why he was flagged — yet again — for roughing the passer Stefon Diggs Jersey , this time while sacking Washington's Alex Smith on Sunday. Matthews think it's an indication that the NFL is "getting soft."Even Smith wasn't quite sure about the call that came late in the third quarter of Washington's 31-17 victory. Neither were other players — or the coaches — from both teams. Matthews broke free into the backfield, grabbed Smith with both arms and took down the QB in a seemingly straightforward manner."When you're tackling a guy from the front, you're going to land on him. I understand the spirit of the rule. When you have a hit like that, that's a football play. I even went up to Alex Smith after the game and asked him: What do you think? What can I do differently?" Matthews said."That's a football play. I hit him from the front, got my head across, wrapped up. I've never heard of anybody tackling somebody without any hands. When he gives himself up as soon as you hit him, your body weight is going to go on him."There are sure to be more questions and more debate around the NFL about what constitutes a penalty on such plays."I had judged that the defender landed on the quarterback, when he was tackling him, with most or all of his body weight, and that's not allowed," referee Craig Wrolstad said, according to a pool report. "That was basically my key — that he landed on him with most or all of his body weight."Matthews immediately put his arms up and slapped himself in the helmet as the flag was thrown. Packers coach Mike McCarthy threw down a play-calling sheet and argued with two officials about the call, yelling while chasing one along the sideline."I think Clay did exactly what he's supposed to do there," McCarthy said. "He hit him with his shoulder. He was coming full speed off of a block. He braced himself. So I was fine with what Clay did."In Green Bay's 29-29 tie against the Minnesota Vikings last week, a potentially win-sealing interception for the Packers was wiped out by a roughing call on Matthews when he hit Kirk Cousins."Unfortunately, this league is going in a direction that a lot of people don't like. I think they're getting soft. The only thing hard about this league is the fines they levy down on guys like me that play the game hard," said Matthews, who actually was not docked pay for that hit on Cousins. "Maybe now pass rushers Authentic Kyle Rudolph Jersey , guys getting after the quarterback, you'll just have to attack the ball."Smith's take on the hit he took from Matthews?"I'm glad I don't play defense. ... They can't hit us in the head and can't hit us in the knees when we're in the pocket. It's tough. I felt like he was playing football. He's played a long time. Hit me right in the strike zone," Smith said. "That's the new rule they put in, though, with these guys finishing quarterbacks to the ground."The rule preventing defenders from landing on the QB has been around since 1995, but the league's competition committee made it a point of emphasis this year. More than 30 roughing-the-passer penalties were called in this season's first two weeks."Every week," Redskins coach Jay Gruden said, "there seems to be another one that's a little bit questionable."With a heavy sigh, Matthews said: "Nine years, I've been doing it one way in the NFL, successfully, and now it just seems as if that way doesn't work anymore. And that's frustrating."Not surprisingly, Packers teammates agreed with Matthews. Perhaps more surprisingly, so did several members of the Redskins."Oh, my gosh. Look, I'm glad it was for us, but then when I looked at it, I was like: What else do you want the man to do? Seriously Youth Xavier Rhodes Jersey , what else do you want the man to do?" Redskins cornerback Josh Norman said. "When I saw it, it was not malicious, ill intent. It was just a nice form tackle. ... I'm lost by it. I'm pretty sure (Matthews) is frustrated and he has a point."A Brief Look At Vikings/Eagles History The Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles have played against each other 27 times throughout the years, dating back to their first matchup in 1962. According to Eagles fans, only one of those games has ever mattered.[Waits for Philly fans to throw full beer cans and scream “THIRTY-EIGHT TO SEVEN!!!!1!!1” a few dozen times]OK, now that we’re done with that, let’s take our weekly look back at the Vikings’ history against their upcoming opponent. As always, the numbers in this story are brought to you by the good folks at Pro Football Reference.Total regular season and playoff games between the Vikings and the Eagles: 27All-time record: Regular season: Vikings, 13-10. Playoffs: Eagles, 4-0.Total Vikings points scored, head-to-head: 594 (22.0 points/game)Total Eagles points scored, head-to-head: 650 (24.1 points/game)Longest Vikings winning streak vs Eagles: 7, their first seven meetings from 28 Oct 1962 to 3 Dec 1978Longest Eagles winning streak vs Vikings: 5, from 11 November 2001 to 4 January 2009Most recent Vikings road win in series: 28 December 2010 (final score 24-14, the infamous Tuesday night game)Most recent Eagles home win in series: 21 January 2018 (final score SHUT UP)Biggest Vikings road win in series: 21 points, 15 December 1963 (final score 34-13)Biggest Eagles home win in series: 31 points, twice (48-17 on 11 November 2001 and...SHUT UP)Current streak: Eagles, 2 winsObviously http://www.vikingsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-adam-thielen-jersey , the Vikings can’t do anything on Sunday that will make up for the thrashing they took in last year’s NFC Championship Game. Even if they win by a score of 38-7 or better, it’s a regular season game and the Eagles already have their shiny new Super Bowl rings.What the Vikings can do is try to find the wheels that fell off of their defense last January and haven’t been put back on yet. The Los Angeles Rams will likely expose a lot of defenses throughout the course of the season, but the way they out-schemed the Vikings in every way on that side of the ball was uncharacteristic of what we’re used to seeing from a Mike Zimmer-coached defense. The offense looked much better last week, but Minnesota is still dead last in rushing and pressures allowed through four weeks. The Vikings need to clean things up in a hurry. Meanwhile, the defending champs are coming off a disappointing loss of their own. They squandered a two touchdown lead on the road to the Tennessee Titans, allowing three straight fourth down conversions in the game-clinching overtime touchdown drive. Most of the key pieces have returned for a shot at a repeat in Philadelphia. However, throughout the preseason and through the first four weeks of the regular season, this doesn’t look like the Eagles team that rampaged their way to a title eight months ago.While the Vikings dominated this series early on, winning the first seven matchups, the Eagles have seven of the past nine between the two teams. Both of the Vikings wins during that stretch were rather unexpected. In the aforementioned Tuesday night game, Joe Webb and the 5-9 Vikings upset the 10-4 Eagles that were favored by 14.5 points at kickoff. Philadelphia was favored by seven points in 2013 when Matt Asiata had the hilarious stat line of 30 rushes, 51 yards, and 3 touchdowns in a 48-30 Vikings win.The most recent regular season game between the Vikings and Eagles wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing contest. In Week 7 of 2016, each team turned the ball over four times. Despite putting up paltry offensive numbers, Carson Wentz and the Eagles won 21-10 thanks in large part to six sacks of Sam Bradford. It was the first loss of the season for the Vikings, who would stumble to a 3-8 finish after starting 5-0. That’s a brief look at some of the history between the Vikings and the Eagles as we prepare for Sunday’s game in Philly. We’ll have more for you as we get closer to kickoff.