Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings: Third Quarter Open Thread

After a scoreless first quarter, the Detroit Lions found themselves in Minnesota Vikings’ territory to start the second quarter. Matthew Stafford found Eric Ebron early on, and an uncharacteristic missed tackle by Eric Kendricks allowed him to pick up a first down to put the Lions near the red zone. Another pass from Stafford to Darren Fells picked up another first down and gave the Lions a first-and-goal situation at the 10-yard line. Linval Joseph picked up his first sack of the season, and the Vikings’ third of the game, by taking Stafford down on second down, and that was enough to force the Lions into a field goal attempt from Matt Prater. Prater was good, and the visitors took a 3-0 lead with a little under 11 minutes left in the quarter.

Jerick McKinnon took the kickoff from Jeff Locke to the 27-yard line for the Vikings’ next drive. Dalvin Cook picked up seven on first down, but a completion to Stefon Diggs wound up short of the sticks on third down and the Vikings were forced to bring on Ryan Quigley to punt the ball away. Detroit took over possession at their own 22-yard line.

Ameer Abdullah picked up a first down on a couple of carries to start the next drive off for Detroit, and he picked up another first down on his third carry to move the Lions to their own 44. The Lions were then called for a hold on Graham Glasgow to push them back a bit, and the Vikings stopped the Lions’ offense from there. Detroit brought Jeff Locke into the game once again to punt it away, and Marcus Sherels couldn’t do much with the return, getting stopped at the Minnesota 19-yard line.

The Vikings got a quick first down on a pass from Keenum to Diggs for 21 yards to the Minnesota 44. Keenum then completed a pass to Dalvin Cook to move the purple into Detroit territory, and another carry by Cook picked up a first down. However, a big sack of Keenum by Anthony Zettel and a false start penalty quickly had the Vikings looking at a 2nd-and-26. Keenum then found Diggs again for a HUGE 33-yard gain for a first down. After the two-minute warning, Keenum then found Adam Thielen at the 8-yard line, setting up a first-and-goal situation. On second-and-goal, Dalvin Cook took a handoff from Keenum and strolled untouched into the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown, the second of his NFL career. Kai Forbath added the extra point, and the Vikings took a 7-3 lead.

The Lions got themselves into position for Matt Prater to attempt a 59-yard field goal as time expired, but the kick came up short, allowing the Vikings to take that 7-3 lead into the locker room.

The halftime stats for the Vikings aren’t spectacular or anything. Keenum has completed 8-of-13 passes for 119 yards through the first quarter of play. Stefon Diggs leads the team in receiving with 56 yards on three catches, and Adam Thielen has chipped in with 43 yards on three receptions of his own.

Dalvin Cook has had a decent afternoon so far, carrying the ball 11 times for 52 yards and a touchdown. He also has an 8-yard reception.

The Vikings’ defense, in addition to only allowing three points, has sacked Matthew Stafford three times thus far. Danielle Hunter has picked up two of those sacks, with Linval Joseph picking up the other.

At halftime, the Minnesota Vikings lead the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium by a score of 7-3. Come on in and join us for the second half of play!