𝕍𝕚𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤’ 𝕠𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕜𝕖𝕪 𝕒𝕕𝕧𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔼𝕒𝕘𝕝𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕂𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕟 𝕆’ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕟𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕒 𝕨𝕒𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕝𝕠𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕓𝕚𝕘 𝕨𝕒𝕪

The matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and the Philadelphia Eagles is a fascinating one on many levels.

On the defensive side of the football for the Vikings, defensive coordinator Brian Flores‘ scheme is a difficult one for Jalen Hurts to contend with. He struggles mightily against zone coverage, especially against the blitz.

On the other side of the football, the Vikings have a multitude of questions on offense. We don’t know who the starting quarterback will be as of Thursday night. J.J. McCarthy has been limited in the first two days of practice on the injury report, with Carson Wentz being a full participant. No matter who plays quarterback on Sunday, they will have a very key area of the defense to attack.

Vikings can attack Eagles’ cornerbacks

Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell has so much respect for Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio that he hired his longtime right-hand man, Ed Donatell, to run the same scheme. It didn’t work the way he imagined it would, but it wasn’t O’Connell’s fault that Donatell didn’t run the scheme in the way it was intended.

Fangio does blitz significantly more than everyone of his protegees, which is a relatively normal amount. His coverage structures are relatively simplistic in nature, but he shifts them based on the formation. Justin Jefferson is going to see a lot of that on Sunday, but the cornerback situation isn’t what you would consider good, especially on the outside.

Cooper DeJean has proven himself to be one of the league’s best nickel defenders in just his second season, and Quinyon Mitchell is growing into a shutdown cornerback on the outside, allowing a completion percentage of 48.6% on 37 targets. However, Mitchell isn’t a certainty to play on Sunday with a hamstring injury, but he was a full participant in practice on Thursday.

Where things get really interesting is who plays on the outside other than Mitchell. It’s been a struggle for the Eagles, especially when Mitchell has missed time. To put it bluntly, they have been a disaster

With Jefferson and Jordan Addison being route-running savants, taking advantage of cornerbacks who struggle on the outside is something of a specialty. Ringo is especially someone they can take advantage of, as he moves like the Titanic and cannot flip his hips quickly to save his life. They will be ready to attack multiple variations of coverage and take advantage of the Eagles’ defense en route to a win.