4 Bold Predictions: Minnesota Vikings vs. Philadelphia Eagles – Week 5

The Vikings’ defense gets their act together

Since he arrived in 2014, head coach Mike Zimmer has molded Minnesota’s pass defense into one of the NFL’s absolute best. However, that was not the case last week during the Vikings’ matchup with the Los Angeles Rams.

The Rams torched Minnesota’s secondary and threw for a total of 465 yards. Before last week, the Vikings’ had never given up more than 385 passing yards to an opponent since Zimmer became their head coach.

Thanks to their game against Los Angeles being on a Thursday, Minnesota and their head coach have had a few extra days to prepare for the Eagles and sort out some of their problems on defense. The Vikings are actually 3-1 all-time under Zimmer in matchups that come after playing in a Thursday game the week before.

Given how embarrassing the loss to Philadelphia was in last season’s NFC Championship also, Minnesota’s head coach has likely been preparing for this weekend’s game for a lot longer than last Thursday.

Against the Eagles on Sunday, expect the Vikings’ defense to resemble what everyone became accustomed to from them last year and shut down Philadelphia’s offense all afternoon long.