By the end of the first half, Lincoln Financial Field was already delirious, and some facts had become obvious. Among Minnesota’s numerous problems in Sunday’s NFC Championship game, the vaunted Vikings defense couldn’t figure out a way to deal with Eagles wide receiver Alshon Jeffery or tight end Zach Ertz.
The first sustained Eagles drive of the evening included five completed Nick Foles passes. The first was to Jeffery, the next two to Ertz, another to Jeffery, the last to Ertz. In that drive, the big throws were to Ertz. With third and 10 and the score tied, Ertz lined up in the left slot and got 11 yards on single coverage. On the next play, he lined up right and added nine more yards with another catch. On third and one, Foles found Ertz for another first down. That pass was the last Foles pass of the night when the Eagles weren’t in the lead.
Jeffery had possibly the highlight pass play on yet another third-down play. (At one point, the Eagles were 8 of 10 on third-down conversions). Foles stood up to inside pressure while Jeffery got far behind the Vikings secondary, making a 53-yard reception look easy. That one put the Eagles up 21-7.
Toward the end of the half, Ertz basically threw three more points on the pile, bumping a Vikings safety aside and going past him for an easy pitch-and-catch with Foles for 36 yards, The play took eight seconds, which left 15 seconds before halftime — enough time for one more play and a 38-yard Jake Elliott field goal that took the Eagles into halftime with a 24-7 lead.
Considering the Eagles had gotten the ball at their 20-yard line with 29 seconds left in the half, this seemed like piling on, the party already starting.
Late in the the third quarter, Ertz had another third-and-throw-it-to-me play, right after Minnesota failed to score. His conversion revved up the drive, which turned into the first score of the fourth quarter, putting the Eagles up 38-7.
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Ertz, you may have heard, is part of one of the highest-achieving marriages in sports. His wife, Julie, is the indispensable center back for the U.S. women’s national soccer team. Her national squad happened to be playing Denmark last night at the same time as this one. She happened to score a goal. But that was just an exhibition. Guaranteed she was thinking more about her husband than he was wondering about how his wife’s night was going.
Julie Ertz already has reached the summit of her sport, making the all-tournament team when the United States won the 2015 women’s World Cup.
Her husband? He’s going to the Super Bowl, and not as some bit player, but a receiver who must be dealt with.
If the New England Patriots do that effectively, they still have to deal with No. 17 — the guy who signed from the Bears as a free agent; who picked the Eagles over the Vikings, among other suitors; who is in the playoffs for the first time in six years in the league; and who will show up at the Super Bowl as a star.
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