The Minnesota Vikings look to make their first Super Bowl appearance in 41 years as they face the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC title game.
Minnesota Vikings (14-3) at Philadelphia Eagles (14-3)
History
- Vikings head to Philadelphia for the second straight year as teams meet for the third time in five years.
- Including playoffs, Eagles are 6-2 in last eight meetings dating back to ’01, including a 21-10 win last season (Week 7) at Philadelphia (over the then 5-0 Vikings) in teams’ last meeting.
- The fourth postseason meeting between teams (Eagles, 3-0), Eagles posting 31-16 win in ‘80 NFC Divisional Playoffs and a 27-14 victory in ‘04 NFC Divisional Playoffs – both at Philadelphia – as well as a 26-14 win in ’08 NFC Wild Card Playoffs at Minnesota.
Coaches
- Vikings’ head coach Mike Zimmer: 1-1 in postseason play.
- Eagles’ head coach Doug Pederson: 1-0 in postseason play.
Postseason History
- Vikings: Making 29th overall playoff appearance (27th since the merger), 20-28 in postseason play (18-26 since the merger).
- Eagles: Making 25th overall playoff appearance (21st since the merger), 20-21 in postseason play (16-20 since the merger).
Vikings By The Numbers
- Including playoffs, won four straight games.
- Including playoffs, scored 411 points, 43 offensive TD in 17 games in ’17 (scored 327 points, 29 offensive TD in ’16).
- Have 1,957 rushing yards in 16 games (122.3 YPG) in ’17; NFL-low 1,205 rushing yards (75.3 YPG) in ’16.
- QB Case Keenum: Including playoffs, 67.1 completion percentage (289-of-431), 20 TD passes, eight INT, sacked 20 times in last 14 games (13 starts) dating back to Week 5 of ‘17.
- Including playoffs, allowed 16 TD passes in 17 games in ’17 (allowed 22 TD passes in ’16)…Including playoffs, 21 takeaways in 17 games in ‘17 (27 takeaways in ’16).
- Including playoffs, allowed 1,417 rushing yards in 17 games in ’17 (83.4 YPG); allowed 1,322 rushing yards in last 11 games of ‘16 (120.2 YPG).
Eagles By The Numbers
- 13-3, won NFC East in ’17 (7-9 in ’16).
- Scored 47 offensive TD in 16 games in ’17 (scored 32 offensive TD in ’16).
- Outscored opponents 106-48 in the first quarter in 16 games in ’17.
- 31 takeaways in 16 games in ’17 (26 takeaways in ’17).
- Scored 9 rushing TD, 38 passing TD in 16 games in ’17 (16 rushing TD, 16 passing TD in ’16).
- Scored 100-plus points in each of their four quarters in ’17.
- Allowed NFL-low 1,267 rushing yards (79.2 YPG) in 16 games in ’17; allowed 1,652 rushing yards in ’16 (103.3 YPG).
Things To Look For
It’s a clash between two of the better defenses in the league. And both the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles are being led these days by quarterbacks who were not their Week 1 starters. Both running games will also be severely tested and perhaps the offense that shows the most patience with their ground attack winds up earning a trip to the Super Bowl.
