A Brief Look At Vikings/Eagles History

The long, dark tea time of the bye week has come to an end, ladies and gentlemen, and that means we can start looking forward to another week of Minnesota Vikings’ football. This week, the purple and gold take to the road to battle the Philadelphia Eagles. This is the start of a stretch that will see the Vikings play three road games in four weeks, including two against NFC East opponents.

These teams have a little bit of history, so let’s take a look back at it now, courtesy of the good folks at Pro Football Reference. The numbers we’ll be looking at, in terms of points and win streaks and that sort of thing, will account for regular season play only.

Total Games Between the Vikings and the Eagles: 25 (22 regular season, 3 post-season)

Head-to-Head Record: Vikings, 13-12 (Vikings 13-9 regular season, 0-3 post-season)

Total Vikings Points Scored, Head-to-Head: 533 (24.2 points/game)

Total Eagles Points Scored, Head-to-Head: 507 (23.0 points/game)

Longest Vikings’ Winning Streak against the Eagles: 7 (28 October 1962 - 3 December 1978, first seven games in the series)

Longest Eagles’ Winning Streak against the Vikings: 3 (twice, 19 November 1989 - 6 December 1992 and 11 November 2001 - 28 October 2007)

Most Recent Vikings’ Road Win in Series: 28 December 2010 (Final score 24-14)

Most Recent Eagles’ Home Win in Series: 20 September 2004 (Final score 27-16)

Biggest Vikings’ Road Win in Series: 21 points, 15 December 1963 (Final score 34-13)

Biggest Eagles’ Home Win in Series: 31 points, 11 November 2001 (Final score 48-17)

Current Streak: Vikings, 2 victories

The last time these two teams got together was during one of the all-time great statistical anomalies, that being Nick Foles’ 2013 season. During that season, Foles took over the starting job for Philadelphia and proceeded to put up an eye-popping ratio of 27 touchdown passes to just two interceptions. One of those two interceptions came in the Vikings/Eagles game at the Metrodome on 15 December 2013, courtesy of. . .Shaun Prater? The Vikings came into that game with a mark of 3-9-1, but they pretty well dominated the afternoon. They went into the locker room with a 17-9 halftime lead and extended it to 27-9 early in the third. After a flurry from the Eagles, Minnesota pulled away with three fourth quarter touchdowns to chalk up a 48-30 victory in the penultimate football contest at the Dome.

I think we all remember the Vikings’ last trip to Philadelphia. Crazy weather on the East Coast caused the Monday Night Football game between the two teams to be played on Tuesday night, and the Vikings were forced to start Joe Webb at quarterback after injuries to both Brett Favre and Tarvaris Jackson. Thanks to Webb’s steady play on offense, and a truly dominant performance by Antoine Winfield on defense, the Vikings pulled the upset with a 24-14 victory.

To find the last Eagles’ regular season win over Minnesota, you have to go back to 28 October 2007. Minnesota played two different quarterbacks that game, as both Brooks Bollinger and Kelly Holcomb saw action for the Vikings. The Vikings got out to an early lead on a touchdown pass from Holcomb to Visanthe Shiancoe, but it was basically downhill for the purple after that. Brian Westbrook found the end zone twice for Philadelphia and Donovan McNabb racked up 333 yards through the air in a 23-16 Eagles victory.

Hey, did you know that Sam Bradford used to play for the Eagles? He totally did! However, he’s only played against the Eagles one time, in the season opener of his second year in the league back in 2011. The game took place in St. Louis, and Bradford really didn’t do a whole lot. He completed 17-of-30 passes for 188 yards and no touchdowns. He also had a fumble returned 56 yards for a score by an Eagles’ defender. It was a long day for the rest of his teammates, too, as they took the loss that afternoon by a score of 31-13.

That’s a brief look back at the history between the Minnesota Vikings and the Philadelphia Eagles. Philly hasn’t beaten the Vikings in the regular season for nearly a decade, and hopefully the Vikings can keep that streak alive on Sunday afternoon.