Minnesota Vikings at Las Vegas Raiders: Second half discussion

We’re at the half at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, and your Minnesota Vikings trail the Las Vegas Raiders by a score of 10-6.

The Vikings got the ball first and looked to be off to a nice start thanks to Ihmir Smith-Marsette, who returned the kick into Raider territory, but a holding call on Josh Metellus negated it. The Sean Mannion-led offense managed one first down but wound up punting it away.

The Raiders, led by Jarrett Stidham, marched into Vikings’ territory without a lot of resistance. The drive led to the Raiders facing a 4th-and-3 from the Minnesota 5-yard line, and the Raiders chose to settle for a 23-yard field goal from Daniel Carlson to take a 3-0 lead with five and a half minutes left in the quarter.

Minnesota then went three-and-out on their second possession, which was pretty ugly, to be honest. Las Vegas then marched deep into Minnesota territory and added to their lead, as Stidham ran in for a 4-yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter to make the score 10-0.

The Vikings’ next drive was actually very impressive, as they pushed all the way down to the Raiders’ 2-yard line. Faced with fourth-and-goal, Kevin O’Connell chose to go for the easy points, as Greg Joseph connected from 20 yards out to make it 10-3.

After a defensive stop, Kellen Mond took over at quarterback for Sean Mannion. Another impressive drive followed, though it was more keyed by the running game efforts of Kene Nwangwu and Ty Chandler than anything else. Unfortunately, the drive stalled and the Vikings settled for another field goal from Joseph, this one a 23-yarder to make it 10-6.

No significant injuries for the Vikings in the first half, which is the best possible news of all.

The Raiders will get the ball first in the second half, so we’ll see if the Vikings’ defense can continue the momentum it’s built after the first two Raiders drives. Come on in and join us for the second half, everyone!