Week 1 is behind us. It was ugly, the Eagles won anyway, and now just a few days later, they have to take the field again. The Vikings are coming to town on Thursday night for the Eagles home opener. A team that has become a semi-rival for the Eagles ever since the Eagles beat them 38-7 in the 2017 NFC Championship game. Last year the Eagles continued that tradition by beating them 24-7. But is another blowout in the works?
Unlike the Eagles, the Vikings could not squeak out of week 1 with a win. The Bucs went into Minnesota and beat them 20-17, despite the Vikings entering the game 4.5 point favorites. That is also despite the Vikings having 127 more total yards than the Bucs. The difference maker? Turnovers. Kirk Cousins turned it over 3 times, including two fumbles and an interception. In fairness to him, he was under siege. Cousins got hit 9 times by Bucs defenders. And the Vikings run game, sans Dalvin Cook, was never able to get going.
The Eagles surprisingly enter the game as 7-point favorites. That they are favored is no shock. But being favored by a full TD, even as the home team, is a little surprising. It tells you Vegas are either very high on the Eagles or very low on the Vikings. They overachieved last season. Their defense was not good, and they were exposed in the playoffs. But they are still, they are not a team to overlook, especially on a short week. There is still talent there. Especially at WR, and on the offense in general.
So what players should we be the most concerned about? Could the Vikings give the Eagles more trouble than we are thinking?
Here are 5 Vikings players who could hurt the Eagles on Thursday night:
Kirk Cousins
I considered leaving Cousins off here. He is an enigma of a player. There is no doubt he is a talented QB. He is among the most consistent QBs in the league statistically. But there is something off about him that makes a lot of people mistrust him. Especially in Prime Time games where he is 12-20 in his career, and 7-9 since he joined the Vikings. On the road, it is even worse, with a 4-12 record in his career. And that is especially relevant here because they are playing Thursday night in Philly.
Still, he is talented enough that we can’t just look past his ability. Kirk can beat you if you don’t take him seriously. He has 30 passing TDs in 3 of his 5 seasons in Minnesota, and 4 seasons of 4000 passing yards. As already mentioned, he is throwing to two talented WRs and a talented TE who will will talk about next. The D-Line needs to make him uncomfortable, especially with James Bradberry not playing due to a concussion.
(Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
