Well, that sucked.
After starting the season 3-0 and turning heads across the league and national media, the Philadelphia Eagles have hit a two game skid in which they look like they completely forgot how to play football. The team that played poised, fundamentally sound, and tough ball suddenly looks reminiscent of the Chip Kelly led ’15 squad who relied on their special teams and return TD’s to win games, while playing sloppy, penalty ridden football in the other phases of the game. I’m sure many Eagles fans figured they would not play perfect football all year, but the complete 180° they have done since the bye is a definite cause for concern. The road does not get any easier with the upcoming schedule, especially with the undefeated Minnesota Vikings coming to the Linc this Sunday.
It would be easy for me to make the classic Eagle-fan-doom-and-gloom prediction about this upcoming game. I’ve literally heard callers on the local sport stations claim the season is already over now. The mental psyche of most Eagles fans is fragile enough where the mood of the city almost seems to affect the play of the team and make matters worse. That may be the superstitious-crazy-person talking in me, but hopefully my prediction on how the Eagles can win this game will calm everyone the fuck down, and we can focus on the remainder of what should be an exciting remainder of this year.
Why the Philadelphia Eagles can beat the Minnesota Vikings this Sunday:
This game isn’t as simple as it seems when it comes to a prediction. The Vikings are undefeated and have what I think is the best defense since the 2013 Seahawks, but they are coming off a bye and there are legitimate questions about the longevity of their offensive success to this point. The Eagles are no easier to predict because they are basically two teams. A 3-0 team with an equally dominating defense and a creative offense led by one of the more exciting signal calling prospects in years. And a 0-2 team with a Swiss cheese Wide-9 front and an equally porous offensive line that looks like the only reason it held together was because of Lane Johnson’s dumbass being the only young and talented guy on the whole front. The Eagles probably fall somewhere right in the middle, so I’m not going to rule out this game being one of the best of the year, especially with the underlying Bradford trade drama.
The main matchup the Eagles can exploit in this game is the ultra-injured Vikings offensive line. The Vikings have lost three starters this year. The Eagles defense, even with the two awful games, is 3rd in the league in yards and points allowed per game. Surprisingly enough, their pass defense has been their strong suit, giving up the least total yards in the league and coming in 4th with yards per game, and tallying 14 sacks on the year. The Vikings offense isn’t blowing the doors off anyone. In fact, let’s take a look at the stats:
Vikings Offensive Stats:
Total net yards: 32nd
Yards per game: 30th
Pass yards per game: 24th
Rush Yards per game: 32nd
While there has been a lot of talk of how well Bradford has done and how he is a potential MVP candidate, he isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire. The Vikings offense, to this point, has simply gotten the job done so that their insane defense goes to work. They have also haven’t faced a defense yet that was much of a challenge, especially considering the Panthers look like they have fallen off the face of the earth. This should be their first true test, and coming off the bye might be the perfect opportunity for the Eagles defense to get back on track against a less than stellar offense. As long as the defense keeps penalties to a minimum, and doesn’t let Jerick McKinnon burn them in the screen game, this should be a long day for The Sleeves™.
Obviously the Eagles offense faces similar challenges with the Vikings defense. This defense could pose huge issues for the Eagles given their equally as concerning offensive line. If Halapoulivaati Vaatai and Jason Kelce don’t get their shit together, Everson Griffen and Lival Joseph are going to disrupt our offense nonstop.
However, the one silver lining the Eagles have had in these two losses is that they have been able to put up points, even when the offensive line struggles. If the offensive line can give Wentz some semblance of a pocket to work with and can sustain penalty free drives, it may only take a few scores for them to come out on top.
I still think this is a really awesome matchup. These are two teams with similar skill sets that have defenses that match up well against the opposing offense. I think the X-Factor here will be the Eagles defense going out there with a chip on their shoulder after these two losses, all while playing against their former QB who was still an Eagle only two months ago. If they can hold their gap assignments, keep McKinnon contained, and put pressure of Bradford, then Wentz and the offense should get many opportunities to take a crack at this vaunted Vikings D. I expect a defensive struggle with some sloppy offensive play and a lot of punts, but hopefully with enough offensive action to keep this game from being Darren Sproles vs. Marcus Sherels in the return game, no matter how intriguing that may be.
Final prediction: Eagles 20, Vikings 13