Vikings Offense Explodes For 38-20 Victory Over Eagles: Three Takeaways
That had to feel good for Stefon Diggs. And Kirk Cousins. And everyone in the Vikings organization.
Behind three touchdown connections from Cousins to Diggs, the Vikings started fast and pulled away in the second half for a 38-20 victory over the Eagles at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday.
Here are three takeaways from the victory.
1. Cousins picks apart Eagles defense
Last week against the Giants, Cousins played arguably his best game in a Vikings uniform. One week later, he managed to be even better.
Cousins completed 22 of 29 passes for 333 yards and 4 touchdowns, and of those seven incompletions, two were drops by Diggs, including one that led to Cousins' lone interception. He raised his yards per attempt from 11.3 last week to 11.5 against the Eagles. The quarterback who Eagles LB Zach Brown called the "weakest part of their offense" played a nearly flawless game. "He was pretty darned good today," Mike Zimmer said.
Afterwards, Cousins claimed he hadn't heard Brown's comments until just recently, so it wasn't a motivating factor.
“As far as former teammates, their personal opinion doesn’t matter," said Diggs, who was the primary beneficiary of Cousins' performance with 167 yards and 3 touchdowns. "I guess Kirk answered all your questions.”
Cousins showed off every aspect of his game in this one:
- He was extremely accurate, save for one deep miss to Diggs and a throw to Adam Thielen that took to long to get there. The two red-zone touchdowns were perfectly-placed balls.
- He didn't force anything or make any bad decisions, cycling through his reads and taking the checkdown when necessary.
- He hit the two deep balls to Diggs off of play-action.
- He made pinpoint throws on the run, such as the one to Bisi Johnson along the sideline.
- He stayed in the pocket when needed and delivered strikes to Diggs and Thielen over the middle.
- He even dropped a dime to Laquon Treadwell while fading backwards and to the left.
Credit goes to Diggs and company for getting open, and for the offensive line giving Cousins time to find his targets. But the majority of the praise has to go to Cousins, who had a superb day.
2. Fast start and late response were key
For the third consecutive home game, the Vikings scored a touchdown on their first offensive possession and found themselves with a 21-point lead in the first half. It's a formula that has been working perfectly. Start fast, get a lead, and the crowd can start to make life very difficult on the opposing team that is attempting to come back.
However, the Eagles are a better team than the Falcons and Raiders. They weren't going to just roll over. One of the big advantages the Vikings usually get from starting fast is that they can turn their pass rushers loose, but the Eagles' excellent offensive line only allowed two sacks all game.
Down 24-3, the Eagles responded by marching down the field and hitting running back Miles Sanders for a 32-yard touchdown on a wheel route. Zimmer admitted to having a bad defensive call on that play. Then, in the second half, Carson Wentz led two scoring drives, and all of a sudden it was a 24-20 game. You could sense some nervous energy in the building, as it was starting to feel like the Vikings had peaked too early.
"I'm sure there was a lot of doubt in the stadium, because they're a very explosive team," Zimmer said.
Then the Vikings found their mojo again. Cousins led a 9-play, 75-yard drive and an 8-play, 88-yard drive to put the game away.
"That was a key moment in the game," Cousins said. "I could feel the momentum slipping. I think it was crucial that our offense was able to grab some momentum back, move the football and get points, and then pile it on from there."
Kendricks stars in shaky defensive effort
The Vikings didn't have a great day on defense, at least by their lofty standards. They gave up 400 yards of offense, though some of that came after the game had been decided.
The one player who stood out most was Kendricks, who continued his incredible season with a monster game. He had 10 tackles, half a sack, a tackle for loss, two passes defended and a forced fumble.
"Eric is a really good football player," Zimmer said. "He understands what we're trying to do defensively, and the guys we're trying to take away and the guys we're trying to add extra coverage to."
The best linebackers seem to be around the ball on every play, and that was the case with Kendricks on Sunday. His combination of intelligence, instincts, and physical abilities make him a menacing presence and leader for this defense.
"That’s what they brought me on this team for," Kendricks said. "I like to always be around the ball."
Anthony Barr also had 10 tackles, Danielle Hunter had a big sack of Wentz, and the Vikings added two interceptions (though one was thrown by kicker Jake Elliott on an ill-advised trick play). Importantly, they only had one defensive penalty after struggling in that area in recent weeks.
There are some areas for improvement; Sanders was wide open for two big gains on wheel routes, and Jeffery had little trouble catching 10 passes. The pass rush also wasn't much of a factor.
But it was a win. The Vikings are 4-2. And that's all that matters.
