With the NFC Championship game featuring two outstanding rushing defenses, it will be up to the quarterbacks of the Philadelphia Eagles and the Minnesota Vikings to determine who advances to the Super Bowl.
The Philadelphia Eagles will once again be a home-team underdog as the Minnesota Vikings come to Lincoln Financial Field for the NFC title game on Sunday.
The big question surrounding the Eagles offense is, will quarterback Nick Foles be able to do enough offensively to get them to their third Super Bowl in franchise history?
He’s facing a very good Vikings defense, and a performance like the one he had against the Falcons won’t be good enough this time around to advance to the Super Bowl in Minneapolis.
Although he didn’t have a costly giveaway, Foles was far from impressive against the Falcons as he passed for 246 yards, and completed 23 of 30 passes, none of them for a touchdown.
Truth is, the Eagles have tried to keep things simple for Foles so far in the postseason. His average pass has been three yards shorter than in the regular season (4.9 vs 7.9) and he’s been getting rid of the ball a little more quickly and as a result, he’s completed 77 percent of his passes (in the regular season that number was 56 percent).
Well, that must end against Minnesota, because that sort of passing will simply not be enough to beat the Vikings. The Vikings defense is also really good against the run as they trail only the Eagles in total rushing yards allowed (1,337) and rushing yards allowed per game (83.6).
Because of that, Foles will have to do a lot more offensively for the Eagles in this game to advance to the Super Bowl. The Vikings won’t be held to a low double-digit score. Foles will need to take risks against the Vikings defense and the success of his performance will determine the fate of the Eagles in this game.
He can’t be throwing short passes and mid-range slants all the game long to extend the plays. If the Eagles are to reach Super Bowl LII, Foles will have to extend the plays downfield, make some risky and deep throws to get some big chunks of yardage to get the all-important touchdowns against the Vikings secondary.
That’s why the Foles will have to target Alshon Jeffery, his number-one target, frequently. Jeffery is a big help for Foles because he doesn’t have to be perfect in his throws. He’s a big wide receiver that will find a way to get to the ball if it’s thrown anywhere within his reach.
The problem is that he will most likely be covered by Xavier Rhodes, who is one of the most dominant corners in the league this season.
Minnesota quarterback Case Keenum on the other hand has been impressive (22 TDs, 7 interceptions) this season as he’s led his team to an 11-3 record. He will be trying to take the Vikings to Super Bowl Sunday, where they haven’t been since January 1977.
Keenum will try to become the first Vikings quarterback to win a conference championship game since Frank Tankerton, who went 3-0 in conference title games and last won in 1976.
Since then, five Minnesota QBs have failed to lead the team to the Super Bowl and to break that trend Keenum will need to remain as solid and steady as he’s been until now. He must avoid being overwhelmed by the moment and just continue to be himself.
But for the Vikings to win this game the running game will have to be big for them. They can’t throw the ball 30 or 40 times downfield and it will be interesting how they will go to get it done inside against the Eagles great rushing defense.
This is a unit that ranked first in the regular season in total rushing yards allowed (1,267) and rushing yards allowed per game (79.2).
In the middle is going to be really hard for the Vikings to get anything going because the Eagles unit has great linebackers and is anchored by Fletcher Cox, who is one of the best at beating double teams and will absolutely destroy defenders if he’s single blocked.
The Vikings will have to attack them on the edges using flip plays, crack toss sweeps and other trick plays to combat those up the field defensive ends that will play the run on the way to the quarterback.
Prediction: Since it will be tough to run on both of these offenses it will be up to the most successful passer to lead his team to the Super Bowl. In that case, expect the Vikings to advance as Keenum has already proved himself this season. He’s also shown, in last week’s “Minneapolis Miracle,” that he can guide his team to victory and won’t budge under pressure. Although Foles and the Eagles are at home he’s too inconsistent to rely on and as a result, the Eagles will probably fail to reach their third Super Bowl.
