By: Kylan Watson

The Philadelphia Eagles faced a hungry Minnesota Vikings team in their home opener of the 2023-24 NFL season. They were looking to rebound on the offensive side after a relatively pedestrian showing against the New England Patriots last week. Philly was able to use D’Andre Swift to run the Vikings out of Philadelphia and power them to the 34-28 victory.

The Eagles defense once again came to play as they forced the Vikings into four turnovers that the offense only scored 10-points off of. It was slow going for the offense in the first half of this contest, but in the second half they came alive. Jalen Hurts was able to find DeVonta Smith with pressure in his face for a 70-yard touchdown reception that brought the stadium to life. That play was set-up by the run game which was what the Eagles relied on during this game. They ran the ball 40-plus times tonight and only passed the ball 30-plus times because Minnesota had no answer for it and D’Andre Swift decided to show the Vikings who the heck he is. He scored one touchdown and got 175-yards on the ground. He took full advantage of being the primary ball handler for them tonight and made the argument that he should get more than two touches every game. He is an explosive playmaker that could be dynamic behind arguably the best offensive line in football. The Eagles will need to find whatever they discovered in the second half offensively and bring that dynamic to the next game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next week.

For their part the Vikings made the Eagles work for it throughout this game. They could have given up especially after turning the ball over four times but they continued to battle and scored a late game touchdown to make this game way more interesting, but the Eagles defensive line, offensive line, and ground game was just too much for Minnesota tonight. The Vikings are a dangerous and better team than their zero wins and two-losses record indicates and they will be a force to be reckoned with when they aren’t turning the ball over three-plus times a game.

The Eagles will need to put together a complete game together if they hope to beat a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that will take full advantage of any mistakes Philly makes. Additionally, they will need to attack Tampa in secondary and in the middle. If they want to get their offense off the blocks against a weakened Buccaneers squad next week, and get their third victory of the young season.