Six things that stood out in the Vikings’ head-shaking loss to Philly

The Vikings’ 28-22 loss to the Eagles (5-2) will be scrutinized over the next four days before Minnesota (3-3) faces the Chargers in Los Angeles on Thursday night, and while most of the focus will likely be on the Vikings’ 1-for-6 performance in the red zone, there are plenty of items worth discussing.

On 4th-and-1 on the opening drive of the game, the Eagles converted the tush push for a first down, but Minnesota attempted to stop with an interesting approach. In fact, they lined up Tyler Batty sideways next to Philly center Cam Jurgens, with five others pressed up against the line of scrimmage.

Minnesota’s opening possession saw Carson Wentz hit Jordan Addison for a big gain, but the ball was severely underthrown. Had Wentz hit Addison in stride, Addison would’ve easily scored a touchdown.

A few plays later, Wentz missed Addison on what FOX analyst Greg Olsen thought would’ve been a touchdown. It was a quick pass to the left, and Wentz misfired.

“If Wentz makes a better throw, that might be a touchdown,” Olsen said. “If he’s able to put that ball on the face mask of Jordan Addison, I think he walks in for a touchdown.”

Then, on 3rd-and-10 from the 19-yard line, center Blake Brandel launched a snap over Wentz’s head and it turned into a 22-yard loss. The Vikings were bailed out by Will Reichard, who hit a 59-yard field goal to cut Philly’s lead to 7-3.

If Wentz wanted the Vikings to ride the hot hand and go with him when J.J. McCarthy is healthy enough to return from his high ankle sprain, he didn’t help himself when he got lit up by Jalen Carter and threw a pick-six right to Eagles linebacker Jalyx Hunt.

Needing an answer after the pick-six put the Vikings in a 14-3 hole, a holding call on Josh Oliver put Minnesota in a 1st-and-19 situation before Wentz misfired on a quick hitter to the left. In fact, he misfired so badly that it counted as a backwards pass and a fumble for a loss of eight yards.

On 2nd-and-27, Wentz threw a duck that was picked off easily by the Eagles.

Brandel, making his second career start at center, had four brutal errors.

1. Snapped the ball over Wentz’s head for a 22-yard loss
2. Got smoked by Jalen Carter, leading to Wentz getting smashed and throwing a pick-six
3. Called for holding on 4th-and-1 to wipe out a touchdown pass from Wentz to Jalen Nailor
4. Beat for a sack on 3rd-and-5 from the 10-yard line. Vikings settled for a field goal.

You could argue that his two blown blocks caused a 14-point swing, one leading to a Philly touchdown and the other preventing Minnesota from a possible touchdown of their own.

Jalen Hurts killed the Vikings on critical third downs in the fourth quarter, including a 45-yard shot to A.J. Brown on 3rd-and-9 while holding a 28-22 lead with under two minutes left in the fourth quarter.

On the touchdown drive to give Philly a 28-19 lead earlier in the fourth quarter, Hurts bought time and threw on the run for a 13-yard strike to Brown to convert a 3rd-and-13.

He also hit Devonta Smith for 28 yards on 3rd-and-15 in the last two minutes of the third quarter. That drive ended in a missed field goal by Jake Elliott, but the conversion allowed the Eagles to kill an additional two minutes of game clock.