The Minnesota Vikings looked to get off to a winning start after their early bye week, taking on the reigning Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles. The Vikings started Carson Wentz over the injured J.J. McCarthy again, creating a revenge game against the team that drafted him in 2016 and traded him in 2021. But there wasn’t much vengeance to go around for anyone wearing purple.
After an ominously dominant opening drive led to an early touchdown, the Eagles’ offense stalled out against a stout Minnesota D. The Vikings’ offense, however, was another story. They buried themselves in mostly unforced errors throughout the first two quarters, including a pair of interceptions from Wentz, one of them a pick-six, a Blake Brandel snap over Wentz’s head, and boneheaded red-zone penalties that stymied what would likely have been two touchdown drives. Will Reichard kept them on the scoreboard, and, despite a lousy start, the Vikings managed to get to the half down just eight.
The offense was able to get into the red zone again on their first drive of the half, but they squandered another situation and had to settle for 3 more. The Eagles responded immediately with a 79-yard touchdown by DeVonta Smith to make it a 21-9 game.
Just as it looked like the game had gotten out of hand, the offense was able to punch it in for the first time as Jordan Mason drilled it in from a yard out. A.J. Brown hauled in a touchdown to make it a two-score game, a lead the Vikings would not be able to surmount despite a bit of fourth-quarter feistiness, resulting in a 28-22 victory for Philly.
Here are five numbers to break down the Vikings’ loss to the Eagles
4*
Will Reichard has hit four field goals of 50 or more yards this season. The Vikings have long had a tumultuous history when it comes to the kicking position, and, given his performance after his injury, some assumed that Reichard would be yet another name on that woeful list. However, Reichard has been lights-out this season, excluding kicks that hit the camera wire.
It started in week one when Reichard drilled a 59-yarder, tying a Soldier Field record. Two weeks later, he hit a 62-yarder before the half against the Cincinnati Bengals. On Sunday, he hit another 59-yard kick on the opening drive. Even after a botched snap saw the Vikings go from the 19 to the 41, head coach Kevin O’Connell had no hesitation in sending Reichard out to attempt the long kick.
Given the issues that the Vikings have had at the position, it looks like the team might finally have a long-term solution at the position with Will the Thrill going five for five today.
0/5
Minnesota’s defense was stellar against the Eagles on third down in the first half, holding them to 0/5. The defense looked much improved from earlier weeks, especially on third down, where they didn’t give the Eagles offense an inch. Their only mistakes came on the opening drive, where they allowed two fourth-down conversions, one of which ended in a touchdown.
After that, they held the Eagles to three consecutive three-and-outs. The defense was able to get pressure up the middle and force Hurts to make quick decisions.
The defense stepped up against the run game. They stuffed Saquon Barkley and Hurts when they attempted to impose their physical brand of football. The Vikings’ defense didn’t allow the Eagles’ offense to get ahead of the chains and held them to an average of 9.8 yards to go on their third downs in the first half.
15
Minnesota had just 15 rushing yards in the first half. While the Vikings’ defense stifled Philadelphia’s running attack, the Eagles’ defense was equally productive at stuffing Minnesota’s ground game. While the offense was always playing from behind in this game, they were unable to find any sort of balance after the Eagles’ defense decided early that they would make Carson Wentz beat them.
It turned out to be a wise decision, because the Vikings’ passing game struggled to move the ball, and the 15 yards in the half were their lowest since Week 16 of 2023.
Without the threat of the run, the Eagles’ defensive line teed off on Wentz early. You could see the effects of it with some of his decision-making and some of the throws he made, where he rushed the process and was wildly inaccurate.
To win games, the Vikings must commit to the run game more and give their quarterbacks the ability to have balance in the play calls.
16.6%
The Vikings had just a 16.6% success rate in the red zone this week, getting a touchdown on only one of their six trips. It felt like whatever could go wrong did go wrong for the Vikings when they got into the red zone, with the first trip of the day there resulting in a 59-yard field goal after a botched snap sent them backward 22 yards.
Things would only get worse from there; other trips in the red zone would be thwarted by intentional grounding calls, sacks, holding penalties, and incomplete passes that would see them unable to score touchdowns.
It wasn’t until they utilized trickery with the wildcat formation that they (just barely) scored. The Vikings had the chance to win the game, but they just couldn’t capitalize when it mattered.
304
A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith tortured the Vikings’ secondary, combining for 304 yards. While the Vikings’ defense contained Philadelphia’s rushing attack, holding Saquon Barkley to under 50 rushing yards, the Eagles’ aerial attack more than picked up the slack.
Smith came to life in the third quarter with his 79-yard touchdown reception that halted all the Vikings’ momentum. From here, Hurts and the Eagles’ receivers found their groove and picked apart Minnesota’s defense.
Hurts was incredible, finishing with a perfect passer rating and was three for four for 78 yards and a touchdown when he had more than four seconds to throw the ball. A struggling Eagles’ offense settled into a rhythm against a Viking secondary that had looked infallible earlier in the season.
*An earlier version of this post misstated how many kicks from 50+ Reichard had converted. We regret the error.
