SANSEVERE: This loss was the soul-crushingest of them all

The Philadelphia Eagles split it wide open, finding flaws and openings in a unit that carried the Vikings to a 13-3 regular-season record and a renewed hope that this season would be different than so many others.

It wasn't.

This season ended like so many others. With failure. With hopes, dreams and expectations stomped out.

It was ugly what happened to that defense, which was top-ranked in the league in the regular season and just plain rank in a 38-7 loss to the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game.

All NFC Championship Game losses hurt, but this one had a pain all its own.

There will be no bringing it home. No making history as the first team to host a Super Bowl in its stadium. None of that fun stuff. Just misery in the playoffs, like always.

Of all the soul-crushing postseason losses the Vikings have suffered, and there have been plenty, this was the soul-crushingest of them all.

Just look at what the Eagles did to that defense, strafing it for more than 450 yards and making a mockery of the Vikings' league-best ability to shut down offenses on third down.

In the space of one week, the Vikings went from their most exciting playoff win to their worst playoff performance. It was as if the coaches forgot how to coach and the players forgot how to play.

And now this team takes its place along other Viking fails.

The four Super Bowl losses. The end-zone pass to Anthony Carter in '87 that didn't have a chance because Darrin Nelson thought it was for him. The missed field goals against Atlanta in '98 and against Seattle in '16. The 41-0 rout by the New York Giants in '01. The 12 men on the field and the fumbles and Brett Favre's interception in '09 in New Orleans.

In none of those games did the Vikings come right out, march down the field with ease for a lead, and then collapse like an anvil was dropped on their heads.

Yep, soul-crushing.

The Eagles made big play after big play in the first half when they constructed a 24-7 lead. And then there were more big plays in the second half.

The Vikings, well, they did have a 7-0 lead after the opening drive.

Everything flipped on them when Case Keenum got hit under his throwing arm by Eagles defensive end Chris Long and his pass fluttered to another Eagle, Patrick Robinson, who returned it 50 yards for a touchdown.

The Eagles didn't just hijack momentum from the Vikings. It was like they ripped out the Vikings' heart, aorta and everything else that gave them life this season.

And remember, the Eagles did this without the guy who likely would have been the NFL's Most Valuable Player, quarterback Carson Wentz, if he hadn't suffered a season-ending knee injury.

They did it with a journeyman backup, Nick Foles, who threw for more than 350 yards and three touchdowns and helped set up a Feb. 4 date at U.S. Bank Stadium against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.

Of course, it helped that the Vikings picked the absolutely worst game to reveal every wart and deficiency they had.

They showed impressive mental toughness in the way they beat the New Orleans Saints in the final second last week. Maybe they used it all up. Maybe they still had a miracle hangover and couldn't get in the proper mindset for this game.

Whatever the reason, they did what, ultimately, they always do in the postseason. Fail.