MINNEAPOLIS — At 2:58 p.m. Sunday a hopeful SKOL Chant pervaded U.S. Bank Stadium.

The reigning Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles offense was feeling the heat of needing to advance the chains with 1:52 left in the game on a crisp fall day. A stop by the Vikings defense would give Minnesota a real chance to win despite a pick six by Carson Wentz and Jalen Hurts' perfect passer rating.

Forty minutes later, former Eagles and current Vikings cornerback Isaiah Rodgers turned at his locker to face a flock of reporters. He took ownership for biting on a stutter-and-go route executed by A.J. Brown on a third-and-9 that gained Philadelphia 45 yards – and terminated Minnesota's unsteady comeback try.

"I put it on me," said Rodgers, frustrated but conserving his confidence. "I put the whole team on my back. I've just got to make those plays. I came in for a reason, and those types of plays I know I can make."

That's because Rodgers did make those plays, in emphatic fashion, his first five games for Minnesota.

The NFC Defensive Player of the Week after his previous home game (a 48-10 crushing of Cincinnati, starring two defensive scores and forced fumbles by him), Rodgers will rinse this one quick.

"I feel like it's one of those games you've got to put to bed and can't dwell on it," he offered, adding it won't be difficult to flip the page. "By the time I walk out of the locker room, it'll be [forgotten about]."

Really, the Vikings (3-3) don't have a choice but to quickly move on from their 28-22 loss to the Eagles. Like last year's schedule, they'll play Week 8 on short rest, traveling to Los Angeles for a Thursday Night Football matchup at the Chargers. A year ago, Minnesota dropped a tight one versus Detroit in Week 7 before losing on the road at the Rams. It's a tough scheduling sequence, but so is any game in the NFL.

Like Rodgers implied, Joshua Metellus said his mind is on the Bolts. He doesn't want to repeat 2024.

"The formula has to be different," he said. "Any loss from here is going to take us under .500, and that's not where we want to be. We're in a good division. We're in a good conference. And every game counts."

Painfully, the Vikings learned Sunday that every snap does as well.

Although the Eagles opened the game with a 12-play, 75-yard drive, they netted just 27 yards on their next 13 plays in the first half. Minnesota was very much on its Ps and Qs defending one of the NFL's most dangerous running backs in Saquon Barkley. But, Hurts threw some punches that landed as fatal blows.

"Despite what everybody says in the media, he wins games. I think that's the only thing that matters as a quarterback in this league," Rodgers said of his former teammate Hurts, who has now completed a staggering 63 of 77 throws (81.8 percent) for 852 yards and five touchdowns in three career games versus Minnesota. "One day he can throw for 300, like he did today, and one day he can throw for 20."

Hurts, after largely struggling to stretch the field entering Week 6, unleashed his finest passing performance of the season so far against a secondary that had done a good job of curbing quarterbacks.

Philadelphia's dual-threat was ultimately one-dimensional, settling for minus-10 rushing yards on four designed keepers and three sacks, but was absolutely dialed through the air, clipping 19 of 23 passes for 326 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. His passer rating (158.3) was as perfect as possible.

According to Next Gen Stats, Hurts nailed all five of his deep passes (20-plus yards). That's two more than Minnesota had allowed across its first five games before the defending champs rolled into town.

"I thought we got into the backfield (enough). We just didn't finish," Jonathan Allen said of Hurts' pedigree for wiggling out of confined spaces and extending crucial downs. "We let him get out of the pocket and make big plays down the field, and he's shown that he's going to do that time and time [again] in his career. So for us, as a defensive line, we've got to get him down once we get back there."

Ideally, Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell wanted the defense to "contain him as much as we could to the pocket and try to get home." But there were one too many instances of "back-breaking" moments.

"I know our guys competed all day long," the coach said. "I thought the defense, even with us turning the football over for a touchdown – they were able to give us some ops to keep [things] competitive."

In addition to the dagger connection with Brown, which Rodgers admitted was a challenge to guard because of a two-way go for the Eagles (they could have played it safe and called for a route near the sticks), Hurts found his physical receiver for a 37-yard TD strike that initiated the scoring, and another pitch-and-catch for points, from 27 yards away, with 6:35 remaining that added to Minnesota's deficit.

Rodgers also got turned around by DeVonta Smith on a 79-yard touchdown halfway through the third quarter. Rodgers cited bad leverage by himself. Smith and Brown recorded 183 and 121 receiving yards.

That was more than enough damage to discount Minnesota's retooled run defense.

Philadelphia produced only 45 yards on 23 rushes. Barkley managed a long carry of 9 yards, gutting out 44 yards on 18 attempts (2.4 avg.), and backup running back Tank Bigsby had a team-long rush of 11.

It was a significant improvement for a unit that had been gashed on the ground by the likes of Bijan Robinson (143 yards) in Week 2, Kenneth Gainwell (99) in Week 4 and Quinshon Judkins (110) in Week 5.

Several strong individual performances catalyzed the collective effort.

Shedding blocks like a German shepherd dog sheds hair, Jalen Redmond was one of the governors of the Eagles run game. He finished with 4 tackles, including one for a big loss of 6 early in the second quarter and another for no gain at the top of the fourth frame that caused Philly to attempt and miss a field goal.

Metellus said having Blake Cashman back in the middle was key to communication. 'Cash' started at linebacker next to Eric Wilson in his return from Injured Reserve. They combined for 10 tackles and a couple hits on Hurts. Wilson maintained his starting role, over Ivan Pace, Jr., and flashed with 1.5 sacks.

Dallas Turner also logged a sack, and Allen was credited with a half. Overall, the group's trio of sacks extended Minnesota's streak of at least 2.0 to 10 games, which is the longest active spree in the NFL.

"We knew they were trying to come in and run the ball just because of what we've been giving up on tape," Metellus explained. "We were executing our early down stuff pretty well; I would say our third down stuff, too. We've just got to find a way to get Jalen to the ground and limit those extended plays."

Allen shared his veteran perspective: "I think the thing about Philadelphia is – I don't want to say they're simple because obviously they're a really great team – but they run their plays and they have a lot of confidence in their guys, and they just made the plays they needed to when it mattered, and we didn't."

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