Thursday night football tonight : you should know about this….The Minnesota Vikings are scheduled to commence their season by visiting the Philadelphia Eagles for this week’s edition of Thursday Night Football. The Vikings experienced a disheartening 20-17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their season opener and are eager to recover in Philadelphia. In the meantime, the Eagles are striving to maintain their unbeaten record as they aim for a second consecutive Super Bowl appearance. Despite not performing at their peak, Philadelphia managed to secure a 25-20 victory against the New England Patriots in Week 1. With both teams seeking to enhance their performance from their season openers, the game at Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday night promises to be a highly competitive encounter.
How to watch
The forthcoming game shall be broadcasted on Amazon Prime and FUBO. Additionally, enthusiasts residing outside the United States may keep track of the proceedings through the NFL’s Game Pass on DAZN.
What we learned from Week 1
Eagles not soaring just yet
The Eagles entered the new season with high expectations. Under the leadership of their star quarterback, Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia secured a place in Super Bowl LVII by defeating the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football Conference (NFC) Championship game.
Although the Eagles were defeated by Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the grand finale, the young team put on an impressive display in an exhilarating match, with the team’s offense proving particularly effective.
However, in their Week 1 victory over the Patriots, the Eagles encountered difficulties in finding their rhythm. Despite a strong start, which saw Darius Slay score a 70-yard pick-6 and DeVonta Smith add another touchdown late in the first quarter, Philadelphia struggled to maintain their attacking momentum against a resilient Patriots defense. As a result, the Eagles were forced to rely on kicker Jake Elliott for the remainder of their points.
Philadelphia will be aware that they were fortunate to emerge victorious from Gillette Stadium and will need to make improvements if they are to surpass last year’s achievements.
Vikings unable to ransack the win
Following their defeat to the Buccaneers in their inaugural home game, the Vikings are now faced with a formidable challenge as they travel to Philadelphia.
Minnesota will view their 20-17 loss to Tampa Bay as a missed opportunity, as they failed to capitalize on numerous chances to establish their superiority, ultimately succumbing to a Chase McLaughlin field goal that secured victory for the Bucs.
Despite Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins’ impressive performance of 344 yards and two touchdowns, he will be disheartened by the interception that prevented his team from advancing and ultimately proved to be a costly mistake.
With the score tied at 10 and the first half drawing to a close, the Vikings found themselves in a favorable position to score a touchdown just before the interval. However, their hopes were dashed when Cousins’ pass was intercepted near the goal line.
During a press conference, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell acknowledged that while the team would have preferred to finish the drive with a touchdown, they always encourage Cousins to be aggressive and play to his instincts. Despite the turnovers and penalties that were heavily stacked against them, O’Connell praised Cousins for his overall performance in helping the team stay in the game.
Looking ahead to Week 2, Cousins will undoubtedly aim to put this setback behind him and focus on the upcoming challenges.
What to look out for?
Jefferson vs Slay
If the Vikings are to upset the odds against the Eagles, they will need to get star wide receiver Justin Jefferson involved as much as possible.
Jefferson, the reigning NFL offensive player of the year, started the season on fire. The 24-year-old had seven receptions for 138 yards in the first half against the Bucs but could only manage two more receptions for 12 yards in the second.
Now tasked with a battle against one of the league’s premier cornerbacks in Darius Slay, Jefferson will need to bounce back with a strong showing.
Jefferson will likely line up against Slay on Thursday night and, in last year’s fixture, the Eagle CB kept Jefferson quiet with a brilliant defensive display.
This could prove to be the key matchup of Thursday Night Football as the two stars do battle in Philadelphia.
Teething problems for the Eagles’ offense
Despite emerging victorious on Sunday night, the Eagles’ offensive performance did not reflect that of a team that had previously made it to the Super Bowl. The Patriots outperformed the Eagles in two crucial areas, amassing 382 total yards to Philadelphia’s 251 and securing 24 first downs to the Eagles’ 17. The Eagles’ offense appeared stagnant on multiple occasions, with the second quarter being particularly disastrous. During this period, the Eagles only managed to muster two yards on five drives, while their opponents scored two unanswered touchdowns.
Following the game, Head Coach Nick Siriani acknowledged that he could have utilized the preseason more effectively by involving more of the starting unit. “I’ll definitely re-evaluate some of the preseason stuff next year,” he said. “If I had to do it over again right now, I would have played starters one or two drives in the preseason.”
While Philadelphia star Hurts emphasized that “winning is the only thing that matters,” he also expressed frustration with his team’s inefficiency. “I think we obviously have things that we need to work on and have to be better in those situations when the ball is in my hands, and I take full accountability for that,” said the 25-year-old. “But the good thing about it is we get the opportunity to play on Thursday.”
Hurts and his teammates will be hoping to improve their offensive performance in Thursday’s primetime slot, lest the Vikings leave Philadelphia feeling victorious.