowly but surely, moved the ball down the field, converting a third down on a pass from Carson Palmer to Darren Fells, and picking up another third down on a swing pass to David Johnson. Palmer then found Michael Floyd for a 19-yard gain into Minnesota territory at the 33-yard line.

A 17-yarder from Palmer to Larry Fitzgerald got the Cardinals into the red zone at the 20, and David Johnson got the ball into 1st-and-goal situation for the Cardinals. However, on 1st-and-goal, Palmer completed a short pass to John Brown, and he was stripped by Captain Munnerlyn, with Kenrick Ellis falling on it for a fumble recovery. Brown was initially ruled down by contact, so the Vikings had to challenge, and the officials ruled that the call on the field was the correct one. The Vikings' defense stiffened up at that point, and the Cardinals had to settle for a short field goal from Chandler Catanzaro. He was good from 27 yards out, and the Cardinals took a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

Catanzaro registered a touchback on his first kickoff, giving the Vikings' offense the start at their own 20-yard line. Adrian Peterson got the first two touches of the game, picking up eight yards, and then Teddy Bridgewater hit Matt Asiata for a big 22-yard gain to midfield. Bridgewater then hit Jarius Wright for an 11-yard gain into Arizona territory at the 39, and Peterson then rumbled for 21 to the 18. Bridgewater then hit Kyle Rudolph for nine more, and Peterson finished it off from there, going in from nine yards out for the touchdown. It was the 100th touchdown of Adrian Peterson's career, and it gave the Vikings a 7-3 lead after the Blair Walsh extra point.

The next kickoff from Walsh resulted in another touchback, giving the Cardinals a start from their own 20 once again. Arizona got an early third down conversion from Palmer to Brown, and then, before you knew it, Palmer hit Brown again, who got through a "tackle" by Captain Munnerlyn and took it the distance for a 65-yard touchdown reception. Catanzaro connected on the extra point, and the score was quickly 10-7 in favor of the home team.

Minnesota took over at their own 20-yard line, and their next possession resulted in a three-and-out. The Vikings called on Jeff Locke to punt the ball away, and he forced Patrick Peterson into a fair catch at the Arizona 28-yard line. As we move to the second quarter of play, the Cardinals are looking at 2nd-and-6 from their own 32-yard line.

After one quarter of play, the Minnesota Vikings trail the Arizona Cardinals by a score of 10-7. Can the Vikings regain some of the magic they showed on their first possession?