The Philadelphia Eagles (4-2) are coming off a mini-bye after their surprising 34-17 loss to the New York Giants on Thursday Night Football. The additional days off provides the Eagles extra time to analyze and address the issues of the inconsistent offensive play, the rare bad game put in by the defense against the Giants and prepare for a solid Minnesota Vikings (3-2) team who is coming off their bye week.
The Eagles still hold a one game lead over Washington in the NFC East heading into Week 7 but look to avoid dropping three straight games for the first time since the nosedive near the end of the 2023 season and just the second time under Nick Sirianni.
Here are five key matchups to watch in what could be a tough battle for the Eagles.
This matchup could ultimately determine the game. Quinyon Mitchell, who left last week's game at New York with a hamstring injury in the first half, practiced throughout the week and does not carry an injury designation into Sunday's game which is a very positive sign for the Eagles.
However, hamstring injuries are pesky and if Mitchell reaggravates the injury and cannot play a full game Sunday, the Eagles will have Adoree' Jackson and Kelee Ringo playing cornerback which causes a concerning matchup against the Vikings' top two wideouts in Jefferson and Addison, both capable of putting up 100-plus yard games with ease.
Jackson and Ringo each have had their fair share of struggles this season and this would be one of the toughest matchups for the duo this season.
"We've got to settle in and find somebody out there we can rely on," Vic Fangio said on Tuesday regarding the second cornerback spot. "I think we have the guys that can do that, we've just got to get them playing better."
The two will have to be on their A-game to slow down Jefferson, who is on track to be enshrined in Canton, Ohio someday. He ranks seventh in the NFL with 449 receiving yards to go with one touchdown through the first six weeks of the season. His numbers are slightly hampered due to the quarterback play in rookie J.J. McCarthy and Carson Wentz, but "JJettas" can be a game changer regardless of who is slinging the football.
Last time the two teams met in 2023, Jefferson hauled in 11 catches for 159 yards, averaging 14.5 yards per reception. Jackson, who will most likely defend Jefferson if Mitchell is unable to play, has a 63% completion percentage allowed through five games this season allowing 11.4 yards per completion on 27 targets.
Addison is a speedster that can stretch the field and does most of his damage on deep throws down the field. He rejoined the Vikings in Week 4 after being suspended three games due to a DUI incident that occurred last year. In two games, Addison has nine catches for 155 yards, with the bulk coming in his debut in Week 3 against Pittsburgh where he racked up 114 yards on four receptions. Last season, Addison had 875 yards on 63 catches and scored nine touchdowns in 15 games. Ringo would play opposite of Jackson unless the Eagles stun everyone and put Cooper DeJean on the outside to play corner.
This will be the second time in three weeks Jalen Hurts and company will face a top tier passing defense. The Vikings enter Week 7 allowing the second-fewest yards per game (157.6) trailing only Atlanta. Minnesota also allows the third-fewest completions per game (18) and fourth-fewest yards per attempt (5.7).
It is worth noting that the Vikings have played the Bears, Falcons, Bengals, Steelers and Browns so far this season, teams who do not have top tier quarterbacks in Caleb Williams, Michael Penix Jr. Jake Browning, Aaron Rodgers and rookie Dillon Gabriel.
Against Denver in Week 5, Hurts did have success, throwing for 280 yards, his second-highest total of the season to go along with two touchdowns. He was sacked however a season-high six times in the loss.
However, the Eagles rank 29th in passing yards per game (179.2), 24th in yards per completion (9.2), while Hurts ranks 15th in completion percentage, 19th in passing yards and 23rd in success rate.
He and along with the weapons in A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert will need to be on the same page to put a full game together to come out with a victory against a Vikings secondary that features Bryon Murphy Jr. (14 career interceptions) and former Eagle Isaiah Rodgers at cornerback to go along with nickel corner back Theo Jackson, free safety Harrison Smith and strong safety Joshua Metellus who have formed a stingy secondary for Minnesota.
The Eagles need to get the running game going. It's essentially impetrative they return to some sort of semblance of last year's rushing attack so it can make the passing game flow like it did so well last season. Yet here in 2025, it has been tough sledding for the leading rusher from a season ago in Barkley and this banged up offensive line to get anything going on the ground.
Barkley is averaging 3.4 yards per carry this season, more than a full yard lower than his career average of 4.6. The running back has been met by defenders behind the line of scrimmage on 52.6% of his carries this season, the sixth-highest rate among running backs with at least 30 carries, per NextGen Stats.
That has been quelling his athleticism to rip of big gains like we saw last season when he ran for over 2,000 yards. His longest run of the season is an 18-yard burst that he had to open up the game against his former team. Perhaps he and the offensive line can gel more than what they've shown to this point against a leaky Vikings' rush defense.
Minnesota comes into this week's game allowing 132.2 yards per game which ranks 24th while the 4.5 yards they allow per carry is 22nd in the NFL.
Barkley mentioned last week that he believes the team just needs to get back to dictating what they want to do on offense.
"I think we also have to get back into that attitude, that mindset, not really giving a f--- what people are trying to do," Barkley said. "That's something that I'm looking for."
Landon Dickerson is questionable coming into this game after missing the Giants game but did participate in practice this week.
The pass rush for the Eagles this season has been nearly non-existent. Coming in with the fifth-lowest sack percentage (4.27%) and one of eight teams with less than 10 sacks on the season (9), the Eagles have a trio in Jordan Davis, Moro Ojomo and Zack Baun leading the way with two sacks each.
This could be a potential matchup where the Eagles can bump up those numbers due to Wentz' nature to hold the ball longer than most quarterbacks trying to extend plays. The Eagles sacked their former first-round pick a whopping nine times in a 2022 meeting when Wentz was under center for Washington. The Eagles defense would love to have another performance like that on Sunday.
Since taking over for an injured McCarthy, Wentz has been sacked 12 times in three games.
This will be another game where Hurts and the offense will need to show they can beat zone coverage. Minnesota's Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores has concocted his defenses to be tough to read for quarterbacks, showing multiple different looks leading up to the snap. The Vikings are also one of the heaviest zone running teams in the league, something Hurts and the Eagles have struggled with.
Per NextGen Stats, Hurts has recorded and average time to throw of 3.16 seconds when facing zone coverage this season, the longest in the NFL. Because of that, he has been getting sacked more often, 10.5% of the time to be exact which is the second-highest rate in the league.
The Vikings will look to confuse Hurts and the offensive line with zone blitzes with a defense that has recorded the second-highest blitz rate at 36.7%.
"They fly to the ball. Very well coached, great players, great front seven. I've got a lot of respect for this group," Jalen Hurts said.
