Patriots Country

Patriots Offense Keeping Pace With Vikings at Halftime

New England produced four scoring drives in the first half of a 16-16 tie with Vikings on Thanksgiving.

Richie Whitt

It didn't take long for the New England Patriots to realize they'd have to find a Plan B Thanksgiving night in Minneapolis. A defense that dominated the last two games was shredded early by the Minnesota Vikings, leaving the game in the hands of an offense that has struggled all season.

So far, so good.

While the Vikings produced more points and yards in the first half than the Pats' defense allowed in their previous two games, Mac Jones led four scoring possessions as New England managed a tie at halftime. It was 16-16, despite New England allowing six catches and 94 yards in the first two quarters.

Led by a stout defense that held the Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets without a touchdown in their last two games, the Patriots coughed up a score on the first drive of the night against the Minnesota Vikings.

New England, however, scored the next 10 points.

Cornerback Jonathan Jones intercepted Kirk Cousins' pass and returned it 55 yards to Minnesota's 17-yard line. In a recurring theme, however, the Pats' putrid Red-Zone offense couldn't move the ball and they settled for Nick Folk's 34-yard field goal and a 10-7 lead.

An abrupt detour from last week's low-scoring slugfest in which the lone touchdown was scored by New England's special teams with five seconds remaining, both offenses clicked on their opening possessions.

The Vikings took a 7-0 lead on an 80-yard drive that culminated in Cousins' 6-yard pass to Jefferson. The Patriots countered with perhaps their most crisp drive of the year, tying the game at 7-7 on Mac Jones' gorgeous 34-yard strike to Nelson Agholor.

It was one of Jones' best throws of the year, producing New England's first touchdown scored in the first quarter all season.

The Pats pushed their lead to 13-10 on another Folk field goal, a 46-yarder midway through the second quarter set up by last week's hero. Rookie Marcus Jones, who produced the game-winning 84-yard punt return against the Jets, took a kickoff back 46 yards after the Vikings had tied it at 10-10.

New England drove the field at the end of the second quarter, but had to settle for Folk's third field goal for the tie.

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Richie Whitt
RICHIE WHITT

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