Thursday Night Football - Vikings @ Eagles
What I’m Excited to See
Vikings - I want to see how this team reacts to staring down the barrel of an 0-2 start. They have to win on the road against the NFC representative of last year’s Super Bowl. What is this team made of? Is this team on the verge of having to adjust their expectations on the season after only two weeks?
Eagles - After a quick start in week one, the Patriots made a game of it. Who are the real Eagles? They have the luxury of being at home and the weather is decent. They can find their footing and play their brand of football in a friendly setting? They are playing a desperate team on a Thursday night, weird things happen in both circumstances. How will they handle this double dip?
My Prediction
The Eagles have the advantage of being at home. Minnesota has some desperation built in so as to not start the season 0-2, but I think the Eagles are too good and take the game 24-17
1st Quarter
-Eagles Opening Possession - Lukewarm on the opening drive. They had the big completion got Smith but Hurts had to bail them out of an early 3rd down. The rest of the play-calling was “meh” and the drive stalls in the red zone. They get the field goal but don’t feel great about the results. Eagles 3 - Vikings 0
-Viking Opening Possession - One nice completion to Jefferson but the Vikings are unable to get past the 50-yard line. More eventful was the punt. The Eagles fumbled the ball and were able to recover. This is a peak TNF start to this game.
-Three & Out for the Eagles and they have to punt the ball away. A great return until a fumble. The Eagles recovered their own fumble when the Vikings punted, the Eagles also recovered this fumble. The Vikings would have had the ball in the red zone and now the Eagles get a redo on offense.
-Trade an Interception for a Fumble. Thursday Night Football is always weird, ALWAYS. Hurts throws an interception and the Vikings gift them back a fumble. It really feels like a game of mistake survival on Thursday nights. The result of this trade is a missed field goal by the Eagles. Let the clown show of TNF football continue!
-The final play of the quarter was a great summation of what we’ve seen so far. The Viking don’t have to snpa the ball and the Eagles take the offside penalty. With the free play, the Vikings go deep. Rare do we get to see this sort of scenario play out to its full potential. The throw wobbles, flys underthrown and gets knocked away by the defender. Ugly football but it’s Thursday Night Football.
2nd Quarter
-Into Enemy Territory. The Vikings score a touchdown on their first trip into Eagles’ territory. This looked like a real NFL drive. The Eagles’ defense won a couple plays but the Vikings used their newly extended Tight End to keep the drive alive and eventually score. How are the Eagles going to answer? Vikings 7 - Eagles 3
-Ground Delivery to the Answer. The Eagles are grinding out a run-based answer to the Viking Touchdown. The Eagles finally go to throw the ball in VIkings’ territory and Hurts has to throw the ball away. Hurts looks off tonight. Could be the VIkings’ D. It could also be Thursday Night but this is not what I’m used to seeing. Regardless of what I’m used to, the Eagles take back the lead with a Touchdown, and what an impressive display of running game. Let’s hope this is a sign of both teams having their game legs under them and the rest of the game will be a better version of TNF. Eagles 10 - Vikings 7
-Weird. Things. Happen. The Vikings are driving in the final minute of the first half. Cousins finds Jefferson open for a big gain down to the one-yard line, but Jefferson fumbles the ball, and the ball crosses the plane of the endzone….for a touchback, Eagles ball. The first quarter ended on a very appropriate play. The second half ended the same way. Good looking play canceled by a fumble.
-Kicker Redemption Tour. I thought the half was over, but the Eagles’ kicker had other plans. After missing a 55-yard attempt earlier in the game, he nails a 61-yard attempt. What a kick, and what an important 3 points in a game that feels like every point matters. Eagles 13 - Vikings 7
-Fun Fact: The longest field goal I’ve seen during a game was the Janikowski 63-yarder in Denver
3rd Quarter
-Blink and you missed it. The Vikings start the second half with the ball within one score and a chance to take the lead if they can move the ball. The Eagles get a strip sack with the recovery in their red zone. Two plays later the Eagles break the plane of the end zone for a touchdown. The way the Eagles defense has played are they going to give up this lead? The Eagles are running the ball well in this game so the clock, the momentum, and the score are all in the Eagles’ favor. Eagles 20 - Vikings 7
-Need some points here. The Vikings go three & out on the next drive. A nail has been added to the coffin. For all the reasons listed above. The Vikings at least needed some points on this one and they did NOTHING on the answer drive.
-Don’t Score and Find Out. Hurts throws a bomb of a touchdown to Davonte Smith and this game is over. The Eagles are up three scores and that’s three touchdowns, not two and a field goal. Eagles fans have to feel like they want to get out of this game with no injuries and Vikings fans…..I’m so sorry. This is a really tough start to the season and it’s really hard to find the positives when your' team starts 0-2 and has not played particularly well. Lots of season left, but no momentum. Eagles 27 - Vikings 7
-Not over until the O-Lineman Sings. Cousins hits a long pass to Addison for the touchdown. The Eagles looked like they were in control of the drive until the long completion for a TD. I still think the Eagles are in control of the game. The reasons listed above still apply. Philadelphia just needs to decide they are running the ball the rest of the way and this clock will dissolve. Eagles 27 - Vikings 14
-Writer’s Curse? The Eagles need a drive to put this game away. The Eagles get a first down but have it called back due to a holding penalty. A second penalty on the drive leads to a punt. Now we’re looking at the Vikings with over 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter and hope. A dangerous combo for the Eagles. Can the Vikings avoid another turnover?
-The quarter could have been over. The Eagles were in “draw them offside” formation and it worked. Worse yet, the offense is running the ball and eating up the clock. This is why this game felt like it was over when the Eagles were up 20. The 8-minute drive loomed over the Vikings’ defense and it feels like there is nothing they can do about it. The Eagles enter the final quarter with the ball in Vikings’ territory and a first down.
4th Quarter
-The Eagles’ drive gets the clock down to 11:19 left but good coverage and a sack lead to the Eagles being pushed out of field goal range. They were also denied a clear pass interference call at the 1-yard line. Points would have been nice, but the consumption of clock was win enough as long as the Vikings are prevented from scoring a touchdown on their drive.
-I have to believe in my own conviction. Welp, I said this game was probably over and I think the Vikings have taken that personally. They drive down the field and get a WIDE OPEN touchdown on blown coverage. Osborn was wide open in the back corner of the end zone. I’m very curious about how many passing plays the Eagles will try during their next possession. Can the Vikings stop the Eagles run game without giving up a home run play? This has turned into a really good game after a first quarter that was bleck. Eagles 27 - Vikings 21
-Eagles Drive Tracker: Runs 7, Pass 1, First Downs 3, Touchdowns 1. This was close to the exact drive the Eagles needed. Lots of run and a touchdown. More time being taken off the clock would have been nice but 7 points comes with its own value. Eagles 34 - Vikings 21
-Winning Isn’t Easy. Because winning in the NFL is very difficult, the Vikings drive down the field and score to get the game within one score. A game that has felt locked up for more than a half does not feel that way. I have to believe in my gut, thank can’t happen, right? Eagles 34 - Vikings 28
-Never in Doubt. The Eagles are unable to close out the game on offense. The Vikings get the ball back with 7 seconds on the clock on their own 17. They try for the Hail Mary to get a pass interference call but the ball is batted down and the game ends. Never in doubt.
-Eagles (2-0) Vikings (0-2)
The Takeaway
A game that started so slow the ending was great football-watching, assuming you are not a fan of either team. Eagles fans may have been more comfortable than Vikings fans, but once the Eagles had that 20-point lead they did not give it back.
What I saw out there today was great tackling by the Eagles’ defense along with an Eagles run game that dominated. What I saw in the Eagles pass game was not great. It showed flashes but the passing game for the Eagles did not look like a Super Bowl level passing. Thankfully for them, they are 2-0 and there is a lot of season left to improve. This led to the offense stalling out on certain drives and missing out on some scoring opportunities. I think there were at least 10 points left in some of the stalled drives. The Eagles got the win, so all is well. If I’m an Eagles fan going into the weekend, I feel good about the long break (Next game is Monday Night) and the prospect of starting the season 4-0 is very possible.
The Vikings, oof. Turnovers, station-to-station offense and a porous defense lead to another loss and an 0-2 start to the season. The lost turnovers scream over everything else in this game. 10 points and a missed field goal off turnovers. What more needs to be said? This might be the one positive Minnesota can take from this game. Clean up the ball security and they are in this game. If they are in this game, they can be in any game. Watching the offense, it feels like they play station-to-station. They hit the big play here and there but the run game does not get a flow going long enough to control an entire drive and the passes from Cousins are good enough to be caught but not accurate enough for bonus yardage. I feel terrible if I’m a Vikings fan. The Chargers come to Minnesota in week 3. That will be a tough win against that offense. The Vikings go on the road in week 4 against the Panthers. A rookie QB might be the remedy they need to get on track, but they face Patrick Mahomes in week 5. That’s tough. A 1-4 start is certainly in the cards for the Vikings this year.
CHR;)
