Vikings excel to take down NFC East champions Eagles (Part 1)
With everything going wrong for the Minnesota Vikings this season, it’s a good thing that they finally got some good news.
First they had to live through head coach Brad Childress being fired and replaced by Leslie Frazier. Then their star quarterback Brett Favre ended his streak of 297 consecutive regular season games, after sustaining a strained sternoclavicular joint. He
came back two weeks later and was out again with a concussion. During that time the roof of their home stadium, the Metrodome, collapsed due to heavy snow. But finally, they have a bit of good news.
They defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) East champion Philadelphia Eagles 24-14, but it wasn’t all because of rookie quarterback Joe Webb. Antoine Winfield made a great defensive play coupled with a number of errors by the Eagles’, which sealed
the victory for the 6-9 Vikings. The Vikes also had Adrian Peterson back this week, who took advantage of two extra days’ rest due to a snowstorm in Philadelphia. However there wasn’t any snow at Lincoln Financial Field on Tuesday. Crews worked around the
clock to remove 2.64 million pounds of snow in 1,300 truckloads to get the field ready for the game.
It’s probably a good thing that there was no snow, seeing as Philly fans have the tendency to throw snowballs. But Webb's performance stunned fans. Webb racked up 195 passing yards, and even ran for a touchdown in his first career game filling in for Favre.
The usually-troubled Vikings outplayed Michael Vick and the Eagles in their first Tuesday game in 64 years. Webb said after the game, "It was a big win, especially with what we have gone through. It was a long trip for us and to get a win against the Eagles,
we are trying to finish the season on a high note."
Peterson, who had been out for two weeks with a thigh injury, rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown to help the Vikings eliminate the Eagles’ chances of getting a first round bye in the playoffs. The 10-5 Eagles could have gotten a bye if they had beaten
the Vikings and the Dallas Cowboys next week, and if the Chicago Bears or Atlanta Falcons lose next week.
"We don't deserve it after that performance," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. He added, "Every phase was terrible. We didn't coach well enough. We didn't play well enough. I'm disappointed in myself. It's embarrassing."
Now the Eagles are the NFC’s number three seed, and will play against the number six seed on either 8 or 9 January at home. Their last game of the season against the ‘Boys' is meaningless, so it is highly probable that Vick and other starters will be rested,
to give the management an opportunity to see the caliber of players that they have in reserve.
Less than two weeks after coming back from a 21 point deficit in the final seven minutes of their game against the New York Giants, there was no surprise or miracle that would help Philly at the Linc. Fans didn’t even stick around to see the end of the game,
leaving even before the two-minute warning. The win makes the Vikes look like a team with the playoffs on the line, rather than one that has been eliminated and looking forward to a nice vacation before spring training. The win might even let Frazier keep
his job as permanent head coach.
Continued in part 2
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