Chicago Bears at Minnesota Vikings: Second Quarter Open Thread

To get their Week 15 match-up underway, the Minnesota Vikings won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, meaning that they kicked off to the Chicago Bears. Things got off to a rough start, as Deonte Thompson took the return out to midfield to get things started for the visiting team. Matt Forte then broke off a big 35-yard run, but a holding penalty on Hroniss Grasu negated the play. A sack by Tom Johnson followed, and the Bears were forced to punt it away. The punt from Pat O'Donnell was downed at the 7-yard line, and that's where the Vikings picked up their first possession of the day.

The Vikings went to Adrian Peterson early, as he picked up a first down on two quick carries. That was followed up by a nice 12-yard pass fromTeddy Bridgewater to Kyle Rudolph on third down to keep the drive moving. The Vikings then found themselves facing third down again, but Bridgewater found Jerick McKinnon for a nice 25-yard gain into Chicago territory at the 39. After another first down for Peterson, Bridgewater found Jarius Wright for 7 yards, and an offside penalty put the Vikings into the red zone. The Vikings then finished the drive in style, as Bridgewater lofted a beautiful ball into the back left corner of the end zone for Stefon Diggs, who hauled it in for a 14-yard touchdown reception. Blair Walsh connected on the extra point, and the Vikings had a 7-0 lead after an impressive 93-yard drive.

Minnesota forced a second consecutive three-and-out on Chicago's next drive, highlighted by Chad Greenway sacking Cutler on third down. O'Donnell came on to punt again, and Marcus Sherels called for a fair catch at the Minnesota 29-yard line. Peterson got the first two carries of the next drive as well, resulting in a Minnesota first down. Bridgewater then hooked up with McKinnon again for another big gain, this one for 31 yards down to the Chicago 29-yard line.

As we move to the second quarter of play, the Vikings are facing 3rd-and-6 from the Chicago 25-yard line.

After one quarter of play at TCF Bank Stadium, the Minnesota Vikings lead the Chicago Bears by a score of 7-0. Can they keep the momentum going as they approach the Chicago red zone?