Will the Philadelphia Eagles Play Spoiler to a Los Angeles Rams Team on the Cusp of a Playoff Push? Can the Rams take down the soaring Philadelphia Eagles, who find themselves in second place in the NFC? I will project the winner and the outcome at the end of this article. In the meantime, I will provide you with some insight so you can form your own opinions about this perfectly slotted Sunday Night game that is taking place at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles tomorrow at 8:15 PM ET. I expect this to be a high-scoring affair with plenty of all-star caliber players on both offenses. Los Angeles has one of the best receiver rooms in the league with their top two targets, Cooper Kupp and last year’s rookie wideout who made the record books, Puka Nacua. Philly also possesses some nightmarish weapons for opposing defenses to shadow in A.J. Brown alongside DeVonta Smith, though it was announced yesterday that Smith will be out this week with a hamstring injury.
Lately, the Eagles have seemed to be easily rolling over every
one of their opponents, winning their last six consecutive games. After last
Thursday night, Philly stayed perfect in divisional play (3-0), not too
surprising with two terrible teams within the East (Giants and Cowboys). It was
another strong performance from the Eagles' O-linemen that has continued to
propel them every week. Philly’s O-line play has certainly been the engine
behind this second-place team. You have to give them all the credit in the
world; I mean, come on, they lost a potential first-ballot Hall of Famer in
center Jason Kelce, yet they are still rocking and rolling at that position.
They just make it look so easy up front, especially with their potent QB sneak
(aka brotherly shove or tush push). At the same time, bringing in running back
Saquon Barkley is arguably the best move this team has made in the past
quarter-century. Not that they haven’t made big moves in the past, but this one
just feels different. They took a shot at an old rival rusher and got a massive
upgrade at that position! In my opinion, Eagles fans have never been able to
cheer for a guy like this in their franchise history. I know they had some very
good backs in their history, like LeSean McCoy, Brian Westbrook, Wilbert
Montgomery, Ricky Watters, and Herschel Walker.
When it comes to Barkley, he can do everything, literally
everything. Whether you need him to line up as a receiver, catch passes out of
the backfield, help in pass protection, plus a plethora of abilities as a true
number one runner. I am by no means an Eagles or Giants fan, but I have loved
watching Saquon play the game since he came into the league and had advocated
for someone to give him another chance when it seemed like New York was going
to give up on him for a few injured seasons. It is incredible to see someone
play at that position without any noticeable weaknesses. Saquon can run through
you using his lower body power, hit a spin move with ease, break a defender’s
ankles with a single cut move, then outrun everyone with his speed. Ever since
Philly moved on from McCoy, they have been lacking a true franchise rusher that
they can utilize as a three-down back. Not anymore folks, you got your guy, and
he is currently only trailing Derrick Henry in rushing yards this season.
Another big part of the Eagles’ success this season has been
Jalen Hurts. I recently wrote an article depicting some players that I believe
shouldn’t be counted out as possible MVP candidates for this season. Hurts and
Barkley are both on that short list of names. Now, Jalen hasn’t been the top QB
in terms of passing yards, but he is playing great in his own right while
Philly is consistently winning football games. Last time I checked, winning is
the most important statistic in any sport, period. He is on pace to score
around 40 touchdowns this season (passing and rushing combined), has only
thrown 5 picks, and is 6th best in completion percentage this year. This
quarterback has put his doubters to shame so far and will continue to get
better while he has recorded the 11th-best QBR and ranks 7th in passer rating.
Kellen Moore (Eagles OC) will have a nice run-pass balanced game plan for
Sunday Night as Los Angeles isn’t ranking in the top 15 in any given defensive
category outside of sacks. I predict with DeVonta Smith being unavailable for
this one, Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert will see an uptick in targets. The
Rams have allowed the 8th most yards to tight ends this season while also
ceding the 4th most touchdowns to the position.
Los Angeles has had their fair share of both ups and downs
this season. I believe they would most likely be in first place in their
division along with being a top-three team in the conference this season had
they not been riddled with injuries. The Rams saw both their top playmakers go
down in the first two weeks of the season (Kupp and Nacua) while also losing
three of their best offensive linemen. Most NFL teams cannot overcome such a
catastrophic scenario. Their offensive play has suffered greatly because of
this, which is why the numbers don’t show the true potential of this Mike
LaFleur (LA’s OC) offensive-coached unit. Rams QB Matthew Stafford has been
less impressive this season than in years past, though no fault of his, losing
multiple starting linemen plus both your top options to throw to will have this
effect. However, since Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua have returned to the lineup,
things have started to gel. Stafford is now 7th in passing, 6th in yards per
game, and has totaled 10 passing touchdowns in three out of his past four
games.
Sean McVay has been known as an offensive mastermind for
several years now. McVay became the youngest head coach in NFL history to win
the Super Bowl at age 36. While the Eagles DC Vic Fangio has his defense
allowing only 173.2 yards per game (2nd), they haven’t technically been
battle-tested against two top-tier wideouts this season outside of a game with
Tampa Bay, which didn’t exactly bode well for them. What could make this
matchup even scarier for Philly is if they come into SoFi underestimating the
Rams' running back Kyren Williams as a pass catcher. He may not produce the
numbers Barkley does on passing downs, but Kyren is a versatile back as well. I
don’t believe Kyren will have much room to hurt the Eagles in the ground game
as they are currently 7th against the run (99.9 ypg), but don’t overlook him in
their air attack. It could prove to be tough to contain him there, especially
when you already have a team with no shortage of exceptional wideouts to throw
to. It cannot be overstated just how important this game is for these Los
Angeles Rams as it looks like their only way to make the postseason will be by
way of winning the NFC West.
Lastly, I would like to point out that although the Eagles have the better team by the numbers on both sides of the ball, they haven’t played a passing attack with this kind of talent since week four (Mike Evans and Chris Godwin combined for 14 rec, 163 yds, 1 TD; Baker 347 yds, 2 TDs) when they lost 33-16 to the Buccaneers. The Rams can certainly surprise teams when you overlook them, and it is very conceivable that the Eagles could already be thinking more about their matchup next week with the daunting task of taking on the Baltimore Ravens, thus could slip up and take a loss in cross-country play Sunday Night. Taking that into account, I like the Rams as underdogs (+2.5) at home and project a 26-23 victory over the Eagles.
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