A rematch of last season’s NFC Championship will be played Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field when the Eagles host the Minnesota Vikings (4:25 p.m.). The game was won decisively by the Eagles and was followed up by their Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots.

This time around their is no conference championship at stake. Both teams are trying to keep their heads above water as they try to stay alive in their division races.

The Eagles come into the contest with a 2-2 record and tied for second in the East Division with Dallas. Leading by a half-game, is Washington at 2-1. The Redskins had a bye last week. A loss would most definitely mean the sky is falling on the Eagles season. It would put them a game under .500 and games against Carolina, Jacksonville, Dallas and New Orleans are still to be played.

These are teams the Eagles can’t take lightly at any point in the season. If Doug Pedersen was able to take his team to the Super Bowl in only his second season as coach and then win it, he should be able to make the point clear that no team can be overlooked. Not only can no team be overlooked, you have to put a team away when you take a 14-point lead against them in the second half. The Eagles did that on Sunday against host Tennessee and lost in overtime, 26-23.

It was a game that slipped through their fingers and proved once again the defense plays better at home than on the road. The defense prevented the Atlanta Falcons and Indianapolis Colts from scoring game-winning touchdowns in the closing seconds from within the red-zone at the Linc. That was not the case at Tennessee.

Quarterback Carson Wentz will play his third game since he tore his ACL against the L.A. Rams last December. It is impressive he’s thrown as well as he has, but he doesn’t have the ability to elude onrushing defenders like he did before the injury. In his two games, he’s been sacked nine times. The Eagles must establish a running game and continue with it if they hope to go over the .500 mark.

The Vikings  (1-2-1) lost their last game, but they did score 31 points against the Rams on Thursday night football.  They’ll have nine days to go over their mistakes in the loss to the only undefeated team in the conference.

Defensive end Derek Barnett will miss the game because of a shoulder injury and running back Darren Sproles is still out due to a hamstring injury.

Following the Vikings game, the Eagles travel up the New Jersey turnpike  to visit the New York Giants on Thursday night football (8:20 p.m.).

In two other games of note, the Rams put their 4-0 record on the line when they visit the Seattle Kingdome to play the Seahawks (2-2) Sunday (4:25 p.m.) and the Kansas City Chiefs do the same when Jacksonville (3-1) pays them a visit Sunday (1 p.m.).  The only team without a win is Arizona (0-4). The Cardinals travel to San Francisco for a game against the 49ers (1-3) Sunday (4:25 p.m.).