Minnesota Vikings Defensive Review: Week 2 vs. Philadelphia Eagles

After an impressive performance in Week 1, the Minnesota Vikings suffered a tough road loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in a Monday night showdown.

Following a week that saw the Minnesota Vikings defense hold Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers to just seven points, there was a lot of optimism going into Week 2 against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts presented a different problem, however, as his ability to make plays with his feet was a real concern for defensive coordinator Ed Donatell and the Vikings.

Philadelphia’s offense appeared to be driving up and down the field at will and Minnesota’s defense had no answers in the first half. Hurts had 301 total yards and three touchdowns in just the first two quarters of the game.

Conservative Minnesota Vikings defense punished by Philadelphia Eagles offense

For the majority of the first half, the Vikings’ defense played soft coverage, which allowed the Eagles to make easy completions and march down the field, so Hurts went into the locker room after the second quarter having completed 85 percent of his passes.

Minnesota was so concerned about getting burned on the big play, they allowed Philadelphia to make as many short plays as they wanted.

To highlight how soft the Vikings were throughout the game, Hurts completed 17 out of his 18 pass attempts in the flat area of the defense.

Minnesota’s defense made it very easy for the Eagles to get the ball out and make the easy completions. The Vikings allowed 12.4 yards per completion on Monday, which was a significant increase from what they allowed in Week 1 against the Packers (8.7).

Although Minnesota allowed 24 points and 486 yards of total offense in the first half, they managed to stop Philadelphia from getting on the board in the second half. Vikings linebacker Jordan Hicks had an interception that put Minnesota in the red zone in the fourth quarter, but the offense failed to capitalize.

The Eagles went 7-for-13 on third down, so the Vikings struggled to get off the field even when they forced Philadelphia’s offense into 3rd-and-long situations.

Minnesota’s defense did some good things as well on Monday. They got into the backfield often with three sacks and seven tackles for loss. But they will need to be much better and a lot tighter in coverage if they want to make a playoff push this season.