On Thursday, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the sloppy Minnesota Vikings 34-28 thanks to a strong showing by D’Andre Swift.
The Philadelphia native ran for a career-high 175 rushing yards and a score in his first home game since joining the Eagles, as the team’s rushing offense consistently destroyed the Vikings’ defense.
According to NFL Research, Swift, who joined the Eagles during the summer from the Detroit Lions, became the first Eagle to rush for 175 yards and a touchdown since LeSean McCoy in 2013.
Despite starting the season with two victories, the Super Bowl runner-up from the previous year put up another less-than-stellar showing, with some instances of sloppiness appearing in an attack that was so explosive in 2022.
Swift and quarterback Jalen Hurts were able to come up with enough explosive plays for the Eagles to stave off Minnesota.
When he needed a big play, Hurts looked to his wide receiver DeVonta Smith, and he completed two passes of more than 50 yards to the third-year pass catcher. Philadelphia took a 27-7 lead after a third-quarter touchdown pass of 63 yards.
The Vikings lost four fumbles as a result of costly mistakes, and Kirk Cousins’ life was made harder by Philadelphia’s strong defensive line. Ten hits, including two sacks, were made to the Vikings quarterback.
The Vikings’ head coach, Kevin O’Connell, lamented the club’s careless mistakes after the team lost its first two games of the year.
“You lose the turnover battle 4-1 … 7-1 in turnovers lost in two games, and we’ve lost by a combined nine points to two playoff teams from a year ago,” O’Connell said.
“So clearly, I’ve gotta coach it better from a standpoint of something we talk about every single day – ball security is a major, major focus in our football philosophy, but clearly I need to do a better job.
“And our staff, we need to go back and continue to find ways to re-emphasize how important it is when you have the football in your hands playing for the Minnesota Vikings.
“Because like I said, we’re really not giving ourselves clean opportunities to win these games, the way we’ve started.”
