Meaningful Vikings Victories and Spoiling Sam’s Return

By Ryan Shute, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 

The 25th overall meeting between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Minnesota Vikings will take place at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.

The Vikings have the slight lead in the series with a record of 13-12 and have won the last two meetings.

In Week 16 of the 2010 season, a blizzard came through the Delaware Valley on the day the 10-4 Eagles were scheduled to host the five-win Vikings on Sunday Night Football. All signs were pointing to the Eagles easily getting to 11 wins, enabling them to contend for a first-round bye in the season’s final week.

The snowstorm put the city into a state of emergency effective until 1 p.m. Monday afternoon. This led to the game being cancelled on Sunday and rescheduled for Tuesday, marking the first NFL game to be played on a Tuesday since 1946.

Minnesota was just simply a bad team coming into Philly and could not have been thrilled with the inconvenience of having to stick around town a few extra days to play what would be a meaningless game on their schedule. On top of that, they were down to their third string quarterback, an unknown named Joe Webb who would become a name that will live forever in Eagles infamy.

On Tuesday Night Football, Webb couldn’t be stopped by the Birds defense as he threw for 195 yards and rushed for 31 yards including a nine-yard touchdown run, leading Minnesota to a 24-14 upset win.

In the most recent matchup during Week 15 of the 2013 season, the Vikings were now playing host, but both teams were once again going in the same direction as they were three years prior.

The Eagles were looking to get their ninth win to inch their way closer to an NFC East Division title versus a Minnesota team that had just three wins to their name and a depleted roster due to many injuries.

The Vikings were surprisingly out to 27-9 thumping toward the later minutes of the third quarter, but the Eagles were able to put together two touchdown drives capped by a Nick Foles three-yard touchdown pass to Zach Ertz. The two-point conversion failed following the Ertz touchdown, but the Eagles were back in the game trailing by just five.

Minnesota running back Matt Asiata made sure there wouldn't be any further comeback and there was nothing that could prevent him from entering the end zone that day. Asiata would have three rushing touchdowns with two of them coming in the fourth.

Quarterback Matt Cassel also got the best of the Birds in the air by going 26-for-35 for 382 passing yards and two passing touchdowns.

It would turn out to be a blowout after all, as the Vikings took that one 48-30.

When it has come to playoff games, the Eagles are a perfect 3-0 against the Vikings with all three of those wins coming in years the Eagles would go on to play in the NFC Championship game and twice would go on to play in the Super Bowl.

In the 2004 Divisional Round, the Birds would be victorious by a 27-14 score.

Despite the loss of leading wide receiver Terrell Owens with a broken ankle, Donovan McNabb found seven different receivers throwing for 286 yards and three touchdowns, making the offense look like it didn’t miss a beat in Owens' absence.

But the highlight of the game came on a second quarter play, in which L.J. Smith had the ball knocked out of his arms by Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield close to the goal line in Minnesota territory. What looked like a disaster turned out to be a magical play as the football would float in the air and end up in the hands of Freddie Mitchell in the end zone for an Eagles touchdown.

The Eagles would start their 2008 playoff season in Minnesota, entering as a wild card against the NFC North Champs.

The Birds entered the fourth quarter with a 16-14 lead in what was a very tight game through three quarters. McNabb would hook up with teammate Brian Westbrook to break the game wide open with 6:37 left for a 71-yard touchdown. The Eagles would go on to end the Vikings year and the final score would be 26-14.

Former quarterback Sam Bradford will be coming back to Philadelphia this week for the first time as a member of the Minnesota Vikings. The Eagles as a team have fared very well in games which a high profile player re-enters the Linc in a different uniform, with most of the returnees not performing at the highest of levels.