Patriots Blog: 3rd Quarter Highs And Lows
FOXBORO (CBS) - Highs:
The good news is on the Vikings first possession, they got the ball down the field but they only got a field goal.
Pats get on the board in this quarter. Tom Brady scrambling and then he found Brandon Tate. 80 yards later touchdown. Tate gets his first career touchdown reception.
The Pats defense did what they are supposed to do. After the team scored, they forced Favre and the Vikings into 3 and out. Good sequence here.
The Pats played good all around for the rest of the quarter. McCourty with and interception and Tom and the offense went 4 plays and Ben Jarvus with a touchdown.
The Lows:
Vikings came out and had an 11 play drive that covered 68 yards. The Pats had trouble on third downs again.
21 to 10 Pats after 3
SECOND QUARTER HIGHS AND LOWS
The Highs:
The Pats offense is finally moving the ball on their first possession of this quarter. Nice play to Deion Branch and great concentration on a 32 yard play to Brandon Tate.
Danny Woodhead finished the drive with a 3 yard touchdown run.
After giving the Vikings good field possession on their second possession of the quarter, the Pats defense did their job and forced a punt. McCourty and the D-line have been playing well this half so far.
Vikings drove down the field and got to the one and they got stopped by the Pats defense. Also Randy Moss has no catches this half.
The Lows:
First play of the second quarter, the Vikings score a touchdown. A one-yard plunge by Peterson. The Vikings went 12 plays, 76 yards in 6:09.
Deion Branch had open field on catch and he seemed to come up lame. He's in the game but can not accelerate. Also the Pats used their 3rd and final timeout with 10:28.
Gostkowski botched the kick off after the touchdown. He kicked it out of bounds. Vikings got the ball at the 40.
With a minute left he Pats sat on the ball and the offense got nothing after that drive.
7 - 7 at the break
FIRST QUARTER HIGHS AND LOWS
The Highs:
The Patriots defense did their job on the Vikings first possession. Peterson got his yards but on 3rd and 1 the Pats got off the field. Jerod Mayo with a big stop.
Zoltan Mesko is getting the job done. The Pats have punted on their first two possession and both of his punts have travelled 50 plus.
The Lows:
The offense is struggling. Their first two possessions they got nothing. They even had a 3 and out on their second possession.
The Pats defense had a chance to get off the field and Gary Guyton had a helmet to helmet hit on Favre. No score right now but the Vikings are going to start the 2nd quarter on the one.
0 - 0 after one
PATRIOTS INACTIVES
Here are the Patriot inactives for today's game against the Vikings:
WR Taylor Price
WR Matthew Slater
RB Fred Taylor
S Patrick Chung
S Jarrad Page
OL Rich Ohrnberger
T Mark LeVoir
DL Klye Love
Patrick Chung may be the big surprise here. He practced at the end of the week and many thought he would be good to go but he is not. Deion Branch who was questionable is ready to start.
GETTING YOU READY FOR TODAY'S GAME
Here are some quick thoughts on today's game and notes from around the NFL.
The Patriots will be wearing their throwback uniforms for today's game. The uniforms are from the 1985 season and this marks the 25th anniversary of that team that won the AFC and went on to the Super Bowl.
Also today is the first time the Patriots host a Halloween game.
If you are wondering about Brett Favre, well late last night he said he was feeling much better and expects to be in the starting lineup. I fully expect him to play, but something could change during warm-ups. I will keep you posted.
The Patriots have won 15 straight regular season games against NFC opponents here at Gillette Stadium. The last time they lost to an NFC team here was in 2002 against the Greenbay Packers and you guessed it, Brett Favre was the quarterback.
Give it up to Brandon Meriweather. He had a rough week following the Ravens game.
He was fined $50,000 and told he was the poster child for helmet to helmet hits in the league. Well he cleaned up his act for the San Diego game. Brandon still hit hard but hit legal and received the game ball after the game.
Expect the weather to have some influence on today's game. It is windy out and it's only going to get worse. The kicking game will surely be affected, as will the passing game.
Finally, I have been tracking Laurence Maroney since he went to Denver. 36 carries for 74 yards. I guess the new start and change of scenery has not helped him at all.
