***SWAMP NFC CHAMPIONSHIP - MIN @ PHI***
***MINNESOTA VIKINGS @ PHILADELPHIA EAGLES***
The second game to wrap up the Conference Championships and see who faces off against the AFC victor on the grand stage features what seems to be the team of destiny in the Minnesota Vikings as they continue their quest to be the first team in NFL history to play in a Super Bowl in their own stadium. Tonight the Vikings head into dreaded Philadelphia, to take on a very pissed off and dangerous Eagles team who is once again being disrespected due to the unfortunate hand they were dealt late in the year with their starting QB Carson Wentz going own with a season ending injury. I won't waste time getting into details here because I'm pretty sure I've done it before and it is nothing that we don't already know- Wentz was playing at an MVP level while the Eagles surged into first place in the league and stuck there throughout the season. In steps their familiar backup QB in veteran Nick Foles. Last week in the Divisional round, Philly was the first team to be a home underdog as a number 1 seed in the playoffs when they hosted the red hot Atlanta Falcons. Clearly, the reasoning there was because of not having Wentz, but the Eagles took this as major disrespect and played that way to avenge the lack of respect accordingly. Many people maybe forgot during the bye week just how good this Eagles defense was and how big of a factor they have been all year in the team's success. Admittedly, I had the Falcons which so far was my only blemish picking against the spread this postseason. Although in my defense, I did state how tough of a game it was for me and while I knew the Eagles were going to keep it close and play extremely tough, I had to side with who I thought was going to win the game with such a small number, and tonight is no different. Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz prepared a great gameplan to stifle the Falcons explosive offense and the Eagles prevailed by a final score of 15-10. While that whole 'disrespected underdog' angle is pure gold, in my opinion it is hard to duplicate back to back and match that same energy and intensity. Luckily for the Eagles, they will also have their vicious fan base to help fuel them. The Vikings on the other hand are coming off a emotional game of their own to say the least. While hosting the New Orleans Saints, they jumped out to a 17-0 lead before blowing it late in the second half where they were down 24-23 after QB Drew Brees and the Saints battled back. Minnesota fans stared more heartache and despair in the face with 10 seconds remaining on the clock when what's now being dubbed the "Minneapolis Miracle" happened - Case Keenum completed a pass down the sideline to WR Stefon Diggs and due to a bad Rookie mistake by Saints Safety Marcus Williams on a complete whiff of a tackle attempt, Diggs went for 61 yards on a first ever walk-off TD in the playoffs. Now one game away from being the first team to essentially host a home Super Bowl, only those rugged Eagles stand in their way.
The crazy thing in this game is with the QBs involved and how they've crossed paths before in the past. Vikings QB Case Keenum and Eagles QB Nick Foles are cut from the same cloth. As an undrafted QB, Keenum was picked up by the Rams as Foles' backup after the Rams traded the Eagles Sam Bradford for Nick Foles post his surge as a starting QB filling in for then-starter Michael Vick. Eventually, Foles crapped the bed as a starter in St. Louis and Keenum was handed the keys. Foles then bounced over to KC while Keenum didn't pan out either and somewhere along the line Foles came back to Philadelphia after the Eagles drafted Carson Wentz and simultaneously traded Sam Bradford to a desperate Vikings team after losing their young starter Teddy Bridgewater to a gruesome season ending injury. Keenum then made his way over to the Vikings somewhere along those lines after the Rams drafted Jared Goff with the number one overall pick, one ahead of Wentz. Now here we are, after Bradford to no surprise went down again with an injury and Bridgewater was not yet fully healthy Keenum took the reigns and ran with it, leading Minnesota to an NFC North Division title. Meanwhile Wentz goes down for the season with an injury late in the year, and Foles assumes his position as the starting QB for the Eagles once more, and now they face off in the NFC Championship just as we all predicted am I right?! I know you followed me every step of the way there! Ha, that was kind of fun to type out to be honest, and I just love that kind of weird stuff. So needless to say, we have to QBs here that are both a bit hard to gauge. Keenum has played extremely well all season long and thoroughly impressed me while winning me over along the way. I talked about in my writeup last week how I became a Keenum believer on the Thanksgiving game, where I watched him stand in a collapsing pocket and deliver strike after strike while not even flinching with an incoming hit from a defender. I said something like "wow, I was wrong- this guy can seriously play" to myself. Today will be his hardest task by far in my opinion against this scrappy Philadelphia defense. They fly to the ball and their front seven is arguably the best unit in the NFL. Behind DT Fletcher Cox, these guys are extremely physical and while I see Keenum struggling a bit here, I do like the fact that he can move and utilize his legs to escape pressure. He has really developed a nice rapport with his WR core in Diggs and Adam Thelien. Some of the passes he throws are a little to lolli-pop like in my opinion and do make me nervous, but these two guys are tremendous when it comes to going up or running under and coming down with the completion. Against these bigger Eagles CBs, I think they will be able to utilize their speed to get open. I believe the Vikings will try to establish the run and screen game early to hopefully open up things a bit for Keenum.
On the other side of the gridiron the Minnesota defense as a whole is in my opinion is the best there is in the NFL behind only the Jaguar defense. They are so solid at every level and have playmakers littered throughout. Like the Eagles, they play hard and physical. After a shaky start last week, Foles came to life in the second half against a very good Falcons defense and was able to capitalize on a ton of RPO (run-pass option) type plays where he faked the handoff to the RB and pulled the ball out last minute while delivering a strike to a WR on a short route to help the Eagles inch their way down the field. The problem with that is that now the Vikings know that is what the Birds are going to want to try and do and will be prepared for it whereas I believe it caught the Falcons a bit off guard. I also love the Vikings LB core against this aggressive 1-2 punch the Eagles have in the run game in LeGarette Blount and Jay Ajayi. I expect the Minny LBs Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks to stuff the run and make Foles beat them. Basically i expect both defenses to try to make the opposing QB beat them and that's where things get tricky here because again, these guys are hard to gauge being the journeyman backup type QBs they are, or were. We aren't used to having these type of guys in a conference championship game, 1 away from the Super Bowl. I believe if my memory serves me correctly that the only undrafted QB to win a SB was Kurt Warner, could Keenum be the next? We shall see. Honestly I can see this game going either way and while I do give the home field advantage to the Eagles knowing that the entire crowd will probably be wearing those dog masks, I do believe that the Vikings at least make it to the Super Bowl to become that first team to play in their own Stadium and I think Keenum has some sort of Angels in the Outfield type of thing going on for him all season, and at least for tonight I'm going to steer clear of that. Give me the Vikings, SKOL baby! VIKINGS-3
