Eagles-Vikings Week 2 Game - NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Eagles (1-0) host the Minnesota Vikings (0-1) in their home opener at Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday night.

Let’s get to the matchups:

The Eagles answer against the Vikings’ heavy blitz attack

The Eagles saw plenty of blitzing in their Week 1 win over the Patriots and will likely see even more when the Vikings’ defense, led by new DC Brian Flores, comes to the Linc on Thursday.

According to ProFootballFocus, Jalen Hurts was blitzed on 42.1% of his dropbacks in Week 1. On those 16 dropbacks, he completed 7 of 13 passes for 57 yards and a touchdown. But he was also sacked twice and there were some issues with the blitz pickup.

“I thought there were ups and downs with it,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “Again, both as coaches and in implementation, we always have to have better answers for them when things aren’t going right, and we always have to implement. It will always be those two things.

“But I thought, especially in the second half after we got out of the slump – I thought we weren’t great in that first phase of the game, but in the second half I thought we handled it better.”

Sirianni pointed out that the Eagles have been put in difficult situations themselves, saying that completing a blitz on third-and-10 is more difficult than on third-and-3. TRUE. So one of the solutions is simply to be better on early downs and avoid clear passing situations.

Flores is known for his aggressive blitz defense. His Dolphins teams have always had high blitz rates and he has brought that to Minnesota in 2023. This is a very different version of the Vikings defense than the Ed Donatell Vikings defense that Hurts tore apart in Week 2 last year. While the Vikings lost to the Bucs in Week 1, they beat Baker Mayfield on 55.3% of his dropbacks.

Lane Johnson vs. Danielle Hunter

It was a tougher Week 1 for Johnson than you might have expected. Patriots rookie Keion White had some good runs against him, which is a really good sign for the young rookie. Things don’t get any easier for Johnson in Week 2, but at least there are seven years of Hunter on tape.

Hunter, 28, has been a good player for a long time. At 6-foot-1 and weighing 220 pounds, Hunter is long and strong, which can be a deadly combination for an edge rusher. Hunter has a strong rush, but can exploit it with numerous attacks.

Hunter works mostly on the left side of the defensive line, which allows for a game-long duel against Johnson. According to PFF, only two of Hunter’s 58 snaps in Week 1 came on the right side of the defensive line. Hunter recorded two career sacks in four games against the Eagles.

Dallas Goedert against the Vikings linebackers

In the Eagles’ opening game, Goedert didn’t have a single catch and his only target came in the fourth quarter. The Patriots did everything they could to take away Goedert, but Hurts also missed him a few times. Goedert is too good not to be involved in the offense, and the Eagles know it.

“You know, sometimes it’s going to be like that – it reminds me a lot of last year against the Lions,” Sirianni said. “Smitty had no catches against the Lions last year. This year it was Dallas. We can’t play a game without getting him the football.”

After having zero catches in the opening game of 2022, DeVonta Smith was focused on the first play of the Week 2 game and finished with 7 catches for 80 yards. A similar scenario could play out for Goedert in Week 2 of the 2023 season.

If Goedert gets some matchups against the Vikings’ linebackers, he’ll see former Eagles Jordan Hicks and Ivan Pace Jr. in coverage. While former third-round pick Brian Asamoah seemed like a likely starter in 2023, he only played two defensive snaps in Week 1.

Eagles corners against Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison

The Eagles will likely be shorthanded against Cousins and the Vikings’ offense. James Bradberry is in the NFL’s concussion protocol, meaning UDFA second-rounder Josh Jobe will likely start in his place.

Arguably the best receiver in the NFL, Jefferson posted a 9-catch, 150-yard performance in the opening game. Ho hmm. But as a reminder, Darius Slay locked him up in Week 2 last year while traveling side-to-side with Jefferson. Jefferson was targeted six times with Slay in coverage and had one catch for 7 yards. Slay had 2 interceptions and a pass breakup on those 6 targets.

But even if Slay can lock up Jefferson again — and that’s really, really hard — the Vikings could still try to target Jobe. Addison was the 23rd overall pick after a strong college career split between Pittsburgh and USC. In his NFL debut, he had 4 catches for 61 yards and 1 touchdown. Not an easy match for Jobe’s first career NFL start.

Jalen Carter vs vulnerable Vikings iOL

One of the biggest stories following the Eagles’ Week 1 win over the Patriots was the dominance of their first-round pick Carter. He played 40 defensive snaps and had 8 pressing, 7 rushing and a sack. He was a monster going up against some of the Patriots’ weaker guards, but will have another beneficial matchup in Week 2.

The Vikings may be without center Garrett Bradbury (back). And right defenseman Ed Ingram is the Vikings’ OL weak spot. In the opening game, Ingram collected four pressures, two rushes, a QB hit and a sack.

Fletcher Cox (ribs) is a bit banged up but it will be interesting to see what happens when he plays. At the start of week one, Cox got in the way and gave Carter some 1-on-1 duels. As the game continued, Carter noticed someone helping him. That’s what makes this Eagles’ line so dangerous. I can’t double everyone and Cox, Jordan Davis and Milton Williams also looked very good early in the season.

Eagles LBs, safeties vs. TJ Hockenson

It was clear that the Patriots had found the weak spot in the Eagles’ defense in Week 1, right where we all expected it to be: in the middle of the field. Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki combined for 8 catches and 92 yards. The Eagles started the season with two new starting linebackers and safeties and now Nakobe Dean will be out for a few weeks and Reed Blankenship (ribs) is a bit ailing.

Enter Hockenson, who had 86 catches for 914 yards and 6 touchdowns between his time with the Lions and Vikings last season. He didn’t put up big numbers in the 2023 opener, but was targeted nine times, and that’s unlikely to change on Thursday night. There are some legitimate reasons to be concerned about the middle of the Eagles defense.