Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings: Third Quarter Discussion

To start the second quarter of play, the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers were all tied at 7-7, with the Packers starting out at their own 14-yard line with a 1st-and-10. It only took the Packers two plays to find the end zone, and they both involved Aaron Jones. First, Aaron Rodgers found him on a short pass, and then he took a toss around the left side and went in untouched for a 6-yard score. Mason Crosby put the extra point home, and the Vikings were once again down by a touchdown at 14-7.

Crosby’s kickoff went for a touchback, giving Minnesota the ball at their own 25-yard line to start their first possession of the second quarter. The drive got started with a pass from Kirk Cousins to Kyle Rudolph that was deflected, but Rudolph hauled it in anyway for a gain of 17. Dalvin Cook ran for a short gain and a pass for Adam Thielen fell incomplete, but Cousins found Rudolph again on third down for a 10-yard gain and a first down into Green Bay territory at the 45.

Laquon Treadwell dropped a slant from Cousins on first down, and a five-yard run by Cook brought up another third down situation. Cousins then found Stefon Diggs for a quick pass that Diggs turned into a 10-yard gain to move the sticks. Cousins and Diggs then finished the drive, as Diggs was wide open for a 30-yard scoring toss from Cousins! Dan Bailey nailed the extra point, and we were tied at 14 with 11 minutes left in the half.

Bailey’s kickoff went for a touchback, so Aaron Rodgers and company once again got to start out at their own 25. A pass over the middle for Jimmy Graham fell incomplete on first down, and Jamaal Williams picked up five yards to set up another third down for the Packers. The drive came to an end, though, as Tom Johnson broke through to take down Rodgers for a three-and-out! J.K. Scott came in to punt again, and Marcus Sherels was taken down immediately at the Minnesota 19-yard line on the return.

After a short run by Latavius Murray, Cousins found Adam Thielen for the first time on the night, as he launched one deep and connected with Thielen for a 33-yard gain into Green Bay territory.

Cousins then found Thielen for another first down to the Green Bay 38, and the purple were on the move again. A shorter pass to Rudolph picked up six yards, and another short pass to Diggs set up a 3rd-and-1 at the Green Bay 29. Murray got stuffed for a loss on third down, and the Vikings brought Bailey in for a field goal attempt. The attempt was from 48 yards out, and Bailey pushed the kick wide to the left, leaving the score tied at 14-14.

Aaron Rodgers quickly got the Packers into Green Bay territory, finding Equanimeous St. Brown for a gain of 15 yards to the Minnesota 47-yard line. Rodgers then threw incomplete on first down, and Aaron Jones was stopped for a short gain on second down. On 3rd-and-4 from the Minnesota 41 (after Everson Griffen had jumped offside on the previous play), the Vikings forced Rodgers into an incompletion, and the Packers elected to go for it on fourth down. On, more accurately, they tried to get the Vikings to jump offsides again, and failed for a delay of game. Scott came on to punt the ball away again, and the Vikings took over at their own 10-yard line.

Dalvin Cook got things started off with a short run, and the Packers started calling timeouts in the hopes they would get the football back. Cousins then swung one out to Cook in the right flat, and he picked up enough yardage for a first down to the 20-yard line. A short loss by Cook took us to the two-minute warning. Cousins found Rudolph again for a short gain, but Brian O’Neill committed a false start on third down to move it back to 3rd-and-10.

Cousins then found Thielen, with a nice move by #19 allowing him to pick up the first down. A scramble by Cousins was then negated by a holding penalty on Mike Remmers to make it 1st-and-20. Cousins then found Thielen for another short gain, and Cousins then found Aldrick Robinson to make it 3rd-and-7. Cousins found Thielen again for a first down to near midfield with 22 second left in the half. Cousins then found Thielen down to the 34-yard line and spiked the ball with three seconds left in the half. That brought Bailey in again for a 51-yard field goal attempt, and Rashod Hill was called for a false start to make it a 56-yard attempt instead. After the 51-yard attempt went through, Bailey pushed the 56-yard attempt to the right, and we go into the locker room tied at 14-14.

Cousins has played about as well as you could hope for in the first half. He has completed 21-of-25 passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns in the first half of play. Adam Thielen is leading the way for the Vikings in receiving, hauling in five catches for 78 yards. Kyle Rudolph is having his best game of the season, with seven catches for 63 yards thus far. Stefon Diggs is having a nice night as well, with six grabs for 62 yards and a touchdown. Dalvin Cook’s 26-yard touchdown is his lone reception of the night, and Aldrick Robinson (11 yards) and Laquon Treadwell (six yards) each have a catch as well.

The run game hasn’t done a whole lot thus far, as Cook has carried the ball six times for 27 yards in the first half. Latavius Murray has carried three times for just four yards, and Cousins has a three-yard carry as well. C.J. Ham has carried the ball once for no gain.

We are tied at halftime at U.S. Bank Stadium, and the bad guys will get the ball first coming out of the locker room. Come on in and join us for the third quarter!