Mattie T’s In-game blog: (Wild Card Weekend: Eagles vs. Vikings)

Minnesota has already received a huge blow on defense, as starting defensive tackle Pat Williams will be inactive today with a shoulder injury. This should result in a lot of carries for Brian Westbrook.

Eagles wide receiver Greg Lewis also got hurt during pre-game warmups, so we’ll see if Lewis is able to give it a go.

Getting close to kickoff from a noisy Metrodome!

1st quarter:

Eagles win the coin toss & will get the ball first to start the game.

Big early 3rd down completion by Donovan McNabb , as he hits Kevin Curtis across the middle of the field for a 15-yard gain & a Philadelphia first down.

Looks like Greg Lewis is good to go, as McNabb goes to him despite a doubleteam downfield & ends up throwing an incomplete pass.

McNabb hits Brent Celek for a 7-yard gain, but Celek is inches short of a 1st down. Andy Reid decides not to gamble early & sends out the punt team.

Good coverage downfield by the Eagles, as they limit the speedy Bernard Berrian to a minimal gain on the punt return.

Tavaris Jackson is hit on his first postseason pass attempt & almost ends up throwing an interception.

Eagles defense with a great read on Adrian Peterson, as they deny him from turning the corner & turned it into a negative play.

Draw play on 3rd & 11 to Chester Taylor, which is good for a first down.

Another 3rd down draw for Taylor, but it this appears to be short of a 1st down which will force a Vikings punt.

DeSean Jackson with a GREAT punt return, as he takes it 62 yards upfield & sets up Philadelphia with their 2nd possesion of the game inside the Vikings’ 30-yard line.

McNabb almost eludes the Vikings’ pass rush, but winds up getting sacked by Jared Allen on 2nd down.

David Akers is coming on for a 44-yard FG try, which is good. Eagles lead 3-0 with 6:44 left in the 1st quarter.

So far, Philadelphia is doing a great job on bottling up Adrian Peterson, who has 3 carries for no yards early on. Peterson was down for a minute on the play but just popped back up, which prompts a huge roar from the sold-out Metrodome crowd.

However, Peterson is on the bench as Minnesota’s head trainers are checking him out…but it doesn’t appear to be too serious.

Jackson just avoids throwing an interception, as Quintin Mikell just missed forcing a turnover.

Tavaris Jackson hits Bobby Wade on an 11-yard 3rd down completion, which now puts Minnesota into Philadelphia territory for the first time today.

The drive finally ends on Jackson’s incomplete 3rd down pass, which brings out the Vikings’ punt team. Will DeSean Jackson get another chance to return it back?

The answer is no, as the kick sails out of bounds.

Nice run on 2nd down by Correll Buckhalter, as he dashes down the Vikings’ sideline 26 yards into Minnesota territory for a 1st down. Boy, i’m sure Pat Williams wishes he could be out there for this one.

Vikings call timeout, so Philadelphia’s upcoming 3rd & 2 play should end the quarter barring any penalties.

Minnesota calls a blitz, as McNabb fires a pass off the right hand of Brian Westbrook. David Akers is on for a 51-yard FG try, which is good.

That concludes the first quarter, with the Eagles up 6-0.

2nd quarter:

Philadelphia is doing a great job shutting down the run, so they are basically daring Tavaris Jackson to beat them with his arm.

3rd & 6 for Minnesota, as Jackson is able to hit Sidney Rice on a 13-yard completion.

Jackson tries to go downfield to Bernard Berrian, but Brian Dawkins almost ends up with an interception as the ball almost falls into his hands.

Big pass interference call here on Sheldon Brown, as this will keep Minnesota’ drive alive & move it into Eagles territory.

Bad news for Philly, as Asante Samuel is down. Might’ve re-aggravated that hip injury that caused him to be questionable for this game.

Adrian Peterson bursts open for a 40-yard run which results in a Vikings touchdown. Longwell’s extra point gives Minnesota a 7-6 lead with 11:05 left until halftime.

Darren Sharper is hurt on Philadelphia’s first play of the drive, but is able to walk off the field under his own power.

Nice pass downfield by Donovan McNabb, as he hits DeSean Jackson on a 34-yard gain which has the Eagles very close to the red zone.

Big 3rd & 2 inside the Vikings’ 20 for McNabb, who throws an incompletion for Kevin Curtis, who slipped in the end zone.

David Akers is on for his third field goal try of the game, a 31 yard attempt which is good. Philadelphia now re-takes the lead 9-7 with 7:29 left until halftime.

Asante Samuel reads Sidney Rice’s route perfectly, as he steps in front to pick off Jackson & returns it 43 yards for a touchdown. What a tackle though, as Chris Clemons brought down Tavaris Jackson WWE style right before Samuel hit the end zone. Eagles now lead 16-7 with 6:34 left until halftime.

Nice catch by Bernad Berrian, who gets yards after the catch & runs it 27 yards to the Eagles’ 31 yard line.

Couple of good runs by Chester Taylor as the 2nd one sets up 1st & goal at the Eagles’ 6 yard line as we approach the 2-minute warning.

Taylor gets 3 yards to the Philadelphia three-yard line, which forces the Eagles to call a timeout.

On the next play, Peterson gets the 2-yard touchdown for his 2nd score of the game. Ryan Longwell’s extra point makes it a 16-14 Eagles lead with 1:51 left until halftime.

On 3rd & 1, Philadelphia decides to go deep, but McNabb is picked off by Cedric Griffin as he tried to hit Kevin Curtins down the Vikings’ sideline. Very questionable playcall there from Andy Reid.

More questionable playcalling, this time from Brad Childress as Minnesota calls 3 straight run plays which allows Philadelphia to call a timeout, as they are about to get the football back & a chance to build on their slim 2-point lead.

DeSean Jackson gets it near midfield, as Donovan McNabb will have 18 seconds to try and get it into range for David Akers, who has already hit 3 field goals in the 1st half.

Great tackle by Chad Greenway, as he is able to bring down Brian Westbrook inbounds, which ends the half.

Key Stat as we hit halftime: Minnesota already has 109 yards rushing on Philadelphia’s 4th ranked defense. If this continues, along with the Vikings’ penalty-free play, then i think the home team has a shot to win this game & set up a Divisional Playoff meeting with Carolina on Saturday.

However, Andy Reid is 6-0 all-time in Wild Card games as Eagles head coach. This figures to be a very exciting 2nd half!

3rd quarter:

Vikings start the 3rd quarter with the ball & a chance to re-take the lead. Huge 3rd down play, as Tavaris Jackson hooks up with longtime Viking fullback Jim Kleinsasser on a screen pass that ends up going 17 yards for a 1st down inside Eagle territory.

Jackson is blitzed on 3rd down & gets the ball stripped by Brian Dawkins, but Jackson is able to fall on it.

Eagles commit a holding penalty during the 4th down punt, so Donovan McNabb will start Philadelphia’s first posession of the 2nd half deep inside of its’ own territory.

HUGE 3rd down completion by McNabb, as he stood into the end zone & connected with Jason Avant on an 12-yard completion, which is good for a Eagles first down.

McNabb is now targeting his tight end Brent Celek, who makes another good catch to put Philly near midfield with 6:45 left in the 3rd quarter.

Another 3rd down completion by McNabb to Avant, which moves it inside Minnesota’s 40 yard line.

McNabb faces heavy pressure on 3rd down which results in a sack & an Eagles punt. Minnesota’s defense is keeping them in this game & could give this team a chance to win it.

Nice tackle by Chris Gocong, as he stops Adrian Peterson just short on 3rd down. Here comes DeSean Jackson, who has played a huge role in this game. His latest runback goes for 30 yards & sets up the Eagles at Minnesota’s 40-yard line.

McNabb is stripped on 2nd down by Jared Allen, as the fumble is recovered by Minnesota’s Fred Evans. This game continues to go back & forth, which should make for a very exciting 4th quarter.

Visante Shiancoe is down for the Vikings, who only has 1 catch for 7 yards in the game so far.

Solid playoff debut for Adrian Peterson, who just grinded it for 5 yards & has 18 carries today for 76 yards & a touchdown. 3rd quarter comes to a close with Philadelphia holding a slim 16-14 advantage. Should be an exciting fourth quarter as both teams will fight to keep their seasons alive.

4th quarter:

Bernard Berrian almost makes a great catch, as he is forced to stop his route to adjust to an underthrown pass from Tavaris Jackson, but its’ incomplete despite Berrian’s protest of a penalty flag. None thrown, which forces a Vikings punt.

Marcus McCauley ALMOST makes a great special-teams play, as he pinned Philadelphia within their own 5 yard line. However, Tony Corrente ruled it a touchback, which prompted Brad Childress to throw a challenge flag. Call is reversed, which now puts the Eagles back at their own 4-yard line. This has been a classic field position battle in the 2nd half in such a close & critical game.

McNabb evades a Viking blitz & hits Jason Avant for an 11-yard gain, which temporarily shuts up the Minnesota fans.

Donovan is starting to get in a nice rhythm here, as the Eagles have now moved it up to their 40-yard line.

McNabb is hit on 3rd down, but Hank Baskett almost made a spetacular 1-handed grab that is just out of his reach.

Nice catch by Sidney Rice, who catches Tavaris Jackson’s 2nd & 5 throw for a 14-yard completion.

Sheldon Brown ALMOST makes a big interception, but drops it. Big 3rd & 13 here for Minnesota with a little over 7 minutes remaining.

Eagles blitz, which forces Tavaris Jackson to throw it away…again forcing the Vikings to punt to DeSean Jackson, who has to get the game ball if Philly holds on to win this game.

6:54 left, as Philadelphia takes over at their own 29 yard line.

Play of the game right here, as Brian Westbrook takes a Donovan McNabb screen pass & runs 71 yards for a HUGE touchdown. Akers’ extra point makes it a 23-14 Eagle lead & will now require two scores by Minnesota in order to come back & win this game.

Donovan is pretty excited, as he is celebrating Brett Favre style with his teammates after Westbrook’s big play.

Tavaris Jackson hasn’t shown that he is able to handle blitzes, which is now bringing out boos from the sold-out Metrodome.

Nice 2nd down hit by Madieu Williams on Billy Celek..which brings up a HUGE 3rd & 12 for the Eagles.

Westbrook comes up just short, as we are approaching the 4 minute mark in this game.

Philadelphia’s defense has taken over in this 2nd half, as they have not yet allowed Minnesota to score.

Big roughing the passer penalty on Akeem Jordan, which keeps the drive alive for the Vikings with 3:29 left in this game.

Jackson shows off his speed, as he scrambles 17 yards for 1 st down. On the very next play, a bad snap exchange between Matt Birk & Jackson winds up as a fumble, which is recovered by Philadelphia. That turnover looks to spell the end of Minnesota’s season unless they get a few miraculous late plays.

Vikings are starting to burn their timeouts, so 1 more first down should wrap up this game for Philadelphia & set up a third meeting of the season against the Giants.

2-minute warning is upon us with another FG try by Akers coming up. Barring a miraculous comeback by Minnesota, it looks like Arizona will travel to Carolina & Philadelphia will travel to the Meadowlands to face the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

Akers’ 45 yard field goal try (4th of game) is good, which now gives the Eagles a 26-14 lead.

Vikings are now out of timeouts & only have less than 90 seconds left to work with, down by 12. Tavaris Jackson needs to start taking some deep shots downfield, but instead he’s opting to go with mid-range passes.

WOW. Brian Dawkins just hammered Bernard Berrian with a bigtime hit, as Dawkins almost wound up with the interception.

In fitting fashion, Tavaris Jackson’s last pass of the game is caught by Donovan McNabb on the sidelines to end the game.

Postgame:

Game ball goes to Donovan McNabb, who completed passes to 8 different receivers on his way to a 300-yard outing & set up Brian Westbrook’s HUGE 71-yard touchdown on a screen pass.

So the Divisional matchups are set, which all feature previous games from earlier in the season: Chargers-Steelers, Ravens-Titans, Cardinals-Panthers & Eagles-Giants. Stay tuned for my Divisional Playoff preview later in the week!!!!