Philadelphia Eagles

Postseason sneak peek: Vikings at Eagles

Published Jan. 18, 2018 11:46 a.m. ET

Tom Dierberger

I could be free falling out of a plane into a pool full of sharks while watching the Season 2 finale of "Stranger Things" on Netflix and still not match the amount of adrenaline pumping through my veins in the closing seconds of Minnesota's miraculous 29-24 win over New Orleans last weekend.

A buddy of mine was wearing a Fitbit watch (hey, free ad for the Timberwolves’ team partner) that measured his heart rate around 160 -- basically equivalent to running a 5k race.

I mean, c’mon, how nuts was that finish?

Stefon Diggs’ miracle grab and touchdown turned a whole state -- nah, a whole nation – of adult men and women into 12-year-old football fanatics, bouncing around in their living rooms in disbelief of what they just saw.

That’s right, the Vikings caught a break. And they advance to Level 3: the NFC Championship game to face the Philadelphia Eagles.

It’s not a sexy angle like last week’s pursuit of vengeance against the Saints – or what it could have been, had the Falcons beat Philly last week for a chance to exorcise 1999 NFC Championship demons – but it’s an intriguing matchup nonetheless.

It’s really a tale of two longtime suffering franchises, two teams starving for a world championship but instead combine for an 0-6 record in the Super Bowl.

Basically, it’s like if the Average Joe’s from "Dodgeball" met the pre-Billy Heywood Minnesota Twins from "Little Big League" in the semifinals.

Someone has to win.

Minnesota is favored by three points as of Thursday morning, meaning the city of brotherly love is embracing the underdog role -- really fitting for a town that erected a statue of the ultimate dark horse, Rocky Balboa.

Fine, be the underdog. But Philly is still going to top this week’s bitterness rankings, a list of how much beef Minnesota has with the remaining three teams in the playoffs.

VIKINGS FANS BITTERNESS RANKINGS

1. Eagles: Alshon Jeffery turned down a multiyear deal with the Vikings last offseason. Philadelphia fans think their team won the Sam Bradford trade (ok, they probably did). One time they booed Santa Claus. (Scraping the barrel for an angle here.)

2. Patriots: I haven’t decided if I don’t want anything to do with New England fans or if I want all of them to come to Minneapolis in two weeks and watch them suffer a devastating loss. I’m slowly transitioning to the latter.

3. Jaguars: Jacksonville hasn’t brought home a title since I won four consecutive Super Bowls with Fred Taylor and the Jags in Madden 2001 (yep, the one with Eddie George on the cover).

#BOLDNORTH PREDICTIONS

-- Last week, I nailed the prediction of a freeze tag celebration. I’d like to see a human pyramid in the NFC Championship, but I’ll settle for something like a mock press conference as a team celly in the end zone.

-- Kai Forbath will have a game to remember -- meaning blood pressure will once again skyrocket in Minnesota.

-- Philadelphia will put one of those underdog masks on the Rocky statue.

-- Adam Thielen montage over/under: 30 seconds. (Did you know he went to Mankato?!)

-- Sam Bradford comes out in the victory formation at the end of the game to really stick it to the Eagles. Ultimate petty move.

FINAL SCORE: Vikings 16, Eagles 10.

Bring. It. Home.