New England Patriots at Minnesota Vikings: Third quarter recap and fourth quarter discussion

It is once again the time of the game where we ask you to reach up and put four fingers high above your heads, as we’ve reached the final fifteen minutes of play at U.S. Bank Stadium with your Minnesota Vikings trailing the New England Patriots by a score of 26-23.

The Patriots got the ball first coming out of the locker room as they deferred after winning the opening coin toss. Mac Jones, who has faced zero pressure tonight so far, marched the Patriots down the field and eventually found Hunter Henry for a 37-yard touchdown to give the Patriots the lead back at 23-16 with just under 11 minutes remaining in the third quarter.

And they had the lead for about thirteen seconds, because Kene Nwangwu took the ensuing kickoff and blasted 97 yards for a touchdown, the third kick return touchdown in his young NFL career. Greg Joseph hit the extra point and, just like that, we were tied at 23-23.

Of course, that meant that the Vikings’ defense had to go back out on the field, and that’s been a bad thing these past couple of weeks. The Patriots, again, marched down the field with just about no resistance, with Mac Jones hitting Davante Parker for a 40-yard gain to put the Patriots in a goal-to-go situation at the Minnesota 7. On third down, Jones found Henry again and it was originally ruled a 6-yard touchdown pass, but after review it was determined that Henry didn’t hold on to the ball. That meant the Patriots brought on Nick Folk again for another field goal, this one a 25-yarder to make it a 26-23 game.

Minnesota then moved the ball back down the field, moving into New England territory on a long pass from Cousins to Jalen Reagor. As we move to the fourth quarter of play, the Vikings are looking at a 2nd-and-8 from the New England 9-yard line.

We’ve got a good one going in Minneapolis, but the Vikings currently trail the Patriots by a score of 26-23. Can the Vikings make a comeback and get back on the winning track? Let’s watch the fourth quarter and find out.