Minnesota Vikings: at Philadelphia Eagles, Week 1
With Teddy Bridgewater’s ongoing recovery from a major knee injury and Sam Bradford going down with a knee issue of his own after Week 1, the Vikings were down to Case Keenum at quarter in short order last year. Things went better than could have been expected though, with Keenum going 11-3 as a starter during the regular season (with a 12th win easy to credit to him when Bradford started and left early) as the Vikings reached the NFC Championship Game.
Of course it was during that conference title game where things went totally of the rails. An early pick-six by the Eagles started an avalanche the Vikings never recovered from on their way to a 38-7 drubbing.
A Vikings-Eagles 2018 Thursday night season opener seems ideal, and that’s apparently exactly what’s going to happen. Minnesota will have a new quarterback, with Keenum gone to the Denver Broncos in free agency and Kirk Cousins signed to replace him. Cousins is obviously a very familiar face to the Eagles, having been the Washington Redskins’ starter for the last three full seasons, so that’s an added layer to the immediate rematch of the NFC finalists.
For the Vikings to reach what will now be Super Bowl expectations from fans, beating the Eagles is the first hurdle. The immediate stakes won’t be as high in a Week 1 game, but a measure of revenge can be had if Minnesota can leave Philadelphia with a season-opening win.