Eagles-Vikings Scouting Report

The Minnesota defense led the NFL in sacks last year, but it ranks 26th this year. It was third in the league in stopping teams on third down last year, but it is 21st this year. The New York Giants crushed the Vikings on the ground two weeks ago and Chicago riddled them through the air on Monday.

So how does this defense match up against the Eagles No. 1 ranked offense? Simply put, it doesn’t.

The Vikings played good defense early in the season, but they have been in free fall for a month. They aren’t getting a pass rush and the secondary is being torched, especially safeties Husain Abdullah and Madieu Williams. It looks like another big day for Mike Vick and receivers DeSean Jackson (22.8 yards per catch) and Jeremy Maclin (ten touchdowns).

Jared Allen leads the team with 9.5 sacks, but he was almost invisible in Monday’s 40-14 loss to Chicago. The wide-bodied tackles Pat Williams and Kevin Williams are showing their age. A defensive front that was active and disruptive in 2009 now looks slow and ordinary.

On the offensive line, Mike McGlynn has improved steadily at center and his size (6-4, 320) will allow him to hold his ground against the massive Minnesota tackles. Winston Justice is back at right tackle after sitting out last week. Left tackle Jason Peters draws the assignment of blocking Allen.

Chicago’s Jay Cutler threw touchdown passes to three different receivers against the Vikings on Monday and the Bears receivers aren’t nearly as good as Jackson, Maclin and Jason Avant. The Vikings are a Cover 2 team and they won’t change this week because a zone defense has a better chance of containing the Eagles speed.

Last week, the Giants blitzed Vick and had success for three and one-half quarters, but then he took the game over in the last eight minutes. The Giants continued to blitz, but Vick took advantage of the man-to-man coverage in the secondary, hitting big plays in the passing game. He also ran four times for 94 yards in the rally from 31-10 down.

The Vikings will try to pressure Vick with their front four and drop seven men into coverage. They want to make Vick a dink and dunker rather than the dynamic vertical passer (8.37 yards per attempt) he has been most of the season.

When the Vikings have the ball
Things have gone badly for the Viking defense, but it has been a picnic compared to what happened on offense. Injuries sidelined key players and the quarterback position is a total mess with Brett Favre and Tarvaris Jackson going down and rookie Joe Webb forced into the starting role.

Favre suffered a concussion on Monday and is unlikely to play against the Eagles. Webb is expected to start. Webb completed 15 of 26 pass attempts with two interceptions after relieving Favre in Chicago. He also ran six times for 38 yards, including a 13-yard dash for a touchdown.

The Vikings selected Webb in the sixth round of the draft as a wide receiver, but former coach Brad Childress liked Webb’s arm and moved him back to quarterback. He can run and throw but he is easily confused reading defenses. Look for Sean McDermott to come after the rookie early with the blitz and hope to force mistakes.

Last week, the Eagles did not blitz Eli Manning in the first half and he picked them apart, passing for 188 yards and three touchdowns before intermission. But in the second half, McDermott turned up the pressure and slowed the Giants offense, limiting them to two third down conversions and seven points in the final 30 minutes. He won’t wait that long to dial up the blitz this week.
The Eagles have a lot of youth on their defense as well. They have seven rookies on that side of the ball. Jamar Chaney, who had 16 tackles against the Giants, will make his second start at middle linebacker while Kurt Coleman will start in place of Nate Allen (torn patella tendon in knee) at free safety. Both Chaney and Coleman were seventh-round picks in this year’s draft.

McDermott unveiled a new look against the Giants – four linemen and seven defensive backs. The idea was to get more speed on the field. Colt Anderson who was signed as a special teams player, has taken on a bigger role in the defense. When the Eagles went to the seven-man secondary, he replaced Chaney.

Dimitri Patterson had his worst game since replacing Ellis Hobbs as the starting right cornerback. He was burned for all three touchdowns in the first half but he came back and played better in the second half.