PHILADELPHIA – Maybe during those 72 hours holed up in a Philadelphia hotel before Tuesday night’s game, the Vikings somehow returned to normalcy.
This was, after all, the type of performance the entire NFL expected of these Vikings in 2010.
Even if it’s 16 weeks too late.
Though it’s hardly a defining moment – the season has far too much baggage for that – Minnesota’s 24-14 win over the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Stadium instills hope and maybe a little relief.
When asked whether this quality win makes players wonder where the intensity has been all season, linebacker Chad Greenway said, “We’re past that.
“After all we’ve been through, with some difficult moments, we just wanted to come out and play,” Greenway said.
Leave it up to a third-string rookie quarterback who worked out for NFL scouts as a wide receiver less than a year ago to lead the Vikings to their only victory over a quality opponent this season.
On third and 11 and Eagles defenders surging off the edge, Webb calmly stayed in the pocket and delivered a laser to Percy Harvin for 19 yards and a first down with 8:23 left.
Three plays later, Adrian Peterson sealed the win with a 1-yard touchdown with 6:43 left to make it 24-14.
Webb had every reason to follow the underwhelming precedent set by his teammates so often this season, by the battered quarterback, Brett Favre, he watched struggle game after game.
The Eagles were fresh off a Michael Vick touchdown run, and Webb couldn’t afford to give the ball back to a team with four fourth-quarter comebacks.
He remained unfazed on the throw, and interim coach Leslie Frazier remains in the hunt for the Vikings head coaching job in 2011 with a 3-2 record through five weeks.
“I just let my instincts take over,” said Webb, who completed 17 of 26 passes for 195 yards and a 9-yard rushing touchdown. “I sensed the pressure, but I didn’t focus on it. I stayed in the pocket and focused on the throw.”
He surprised his peers a little, too, a running quarterback who outdueled the ultimate running quarterback, Vick.
Vick completed 25 of 43 passes for 263 yards and two touchdowns – one passing, one rushing – but he should have thrown three interceptions instead of one after Vikings cornerbacks Lito Sheppard and Frank Walker dropped easy picks.
Cornerback Antoine Winfield’s timely blitz with 55 seconds left in the second quarter sacked Vick for an 11-yard loss and forced a fumble that Winfield returned 45 yards for a TD.
Off the edge, Winfield was a key component in the Vikings’ aggressive scheme to contain Vick, who had 63 rushing yards. The normally conservative Vikings blitzed, and blitzed often.
Frazier has spent plenty of practice time noticing Webb’s athleticism, his “command” as a quarterback and his teammates’ “great affinity for Joe Webb.”
He didn’t expect such a clutch performance after Webb and Peterson collaborated on a harmonious eight-play, 60-yard drive midway through the fourth quarter.
Webb converted two third-down passing plays on that drive. On the first play of the second half, Webb connected with wide receiver Percy Harvin (seven catches, 100 yards) on a textbook 46-yard “go” route that set the tone.
“It’d be hard for me to say that I knew that Joe would play at such a high level so consistently,” Frazier said. “That’s a huge play under a lot of pressure against a very good defense, for him to step up in the pocket and make that (third-and-11) throw. That’s a heck of a play, and one you look at and you say, ‘This guy has a chance.’ “
The Vikings followed the blueprint that resulted in success the previous two seasons, feeding Peterson 22 times for 118 rushing yards and a touchdown.
The goal was to win up front. Though the Eagles average 4.9 yards per rush (22 carries, 107 yards), Vick and company did not have a rush longer than 14 yards.
This is also the blueprint of Frazier, who used the same plan in wins over Washington and Buffalo last month.
Those wins paled in comparison to this marquee performance against a legitimate Super Bowl contender on the road.
These are the performances that can elevate interim coaches to head coaches.
The essence of Frazier’s six-game audition is not to make a closing argument to owner Zygi Wilf about why he’s the right man for the job.
Frazier, instead, wanted his players to savor this feeling.
“I’ll be fine,” Frazier said. “I just wanted our guys to be able to feel the feeling they have right now. They deserve it.”