National Football League

Minnesota Vikings at Philadelphia Eagles: Week 7 review and grades

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The first loss of the Minnesota Vikings season left a nasty taste in fans mouths. It also gave the media plenty to tear apart. Let’s see what went wrong in week 7.

The Minnesota Vikings came out of the bye week looking like a much different team than the Minnesota Vikings team that fans watched dismantle the Houston Texans in all 3 phases of the game, 2 short weeks earlier. If there is anything that needs to be discussed at next seasons bye week it’s that the Viking are now 1-7 the last 8 seasons coming off the bye. All things considered on the scale this Minnesota Vikings team has set for itself, that’s no excuse.

The Vikings offense and special teams definitely dropped the ball, literally and figuratively against the Eagles. It was a dismal performance. The defense on multiple occasions handed the Minnesota Vikings offense the ball, just to come back out on the field moments later. This game had more ups and downs than a mountain range.

The game itself is actually an oddity in many ways. In a manner of speaking, Minnesota had no business losing this game. The Vikings gained more first downs and more total yards, and actually the one surprising statistic is the team owned time of possession by 5 minutes. The big difference in the game was Sam Bradford was sacked 6 times, and the Minnesota Vikings were not able to gain 2 yards rushing on two consecutive plays, turning the ball over on downs.

Philadelphia tried to give us this game, lady luck and their defense were not about to let it go. Carson Wentz mishandled a couple of snaps, threw a couple picks, but the ball always seemed to, again literally and figuratively bounce back to the Eagles. The uncharacteristic fumble by Marcus Sherels on special teams coupled with the Eagles kick off return touchdown buried the Vikings. It’s hard to believe but the Eagles did to the Minnesota Vikings, exactly what the Minnesota Vikings have done to everybody else.

Let’s see how this game grades out…

November 8, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Atlanta Falcons tackle Jake Long (75) puts on his helmet before the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi

The QB Situation – Grade: C-

The hardest position to grade by far. Sam Bradford did not have a good game at all. The silver lining is it was not all his fault. Yes the early interception was a poor decision, but the receiver could have made a better play on the ball instead of waiting back. Yes he fumbled the ball, but he had Eagles swarming around him all game long. I would have liked to have seen Bradford tuck the ball and drop instead of letting the ball go, but on almost all the fumbles he was a quarter second from moving his arm forward. Lots of people are saying this game is indicative of who Sam Bradford is… I’m not buying it after only 1 bad week out of 5.

The O-Line Situation – Grade: F

The offensive line was, well, offensive. Sports writers are quick to point the blame on Jake Long, what they don’t realize is Jake Long was only out on the field for about 19 out of over 50 snaps. It was said “How can a man who had only 1 practice in pads since a serious injury play in an NFL game?”, and that sentiment rang true, but the blame can be spread down the entire offensive line. A slight pardon can be given to Center Joe Berger who Pro Football Focus actually gave a positive grade in this game.

It’s no secret now that this is the weakness for the Minnesota Vikings, Mike Zimmer called them soft, embarrassing, and had no problem letting them know that this loss was on them. No man would have wanted to be an O-Lineman for the Minnesota Vikings this week at Winter Park. Don’t look to the front office to make any splashy trade deadline move, there isn’t much left to work with and giving up another Draft pick may be mortgaging the future at the expense of the present.

Oct 9, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings safety Andrew Sendejo (34) intercepts a pass by the Houston Texans in the third quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings win 31-13. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

The Rushing Attack – Grade: C-

On any given week, the Vikings hitting 93 yards rushing would be a nice compliment to the passing attack. This week, it was 2 yards short… Not being able to get the 2 yards necessary for a first down on 2 tries is disgusting. Anybody else missing AP right about now? Those 2 plays the Minnesota Vikings didn’t look hungry enough. Again, weak offensive line play does play a role in this, but nobody stood up, nobody stood out, nobody punched back and the end result was getting beat down by, in so many ways, an inferior Philadelphia Eagles squad.

Not saying the Vikings wide receivers did anything special to help the cause, but any dynamic running game would have slowed the pressure on Bradford. The Minnesota Vikings cannot play this way again or they may see another QB go on to IR.

The Ball Hawking Defense- Grade: B

If not for a couple big penalties, the game would have felt different and the grade would have been a low A. The leagues best defense gave up only 13 points, good enough where any offense should have been able to control this game, again not last Sunday. Forcing 4 turnovers and bring an interception deep in the redzone, is usually something that happens for the WINNING team. The biggest part of this defense being a team first defense, was the players on defense not blaming the offense, but supporting them.

The ability to look past the offensive ineptitude and say that next week will be better, as opposed to pointing fingers, should scare Minnesota Vikings upcoming opponents. This loss falls not onto the defense, again they proved to be elite. Hopefully the offense does not let them become a great defense lost in a sea despair and angst. Veterans Greenway and Newman have both said they may be hanging up their cleats after this season. Let’s see the offense come out and back up this special defense and put them back in a position to control the NFC from here on out, and not leave the defense as a footnote in history books.

Oct 23, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Minnesota Vikings fan during game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Special Teams – Grade: D

Well, for one week Blair Walsh isn’t the black sheep for the Vikings special teams.

This unit looked nothing like the dominating unit that has given the Minnesota Vikings a bit of a fear factor. The 98 yard kick return touchdown that the Vikings surrendered wound up being the proverbial nail in the coffin. It changed the way that the Vikings were playing the game and the Eagles had the Vikings right where they wanted them.

Marcus Sherels gets the benefit of the doubt on his fumble, it really looked like he was trying to make big things happen, it looked he was going to bring the Vikings back into the game, it looked like he was going to be the man. But we all know how that ended up. If this Minnesota Vikings team owns any 2 phases of a game it will not lose, it cannot be owned like the Eagles did on 2 phases and have more than a fools hope of winning this game.

The Fans – Grade: ?

The grade that goes here is kind of split, the band wagon has gotten quite a bit lighter. To the fans who have already written off the Minnesota Vikings after 1 loss, you get a big F, and may the wagon roll away from you so fast you cannot jump back on! It was a hard-fought game, with a disappointing ending.

To the fans out there wearing purple and gold proudly and telling off all of the band wagon jumpers. You all deserve the A, keep shaking off all the haters. The true fans watched the whole game, have been mad all week, but never gave up the Minnesota Vikings. It was disgusting, painful, and worse than any fan could have imagined. But like they say, “On any given Sunday”, it just so happened the wasn’t the Minnesota Vikings given Sunday.

Sep 19, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) drops back to pass against the Philadelphia Eagles during the first quarter at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Overall Grade at The Eagles – Grade: D+

Who would have thought the only division in the NFL with all teams sitting above .500, would be the NFC East? NOBODY. If it makes the Vikings feel any better the Gophers were made to look like total morons, how did Minnesota boy Carson Wentz slip out of Minnesota to North Dakota? The ball was dropped by the scouts who missed him! Maybe this matchup is one that will be replayed in the playoffs. The Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks, and Arizona Cardinals share the Wall of Shame for this week. Seattle and Arizona combined for 4 field goals and a tie in a primetime matchup. Not a great NFL week…

Up Next: Da Bears

The Vikings have had their struggles at Soldier Field in recent seasons, after this last week, I do not foresee the struggles continuing. I see Mike Zimmer pulling out all the stops this week. Perhaps some wrinkles that haven’t been seen as of yet, may have to be unveiled. A second consecutive loss may give credibility to the naysayers.

Not much credibility but enough to make it hard to be a Vikings fan for another week. A win though, still will not silence the critics, considering the Bears enter the game with a 1-6 record. The Vikings for all intents and purposes actually need this win though to set the ship sailing the right direction again.

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