After a big week one win against division rivals Green Bay Packers, the Vikings went on the road for Monday night football against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Kevin O’Connell offense looked like a different offense Monday night compared to week one. Minnesota started the game allowing Eagles’ quarterback Jalen Hurts to look like a magician on the field. On the opening drive, Hurts ran for a few critical first downs, which resulted in him scoring the game’s first touchdown on a three-yard run to give Philadelphia an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter. 

The Kirk Cousins-led offense in the Kevin O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah era was expected to come out hot as they did against Green Bay but simply did the exact opposite. The Vikings’ first drive of the night resulted in a three and out, giving the Eagles the ball back with good field position. The Vikings’ defense returned to life on the second drive, with their pass rush dominating the Eagles’ offensive line. D.J. Wonnum shed the Eagles’ offensive lineman and sacked Jalen Hurts for an eight-yard loss to force a fourth down and long. 

The Vikings had the ball back, looking to spark some offense and put points on the scoreboard. Kirk Cousins and the rest of the offense did not look on the same page with another drive resulting in a three and out. Minnesota punted the ball back to Jalen Hurts and the Eagles’ offense while O’Connell chatted with Kirk Cousins and some of Minnesota’s outstanding receivers. On Philadelphia’s drive, the Minnesota Vikings defense was picked apart by missed tackles and busted coverages. Minnesota allowed a seven-play 82-yard drive in three minutes giving the Eagles a 14-point lead on Minnesota in the second quarter.

The Vikings were able to string together an effective drive following the Eagles’ second touchdown on the night. Kirk Cousins found tight end Irv Smith Jr. in the end zone on a two-yard pass to cut the lead in half with five minutes remaining in the first half. 

In the remaining five minutes, Minnesota again looked susceptible on defense while allowing two different scores by Philadelphia. The Eagles put together a drive consisting of seven plays for 85-yards in three minutes, regaining their 14-point lead. Minnesota had a questionable timeout in the final minute of the half when the Eagles were facing a third down and willingly were going to run out the clock. Instead, O’Connell called a timeout, which resulted in a conversion for the Eagles and put them near field goal range. After another first-down conversion, Eagles kicker Jake Elliott scored the final three points of the half, giving the Eagles a commanding 17-point lead at halftime. 

The Minnesota Vikings came out of halftime looking like they made the proper adjustments for the Eagles’ defense to try and get themselves back into the game. After a nine-play 60-yard drive Kirk Cousins threw an interception intended for Justin Jefferson in the endzone. Unfortunately, this was not the only Vikings turnover in the second half of the game. After the interception by Darius Slay, Vikings cornerback Patrick Peterson made a crucial blocked field goal to set up the Vikings on the Eagles’ side of the field again. The Vikings started their drive on Philadelphia’s 30-yard line and were unsuccessful in the scoring opportunity. Kirk Cousins threw his second interception of the game on a missed throw. The Vikings defense continued to play great in the second half of the game giving the Vikings another great scoring opportunity with an interception by Jordan Hicks. The Vikings had the ball at Philadelphia’s nine-yard line where Kirk Cousins ended up throwing his third touchdown of the game with seven minutes remaining in the game. The Vikings and Eagles both remained scoreless throughout the remainder of the game with the score ending at 24-7, resulting in the Eagles to go 2-0 and the Vikings 1-1. One University of Minnesota student Sam Dubbe said about the Vikings performance, Sam’s quote represents many Vikings fans at the University of Minnesota.