Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings: Second Quarter Open Thread

To kick off their NFC North matchup against the Green Bay Packers, the Minnesota Vikings won the coin toss and chose to defer to the second half, putting the purple defense on the field first. Kai Forbath’s kickoff went into the end zone for a touchback, giving Aaron Rodgers and company the ball at their own 25 to start things off. Rodgers and the Packers’ offense couldn’t get anything going, and wound up going three and out. Justin Vogel came in to punt the ball away, and Marcus Sherels called for a fair catch at his own 22-yard line.

Case Keenum led the Minnesota offense out onto the field, and picked up a first down with a nice scramble of 16 yards to the 41. Latavius Murray then had a nice 10-yard run for another first down, this one into Green Bay territory. However, the drive stalled out at that spot, and Ryan Quigley came in to punt the ball away. The punt was fair caught by Trevor Davis at the Green Bay 17.

The Packers got a first down on their first play of the drive on a pass from Rodgers to Jordy Nelson for 10 yards. The Packers then got another first down when Tom Johnson jumped offside on a 3rd-and-4 to give Green Bay another fresh set of downs. On a second down play, Aaron Rodgers took a big shot from Anthony Barr and went down hard, and he came off the field for Brett Hundley. Hundley handed off to Aaron Jones, and the Packers came up short. Vogel punted it away, and Sherels called for a fair catch at the 15-yard line.

Minnesota got a first down to start their drive thanks to a defensive holding penalty on Blake Martinez while covering Adam Thielen. Another penalty for illegal contact gave the Vikings another first down to the 33-yard line. Keenum then found Adam Thielen for another first down to near midfield. Keenum then completed a huge pass to Jerick McKinnon, but the Vikings were called for being illegally downfield, resulting in a 5-yard penalty. The Vikings got some of it back, but the team couldn’t get another first down. Ryan Quigley came in to punt once again, and Trevor Davis called for the fair catch at the 18.

Hundley led the Packers offense out onto the field for their next drive, with Rodgers having been carted back to the locker room. (He’s questionable to return with a shoulder injury.) The Packers then had a 3rd-and-2, and Mackensie Alexander tipped a pass right into the hands of Xavier Rhodes for an interception! It’s Rhodes’ first pick of the year.

On the final play of the first quarter, Jerick McKinnon was dragged down by a horse collar tackle by Jake Ryan, so as we move to the second quarter, the Vikings are looking at 1st-and-10 from the Green Bay 27.

We are scoreless after the first quarter of play at U.S. Bank Stadium, ladies and gentlemen. Come join us for the second quarter of play!