Sunday, Jan 21st 6:40 PM ET........................................ Lincoln Financial Field Minnesota will face Philadelphia at 5:40 p.m. (CT) Sunday in the NFC Championship, and the winner of that game will play in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium on Feb. 4. “The biggest thing is this is just the beginning,” tight end Kyle Rudolph said. “This isn’t the end. This is great, don’t get me wrong. “We should celebrate this. We should enjoy this,” Rudolph added. “It’s hard to win playoff games. There’s a lot of guys in this locker room, myself included, that it’s our first playoff win, but it’s just the beginning. We’ve still got a lot of work to do, and it would be a shame to let something like that go to waste by not showing up.”
The Minnesota Vikings (13-3, 1-0 postseason) travel to face the Philadelphia Eagles (13-3, 1-0 postseason) in the NFC Championship Game for the fourth postseason matchup between the two franchises. The Vikings, who defeated the Saints 29-24 in the Divisional round, are looking for their first trip to the Super Bowl since the 1976 season (Super Bowl XI). The Eagles are coming off a 15-10 victory over the Falcons at home in the Divisional round. The Vikings, who will be playing in their 10th NFL or NFC Championship game, posted a 6-2 road record in 2017, while the Eagles were 7-1 at home in the regular season. The Vikings 13 regular-season wins were the second most in the history of the franchise (15-1, 1998). Philadelphia’s 13 regular-season wins tied the 2004 Eagles for the most in franchise history. The Vikings defense led the NFL in yards per game allowed (275.9) for the first time since 1993 and also led the league by allowing 15.8 points per game in the regular season. The Vikings defense limited opponents to 83.6 rushing yards per game (second in the NFL) and 3.6 yards per rush (fifth in the NFL). Minnesota stifled opponents to 192.4 passing yards per game, second in the NFL, making them the only defense in the NFL to rank in the top three in both rushing yards and passing yards allowed per game. DE Everson Griffen tied for fourth in the NFL with a career high 13 sacks this season, the third time in his career he has reached double digits (12 in 2014, 10.5 in 2015). LB Eric Kendricks, who has led the Vikings in tackles each of his first three seasons, led the Vikings with 136 tackles (coaches’ stats). S Harrison Smith tied his career high with five interceptions in 2017, tied for fifth in the NFL. The Vikings offense, which finished 11th in the NFL in yards per game (358.9), has been led by the consistent play from WR Adam Thielen, who was fifth in the NFL with 1,276 receiving yards and eighth in the NFL with 91 receptions, and QB Case Keenum, who completed 67.6 percent of his passes (second in NFL). Keenum stepped in and started 14 games, posting an 11-3 record. Keenum threw 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions, compiling a career-best 98.3 passer rating. RBs Jerick McKinnon and Latavius Murray filled the void left by rookie starter RB Dalvin Cook, helping the Vikings RB group total 2,461 yards from scrimmage this season, the fourth-highest total among all RB groups in 2017.
NORSEMAN NOTABLES The Vikings defense held opponents to a conversion rate of 25.2 percent (51/202) on third downs, the best mark in the NFL, and the offense converted 43.5 percent (94/216) of 3rd downs, which ranked third in the NFL. WR Adam Thielen finished second in the NFL in receptions (32) and yards (428) on third downs. Of those receptions, 25 converted first downs, which also ranks second in the NFL. QB Case Keenum threw for the third-most passing yards in a playoff game in Vikings history after throwing for 318 yards. Only Jeff George (424 at St. Louis, 1/16/00) and Randall Cunningham (331 at San Francisco, 1/3/98) have had more. WR Stefon Diggs' 137 receiving yards are the sixth most in Vikings postseason history, and his 61-yard game-winning reception is the sixth longest by a Viking in a playoff game. The Vikings had 12 scoring drives of 80-plus yards in 2017, eight more than they totaled in 2016. The Vikings allowed only 27 sacks this season, tied for the seventh fewest in the NFL and had five games without allowing a sack, tying a franchise record for most in a single season. S Harrison Smith was one of two players in the NFL (Jordan Poyer, BUF) with 70-plus tackles, 1.0 sacks and five-plus INTs in 2017. The Vikings defense allowed only 20 runs of 10 or more yards in 2017, the fewest in the NFL this season and tied with the 1995 San Francisco 49ers for the fewest in the NFL since 1991. The Vikings defense held opponents to one conversion on third downs in four games this season, which tied with Arizona for the most such games in the NFL. The Vikings held Tampa Bay to 1-for-6, Atlanta to 1-for-10, Cincinnati to 1-for-13 and Chicago to 1-for-12 on third downs.
Let's hope it's a good day for the O-line cause the Eagles D-line is tough,hope Case Keenum passes the ball well I thought against the Saints he was so so
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — When the Vikings defense lines up against the Eagles on Sunday, there’s a good chance Nick Foles won’t be under center. The Eagles quarterback was in the shotgun formation 46 times against Atlanta this past weekend, which accounted for almost 70 percent of Philadelphia’s offensive plays. What isn’t known, however, is whether Foles will handoff or pass from that formation, as the Eagles are known for running a bevy of run/pass option (RPO) plays each game. Foles will read the defense and either hand off to his running back or pull it back and fire a pass. How does the Minnesota defense plan to defend the deception? “I can’t tell you that!” Eric Kendricks said with a loud laugh on Thursday in the Vikings locker room. The Vikings linebacker then turned serious, saying patience is key when trying to determine what Foles and the Eagles offense are attempting. “It’s just about being a little patient at times,” Kendricks said. “And then when you know, you go. “They kind of play that off indecision and make throws off indecision, so you just have to be patient and then react,” Kendricks added. In Saturday’s Divisional round playoff win over Atlanta, the Eagles handed off or faked giving the ball to a running back out of the shotgun formation 23 times. While some plays were likely designed running plays, Vikings.com is including them in this piece because it’s impossible to know what the play call was. Philadelphia ran 67 total plays, meaning the 23 plays in the shotgun that either went to the running back or included a faked handoff accounted for 34 percent of the Eagles play calls.
Defensive ends Danielle Hunter and Stephen Weatherly offered their ideas on how to play against a RPO. “The first key is to look at the tackle. Whatever he gives you, that’s what you play off of,” Hunter said. “If he goes down the line, you know it’s an opportunity for a run or a [bootleg pass]. It all depends on what the tackle does.” Added Weatherly: “The tight end or the tackle, based on what the formation gives us. We just look at our guy and wherever he goes, whatever the play calls for us to do, we go ahead and execute it. We’ll take care of whatever our guy leads us to. If it’s to the run, we’ll go play the run. If he passes it, we’ll go get him. We’ll let the secondary get whatever we don’t get.” One thing the defensive ends won’t do is try and track what Foles is doing. Both players let out animated answers when asked whether or not they’d follow at the quarterback.
More encouraging news on the injury front for the Minnesota Vikings. Wide receiver Adam Thielen returned to practice Thursday after sitting out Wednesday's session because of a lower back injury. He was limited in practice, but his return bodes well for his availability Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Never really did pay attention when I think about it he's hardly ever under center,and when they do they run quite a lot of RPO and they luv to throw ball downfield and get Yac's after the catch
Adam Thielen is questionable for Sunday... Andrew Sendejo still in concussion protocol, but Vikings are optimistic...
It's Gameday let's hope today is they day they find some find they light at the end of the tunnel cause it's been damn dark,about time for things to go the Vikings way GO VIKINGS
The Minnesota Vikings will have their work cut out for them on Sunday against a tough Eagles defense in Philadelphia, and there’s a chance the back injury Adam Thielen suffered last week could have a big impact on the game. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that Thielen is dealing with multiple slight fractures in his lower back and has been in a great deal of pain. Despite that, he is expected to play in the NFC Championship Game.
It's always something danmed if you do and danmed if don't,Treawell might have to step up big time but Can He?
Hey Baddman - check this thread out tonight. https://live4sportnetwork.com/forum/threads/nfc-championship-chat.12447/#post-537798
Will, your Vikings had a good season but came up short in the NFC Championship game. Before the playoffs began, I was hoping for a Steelers - Vikings SB rematch. Got a SB rematch but it is NE - Philly. Better luck next season.
