Big Plays Allow Eagles To Whip Last-Place Vikings Once Again

The Minnesota Vikings will have to live with the regret of their performance against the Philadelphia Eagles throughout the season. The Eagles were there for the taking and wanted to give the game to the Vikings, but the home team was unwilling to handle that gift.

The biggest and most obvious problem was the red zone performance. This is supposed to be the strength of a Kevin O’Connell team. The quarterback whisperer knows more about getting the most out of his signal caller than any other coach in the league, if we are to believe the reputation that O’Connell owns. He is also supposed to be an expert play caller.

The other part of this game that reveals it was on a platter for the Vikings was the performance of the Minnesota defense. For the most part, the Vikings were able to do several good things including holding the best running back in the NFL to 44 yards on 18 carries, a pitiful average of 2.4 yards per carry. Stopping Saquon Barkley had to be the first priority of the Brian Flores defense and the Vikings were successful at that aspect.

But the unit was unable to control and contain the passing of Jalen Hurts. That’s not usually the way the Eagles quarterback operates. He is excellent at his job and he knows how to make plays that go off-script. He is not known for his pocket passing, but the Vikings made life easy for him and he dropped passes into the bucket for DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown as if he was Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow.

His 37-yard touchdown pass to Brown on the opening drive of the game was delivered in stride to a wide open receiver. No acceleration or deceleration was needed. The fact that it came on a 4th-and -4 play sent the Vikings into a downward spiral that they would not be able to escape.

They came close on several occasions. Early in the third quarter, Will Reichard’s third field goal of the game allowed them to close within 14-9 and give the home team hope that things would soon go their way.

That’s when Hurts decided to punish the Vikings secondary – a team weakness for years – with his 79-yard TD pass to a wide open Smith. The receiver blew by cornerback Isaiah Rodgers as if it was an Eagles practice session. That was the scenario last year when Rodgers was with the Eagles, but they did not see the need to retain him.

That move looked like a dreadful mistake in Week Three when the Vikings overwhelmed the Cincinnati Bengals and Rodgers had both an interception and fumble return for touchdowns. But the Eagles had the last laugh as Smith whipped Rodgers badly on the long TD reception.

The Vikings got back into the game after that when they scored their only touchdown of the game late in the third quarter on Jordan Mason’s one-yard sprint to the corner. He was able to extend one corner of the ball to break the plane of the goal line and that got the Vikings within reach at 21-16.

Another failed red zone opportunity followed and the team had to settle for another Reichard field goal with 10 minutes to go. All the Vikings had to do was keep Hurts from another big play and they would have been able to take the lead with another three-pointer.

Vikings secondary fails when it matters most

Hurts came through two more times. The Eagles were on their heels as they faced a 3^rd-and-13. The pass rush forced Hurts out of the pocket and had him on the run, but he escaped and found Brown for the exact distance needed for the first down.

Linebacker Blake Cashman and the defense shriveled after that play and Hurts took advantage of it with a 26-yard TD pass to a wide open Brown. Once again, the Eagles receiver was running free and clear. It gave the Eagles a two-score advantage at 28-19 and the Vikings were not good enough to overcome it even though there was 6:35 left in the game.

The Eagles are a much better team than the Vikings and O’Connell knows it. This is his fourth season as the Vikings head coach, and they have suffered painful defeats against the Eagles three times. The first two were at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and the Vikings were simply whipped in those encounters in 2022 and 2023.

In this game, the Vikings played the role of welcoming hosts and gave their guests big plays whenever they needed them.

The Vikings were too soft and now they are a last-place team in the NFC North. There is time to do something about it, but hard tests are coming against the Chargers and Lions, and the Vikings don’t appear to be ready for either one.