The Odds Shark computer calls this one in favor of the Eagles, 20-19…. The Over/Under is 39.5 points.
Minnesota won its last game, 31-13 over Houston on Sunday, behind a 127-yard receiving performance from Adam Thielen at U.S. Bank Stadium. In their last game, the Eagles were Week 6 losers coming out on the wrong end of a 27-20 score against Washington.
Think of this game as a trimester exam— it pits Philadelphia’s No. 5-ranked offense, averaging 27 PPG, against a Vikings defense that ranks No. 1 this week at 12.6 PPG. The Eagles aerial game is averaging 225.2 yards per game, more than the Vikings secondary allows through the air, 209.8 YPG per game.
Defensively, the Minnesota Vikings feature the league’s No. 6-rated road run defense, allowing 84.5 yards per game. The Philadelphia Eagles, meanwhile, rank No. 6 in rushing offense at home.
I’ve been yelling a lot lately about the effect of the referee crew we have been drawing in these conference games. The apparent officiating motif has been to ignore obvious holding committed against our defensive linemen. Well, it doesn’t look like that will change too much today—
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert has a good breakdown of the referee assignments for Week 7. He notes the crew that will be working Eagles-Vikings on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field has shown one particular tendency that could work against Carson Wentz and company.
Referee: John Hussey
Average penalties/game: 18.3 | NFL rank: No. 5
Scouting report: Hussey’s crew has called 25 offensive holding penalties, second most in the league. On the other hand, it has called only 13 penalties for defensive holding, illegal contact and defensive pass interference — fewer than all but one crew. That could be a good sign for the Vikings’ secondary, which has its share of physical cover men. Cornerbacks Xavier Rhodes, Terence Newman and Trae Waynes have been called for a combined 10 penalties this season in pass defense.
The Eagles are averaging 9.8 accepted penalties per game this season, most in the NFL according to ESPN Stats & Info. They have 27 penalties over their last two games alone.
That being noted, the Eagles must avoid frustration and obvious retaliation temptations and play with sound technique. Don’t let the refs get in your head! Don’t beat yourselves.
“It’s been my message to the football team is sometimes it doesn’t really matter – there’s going to be times when you just get physically whipped and you get beat. But it’s when you beat yourself, and I felt like last week we kind of beat ourselves,” HC Doug Pederson said. “And it was a collective effort. It was all three phases, and I challenged the leadership of the football team, the veteran guys of the football team. They’re the ones that have to take ownership and kind of show the young guys how to play, how to practice, how to execute during the game.”
Translation— focus on tackling, blocking and getting your mitts on the football. Beat the Vikings with the basics. Convert on 3rd downs and score in the red zone. Trust that everything else will fall in place.
I remind myself that watching this game is supposed to be fun. I also know it’s a lot more fun when the Eagles execute the fundamentals of the sport.
The comments of our LiveFyre Bored below will guide you through this one.
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