Blake Daniels, September 19, 2022

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The Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles both look for win no. 2 when they meet at the Lincoln Financial Field on Monday Night Football.

Minnesota had a massive game from Justin Jefferson as they upset Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in Week 1. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Eagles built an early lead and then hung on to beat the Detroit Lions in their opening week assignment. The Eagles had big games from Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown who showed great chemistry in only their first game together in Philadelphia.

Minnesota Vikings

With Justin Jefferson playing the game of his life, the Minnesota Vikings raced to a 20-0 lead against the Green Bay Packers and never looked back. Jefferson finished with a career-high 184 receiving yards with 2 TD catches as Minnesota pulled off the 23-7 upset of Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers.

Minnesota outgained Green Bay 395-338 while winning the turnover battle 2-0. The Vikings also had four sacks against only one for the Packers. Meanwhile, the Minnesota defense limited Rodgers to only 195 passing yards without a TD pass and with one interception. Kirk Cousins had an effective game completing 23 of 32 passes for 277 passing yards with two TDs and zero interceptions.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles are the favorites in the NFC East and with Dak Prescott going down in Dallas, Philadelphia looks in good shape early on. The Eagles improved their roster around Jalen Hurts and it showed last week. The game, however, turned from a blowout into a 3-point win for the Eagles as their defense allowed the Detroit Lions two scores in the final period. Still, it was a solid performance.

Philadelphia gained a total of 455 offensive yards while allowing 386. Jalen Hurts passed for 243 yards but did not have a TD pass during the game. He however rushed for 90 yards and had one rushing touchdown as the Eagles racked up a massive 216 yards on the ground. A.J. Brown had a huge game with 10 catches for 155 yards.

Who Wins?

The Vikings are 4-6 SU in their last 10 games played against the Eagles. Minnesota is 3-7 SU in their last 10 games played on the road against Philadelphia.

The Vikings are:

• 6-4 SU in their last 10 games played overall.
• 4-6 SU in their last 10 games played on the road.
• 5-2 SU in their last 7 games played against the NFC East Division.
• 1-6 SU in their last seven September games.

The Eagles are:

• 6-3 SU in their last 9 games played.
• 3-1 SU in their last four games played at home.
• 0-5 SU in their last 5 Week 2 games.
• 9-4 SU in their last 13 Monday games.

Minnesota gained nearly 400 yards against Green Bay without committing a turnover. Justin Jefferson caught 9 passes for a career-high 184 receiving yards with 2 TD grabs. Jefferson became only the second player since 2015 to catch at least 90 yards from both the slot (91) and outside (93). Dalvin Cook contributed 108 yards from scrimmage while Kirk Cousins passed for 277 yards and was sacked only once during the entire game.

Cousins has a good 6-3 record against the Vikings, including games when he played for Washington. He began his career with a 0-9 record when playing on Monday Night Football before winning his most recent two, both against the Chicago Bears. Overall, Cousins has a 10-17 SU record when playing in prime time.

Meanwhile, AJ Brown had one of the best debuts in an Eagles uniform. The wide receiver caught 10 passes and tied a career-high with 155 receiving yards. Brown also broke Donte’ Stallworth’s Eagles debut record of 141 receiving yards. Jalen Hurts passed for 243 yards while rushing for another 90 yards. The two led Philly to a 17-point fourth-quarter lead which they nearly squandered. The Eagles hung on to beat the Lions 38-35.

Hurts was impressive on the ground with 90 yards on 17 rushes with one touchdown. However, he heads to this game not having faced the Vikings before. Hurts is also just 6-8-1 as a starter at home and is 0-2 SU when starting on Monday Night Football. The Philly defense took a big hit when pass rusher Derek Barnett went down with an ACL injury in last week’s game.

I like how the duo of Hurts and Brown clicked for the Eagles and if they click again on Monday, it’s going to be tough for the Minnesota Vikings to stop. If Hurts can be the same dual-threat QB on Monday night, I’m going with the Eagles.

Prediction: Philadelphia Eagles

Vikings vs Eagles ATS Prediction

The Vikings are 5-12 ATS in their last 17 games played against the Eagles. Minnesota is also 3-7 ATS in their last 10 road games against Philadelphia.

The Vikings are:

• 6-4 ATS in their last 10 games played overall.
• 5-3 ATS in their last 8 games played on the road.
• 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games in September.
• 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games following a straight-up win.
• 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games following a straight-up win of more than 14 points.
• 4-11 ATS in their last 15 games after accumulating more than 250 yards passing in their previous game.
• 4-12 ATS in their last 16 Monday games.
• 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games in Week 2.
• 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games after allowing less than 15 points in their previous game.
• 6-12 ATS in their last 18 games played against the AFC.

The Eagles are:

• 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall.
• 3-0-1 ATS in their last 4 games as a home favorite.
• 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 games after accumulating more than 150 yards rushing in their previous game.
• 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 games after allowing more than 350 total yards in their previous game.
• 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight-up win.
• 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 games on grass.
• 3-13 ATS in their last 16 games in Week 2.
• 3-14 ATS in their last 17 games in September.
• 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games after accumulating more than 350 total yards in their previous game.
• 0-5-1 ATS in their last 6 games after scoring more than 30 points in their previous game.
• 0-4 ATS in their last 4 vs. NFC.

The Vikings should be able to move the ball well here with Jefferson and Cook hooking up with

Cousins has 21 touchdowns and only six interceptions in 9 career games against the Eagles where he’s posted a 6-3 SU record.

However, the Vikings will be up against one of the most improved teams in the entire NFL. With the offensive line protecting him well, Jalen Hurts was able to have a good passing game the last time out, and that opened up the field for him to show his running attack as well.

I am not discounting the possibility of an upset here and I won’t be surprised if you go with the Vikings. But I still think that the Eagles have the better offense and they should be able to create enough points to win this game and cover the measly spread.

Prediction: Eagles -2

Vikings vs Eagles Over/Under Prediction

The total has gone under in six out of the last 10 head-to-head meetings between these two

teams. The under is also 5-1 in their last six games played in Philadelphia.

Minnesota Vikings over/under trends:

• Over is 7-3 in the Vikings’ last 10 games played overall.
• Over is 8-2 in the Vikings’ last 10 games played on the road.
• Over is 5-0 in the Vikings’ last 5 games after accumulating more than 250 yards passing in their previous game.
• Over is 4-0 in the Vikings’ last 4 games as an underdog.
• Over is 5-0 in the Vikings’ last 5 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
• Over is 5-1 in the Vikings’ last 6 games as a road underdog.
• Over is 4-1 in the Vikings’ last 5 games on grass.
• Over is 4-1 in the Vikings’ last 5 vs. a team with a winning record.
• Over is 7-2 in the Vikings’ last 9 games overall.
• Over is 6-2 in the Vikings’ last 8 vs. NFC.
• Over is 8-3 in the Vikings’ last 11 games after accumulating more than 350 total yards in their previous game.
• Over is 5-2 in the Vikings’ last 7 games after allowing less than 15 points in their previous game.
• Under is 8-3 in the Vikings’ last 11 games following a straight-up win of more than 14 points.
• Under is 17-4 in the Vikings’ last 21 games in Week 2.
• Under is 5-1 in the Vikings’ last 6 Monday games.

Philadelphia Eagles over/under trends:

• Over is 5-2 in the Eagles’ last 7 games overall.
• Over is 5-0 in the Eagles’ last 5 home games.
• Over is 5-2 in the Eagles’ last 7 games following a straight-up win.
• Over is 5-1 in the Eagles’ last 6 games after allowing more than 350 total yards in their previous game.
• Over is 5-1 in the Eagles’ last 6 home games versus a team with a winning road record.
• Over is 4-1 in the Eagles’ last 5 games after accumulating more than 150 yards rushing in their previous game.
• Over is 4-1 in the Eagles’ last 5 games as a favorite.
• Over is 11-3 in the Eagles’ last 14 games in Week 2.
• Over is 5-2 in the Eagles’ last 7 games following a straight-up win.
• Under is 7-1 in the Eagles’ last 8 games after allowing more than 150 yards rushing in their previous game.
• Under is 4-1 in the Eagles’ last 5 Monday games.
• Under is 56-24 in the Eagles’ last 80 games after scoring more than 30 points in their previous game.

There is a lot of offense on both sides here so this should be a high-scoring affair. Jefferson is coming off a huge game for the Vikings and so did A.J. Brown for the Eagles. Should the two continue to hook up with their QBs, we are going to see an aerial battle here.

Defensively, the Eagles conceded 35 points to a Detroit offense that was one of the worst in the league last season. I expect the Vikings to do the same, or even better. On the other hand, the Minnesota defense may be better but the Eagles simply have too much talent on offense to be held down in this game. I like these teams to hit the over.

Prediction: Over 47.5