Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings: Third Quarter Open Thread

The second quarter started off with a bit of drama for the Minnesota Vikings, as they had a third-and-goal at the Detroit Lions' 1-yard line. Adrian Peterson was stuffed for no gain on the first play, and the Vikings elected to go for it on fourth down. On the play, Teddy Bridgewater faked a handoff to Adrian Peterson, bootlegged out to his left, and was so wide open he could have walked into the end zone. The touchdown gave the Vikings a 14-0 lead after the Blair Walsh extra point.

Another touchback by Walsh gave the Lions the ball at their own 20 to start their next drive. They started with a quick first down on a pass from Matthew Stafford to Golden Tate, and a big pass to tight end Eric Ebron had the Lions close to midfield in short order. A pass from Stafford to Joique Bell moved the Lions into the red zone at the Minnesota 12-yard line, but the Vikings' defense stiffened once again and forced the Lions to settle for a field goal attempt. Matt Prater put the ball through the uprights from 26 yards out, and Detroit was on the board with the score at 14-3.

The Vikings started their next drive at the 20 after a touchback, and quickly found themselves facing a third down. Then, with a defender around his ankles, Bridgewater flipped a shovel pass to Peterson for a HUGE 49-yard gain to the Detroit 23-yard line. A few plays later, the Vikings found themselves with first-and-goal at the 4-yard line, and Peterson was stuffed for a loss of 4. That was enough to cause the drive to stall out, and the Vikings had to settle for a 28-yard field goal from Blair Walsh to extend their lead back to two touchdowns at 17-3.

The Lions started their next drive from their own 27, and Golden Tate got them to the 45 before the two-minute warning. Matthew Stafford found Tate again to get the Lions near the 30-yard line of the Vikings. Stafford then hit the man they call Megatron, as he found Calvin Johnson in the front left corner of the end zone for a touchdown from 11 yards out to make it 17-10 going into the locker room.

For the Vikings, Adrian Peterson has carried the ball 16 times for 70 yards on the afternoon, already surpassing his performance on Monday night against San Francisco. Bridgewater has only thrown eight passes so far, but has completed six of them for 90 yards and a touchdown. Thanks to Bridgewater's improv act, Peterson is the Vikings' leading receiver with 49 yards. Kyle Rudolph is the only Viking with more than one catch, as he has two grabs for 16 yards and a touchdown.

For Detroit, Stafford has completed 17-of-24 attempts for 165 yards and a score. The Lions' run game, which went off against San Diego last week, has been limited to just 14 yards on eight attempts so far, and Golden Tate leads the Lions' receivers with five catches for 75 yards. The Lions currently have five players with at least two receptions on the afternoon.

At halftime at TCF Bank Stadium, the Minnesota Vikings lead the Detroit Lions by a score of 17-10. The Vikings are halfway to their first victory of the 2015 season, everyone. Can they hold on and get there? The second half will be getting underway soon!