NFC Championship Game Preview: Minnesota Vikings vs. Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles’ defensive backs all expressed support for Saints safety Marcus Williams, who missed the tackle on the play. But in the meantime, here are our stud and dud predictions for the Conference Championship Games.

For the first time in history, a #1 seed was the underdog to a 6th seeded team in the divisional round when the Atlanta Falcons came to town to face the Philadelphia Eagles. Philly has the third best running game in the National Football League, though Minnesota has scored 15 touchdowns on the ground to just nine by the Eagles.

“I think they are the best defense we’ve faced this year and I think one of the reasons why is they can get pressure with four and cover with seven”, Reich said.

Who would have ever predicted that two quarterbacks former head coach Jeff Fisher worked with would battle for the NFC title?

Problematically, though, their quarterback is a person named Case Keenum, who was in due to injuries to both Sam Bradford and Teddy Bridgewater throughout the season. The fact the high-stakes game they’re attending, the NFC Championship between the Minnesota Vikings and host Philadelphia Eagles, will be quarterbacked by Case Keenum and Nick Foles. Foles connected on 11-of-15 passes but for only 101 yards. Diggs came away with a magical 61-yard touchdown to win the game and Thielen played hero on the previous drive with a 24-yard reception over shutdown corner Marshon Lattimore. “It wasn’t anything insane or out of the ordinary from what we’ve done all season, but just plays where he was comfortable”.

Keenum, originally the third string quarterback when placed on the active roster in 2013, ended up starting half of the Texans games but finished with an 0-8 record and a 78.2 passer rating. At first, Doug was going to go for it as it was 4th and short deep in Falcons territory but he chose to take the easy three points which turned out to be the game victor.

Trades in the 2015 season began to merge the careers of all three quarterbacks.

The only Diggs jersey left at the shop was one that Diggs autographed personally. Foles and Bradford quickly asked to be released/traded. Keenum was signed by the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent.

Foles started nine games in 2015 for the Rams before being benched for Keenum. Remember when that attention-seeking bozo said Doug Pederson was the least qualified head coach in National Football League history?

There were too many bumps along the way, the Eagles losing two of four fumbles, their kicker missing another PAT attempt, for the game film to be sent to Canton.

After the game, both Saints and Vikings fans were left speechless from the historic finish.

For those anxiously and impatiently long-waiting fans of one of the NFL’s most agonized franchises, the victory on Sunday was evidence that whatever curse existed in their minds might no longer be relevant. Look for the Vikings game to last nearly four hours.

Minnesota’s divisional round victory against New Orleans exercised more than just demons for long-suffering Minnesota fans. Nick did not show anyone he was capable of leading a team on a Super Bowl run in the regular season during his two starts filling in for the injured Carson Wentz. They also have a better chance of matching the coaching of Doug Pederson and his coordinators (with Mike Zimmer and his), than the group last week that included Steve Sarkisian. Foles got his wish in the summer of ’16. The Vikings are 7-to-4 to win it all – the Super Bowl is in Minnesota this year – while the Patriots are listed now at 11-to-10, which is about as close as a 1-to-1 shot as you can get.