So, too, is the task of assessing a defense that got singed downfield. Before Sunday, the Vikings had given up only six completions of 20 yards or more, the fewest in the NFL by three. The Eagles, though, nearly matched that total in one game, with Hurts hitting all five of his deep throws for 215 yards and three touchdowns, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
The Vikings hit Hurts only four times, but sacked him three times while using Blake Cashman as a spy and seeking to contain him in the pocket. The quarterback, though, wasn’t afraid to challenge the Vikings secondary, picking on Rodgers, his former teammate, for a 79-yard touchdown to Smith.
“Bad leverage, for one,” Rodgers said. “I shouldn’t have even turned [inside]. Despite that, I’ve got to make those types of tackles.”
Hurts had a clean pocket for a 26-yard TD throw to Brown that put the Eagles back up by nine with 6:35 left, as the receiver fought through contact from Byron Murphy Jr. to beat the cornerback on a post route. Then, with the Eagles in need of one more third-down pickup with the Vikings trailing by six, Hurts hit the 45-yarder to Brown.
It was the final thunderbolt on a day where the Eagles had too many of them. It meant a game the Vikings could have won, against a well-heeled NFC opponent, slipped just out of reach.
“We understand what’s going on,” Jefferson said. “We have the players out there to make the plays and do what we need to do. We just need to finish those drives, especially games like this, when we’re competing against a team that just won the Super Bowl.”