Coming off of their dominating win in Week #1 over the Green Bay Packers the optimism was running high for the Minnesota Vikings. The new look offense had showed out and handled a good defense. The new 3-4 defensive scheme was all up in Aaron Rodgers mug. And Justin Jefferson was well on his way to an assured MVP run for the 2022 season.
All of that changed Monday night in Philadelphia.
I mean everything that went right in the first week of the season went wrong one week later. Granted, the Eagles are in fact the legitimate opponent that we thought they'd be, but with about eight different chances to get themselves back in the game the Vikings just couldn't put it together and ended up falling 24-7 on the national stage.
For Kirk Cousins it ended up being one of the worst games of his entire career. 27 for 46 passing for 221 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions...he just didn't have it, for that matter the entire team just seemed lethargic and couldn't muster up enough to show any sort of fight down the stretch.
After seeing the Eagles give up 144 yards and a touchdown last week to D'Andre Swift, Dalvin Cook was only able to muster up 17 yards on 6 carries. In fact, Kirk Cousins ended the game as the teams leading rusher with 20 yards on 2 carries.
Falling behind 24-7 at the half, the Vikings defense kept the Eagles off the scoreboard in the second half but it still never felt good. And it was after the first half where the new defensive scheme continually found themselves with open receivers roaming across the middle of the field at their leisure. The run pass option with Jalen Hurts became the weapon of choice for the Eagles who saw their quarterback run for 57 yards and 2 scores himself moving the ball up and down the field.
It was a learning experience for first year head coach Kevin O'Connell who will face his first opportunity to bounce back after a loss this week with Detroit around the corner.
"Ultimately, I put this one on me," O'Connell told KFAN after the game. "Our guys will be ready to roll this Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium."