Philadelphia Eagles-Minnesota Vikings Running Diary

(Photo courtesy of ESPN.com)

If you saw my Running Diary of The Philadelphia Eagles' Wild Sunday last week, then you saw my excitement and jubilance at the end (or middle I should say) of the Eagles/Cowboys game. Well I decided to bring it back this week for the Wildcard playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings. The only difference this week is it truly will be a running diary. I'm going to publish it early in the game, and then edit it after every few entries.

Anyway, I forgot to give you my prediction for last week's game, so I made a note to do so this week, and didn't forget. Here it is:

I'm going to take the Eagles in this one, by the score of 31-14.

The key for the Birds will be balance. Balance. It's been the most used word in Philadelphia for the past five weeks, and deservedly so. The big man, Andy Reid, needs to go to the running game again, just like they have in three of their past four victories.

The other key to victory will be pressuring Tavaris Jackson. He completes just 43 percent of his passes against the blitz. The man is like Mr. Clutch, Tony Romo. You pressure the guy, he'll panic. He'll make bad decisions, and he'll give you the ball.

Adrian Peterson shouldn't be too big a factor, even if he runs for 100+ yards.

One more key...give the ball to Correll Buckhalter. Just give it to him, and let's see what he can do.

All right, there you go. The Eagles will win 31-14. Just watch. Here goes the diary...

(Just like last week, this is long, so just shuffle through it if you don't feel like reading the whole thing.)

4:00-It's 4:00, just 30 minutes until game time! Going to be a big game, but as you read above, I have faith in the Birds.

I just want to bring up an interesting stat Pre-Game Live on Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia had. Under Andy Reid in the playoffs, if the Eagles run more than the other team, they are undefeated. Yet, when the other team runs more than the Eagles, the Birds have just one win, and that one win was the Green Bay Packers game (fourth and 26) where we barely won.

They also pointed out that under Reid in the playoffs, if the Eagles ran more than 30 times, they are undefeated, but if they ran less than 30 times, they are win less.

I'm (and a million other people) telling you folks, balance is key.

4:22-Pre-Game Live just showed a feature of Freddie Mitchell and what he's up to. Pretty interesting. He's got the buzz cut with a nice goatee. He was still complaining about not getting the ball, but seemed more civil about it...kind of. They also said he now owns a BBQ restaurant in Leighton, Florida.

4:32-Just switched it over to FOX in the midst of my studying (Arg!) to see that 24 is back in one week! Oh, and it's almost game time...

4:41-The game is finally underway! (A little later than expected though.) Enough studying for me, it's game time. Not a good start though, as Quintin Demps can only take it out to the 11th on the kick-off. Ouch.

4:43-Wow. After an incomplete pass to start the game, Westbrook is gulped up in the backfield for a two yard loss. Yet, McNabb hooks up with Kevin Curtis for a nice play to convert a third and 12 attempt. Drive is alive.

4:46-Andy Reid's sporting the grizzly beard again! Yet all is not well, as Brent Celek caught a pass on third down just shy of a first down, bringing up fourth down and a punt.

4:49-So close! Stewart Bradley rushed Tavaris Jackson up the middle, and Jackson got the ball out just before Bradley hit him. The ball floated in the air, and was almost picked off. Told you so! (even if I was the 68th person to mention pressure was key this week.)

4:54-Finally! DeSean Jackson comes up with a big return after some quiet weeks in the return game. Thought he would take it all the way there for a moment, but he only got it to the Vikings 27. Now the Eagles need to score here.

4:56-Nice to see some of the old McNabb back. He avoided a sack (twice in one play), and then maneuvered his way into just a loss of a half yard. Next play, he does the same, avoiding two chances for a sack. Keep it up Donovan.

4:59-David Akers comes onto the field for a 43-yard field goal and nails it. I would have loved to have seen a touchdown, but it's a start. 3-0 Eagles, 6:44 left in first quarter.

5:04-Peterson appears to be shaken up. He got knocked in the head by Dawkins, I can understand why he would be shaken up.

5:10-Vikings were driving into Eagles territory, but the Birds come up big when it matters, forcing the Vikes to punt.

5:14-Big run for Buckhalter. What did I tell you...keep giving the him the ball.

5:19-Akers comes up with another field goal, this time from 51 yards. 6-0 Eagles, end of first quarter.

5:24-Beautiful third down conversion for the Vikings. Great pass by Jackson to get it in to Sidney Rice (I think it was him...).

5:29-Uh-oh! This is bad. Asante Samuel is hurt. He was trying to walk off the field, and he hurt himself even more. Not good, but at least it's Jackson throwing and not Peyton.

5:31-Adrian Peterson breaks through for a 40 yard touchdown run. Not good at all. 7-6 Vikings.

5:45-Akers with another field goal. Eagles back up on top, 9-7 with 7:29 left in second.

5:49-Asante Samuel with the big interception and return for a touchdown! So much for that injury! It's not 16-7! What a HUGE play.

5:57-Vikes on the move inside the Eagles ten as we head into the two-minute warning.

6:01-Peterson scampers in for his second score of the game. Score is now 16-14. Getting close. Eagles need to score before the half to regain control.

6:06-Oh come on! What kind of a play was that? Third and one and you throw it deep? You were driving, and you do that? Then it gets picked off! Geezus.

6:09-Birds get the ball back quickly with about :25 seconds left in the half...looking for a field goal.

6:12-Almost! There was :09 left on the clock and the Eagles were at the Vikings 46, and they threw a screen pass to Westbrook. Westbrook tried to get out of bounds, but got a few feet short and time expired. That ends the half, with the score 16-14, the Eagles lead.

6:15-First half notes: Neither team is really sustaining a lot of drives, and it's pretty even thus far. Jackson is making some bad plays with some good ones sprinkled in there. McNabb also has thrown his inaccurate passes, but has managed to have a decent half. Let's just hope for better playcalling in the second half by Reid and some offensive consistency. Let's go Eagles!

6:27-Second half underway. On the kick-off, the Vikings took the ball back to just the 15 after Kyle Eckel makes a terrific tackle.

6:33-Eagles stop the driving Vikings and force a punt. Another nice job by the defense.

6:36: Eagles backed up on their own five and Westbrook runs for a loss of one. It's now third down and eleven at the four.

6:37-Complete, and first down! Jason Avant holds onto the McNabb pass for a first down! Nice play.

6:39-Celek with a nice catch for a first down. Next play, same thing as he catches another first down. This kid is really improving every game.

6:41-Nice catch by Avant, and the Eagles are now at the Vikings 38. That third down conversion at the beginning of the drive was HUGE. It set up this whole drive.

6:44-Terrible call. No way was his forward progress stopped. But either way, it was intentional grounding. So I guess it isn't a big deal...but now the Eagles are out of field goal range and will have to punt. Not good. But at least we switched field position and sent the Vikes down deep into their own end.

6:48-Nice job Chris Gocong! He stops Peterson on third down, forcing fourth down and one. Vikings will punt...and DeSean Jackson takes it to around the Vikings 40. Let's score here, boys!

6:53-Fumble by McNabb. Vikings get ball at their own 47, but more importantly, change the field position battle over to their side.

7:01-End of third quarter. Eagles for a punt by the Vikings, so the only bad thing that comes out of the fumble is that the Eagles lost their advantage with field position. After a nice play to pin the Eagles, they start their drive at the four.

7:11-Wow. McNabb hit hard, ball flies way up ten yards down field. Luckily, Hank Baskett was there, yet he dropped it. Then a Viking comes up and drops it himself. The ball then falls to the ground. Wow. That was close.

7:16-We've past the eight minute mark, and we've still got a 16-14 Eagles lead. Going to go down to the wire...

7:18-Pressure put on Jackson on third down and he throws an incompletion. Fourth down, punt is coming.

7:21-GAME OVER FELLAS! Brian Westbrook! Brian Westbrook! Westy with a 71 yard TD reception on the screen pass! Reminds me of the same exact play against Washington two years ago. What a play! Just 6:37 left in the fourth, 23-14 Eagles lead.

7:26-Vikings need to punt, giving the Eagles the ball back to run some clock. Game over.

7:31-Eagles punt, just 3:41 left on the clock. Game is over!!

7:33-Tavaris Jackson starts to fall apart under pressure as the stadium starts to empty out.

Speaking of the stadium, did they ever actually sell it out? If they didn't, that's really sad. I know about 45 percent of their season ticket holders passed on playoff tickets, but I don't know if they were able to sell out. If they did, let me know. If they didn't, still, let me know.

7:35-Fumble! Game is now definitely over! Mis-handled snap by Jackson and the Eagles recover. Onto New York we go!

7:44-Akers nails a field goal with 1:55 left on the clock to give the Eagles a 26-14 lead.

7:50-Reid's smiling in his grizzly beard. What a site. Making jokes and everything. And then Dawkins comes in and makes a typical Dawkins play. This is great!

7:51-And that's the ballgame! What a win for the Eagles!

Game notes: Good effort by the Eagles, especially the defense, who stopped the Vikes for no points in the second half. Donovan played a decent game himself, but could have played better. Play-calling wasn't great either.

Let's see...Peterson had a nice day, yet was not a big factor, just like I said. Also, they pressured Jackson and he did not have a good game, just like I said. And I said they needed some balance in the offense, and from what I saw, there was plenty of balance.

I was kind of wrong about Buckhalter, since he didn't get the ball too much, but oh well. I was pretty spot on everywhere else. Especially the score, where I was just five points off on the Eagles. I said 31-14, and the final score was 26-14. Oh well.

Overall, it was a great game and I cannot wait until next week. Bring on the Giants!