EAGLES PLAYBOOK | SCOUTING REPORT BY PAUL DOMOWITCH EAGLES VS. VIKINGS Recent history: The Eagles lost to the Vikings at the Linc on Dec. 28, 2010, STATSGLANCE 24-14, in the “Wussy Bowl,” which was moved from Sunday to Tuesday A look at the factors driving Sunday’s game. because of a snowstorm. The series is tied, 12-12. WHO’S HOT, WHO’S NOT WHEN THE EAGLES RUN THE BALL WHEN THE VIKINGS RUN THE BALL HOT NOT The Eagles are coming off their fourth-best The Vikings’ ground game took a major hit last rushing day in franchise history (299 yards). week when went down early in LeSean McCoy reclaimed the NFL rushing their game against the Ravens with a foot injury. lead with a franchise-record 217 yards against Peterson, who is second in in rushing the Vikings. Because of the snowy track, to LeSean McCoy, hasn’t definitely been ruled out most of his running was north-south. He got of the game, but it’s unlikely he’ll play. Peterson most of those 217 yards on inside zone runs had rushed for 211 yards the week before in a win as guards Evan Mathis and Todd Herremans over the Bears and put up 146 the week before and center neutralized DTs that against the Packers. Also, backup running and . This week, back injured his hamstring late in EAGLES VIKINGS EAGLES VIKINGS in the climate-controlled Metrodome, he’ll the Baltimore game and also is questionable. If he RB LeSean . WR Jason CB Chris Cook. likely be out on the perimeter a lot more. can’t go, that leaves third-stringer , who McCoy. Broke Has made 59 Avant. Has just Has given up The Eagles’ athletic line is very good at get- has just three career carries, and fullback Jerome Steve Van of 65 field-goal four catches, 50 three ting outside and to the second level. The Felton, who has 42 carries in six NFL seasons. Buren’s fran- attempts over yards in the last passes in the Eagles have run the ball on 48.4 percent of The Eagles have done a solid job against the run. chise rushing the last two five games. last two games. their offensive plays this season. Only San They’ve held opponents to 4.0 yards per carry and record last seasons. Just Francisco and Seattle run more often. The have given up just five runs of 20 yards or more to week and one of his three Vikings have a pretty good front seven led by non-, none longer than 26 yards. reclaimed the misses this sea- NFL rushing son has been tackle Kevin Williams and end Jared Allen. EDGE: Eagles THE RUNNING GAME lead. from less than EDGE: Eagles 53 yards. WHEN THE EAGLES PASS THE BALL WHEN THE VIKINGS PASS THE BALL The Vikings own the third-worst pass defense has been cleared to play after KEY MATCHUPS in the league. They’ve already given up a missing the Baltimore game with a concussion. But league-high 29 touchdown passes and are still will start at . Cassel Eagles LT vs. Vikings DE Jared Allen: Terrific match- going against a quarterback — Nick Foles has completed just 52 percent of his passes in 1. up between one of the league’s top 4-3 ends and one of the league’s — who owns the league’s best touchdown the last two games since replacing Ponder. But he top left tackles. Advantage: Eagles percentage. He’s thrown 20 TD passes in is a decent decision-maker who doesn’t turn the Eagles WRs DeSean Jackson and Riley Cooper vs. Vikings CBs just 218 attempts. Foles finally threw his first ball over or get sacked as often as Ponder. He did 2. Chris Cook and : This matchup could get ugly if Cook last week in the snow against a good job against the Bears’ blitz 2 weeks ago, and Rhodes don’t get help from their pass rush. Advantage: Eagles the Vikings, but still leads the league in pass- completing 11 of 17 passes when they sent extra Eagles RDE vs. Vikings OT Charlie Johnson: Johnson ing with a 120.0 rating. He’s not supposed rushers. The Vikings have had just two 100-yard 3. is a fairly steady, 8-year veteran with 98 career starts. But Cox is to be particularly good at throwing the deep receiving games from their wideouts all season, playing at a level. Advantage: Eagles ball, but has completed 18 of 38 attempts of none from their big free-agent acquisition, Greg 20-plus yards for 612 yards and 13 TDs. He’s Jennings. Since their rocky start in the first four been very good in the red zone, completing 18 games, the Eagles have done a very good job LATER, SHADY of 26 passes (10 TDs) inside the 20 and also against the pass. In their last nine games, they LeSean McCoy’s big fourth quarter against the Lions shouldn’t have sur- has been productive on third down, complet- have a 71.7 opponent and have given prised anyone. He has owned the last 15 minutes throughout his career. ing 64.8 percent of his third-down passes. up just 11 touchdown passes. It is the only quarter in which he is averaging over 5 yards per carry in his career. The average length of his 11 fourth-period TDs is an amazing The emergence of Riley Cooper EDGE: Eagles and tight end Zach Ertz has given the passing 37.0 yards. game a big boost. And he is gaining nearly a full yard per carry more in the second half of

THE PASSING GAME games (5.18) than before intermission (4.24). EDGE: Eagles His career rushing breakdown by quarter: The Eagles’ coverage teams, which had been playing well most of the season, had a bad day in the Avg. TD snow against the Vikings, giving up a punt return and kickoff return for a touchdown to Jeremy Quarter Att. Yds. Avg. LG TD Length Ross. They view it as an aberration caused by the slippery conditions, but they need to play much First 267 1158 4.34 62 4 2.50 better this week against a team that features the league’s top-ranked kickoff returner (Cordarelle Patterson) and fourth-rated punt returner (Marcus Sherels). Patterson and Sherels have combined Second 272 1130 4.15 34 13 5.92 for three TD returns. Vikings kicker Blair Walsh has one of the league’s strongest and most accurate Third 279 1390 4.98 56 9 4.76 legs. He missed just three of 38 field-goal attempts last season and was 10-for-10 from 50-plus Fourth 278 1493 5.37 66 11 37.00 yards. This year, he’s 24-for-27. Just one of those three misses has been from less than 53 yards. The Eagles’ return teams have underperformed most of the season. But the Vikings’ coverage units

TEAMS aren’t very good.

SPECIAL WHERE TEAMS RANK EDGE: Even A look at where the Eagles and Vikings rank: INTANGIBLES Offense Defense The Eagles are coming off a big win that helped give them sole possession of first place in the divi- sion, and have a nationally televised, prime-time game against the Bears next week. From that Total Rushing Passing Total Rushing Passing standpoint, this game certainly has letdown potential. But the Vikings are 3-9-1 and likely will be Eagles 3 1 13 30 15 31 without their star , have a coach on the hot seat and are as close to being a stick-a- fork-in-’em team without yet being one as you’re going to see. Vikings 14 7 22 31 22 30 EDGE: Eagles WEATHER REPORT Mall of America Field is indoors. DOMOWITCH’S PREDICTION: EAGLES 41, VIKINGS 17