Fresh off of their victory over their divisional rivals from Green Bay, the Minnesota Vikings now have to gear up for their lone Monday Night Football appearance of the 2022 season, as they’ll travel to Lincoln Financial Field to take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2. The Eagles are also coming off of a victory over an NFC North team, as they held off the Detroit Lions by a final score of 38-35 at Ford Field in Week 1. Philadelphia led 38-21 with a couple of minutes remaining in the third quarter and had to hold off a big comeback from Detroit to hang on for the victory. The Eagles were led by newly-acquired receiver A.J. Brown, who hauled in 10 passes for 155 yards. Quarterback Jalen Hurts threw for 243 yards, and all four of Philadelphia’s offensive touchdowns came on the ground. They also got a score on a pick-six from James Bradberry. The Vikings got off to a big lead against the Packers, as they went into the locker room at halftime with a 17-0 lead and were really never threatened the rest of the way as they scored a 23-7 victory. Justin Jefferson was the star, as usual, as he caught nine passes for 184 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Minnesota defense sacked Aaron Rodgers four times and forced a pair of turnovers as well. This game will be a part of a rare Monday Night Football doubleheader. It will be broadcast on ABC rather than ESPN, and kickoff is slated for 7:30 PM Central time. You can check out the odds for all of this week’s games courtesy of our friends at DraftKings Sportsbook, and we’ll be bringing you plenty of coverage of this one throughout the week. DAILY NORSEMAN
The Minnesota Vikings face off against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football. With both teams at 1-0 and coming off of a big win against an NFC North opponent. Going into the game, there are a lot of interesting storylines and things to know. Here are the five most important ones heading into Monday night. After the Philadelphia Eagles selected Reagor at 21st overall, things did not go as planned. They wanted the star receiver to become a speed demon on the outside and in the open field. That didn’t come to fruition. It also didn’t help that the Minnesota Vikings selected Justin Jefferson just one pick after. The Vikings traded two picks for the much-maligned wide receiver who will be going into his former home stadium as the Vikings starting punt returner. It is still unknown whether Reagor will be involved in the offensive gameplan but a small subpackage of plays would make sense. The Eagles offense is so successful due to their running game. Not only do they have a dynamic quarterback Jalen Hurts but they go three deep in the backfield with Miles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott. Against the Detroit Lions, each one of those four scored a rushing touchdown. They accomplish a successful rushing game in a myriad of ways. They run zones, counters, power and RPOs to accomplish their diverse rushing attack. With three really good weapons on the outside, the Eagles now have a balanced attack that will only help the running game see lighter boxes. Even though they lost Derek Barnett to a torn ACL and signed Janarius Robinson off of the Vikings practice squad, the Eagles defensive front is a monster. Brandon Graham, Javon Hargrave, Fletcher Cox and Josh Sweat as the starting four is a really good unit. They have the ability to stuff the run along with rushing the passer inside and out. The addition of Jordan Davis will only help their depth and ability to be dynamic. The Lions were able to take advantage of the interior in the rushing game when Davis was not in the game as he only played 22 snaps. The key to the Vikings success will be running zone plays against this front and protecting on the interior in the passing game which will be a challenge. The Vikings were able to take advantage of a talented Packers secondary by utilizing the “Illusion of Complexity” and showing different looks for the same plays. This will continue to be a trend for the Vikings but they are going up against a really talented secondary. After adding Chauncey Gardner-Johnson in the offseason, they have him and former Vikings draft pick Marcus Epps on the back end with Darius Slay, James Bradbury and Avonte Maddox at cornerback. Even though Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon isn’t a disciple of Vic Fangio, he is trying to run that quarters style of defense. Figuring out how to exploit the secondary will be key. While they are good as a pass-rushing unit, their run defense is something that shows a flaw within this defense. On Sunday against the Lions, they allowed 181 rushing yards including a staggering 9.6 yards per carry to D’Andre Swift over 15 carries. The Vikings should be able to exploit that with Dalvin Cook. Running zone plays and counters will be the easiest ways get away from the interior of the defensive line and keep them guessing. VIKINGS WIRE
Very big game for both teams, In my opinion. It will be key for both squads to execute and cut down on mistakes and play penalty free football. Vikings must establish the run somehow, early on, against that defensive front of the Eagles or it will be a loooong day for the Vikings. Hope to see another heart stopping thriller on MNF, because thats the Vikings way. I'll have an extra shot of BP meds close by, a defibrillator, smelling salts and a big- assed bottle of whiskey (just kidding - still on the wagon)! Hoping for a "primetime" victory... they have been few and far between.
Very impressive opening drive by the Eagles... Minny needs to adjust the defense and tackling might help also. Way too many missed tackles.
Ì'm starting to think Irv Smith Jr is a bust ì keep waiting for him to have a breakout moment but it never happens
I had to bail, Badd_man... and I didnt miss much, just another prime-time beat down by a pretty good Eagles team. Cousins stunk it up, but it is a team effort. Hopefully this Vikings ship gets righted by next week. It was humbling and I hope motivating to get better.
Adjustments have to be made what ìs it with Capt Kirk and prime time games cause he did choke,and Irv Smith Jr dropped a sure TD it was a WTF moment
