Vikings Territory Breakdown: Grounded in Philly— Vikes Suffer a Complete Defeat
Joe Oberle
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The Vikings fell back to Earth in Philadelphia on Monday night with a dispiriting 24-7 loss to the Eagles. It didn’t feel much different than when they came into the City of Brotherly Love in 20117, sky high after the Miracle in Minneapolis and proceeded to put up one touchdown and then get completely outplayed in the NFC Title game. This was just a post-Packers beatdown in the season opener they were following up, but it seems like similar hopes or dreams of postseason glory were dashed in the game.
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One particular player put a “hurtin’” on the Vikings this night, and it was Eagles QB Jalen Hurts. Philadelphia built a 24-7 first-half lead over the Purple on two Hurts rushing touchdowns and one through the air, and then the Vikings offense did little more than threaten in the second half and puke on themselves with three interceptions by Kirk Cousins, one of the Purple heroes of week 1.
In fact, according to Stats by Stats on Twitter: “Jalen Hurts of the Eagles is the first player in NFL history to throw for 300+ yards, complete 80.0+ percent of his passes and rush for multiple touchdowns in a single game.” The Vikings, throughout their tortuous history, put people in the record books—unfortunately, it is too often their opponents that put up those legendary marks.
The Vikings defense couldn’t contain Hurts and the RPO, but that was just the beginning of their problems. Justin Jefferson was bottled up, Cousins missed open receivers, Dalvin Cook was a non-factor, the offensive line gave Kirk happy feet in the pocket, the offense couldn’t finish drives, the defense spent too much time on the field and the coaching staff, fresh off its first win, was out-coached in Philly (again).
At least Special teams came to play. But it wasn’t nearly enough.
The Vikings move to 1-1 and into a tie for first place with every other team in the NFC North Division, with the Detroit Lions coming to town next week. And the Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast dudes (Joe Oberle from Vikings Territory and purplePTSD.com and the Star Tribune’s Mark Craig) are on hand to break it all down. For those fans not having a breakdown of their own (or not) after this big-time letdown of a game can tune into the podcast. It’s only week 2 of this NFL season, so there is plenty of football to be played and dissected. We’re here to help figure out where the Purple is heading next. Stop by!