2018 NFL Week 5: Minnesota Vikings at Philadelphia Eagles

This was supposed to be a rematch between two of the favorites in the NFC. Instead, the matchup is between two reeling teams that are trying to find their identities in 2018.

The defending Super Bowl champion Eagles appear to have a bit of a Super Bowl hangover. They looked out of sorts for most of the preseason, and it has bled through to the opening of the regular season. Philadelphia has sputtered to a 2-2 record at the quarter mark. After inching past the Falcons in Week 1 and a surprise loss to Fitzmagic and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Week 2, the Eagles seemed to be back on track with the return of Carson Wentz and a home victory over the Colts in Week 3. The Eagles seemed to be cruising to a 3-1 record last week in Tennessee before the Titans mounted a big comeback capped by a touchdown near the end of overtime. Philadelphia had numerous chances to clinch the win, but Tennessee kept on coming up with huge third and fourth down conversions to steal the victory. The Eagles still have one of the best rosters in the league, but they definitely haven’t hit their stride through the first month of the season.

To say the Vikings have got off to a slow start is putting it kindly. Minnesota hasn’t won since the opening week of the season. Their defense that was the best in the league last year has inexplicably fallen off the map. Jared Goff had a perfect quarterback rating and the Vikings gave up 556 yards of offense to the Los Angeles Rams last Thursday. Just four days earlier, they somehow made the Buffalo Bills offense look competent in what will likely be the biggest upset of the 2018 season. Mike Zimmer’s defense hasn’t been the same since the second half of the Divisional playoffs last season, including getting 38-7’d in the NFC Championship Game.

Both teams will be looking to get back to the winning ways that were expected of them before the season; the loser of this game will be under .500 and asking a lot of questions. The stakes are high—just not in the way most of us imagined when the schedule was first announced.

This one will be on FOX in the late afternoon slot, slated for a 3:25 PM CT kickoff on Sunday. The folks in Vegas currently have the Eagles as a three point favorite. When you account for home field advantage, that basically means they believe the Vikings and Eagles are equally disappointing evenly matched.