It is really hard to go an entire regular season in the NFL without losing any games. The Minnesota Vikings were well aware of that fact when they started their winning streak. After five straight victories, the Philadelphia Eagles handed them their first loss by a score of 21-10 on Sunday, as reported by ESPN .
The Philadelphia Eagles have been on two streaks thus far this season. The team won their first four games before losing their last two games. Head coach Doug Pederson definitely wanted his team to turn things around. The suddenly competitive NFC East was still for the taking at this point in the season.
A big part of the reason why the Philadelphia Eagles have been doing so well this season is because of the quality play of rookie quarterback Carson Wentz. Before the season started, he was penciled in as the third string quarterback, which meant that he was unlikely to get on the field.
Zoom. #FlyEaglesFly https://t.co/HZPDU6VKuP
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 23, 2016
One of the men ahead of Carson Wentz on the depth chart was Sam Bradford, who is now with the Minnesota Vikings. Bradford has done better than expected, and the team has benefited greatly from that. All eyes were on Bradford since he was playing against his old team.
At the end of the day, neither Carson Wentz or Sam Bradford had a great game. The former threw two interceptions while the latter had one himself. Neither quarterback broke the 300-yard mark, with Wentz actually tallying 138 yards for the day. They’re both capable of much more than that.
Some may point out that the Minnesota Vikings lost their momentum because of the bye week. Having that much time off can often times cause teams to become complacent. It has gotten to the point where the timing of the bye weeks have affected the NFL season.
It also did not help the Minnesota Vikings that the Philadelphia Eagles knew exactly how to pressure their former quarterback. Sam Bradford was sacked six times during the game. He was also harassed quite a bit by the defense. Bradford came into the game without a turnover, but left the game with three of them.
Despite being a rookie, Carson Wentz showed some poise at the beginning of a very ugly first quarter that was filled with turnovers. He did not mentally take himself out of the game. Wentz remained calm and confident enough to lead the Philadelphia Eagles on scoring drives.
Since the passing game was sluggish, the Minnesota Vikings were hoping to get some help from their ground game. The running backs were solid, but not spectacular. They combined for 93 yards total rushing, with much of that coming from the tandem of Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon.
Solid, but not spectacular, was also the way to describe the running game for the Philadelphia Eagles. Their backs combined for 101 yards, with Ryan Mathews providing the bulk of that with 56 yards. The Eagles were not able to generate a single touchdown from the ground, which prevented a bigger victory.
Neither the Philadelphia Eagles, nor Minnesota Vikings were able to produce much with their passing games. They both failed to generate more than 300 yards in the air. Cordarrelle Patterson produced the only passing touchdown for the Vikings, while Dorial Green Beckham scored one for the Eagles. Both defenses did a pretty good job.
With the win, the Philadelphia Eagles are now one game behind the Dallas Cowboys, who are on a bye this week, in the NFC East. The loss should not hurt the Minnesota Vikings too badly, as they are still a game ahead of the Green Bay Packers.
[Featured Image by Rich Schultz/Getty Images]
