Vikings at Eagles

[VikingLord]

This game comes rapidly on the heels of the disappointing home opener loss to what I believe will be one of the worse teams in the NFL this year, so I'll admit I'm still stewing on that while I'm writing this about the upcoming game against the Eagles. Still, I'll try to be as objective as possible.

I'll start with the Vikings offense against the Eagles defense, because as with this matchup beween the Bucs and Vikings last week, I think it ultimately decides the game. This is not a good matchup again for the Vikings offense. The Eagles have a really sound front 7, and they supplant that group with a better overall group of secondary players than the Bucs brought to the field. To be fair to the Vikings offense, I don't think the Bucs were able to cover the Vikings receivers well last Sunday, but they compensated for that by getting pressure on Cousins and creating or taking advantage of turnovers. The Eagles will not only be able to generate similar pressure (and probably create at least a few turnovers of their own), but they should also be better in coverage. This is going to put a lot more pressure on the Vikings to run the ball and generate some manageable down-distance situations on 3rd downs, and I just don't see how the Vikings are going to do that given their inability to run inside and their insistence on running inside. And if we continue to see them try to hit screens to compensate, I think the Eagles will eat those alive just as the Bucs did in the 2nd half of the last game.

I hate to say it, but I see the Vikings really struggling to move the ball in this game and generate any kind of consistency on offense in either the run or pass games, and if they compound those struggles with penalties and turnovers as they did against the Bucs, this game could get way out of hand because...

The Eagles offense against the Vikings defense looks like it is going to be one of the bigger mismatches this team is going to face all year, and that is saying a lot given some of the offenses they have yet to face.

The Eagles are fundamentally an option run team with the best option QB in the game right now in Hurts. They hit teams on the ground in so many different ways and are among the best in the league at creating very favorable down-distance situations for themselves on 3rd down. If they have the Vikings defensive signals per what Baker Mayfield was claimed to have, this will be lights-out from the start. Even if they don't, I expect a heavy dose of option runs all game and a lot of success doing that. It isn't that the Vikings defense necessarily lacks the athletes to defend the run. Instead, I seem them as lacking the fundamentals and discipline to defend it, especially against a team like the Eagles that is so good at adding deception and variability into their rushing attack.

The Eagles will throw it as well, of course, and given the passivity we saw from the Vikings secondary against the Mayfield-led Bucs, I expect that will be fairly easy for Hurts and his receivers as well, especially if they get the Vikings defense on the back foot against the run.

I think it's going to be a really long night for Cousins and the Vikings overall. Last year's game between these two teams in Philly was a brutal beatdown and both teams come into this matchup with the same relative strengths and weaknesses as last year. Last year's final score was 24-7 Philly. I think this year's score will be even more lopsided, unfortunately.

My prediction is

Eagles - 28
Vikings - 3

[J. Kapp 11]

This game comes rapidly on the heels of the disappointing home opener loss to what I believe will be one of the worse teams in the NFL this year, so I'll admit I'm still stewing on that while I'm writing this about the upcoming game against the Eagles. Still, I'll try to be as objective as possible.

I'll start with the Vikings offense against the Eagles defense, because as with this matchup beween the Bucs and Vikings last week, I think it ultimately decides the game. This is not a good matchup again for the Vikings offense. The Eagles have a really sound front 7, and they supplant that group with a better overall group of secondary players than the Bucs brought to the field. To be fair to the Vikings offense, I don't think the Bucs were able to cover the Vikings receivers well last Sunday, but they compensated for that by getting pressure on Cousins and creating or taking advantage of turnovers. The Eagles will not only be able to generate similar pressure (and probably create at least a few turnovers of their own), but they should also be better in coverage. This is going to put a lot more pressure on the Vikings to run the ball and generate some manageable down-distance situations on 3rd downs, and I just don't see how the Vikings are going to do that given their inability to run inside and their insistence on running inside. And if we continue to see them try to hit screens to compensate, I think the Eagles will eat those alive just as the Bucs did in the 2nd half of the last game.

I hate to say it, but I see the Vikings really struggling to move the ball in this game and generate any kind of consistency on offense in either the run or pass games, and if they compound those struggles with penalties and turnovers as they did against the Bucs, this game could get way out of hand because...

The Eagles offense against the Vikings defense looks like it is going to be one of the bigger mismatches this team is going to face all year, and that is saying a lot given some of the offenses they have yet to face.

The Eagles are fundamentally an option run team with the best option QB in the game right now in Hurts. They hit teams on the ground in so many different ways and are among the best in the league at creating very favorable down-distance situations for themselves on 3rd down. If they have the Vikings defensive signals per what Baker Mayfield was claimed to have, this will be lights-out from the start. Even if they don't, I expect a heavy dose of option runs all game and a lot of success doing that. It isn't that the Vikings defense necessarily lacks the athletes to defend the run. Instead, I seem them as lacking the fundamentals and discipline to defend it, especially against a team like the Eagles that is so good at adding deception and variability into their rushing attack.

The Eagles will throw it as well, of course, and given the passivity we saw from the Vikings secondary against the Mayfield-led Bucs, I expect that will be fairly easy for Hurts and his receivers as well, especially if they get the Vikings defense on the back foot against the run.

I think it's going to be a really long night for Cousins and the Vikings overall. Last year's game between these two teams in Philly was a brutal beatdown and both teams come into this matchup with the same relative strengths and weaknesses as last year. Last year's final score was 24-7 Philly. I think this year's score will be even more lopsided, unfortunately.

My prediction is

Eagles - 28
Vikings - 3

I'm going to disagree ... a bit.

First of all, Philly will be missing two starters from the defensive backfield and one starting linebacker due to injury. That helps the Vikings.

Second, for all the gnashing of teeth over the Vikings offense last Sunday, they ended up third in the NFL at 6.0 yards per play. They just shot themselves in both feet and one hand (get it Ingram?) with turnovers. Take care of the ball, and the Vikings beat the Bucs by 2 TDs. Don't get a stupid, stupid offsides penalty on a field goal, and they win by even more.

Kirk is the key. He HAS to play with confidence. When he's crapped the bed in road games against good teams, he's always gotten off to bad starts and spiraled downward. Kirk has GOT to be resilient. Things will go wrong. He can't turn into a pumpkin. He's got to dust himself off and play the way he can. It would help greatly if the Vikings could score on their first possession.

Defensively, I think the Vikings can hold the Eagles down to a degree. I see a lot of Ivan Pace playing spy on Hurts. Or Asamoah if he plays more than two snaps. Philly doesn't have Miles Sanders anymore, and I think that hurts them in the running game. They beat the Pats 25-20 on Sunday, but they had a pick-6. The offense didn't do a ton, only 251 total yards and just 4.3 yards per play. That's not to say they can't score. I just think the Vikings match up pretty well. Got to account for Hurts on the ground. Hurts rushed 9 times for 36 yards against the Pats. I'd take that every day of the week for the Vikings.

Ultimately Philly has a better roster and a better team. The spread is 7. I think the Eagles win but don't cover.

[allday1991]

Gut feeling is cousins doesn’t finish this game, really hope I’m wrong. I feel like we stand next to no chance but that’s usually the games the Vikings surprise me.

27- eagles
10- vikings

[chicagopurple]

THe Vikes have done nothing to improve their basic flaw from last season ( or the last decade)....their utter garbage on the front line.
The Eagles beat us like a dead mule last year and are just as good a team this year so why expect any better outcome?
Cousins is a good QB if given a comfy pocket to sit it in. Everybody in the league knows this EXCEPT Vikes management. So what do we get to see all year? Cousins scrambling for his life while his under sized , injury prone, marginally skilled front line scatters like bubbles in a breeze.
This is going to be a frustrating, boring loss that will be another obvious sign of what the rest of the season will look like.
Philly 31, Vikes 10

[CharVike]

I see it 31-10 Eagles.

[cmoss84]

Last week's disappointment fuels us and Philly's injuries allow us to stay in the game late.

My prediction is whoever wins the turnover battle wins the game.

27-21.

[JJBreaksRecords]

This is a no win game. Th Eagles are by far, a superior team, as last week showed. KOC didnt have his players ready Sunday and I doubt he does today.

35-Eagles
7-Vikings

Its going to be a long season fellas

[VikingLord]

I'm going to disagree ... a bit.

First of all, Philly will be missing two starters from the defensive backfield and one starting linebacker due to injury. That helps the Vikings.

I don't think that is going to matter much as I expect Cousins will be under a lot of pressure from the snap. The Eagles are known as an aggressive, swarming front seven and they also know Cousins is protected by a sieve of an OL (especially if Darrisaw is out), so it will be open season on Cousins and I just don't see him having the time or comfort level he needs to be able to take advantage of any weaknesses in Philly's defensive backfield. I think Cousins is going to be spending a lot of time on the turf and when he's not on the turf he's going to be chucking and/or ducking.

But, should the Vikings actually be able to block for him and Cousins has time, I definitely agree that the Vikings could carve up the Eagles down the field.

Second, for all the gnashing of teeth over the Vikings offense last Sunday, they ended up third in the NFL at 6.0 yards per play. They just shot themselves in both feet and one hand (get it Ingram?) with turnovers. Take care of the ball, and the Vikings beat the Bucs by 2 TDs. Don't get a stupid, stupid offsides penalty on a field goal, and they win by even more.

The miscues definitely hurt them, but they also couldn't run the ball to save their lives, had way too many no gain or even negative plays on 1st down (especially in the 2nd half), and Cousins got knocked around like a pinball stuck in the bumpers for much of the game. The offense had some nice gainers when the execution was there and there certainly is a lot of skill position talent on that side of the ball, but woe is he who expects any consistency from that side of the ball given the deficiencies on the offensive line. And the Bucs just have a good defense. The Eagles have one of the better overall defenses in pro football. The Vikings do another Keystone Cops imitation tonight and the final score will be listed as just Ugly (with a capital "U").

Kirk is the key. He HAS to play with confidence. When he's crapped the bed in road games against good teams, he's always gotten off to bad starts and spiraled downward. Kirk has GOT to be resilient. Things will go wrong. He can't turn into a pumpkin. He's got to dust himself off and play the way he can. It would help greatly if the Vikings could score on their first possession.

I agree, but I'm really surprised Cousins isn't in the PTSD Protocol given how often he's been hit and pressured since he joined the Vikings. I mean, he gets paid very well to take that punishment but there is only so much a guy can do when he fakes a handoff one way and turns to see two unblocked defenders bearing down on him. I don't know if that is bad play design, miscommunication among those who decide to block ("We salute you!" ), or the Bucs knew what plays the Vikings were running on the offensive side of the ball as well as the defensive side of the ball, but whatever the failure is, if Cousins is under that sort of pressure again he's going to fold up like a cheap lawn chair again.

Defensively, I think the Vikings can hold the Eagles down to a degree. I see a lot of Ivan Pace playing spy on Hurts. Or Asamoah if he plays more than two snaps. Philly doesn't have Miles Sanders anymore, and I think that hurts them in the running game. They beat the Pats 25-20 on Sunday, but they had a pick-6. The offense didn't do a ton, only 251 total yards and just 4.3 yards per play. That's not to say they can't score. I just think the Vikings match up pretty well. Got to account for Hurts on the ground. Hurts rushed 9 times for 36 yards against the Pats. I'd take that every day of the week for the Vikings.

Pace is the logical guy to spy Hurts, although I'm not sure the Vikings have the overall talent and depth on defense to afford to spy him, at least not consistently. In watching how the Patriots played the Eagles, they might have found some tells or were able to do some things to throw Hurts off a bit, so it will be interesting to see if Flores can get his guys going. One thing I do know, though, is that the Vikings front seven really barely affected Mayfield on Sunday while facing a patchwork OL. The times they did get home, they performed magic tricks like jumping over the QB and wrapping both arms around his waist without taking him down or even throwing him off balance. They created no turnovers, nor even a threat of a turnover.

I don't know - I'm really down on them right now. I know they could have and should have on a bunch of stuff, but the more I watch the replays of that game the more I saw what looked to me like an even worse overall OL performance than most of the ones we saw last year. I saw Cousins throwing short of the sticks yet again when he had JJ open past the sticks and very few attempts towards JJ over the entire second half yet again (was also a trend last year). I saw a running game that never could get untracked because the blocking is so bad the RB is getting hit at or behind the LOS. And that is the offense, which is the strength of the team. But even on defense, I saw passivity and very few attempts to disrupt what the Mayfield Maniacs wanted to do. Maybe he did have the signals, but still, yuck. I read all this stuff about Flores turning the dogs loose and if what we saw on Sunday is Flores turning the dogs loose, someone needs to call the dog catcher and let him know he's supposed to open the gate, cause from what I saw, the dogs are still in the pound.

Anyway, I hope I am wrong and the Vikings show up on fire and knock the Eagles out, because I hate to see them lose, but man, that loss to a punchless Bucs team led by Baker Mayfield is like how I feel after I eat those leftovers that might have been in the fridge a little too long - even days later it can be tough.

[VikingsVictorious]

So that's why they call you KFC????
I can't believe that commercial.

[Barry]

Snake bit, simply snake bit.

[Tark]

Defense is Swiss cheese, offense is a turnover machine. Gotta luv it…..

[VikingsVictorious]

Defense is Swiss cheese, offense is a turnover machine. Gotta luv it…..

And we have a chance to win. One stop and one drive. Cousins 24-33 284 yards and 3 TDs.

[VikingsVictorious]

That was beyond obvious pass interference against Hockenson, but we overcome it for a .... Hockenson TD.

[VikingsVictorious]

Our offense was explosive as hell despite losing half our offensive line. If Jefferson had scored or just not fumbled into the end zone it changes all momentum and I think we get the win at the Eagles. We still have a good team, but 0-2 puts us behind the 8 ball.

[makila]

IMHO, it's pretty straight forward.

TOs are a major issue. Doesn't matter if they are lucky, unforced, whatever. You can't turn the ball over this much and expect to be a wining team. It isn't a new idea, the stats prove it over and over.

Oline depth is an issue. Many tried to be positive about this group (myself included). If they really wanted to compete this year, I don't understand not putting some resources into the line. It's where games are consistently won.

Same on defense, my goodness we got man handled on the inside of the dline. Couple plays I recall in the 2nd (yes they were tired, however that's how teams are going to attack us), where the Eagles oline just washed our entire dline out of the play and were on our 2nd level fast. Huge holes and lanes. Teams with good olines and running game are going to pound us up the middle.

The TOs are fixable. It has to start immediately. We're turning the ball over at almost a 1 to/quarter rate. Can not happen.

See what they do to address oline depth with the long week now. Sadly, part of me expects a low level pickup for depth and that's it.

Schedule gets tougher.