Minnesota Vikings look to learn from NFC Championship Game collapse
By Adam Carlson
Harrison Smith and the rest of the Minnesota Vikings hope to learn a lot from their massive collapse against the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game.
The stage was set during the 2017 NFL season for what could have been a Cinderella run for the Minnesota Vikings. With Super Bowl LII being at U.S. Bank Stadium and the last second heroics of the Minneapolis Miracle, the team looked destined to come out on top.
Even the NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles started great for the Vikings. Case Keenum led a 9-play, 75-yard drive ending in a Kyle Rudolph touchdown reception to open the game and caused a 3-and-out on defense.
Then, the implosion happened. The defense couldn’t contain the Eagles offense and didn’t score a single point for the remainder of the game, losing the contest by a final score of 38-7 in a disappointing and humiliating fashion.
More than 3 months have gone by since that game on January 21, 2018, but time doesn’t heal all wounds. After a game like that, there are typically two mindsets: forget about it and move on or pick it apart and try to learn from it.
Vikings safety Harrison Smith is in that second category. In a recent article on the Pioneer Press website, the defensive back discussed how the loss has impacted him and what he is going to do with the game tape.
"“If we just throw the film away, that’s doing yourself a disservice. We want to learn from the good and from the bad, and use it all to get better for the season.’’ Minnesota Vikings The Viking Age 0d - 6 biggest draft steals in Minnesota Vikings history More headlines around FanSided: 1d - Former Vikings first-round pick could reportedly return to NFC North 1d - Bears analyst has extremely embarrassing Kirk Cousins take 1d - 6 Vikings who (maybe) won't make the 53-man roster in 2023 2d - Which teams could be drafting a quarterback next year? 2d - Predicting what the Vikings will do in the 2023 NFL Draft based on 2022 More News at The Viking Age"
Of course, the Vikings had the #1 defense during the 2017 regular season, allowing only 275.9 yards per game. However those stats went out the window against the Eagles, who had their way with the struggling Minnesota team.
The addition of Sheldon Richardson and drafting of cornerback Mike Hughes to an already-stout unit should keep the Vikings at or near the top of the NFL in team defensive stats during the 2018 NFL season, but until Minnesota can get over the hump and reach the Super Bowl or bring home a Lombardi Trophy, the loss in the NFC Championship Game is going to continue to sting.
Linebacker Ben Gedeon was in his first year with the Vikings last year and was a member of the starting defensive unit during Minnesota’s collapse and is looking at the franchise’s collapse as fuel for the upcoming season.
"“When a team scores that like on a defense, a really prideful defense, we can use that to fuel us this offseason and going into next season.”"
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The Minnesota Vikings will be looking to bounce back from that devastating playoff exit during the 2018 season which will find them going head-to-head with the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 5.