After what can charitably be described as an ugly first quarter, the Minnesota Vikings have dented the scoreboard first in their game against the Oakland Raiders.
After the two teams exchanged punts on their first possessions, the Vikings took the ball from their own 23-yard line. The Raiders appeared to have the Vikings stopped on several occasions, but just kept committing penalties to keep the Minnesota drive going. The Raiders committed personal foul penalties on two consecutive plays, one of which negated what would have been a third down sack of Christian Ponder that would have ended the drive.
There was also an interesting situation after what could have been a Vikings' touchdown. Percy Harvin took an inside handoff from Ponder and appeared to have a 40-yard touchdown run, but Michael Jenkins was called for a penalty that brought it back. The Vikings had a rare 1st-and-2 after the spot foul, but the officials showed it on the field as 2nd-and-2. As a result, when the Vikings failed on second down, they thought it was third down and had sent Ryan Longwell onto the field. But, after the Vikings called a time out (which they ultimately weren't charged for), they converted a third down and kept the drive alive.
A couple of plays later, Adrian Peterson took one right though the heart of the Oakland defense for a 12-yard touchdown run, giving the Vikings a 7-0 lead. It's Peterson's 11th rushing touchdown of the season, extending his NFL lead in this category.
With a little more than five minutes remaining in the first quarter, the Minnesota Vikings lead the Oakland Raiders, 7-0, at the Metrodome.