Eagles believe their defense is every bit as good as Vikings' and they aren't wrong

[purplefaithful]

"We always have the mind-set every week that we are the best," Philadelphia defensive end and sacks leader Brandon Graham said.– They say stats don’t lie, but the Philadelphia Eagles aren’t buying the ones that say they’ll have the second-best defense in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game at Lincoln Financial Field.
Told that the Vikings believe they have the best defense in all the land, if not the universe and beyond, Eagles linebacker Nigel Bradham laughed, figuratively bit his tongue as most present-day athletes are taught so well to do, and said: “If they think that, that’s good for them. But we’re confident in our defense, too. And we’re ready to play this game.”
The Vikings led the league in fewest yards allowed this season (275.9). The Eagles were fourth (306.5).
The Vikings led the league in fewest points allowed (15.8). The Eagles were fourth (18.4).
The Vikings led the league in third-down percentage (25.25). The Eagles were third (32.2).
That’s an important numeric pecking order trend that the fellas in Philly don’t like hearing and seem determined to swat off the nearest sportswriter’s forehead come Sunday night.
“We always have the mind-set every week that we are the best,” defensive end and sacks leader Brandon Graham said. “I think this is a good opportunity to prove who the best defensive line is. We’re playing against the best. If we say we’re the best, we got to prove it.
“Go out there and have more intensity than their defense. Then we’ll see what happens.”
As someone who attended last year’s 21-10 Vikings loss at Philadelphia, I scratched my head a bit at the narrative that Carson Wentz’s season-ending knee injury flung the door wide open for the Vikings to reach the Super Bowl.
http://www.startribune.com/eagles-believ...470037623/

[Guest]

It is pretty even, but I give the edge to the Vikings, mostly because of their defense on third downs.

[Guest]

Random thoughts.

We've had the tougher schedule and we've won against better offenses.  But for this game, they are at home on grass. 

Comparatively, their D-Line might be better, LBs are even, our DBs are far superior.

Ultimately, Our D will be tougher against their O than their D against our O.  Low-scoring game, but we should have the advantage -- unless we give it away with untimely mistakes. 

Even though our team was better than the teams we faced in  '98 and '09, we lost because we made more mistakes than our opponents.  I believe that our team this year is too well-led and well-coached to allow that to happen again.

[Guest]

As Tice said, this is gonna be a streetfight.  i like us in a very close game as i think Case>Foles but we must contain Ajayi.  

[Guest]

They had some big defensive games 
against the likes of the Bears, 49ers, Cards & Cowboys x2
A more fair comparison would be the Rams where they needed 40+ points to win
And the D looked a lot better when they HAD their superstar QB too 

Enough talk
Bring 'em on !

[Guest]

@Bullazin said:
As Tice said, this is gonna be a streetfight.  i like us in a very close game as i think Case>Foles but we must contain Ajayi.  

Tice?  I just hope we don't go soft if we get a decent lead...that seems to be a trait of Zimmer. Just keep throwing the sink at their offense...get fucking pressure that causes mistakes and TOs. On offense play to their weakness...don't try to jam it up their throat they're too good on their d line. Get Rudy involved...he's bee mia for a while. Stop trying the corner routes on the goal line...they aren't working with Rudy.
Have  Ham in there as a distraction between run or pass on short yardage plays...he can get yds but blocks well. I like our chances if we play nearly mistake free. Also get your damn cleats right, no excuse to say 'GRASS" these guys have played on grass their whole damn lives.