The Key Plotlines That Will Swing Eagles at Vikings
The Philadelphia Eagles at Minnesota Vikings will bring a couple of sweet “revenge” angles for two main players, as the purple team hopes to nudge its record to 4-2 and avoid a 3-3 stalemate entering Thursday Night Football next week.
The Vikings and Eagles will square off in Minneapolis for the first time since 2019, and along the way, these are the main storylines to monitor.
Philadelphia won the Super Bowl last year, but as of late, it hasn’t quite looked like a repeat candidate. Meanwhile, Minnesota is becoming healthier by the minute after a barrage of early-season injuries.
The Main Storylines for Vikings-Eagles
Here’s the juicy stuff to watch.
1. The Carson Wentz Revenge Game
The Eagles drafted Carson Wentz with the second overall pick in 2016, staying committed to the North Dakota State product for five seasons. It later pivoted to Jalen Hurts, a decision that produced a Super Bowl win in 2024.
Wentz bounced around the NFL — basically a new team every year — and Minnesota is his latest adventure. Through some scheduling serendipity, he’ll play his former team on Sunday, although he has already downplayed the “revenge” angle.
The Eagles faced Wentz once before in 2022 and defeated his Washington Commanders by a score of 24-8. Now is Wentz’s chance to even the score.
2. Eagles in Desperation Mode?
Philadelphia lost its last two games to the Denver Broncos and New York Giants. Those clubs feel decent out of the gate in 2025, but they’re not sure-fire Super Bowl contenders.
Nick Sirianni’s team desperately needs a get-right game — or basically a dub of any kind.
Of course, he’ll try to produce that outcome against Minnesota at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Eagles can’t really afford to lose another game with the rest of the NFC East playing impressive ball in the last couple of weeks.
Siranni said this week about his team’s recent woes:
You’re always working on identifying your issues and identifying your strengths and working to get better from it. That’s what we do. Those are the things you think about. Every team’s a little different. Every message could be a little bit different based off of where you are or where the team is. I think where confidence comes from is your process and the things that you go through on a weekly basis, the things that you can control on a weekly basis to put yourself in the best position to succeed. Confidence also comes from past experiences and knowing that you’ve been there, you’ve done these things before.
Again, the other thing that I say a lot is that adversities are going to happen. They happen for every team in the NFL. They happen for every team. They happen for every person. You think back on your old experiences, you look back at adversities that we’ve had. I’m thankful for those. Obviously, this is a new year and new things, but I’m thankful for ’23. I’m thankful for how ’24 started off because it put us in a position to do what we ultimately wanted to accomplish, our goal last year. That is a mindset that is really critical to have, that adversities that you go through make you stronger if you allow it to.
3. The Rushing Offense and the Rushing Defense
Since Kevin O’Connell took the reins in 2022, the gap between the Vikings’ success and failure on the ground has been striking. The numbers don’t necessarily prove cause and effect, but they paint a pretty clear picture: if Minnesota keeps the chains moving and commits to the run, it usually has a real shot to win. When the ground game stalls, though, the results turn upside down fast.
With O’Connell, the Vikings win 80% games when his team rushes for 80 yards or more. That win percentage dips to 40% when the box score says less than 80 rushing yards in a game.
On defense, Minnesota’s dropped just two games this season — and both tell the same story. The first came at home against the surprisingly sharp Atlanta Falcons — the same group that just embarrassed the Buffalo Bills earlier this week. Bijan Robinson, maybe the best halfback on the planet, shredded the Vikings’ defense and carried Atlanta to a decisive win.
Two weeks later in Dublin, the Steelers showed up without their RB1 Jaylen Warren — and it didn’t matter. Kenneth Gainwell ripped through Brian Flores’ defense like few expected.
The trend is simple: when Flores’ unit limits the run, the Vikings win. When it doesn’t, they don’t.
Stop Saquon Barkley, and the Vikings probably walk out 5–2.
4. The Isaiah Rodgers Revenge Game
Eagles Nation posted on X this week, “Per Ed Kracz, the Eagles prioritized re-signing CB Isaiah Rodgers in the offseason. They likely would have ‘at least’ matched the Vikings offer. However, it’s unclear that he and his management ever gave them a chance, as it leaked he had agreed to the Minnesota deal 2 days before the start of Free Agency.”
Rodgers disagreed with that account’s assessment of his free agency.
He tweeted this in response: “Lol don’t believe the media. See yall Sunday😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂.”
Rodgers will face his former employer in Week 7, one with dueling stories about his departure. If one believes Rodgers — he’s probably not lying — he may try to stick it to the Eagles because that’s what scored athletes do.
5. Trench Warfare
Minnesota-Philadelphia features some intriguing offensive and defensive line storylines.
a) The Vikings’ offensive line had fantastic personnel entering the regular season, but injuries have rocked the group. As the unit becomes healthier, can it survive the onslaught of Philadelphia’s ferocious interior defensive linemen?
b) Za’Darius Smith, a name familiar to purple fans and formerly a member of the Eagles, retired this week. Generally speaking, Philadelphia EDGE rushers are underwhelming.
c) Will Minnesota’s DTs and OLBs do enough to disrupt Philadelphia’s offensive line, usually considered one of the best in the NFL?
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