Daily Norseman
We’ve reached halftime at Nissan Stadium, and the Minnesota Vikings trail the Tennessee Titans by a score of 14-3.
The Titans won the coin toss and chose to defer to the second half, so the Vikings got the football to start things off. The Vikings’ offense was led out onto the field by rookie Max Brosmer, so read into that what you will. The Vikings managed to convert a first down and get out to near midfield, but a holding penalty helped to stall the drive and the Vikings punted it away.
The Titans had a significant number of defensive starters out there to start the game, so things could have been much worse for the (mostly) third-string offense.
Minnesota’s backup defense then forced a three-and-out against the Tennessee offense, and what looked to be a big punt return from Myles Price was wiped off the board by another holding penalty. Minnesota looked like their next possession was going to end short of midfield, but the Titans were called for an unnecessary roughness penalty to give the Vikings more yards and a first down. In the end, the Vikings got Will Reichard into position to attempt a 42-yard field goal, and he continued his perfect preseason to put the Vikings up 3-0.
Tennessee then put together a long drive, taking up the final five and a half minutes of the first quarter and into the second. The Titans got down into the red zone, and it appeared that the Vikings were going to force a field goal attempt, but an illegal contact penalty on Mekhi Blackmon negated a third-down stop, and the Titans turned it into a 1-yard touchdown run from Julius Chestnut to take a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter.
Brett Rypien then took over at quarterback, with the CBS broadcast team saying that Rypien and Brosmer would be alternating quarters tonight. Rypien’s first possession resulted in a punt with the Titans getting the ball back near the mid-point of the second quarter. Tennessee then got into the end zone again behind backup Brandon Allen, who found Van Jefferson on what was about a 4-yard pass, and Jefferson made one tackler miss on his way to turning it into a 65-yard touchdown to make it 14-3 in favor of the home team.
Rypien then led the Vikings down to the Tennessee 12-yard line, and when it looked like the Vikings were going to get some more points, former Viking James Lynch hit Rypien on a pass attempt, and the ball fluttered into the hands of a Titans’ defender for an interception at the 1-yard line.
The Titans went three-and-out, and the Vikings put Brosmer back in at quarterback for an abbreviated two-minute drill. Brosmer managed one long completion to Bryson Nesbitt, but a penalty on the Vikings backed them up. Will Reichard came in to attempt a 63-yard field goal, but it was just short. That was Reichard’s first miss of the preseason.
We’re at halftime in...
