The Eagles have multiple primetime matchups, and the Week 2 contest against the Vikings will be the first of two Monday night appearances for one of the NFL’s biggest draws.
There will be immense talent on the field for both teams on each side of the ball, but who ultimately is the most talented roster for this matchup?
Philadelphia has made critical upgrades on defense, while new head coach Kevin O’Connell has Minnesota approaching their scheme with more innovation.
Quarterback play
Eagles Wire: Both players do many things well, and both quarterbacks beat you differently. When Kirk Cousins is on, he’ll shred you and has three of the NFL’s top offensive weapons. For Philadelphia, Hurts is the ultimate dual-threat, and you can argue that his Eagles have even more offensive weapons.
Vikings Wire: This matchup is closer than you might think but Cousins takes this. Hurts has the ability to be a true dual-threat with his excellent running ability. The ability to drive the ball down the field is not quite there. Hurts is very inconsistent getting past his first read and doesn’t have the strongest arm. Cousins is a consistently accurate passer who can spread the ball across the field to his excellent group of wide receivers led by Justin Jefferson.
Line of scrimmage
Eagles Wire: The Eagles have the NFL’s top offensive line and will look to take advantage of apparent mismatches. For the Vikings, Garrett Bradbury is solid at the center position, and Christian Darrisaw is an emerging player at left tackle.
Vikings Wire: This one is pretty easy as the Eagles have solid starters across the line. Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson are arguably the best tackle duo in the NFL. Having Landon Dickerson, Jason Kelce and Isaac Seumalo on the interior give them a starting five without a true weakness. For the Vikings, they still have a big one with Garrett Bradbury making this an easy call.
Defensive Line
Eagles Wire: Philadelphia gets the edge because they have more weapons and more natural defensive linemen. The Eagles can play a 3-4 or 4-3 look, while Minnesota plays a conventional 3-4 look, and their interior trio of Jonathan Bullard, Ross Blacklock, Harrison Phillips, and Dalvin Tomlinson simply doesn’t match up.
Vikings wire: On the interior, the Eagles are stronger with Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave and Jordan Davis being multi-faceted are a better group than Dalvin Tomlinson, Harrison Phillips and Jonathan Bullard. The Vikings get the edge because Danielle Hunter and Za’Darius Smith are quite a bit better than the edge duo of Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat. Overall, its pretty close but the Vikings take it.
injuries
Eagles Wire: The Eagles are relatively healthy, with all 53 players on the roster available to play.
Vikings Wire: After missing practice each of the prior two days, word came out officially with the final injury report that Andrew Booth Jr. would be out for Monday’s game. The one addition to the injury report was starting quarterback Patrick Peterson who was listed as missing practice with a personal issue. At this time, there is no word on whether he will miss the game but he isn’t currently listed as questionable so he should be read to roll on Monday night.
Secondary
Eagles Wire: Harrison Smith is still one of the best safeties in the NFL. Minnesota will counter Philadelphia’s passing game at cornerback with veteran Patrick Peterson and Cameron Dantzler.
Former Georgia safety Lewis Cine will make his NFL debut for the Vikings and be a player to watch. Defensive back is now a strength for Philadelphia, and they’re deep at multiple positions. The Eagles will counter the Vikings high powered passing attack with Darius Slay, James Bradbury, and Avonte Maddox at the cornerback spots with Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and Marcus Epps on the backend.
Vikings Wire: Even though Harrison Smith is the best player on either team in this group, the Eagles are really deep. Darius Slay, James Bradbury and Avonte Maddox at corner with Chauncey Gardner-Johnson on the back end give the Eagles a lot of diverse skill sets which allows them to be multiple on the back end. The Vikings have a lot of potential but guys like Cameron Dantzler and Andrew Booth Jr. need to take that next step for them to be on the level of the Eagles secondary.
Wide Receiver
Eagles Wire: Some pundits will look to give Minnesota the advantage, but after Jefferson and Thielen, there’s a clear dropoff in talent. The Eagles have a star in A.J. Brown, a budding star in DeVonta Smith, and a weapon in Quez Watkins. Advantage Philly at home.
Vikings Wire: This is a good position group for both teams. The Eagles strengthened their group by trading for A.J. Brown during the NFL draft. They also took DeVonta Smith at 10th overall last year and played at a very high level for the Eagles. The Vikings match both of those two with two players that are slightly better in Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen. K.J. Osborn is also better than Quez Watkins which helps tilt the scales.
