In the days leading to Sam Bradford's return to Philadelphia, the city of brotherly boos, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said that the quarterback's understanding of the Eagles offense was "overrated" by the media when it comes to gleaning something useful they could use against the Eagles.
The Eagles, on the other hand, believed their knowledge of their former starting QB _ specifically his weaknesses _ would allow them to rattle Bradford and help the Eagles knock off the NFL's lone unbeaten team.
The Eagles ended up being right, as they relied on zone blitzing _ and one specific blitz featuring rolled coverage _ to confuse Bradford in key spots.
The most glaring example came late in the second quarter when the Vikings, who squandered a pair of prime scoring opportunities in the first quarter, moved into Eagles territory again. On second-and-8, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz went to a look that had given Bradford, who was acquired in a stunning trade last month, trouble in Eagles practices.
"There was one or two looks that we know Sam didn't like," Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins said after the game. "It was based off of practicing against him and knowing some things that he couldn't pick up in camp."
On that play, the Vikings lined up with wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen to the left and a pair of tight ends on the right side of the line.
Just before the snap, Eagles safety Rodney McLeod, who was lined up across from Thielen in the slot, crept up to the line of scrimmage to blitz. Joining him in attacking the left side of the Vikings offensive line was Eagles outside linebacker Mychal Kendricks. On the other side of the line, Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham dropped in to coverage.
Without an obvious quick outlet to burn the five-man blitz, Bradford hesitated after taking the shotgun snap before cocking to throw downfield. He was a fraction of a second too late as McLeod had looped around left tackle Jake Long to knock the ball out of his throwing hand.
After recovering the loose ball at their 48-yard line, the Eagles would go kick a field goal to go up 11-3 on their way to a dominant 21-10 win.
"We knew traps would give him trouble," Eagles defensive end Connor Barwin said. "We knew when he gets pressure he likes to get the ball outside right away. And so we brought some of that pressure."
Added McLeod: "It's just a roll coverage. We blitz off the edge. You just pressure strong and roll the coverage. It was a great call by Schwartz."
Schwartz and the Eagles had blitzed just 13 times in their three previous games, according to ESPN. They sent five or more 12 times yesterday.
"The zone pressures were affecting Sam," said Jenkins, a Pro Bowl safety who also boasted after the game that the Eagles had the best defense in the NFL. "We did a good job disguising, making them all look the same."
Bradford, who in the first half coughed up his first three turnovers of his Vikings career, said that pressure didn't cause him to take more risks. Heck, on many plays he didn't even had enough time to be careless.
"Obviously we knew that they were good up front," Bradford said. "I'll have to go back and look at the tape, but we have to figure out a way [to handle pressure better]. It involves all of us. I've got to figure out a way to get it out quicker. We've got to do a better job of staying on guys."
It would be a stretch to say that the Eagles' familiarity with Bradford was the reason the Vikings lost Sunday. No, that would be the play of the offensive line. But it did help the Eagles come up with at least one key play.
"I just think that any time you know a quarterback on the other team and kind of know strengths and weakness and things like that, you just try to give him some different looks and put some pressure on him from different areas," Eagles coach Doug Pederson said. "It was a great game plan."
