Also this season there is not the first Super Bowl in your own stadium! The Philadelphia Eagles finish the dream of a home game for the Minnesota Vikings – Philly beats the Vikings at home in the NFC Championship Game with 38:7. The Eagles are already laying an impressive foundation in the first half and Minnesota did not have access to the game in the second half.
The Eagles had a very bad start to the game. Drops, lack of concentration offensively and in the special team as well as a serious coverage bust, which enabled a touchdown pass from Case Keenum (28/48,271 YDS, TD, 2 INT) to Kyle Rudolph – the hosts were extremely nervous in the first few minutes of the game. But this changed abruptly, the defense had the wake-up call ready: A pick six by Patrick Robinson, when Keenum threw under pressure in coverage, marked the early turning point.
Afterwards, Minnesota’s offense was on hold. The Vikings shimmyed from punt to punt, the offensive line simply could not stand up to Philadelphia’s front. And the Eagles-Offense on the other side found its rhythm. Nick Foles (26/33,352 YDS, 3 TD) felt constantly more comfortable, LeGarrette Blount finished a 12 play drive with the short touchdown run. When Stefon Diggs finally carried the Vikings-Offense deep into the Eagles half again, a striped bag through Derek Barnett provided the next turnover.
Jeffery caught Newman with the Double-Move and was completely free to the 53-yard touchdown. The Field Goal drive seconds before the half-time break was the crown on a dominant first half. And it went on exactly the same way: The Vikings, who had to get along without Xavier Rhodes and Andrew Sendejo from the second half onwards, had defensively no answers for Philadelphia’s brilliant passing design and with the 41 yard flea flicker touchdown to Torrey Smith on the first drive of the third quarter, the Eagles already made a preliminary decision.
Though Minnesota – who then also lost Center Pat Elflein due to injury – was again in position with some good placements from McKinnon, at 4th&Goal Thielen could not control a potentially spectacular catch in the final zone. And so the game was finally out of reach. Foles conducted another impressive drive, at 3rd&Goal he found Jeffery to touchdown. The Eagles are in the Super Bowl, where the New England Patriots are waiting.
Philadelphia Eagles – Minnesota Vikings 38:7 (7:7,17:0,7:0,7:0,7:0) BOXSCORE
What looked so good in the beginning from Viking’s point of view quickly turned into a nightmare – one of the main reasons for this was the way Philadelphia turned the game around: The Pick Six provided the equalization and after a shaky start, the strip sack prevented allegedly safe Vikings points and paved the way for the long touchdown pass to Jeffery.
A central question in the run-up to the game was: Which defensive front would be more difficult for the opposing quarterback? The answer was quickly found in the course of the first half. Minnesota produced significantly less pressure and was much more susceptible in the run defense against Philadelphia’s power backs than they were used to from the Vikes Defense – a merit of the best offensive line in the playoffs.
The first half of last week’s match against Atlanta was largely disastrous, but Foles then increased in the course of the match – and against the Vikings he worked like a different quarterback. Foles found his rhythm much faster, showed some impressive downfield passes, played safely out of his pocket and constantly attacked the unexpected gaps in the Vikings defense. The Eagles will need another cream day in the Super Bowl against New England offensively, also and especially as far as the scheme is concerned – the championship game gives Eagles fans hope that this can work with the backup quarterback.
Again and again, the Eagles receivers caught Minnesota’s cornerbacks and safeties with double moves, paving the way for touchdowns. At the same time, the safeties – including Harrison Smith – were by no means as dominant in the box against the run as we know it from the Vikings Defense. Minnesota’s front had her hard work against the line, but the Secondary didn’t help much either.