Eagles need to take care of business against visiting Vikings

Stubborn, arrogant, too loyal to “his guys”? Those are a few of the reactions to Eagles DC Jim Schwartz’ decision to stick with essentially the same personnel groupings he used last week in the secondary, with the one concession being that Avonte Maddox will see more snaps at deep safety.

My thought on the matter is Schwartz has earned the right to remain stubborn, as he truly believes his unit simply has to clean up a few issues here and there. Who am I to disagree? He says the talent is good enough and positioned well enough. He says it will get better. His Super Bowl ring says so, too.

On offense, the Eagles will make one significant change—Nelson Agholor will move back to the slot receiver position in which he thrived last season. Jordan Matthews will be moved to outside receiver.

The Minnesota Vikings (1-2-1) loom as the next test for the 2-2 Eagles. Like the Eagles, the Vikings are still in process of figuring out just who they really are this year.

On offense, quarterback Kirk Cousins gets the ball out of his hands quickly and into the possession of talented receivers like Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen, and Laquon Treadwell, along with tight end Kyle Rudolph. Running back Dalvin Cook is a dangerous player in the open field. The Minnesota defense is essentially the same vaunted group which ranked so high last season before stumbling to the Eagles in the NFC Championship game. So why are the Vikings sitting at 1-2-1?

Basically the Vikes and the Eagles right now are suffering from the same problem on offense—red zone scoring, or lack thereof. For example, in last week’s loss to the Titans, the Eagles were one-for-four in the red zone. That kind of scoring inefficiency has been a recurring theme for both the Eagles and the Vikings through their first four games.

The Vikings defense has allowed 110 points through the first four games. That’s about 40 more than Mike Zimmer had planned for!

The Vikings also share offensive line problems with the Eagles, giving up far too many pressures and sacks, failing to open up consistent running lanes, getting called for too many penalties—the results being drive-killers at crucial times. Both teams have been looking at way too many 3rd-and-10-and-longer situations on offense all year so far.

Still, the Vikings passing attack ranks fifth in yards per game (327.3) and first in passing attempts (189). Conversely, the Vikings are last in rushing attempts (73) and rushing yards (252), plus they are the only team without a rushing touchdown in 2018.

Interesting that the Eagles boast the NFL’s No. 1 rushing defense, and enter the game allowing only 63.8 yards per game on the ground…but that’s becoming a less relevant statistic as the entire league (and the Vikings) have become so pass-happy.
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