The Philadelphia Eagles put a beatdown on the undefeated Minnesota Vikings in week 7, but did they create a blueprint for how to beat the NFC North squad?
With a 5-0 record heading into week 7, the Minnesota Vikings were favored to beat the Philadelphia Eagles when coming off their bye week. That expectation was crushed when the Eagles beat down the Vikings 21-10 to hand them their first loss.
Losing one game out of 6 in the NFL is impressive, but it was more about how the Eagles beat the Vikings that may be even more important than a loss. Philadelphia executed in a way that may have opened things up to other opponents of Minnesota which could help them defeat the current NFC North leaders.
After the game, head coach Mike Zimmer talked about the biggest issue with this team at the moment: their offensive line. Hampered by injuries at tackle, the line was more offensive than they were protective. Here’s what Zimmer said according to the Pioneer Press:
"“They didn’t block anybody,” coach Mike Zimmer huffed about his embattled unit and blocking backs. “We were soft, got overpowered. It was a little bit of man-on-man and we got whipped.”"
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And ‘whipped’ they definitely were. Sam Bradford was hit 16 times according to ESPN’s stats and that pressure helped the Eagles defense 9 passes, intercepting one of those and causing him to fumble 4 times.
How the Minnesota Vikings can fix these issues is even tougher. The team has an empty piggy bank when it comes to free agency, so they will need to work with what they have.
"“We’re not going to go down the street and pick up a bunch of guys,” Zimmer said. “We need to get these guys better and we need to do it quickly. I’m disappointed we allowed that to happen. You know going into the game they’re going to go after Bradford. I didn’t go to Harvard but I figured that out.”"
Next: Week 7 game recap: Vikings vs Eagles
The Minnesota Vikings will need to get things figured out for week 8. Once again, the team will be on the road, but this time they will be up against division opponents in the Chicago Bears. That game will happen on Monday Night Football in prime time, so everyone will be watching to see how this team responds and if the Eagles have shown teams how to beat Minnesota.