Season Rewind Vikings - Philadelphia Eagles

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by: CHRIS ZERVOUDIS

Meet Amy and Alicia

It was not the start the Eagles were looking for, but they were perfectly happy with the end result. Brian Westbrook scored a pair of second-quarter touchdowns on two consecutive drives after big stops by the defense, as the Eagles held on for their third victory of the season with a 23-16 win over the Vikings.

The Vikings marched 79 yards down the field on their opening drive to take a 7-0 lead. Minnesota's special teams followed that up with a surprise onside kick, which was recovered in Eagles' territory.

Playing in front of the home crowd, the momentum was very much in the Vikings' favor. The Eagles defense needed a stop in the worst way. Enter Trent Cole.

Cole notched his eighth sack of the season on the first play of the drive. Two plays later, cornerback Lito Sheppard's blitz forced quarterback Kelly Holcomb to commit an intentional grounding penalty. Suddenly, Minnesota was back at its own 33-yard line.

The tide had turned. Enter Westbrook.

Donovan McNabb threw a 6-yard shovel pass to Westbrook to cap off a 12-play, 93-yard drive in the second quarter. The Eagles went back to Westbrook on their next series as a four-play, 49-yard drive ended with Westbrook going over the top on a 1-yard run to give Philadelphia a 17-7 lead with 2:19 remaining in the first half.

The Eagles offense, which had struggled in the red zone all season, converted more than one opportunity in a game for only the second time in the season.

The early deficit forced the Vikings to abandon their top-ranked rushing attack led by rookie Adrian Peterson. And with the Eagles defense keyed in on the pass game, the Eagles defensive ends pinned their ears back and attacked Holcomb and later in the game, backup Brooks Bollinger. Defensive end Juqua Thomas knocked Holcomb out of the game with a neck injury after an 11-yard sack in the third quarter.

Peterson was bottled up for most of the day as a sure-tackling defensive effort limited the rookie sensation to 70 yards on 20 carries.

- CHRIS McPHERSON

70 and 3.5:

The rushing yards and average per carry the Eagles held the Vikings' Adrian Peterson to. In the previous two weeks, the eventual rookie-of-the-year had rushed for 287 yards with a 9-yard average. He would rush for a league record 296 yards with a 9.9 yards-per-carry average the following week.

9:

The season sack total for DE Trent Cole after he recorded 2 vs. the Vikings. It marked the highest sack total for an Eagle since Hugh Douglas nabbed 12.5 in 2002.

"When a team onsides you, it gives you the sense that they're desperate. They'll do anything to win the football game. It gives you the confidence to go play. We understood what they brought to the table. They gave us their best shot, but it's a 60-minute game. We played all 60 minutes."
- CB Sheldon Brown

After David Akers added on three points to give the Eagles a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter, the defense did its job. On Minnesota's next series, DE Trent Cole stopped Adrian Peterson in the backfield for a 6-yard loss and Jevon Kearse followed up with a 5-yard sack of QB Brooks Bollinger to force a punt with under four minutes remaining in the game.