The Minnesota Vikings have gotten on the board first in their contest against the Detroit Lions, and they got a boost from a new face in the lineup.
After forcing the Lions to punt on their first possession, the Vikings started with decent field position on their own 33-yard line. After a first down in their first two plays, the Vikings found themselves facing a third-and-10 from their own 45. Christian Ponder took a shotgun snapped, avoided some pressure, and lofted a beautiful pass to rookie Jarius Wright, who is active today for the first time in his career. Wright hauled the pass in, and it was good for 54 yards down to the Detroit 1-yard line.
After a false start on first-and-goal moved Minnesota back five yards, Adrian Peterson had a three yard carry. Then, on second-and-goal, Ponder faked the handoff to Peterson and found Wright in the front left corner of the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown, the first of Wright's career.
The scoring drive moved 67 yards in 7 plays, taking 3:31 off of the clock.
With 7:52 left in the first quarter of play at the Metrodome, the Minnesota Vikings lead the Detroit Lions by a score of 7-0.