Game Review – Playoffs – PHI 28, LAR 22

Posted: January 22nd, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 1 Comment »

The Eagles won. Let’s focus on that fact for a moment. It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t pretty. But the Eagles won. They made the key plays in the game that proved to be the difference and that’s why they are heading to the NFC championship. Even better, they are hosting it.

Winning is good. I’m trying to stress that because this was a very frustrating performance and I’ve got quite a few negative things to say. I don’t want people to think I’m overlooking the W. I’ve watched the Eagles lose some tough playoff games so it was great to see them when a game when there were some mistakes and obstacles. We love the blowouts like 2017, but most playoff games are battles that go down to the final possession or two.

The Eagles trailed by one point in this game for about five minutes, 7-6. They led or were tied the rest of the game. They just couldn’t get separation from the Rams. The Eagles controlled most of the game. These are good things and more reasons to be happy.

Nick Sirianni loves to talk about the two keys to winning – explosive plays and turnovers. The Eagles won both categories and that largely is why they won the game. The Eagles were out-gained, 402-350. The Rams were better in the red zone. The Rams won the STs battle. This game felt like a Sirianni Special.

Technically the Rams won the explosive play battle. But none of their explosives resulted in TDs. The Eagles had TD runs of 44, 62 and 78 yards. On a day when the weather was a huge factor and executing in the red zone was challenging, you really wanted to score on big plays if possible. The Eagles won the turnover battle 2-0. They recovered a pair of fumbles and turned them into a pair of FGs. Those 6 points proved to be the difference in the game.

LA had a chance to win at the end. They got down to the PHI 13-yard line and had 3rd & 2. That’s when Jalen Carter made the play of the game. He got free up the middle and sacked Matt Stafford for a 9-yard loss. That set up fourth down. Carter got free again and forced a hurried throw that went out of bounds. Ball game.

The weather wasn’t a factor early on, but the field was covered in snow by the end. Snow games can be a lot of fun. The Lions game from 2013 is an all-time classic. This one was nerve-wracking because of the stakes and the fact the Eagles couldn’t pull away. It might be fun to re-watch this later on.

It certainly was fun to watch Saquon Barkley. He ran for 205 yards and continued his magical season. The Eagles hit a home run when they signed him. That has carried over to the playoffs. I’m not sure who is happier about that…Barkley, the Eagles or Eagles fans.

This game was so close to being a blowout. Replay took away a TD. A penalty wiped out 1st & goal from the 2-yard line. AJ could have put the Eagles at the 2 if he held onto a deep ball. There were two dropped INTs. Fortunately the Eagles overcame those mistakes and still won the game.

COACHING

Nick Sirianni didn’t have a lot of tough decisions in this game. The Eagles only went for it on one fourth down. They tried it another time, but a penalty wiped out the play. The Eagles seemed pretty focused. They didn’t turn the ball over and only committed three penalties. They handled the weather pretty well.

You can debate whether Sirianni should have called a timeout on the final drive. The argument would be to change out rushers or give them a rest. The counter-argument was to keep the Rams hurrying and not having a chance to re-group. Sirianni didn’t call a timeout and the strategy worked well.

Kellen Moore had some good calls and some real duds. He called counter bash on the opening drive and that worked perfectly.

Moore called that play a few times. Kenny Gainwell had a good carry off that later on. Hurts kept it on other plays and had mixed results. It was a good way to get more out of the run game and put pressure on the Rams defense. Moore called a great TE screen that worked well, but that got wiped out by a penalty.

Moore called a pass play from the end zone that resulted in a safety. The idea was great. Goedert was open for a first down. But Jurgens missed his block and Hurts didn’t throw the ball. If you call that play, you have to let Hurts know to get rid of it. I’m just not sure the risk was worth it. Those two points could have cost the Eagles the game. Moore called a pass on the final drive. It was a bootleg play and the Rams handled it perfectly. That resulted in a sack that cost the Eagles 12 yards. Ugh.

Vic Fangio’s defense played well for most of the game. With 4:36 left to go, the Eagles had allowed 15 points and 267 yards. That’s good defense. Unfortunately they gave up a TD and 135 yards on the final two drives. The Rams were desperate and aggressive. The snow also gave their receivers a bit of an advantage. DBs couldn’t get much of a break on the ball.

Fangio played mostly off coverage on the next to last drive. He did blitz some, but they weren’t working very well. The coverage was tighter on the final drive. Fangio did get creative with the rushes late in the game and that helped to seal the win.

Fangio had the right call for the right moment and that was huge. Carter and the DL executed it perfectly. This is why you want a veteran coach who has been in different situations. All it takes is one good call to help your team win.

OFFENSE

Jalen Hurts had an up and down showing. He was 15-20-128 as a passer and 7-70-1 as a runner. Sirianni would stress to you that Hurts didn’t turn the ball over and won the game. Hurts did have two very good downfield throws. He hit DeVonta for what would have been a good gain, but a DB hit DeVonta in the helmet and he dropped the pass. That did draw a flag. Hurts gave AJ a chance to catch a ball inside the 5. It was well-placed, but AJ couldn’t secure the ball.

Hurts looked fine early on. Moore had him throw on the first two plays of the game and they worked well. Hurts seemed to get into a rhythm. The snow hurt him and so did the Rams pass rush. He was sacked 7 times. To be fair, Hurts had time to throw on most of those plays. He held the ball too long. It was very frustrating, as some of those sacks killed promising drives.

The safety was a bad moment. Hurts had to know to get rid of that ball. He did make a good fourth down throw to AJ late in the game and led to a FG. You also have to give Hurts credit for playing on a bad knee. He got bent backwards and had to go to the medical tent. He fought through that injury and never missed a snap.

Saquon was 26-205-2. I think that should have been 3. The officials reversed a short TD on replay, but I don’t think it was clear and obvious at all. I am biased, but that was too close to be overturned in my mind. We thought Saquon put the game away when he went 78 yards to the house.

Barkley bounced that run out wide and then used his speed to just pull away from everyone. He had at least three other runs where he burst up the middle and came close to breaking loose. He got tripped up on those, but you can see how scary he is for defenses. Barkley is always a threat to go the distance.

He had a key reception in the game. The Eagles were backed up inside the 10. It was third down and Hurts hit Barkley with a swing pass. Barkley used his vision and burst to fly up the field for a gain of 16 yards. That moved the chains and kept the Eagles from giving the Rams great field position. Kenny Gainwell got two touches right after that play. He ran for 10 yards and caught a pass for 10 yards. Both Barkley and Gainwell had some good blocks.

The Eagles WRs got out-played by the Rams WRs. AJ had two drops. One would have moved the chains, the other would have put the Eagles inside the 5. DeVonta took a big shot to the head so I don’t fault him for that “drop”. The Rams receivers made some really tough grabs. AJ finished 2-14 and DeVonta was 4-21.

Dallas Goedert did have a good game. He blocked well and was 4-56 as a receiver. His return has been critical for Hurts and the Eagles offense.

Cris Collinsworth talked about the Eagles OL being historically good early in the broadcast. They did not perform at that level on Sunday. They made way too many mistakes. Mekhi Becton was especially sloppy. He was downfield on the TE screen and wiped out that play. He failed to pick up a blitzer and that led to a sack. Becton was erratic on some run blocks. He did have a great block on Hurts TD run. Becton had some other good blocks so it wasn’t a bad game, just very up and down.

Jordan Mailata had some struggles with Jared Verse. Cam Jurgens missed his block on the sack/safety. He missed on a couple of run blocks as well. Lane Johnson had a false start on 4th & 1 that wiped out a TD and moved the ball back to the 6. The Eagles had to settle for a FG. Hurts said after the game that the Rams were simulating the snap and that’s what caused the penalty.

The OL did pave the way for 285 rushing yards.

They also gave Hurts good protection for a lot of the game. That sounds funny when you think about the 7 sacks, but most of those came after he held the ball for 3 seconds.

DEFENSE

Jalen Carter is a special player and he put on a special performance. He played 68 of 70 snaps on D. He was double-teamed on 26 of 49 pass plays. Carter still finished with 5 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 QB hits, a PD, and a FF. What a dominant game.

It still blows my mind that so many teams passed on a guy with his level of talent. Thank you.

Jordan Davis had one tackle and was solid against the run. Milton Williams didn’t make the stat sheet, but he was disruptive. He got multiple pressures and just missed a TFL on a run play. Moro Ojomo had a sack. The line had a good showing overall. They got burned on a couple of runs, but made key plays. They pressured Stafford.

Nolan Smith made his presence felt with 3 tackles, a sack and a FF. He also was disruptive when stunting and trying to free up Carter. Josh Sweat had a TFL. He got some pressure, but couldn’t get to Stafford cleanly. Jalyx Hunt had a sack and was solid off the bench.

Oren Burks started in place of the injured Nakobe Dean. I wasn’t sure what to expect against a good offense in a high-pressure situation. Burks played well. He had 6 tackles, 2 TFLs, a QB hit and a PD. He was solid in coverage. He played the run pretty well. His tackling was pretty good. Zack Baun played like a star, especially late in the game.

Baun finished with 6 tackles, a TFL, a PD and he recovered a fumble. The TFL, PD and FR all came in the fourth quarter. Just like Carter, he was clutch.

CJGJ had a good game overall. He had 6 tackles and a TFL. The TFL was a third down stop that forced the Rams to settle for a FG. Impressive play. He generally came up aggressively and tackled well. There was one run up the middle where he missed. Reed Blankenship was also in on 6 tackles. He didn’t have any standout moments.

The secondary covered well for most of the game. It was impressive to see them communicate pre-snap and all be on the same page. The Rams earned their yards. There weren’t many wide open guys. The Eagles broke up 10 passes with most coming by DBs.

Darius Slay had a good game. He had 6 tackles and 3 PDs. The biggest complaint with him is a dropped INT on the first drive. Slay made a good break on the ball, but couldn’t hold onto it. He did a good job of attacking the ball on crossing routes. Quinyon Mitchell got off to a good start, but then hurt his shoulder while tackling Stafford. Isaiah Rodgers replaced him. Rodgers mostly played well. He gave up a couple of deep balls, but was in good position on both. On the first, the WR stole the ball from him. Great play by the receiver. On the other, Kupp secured the ball and Rodgers couldn’t get a hand on it. Cooper DeJean had 5 tackles and a PD. He had a chance to seal the game with an INT on the final drive, but dropped the ball. x

ST

Jake Elliott was 3 for 3 on FGs. The last two FGs came late in the game when the conditions weren’t good. He was only 1 for 3 on XPs. Michael Clay explained that the misses came after long TDs and that seemed to affect Elliott. He did well on kickoffs, especially after the safety.

Elliott got help from his teammates on the late FGs. They cleared snow from a small space so he could make those kicks. Good teamwork. Braden Mann had a couple of good holds on FGs.

Mann had a good game punting. He averaged 49.8 per punt and had 2 downed inside the 20.

The Rams punter had a great game. He averaged 51.4 yards per punt and pinned DeJean on the sideline all game long. 4 of his 5 punts were downed inside the 20.

Kenny Gainwell had a KOR that went for 44 yards.

The Rams had a PR that went for 18 yards and could have been more but the returner ran into one of his blockers.

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One Comment on “Game Review – Playoffs – PHI 28, LAR 22”

  1. 1 The Linc - Putting the Eagles’ passing offense in historical context - SportSourcio said at 1:00 PM on January 23rd, 2025:

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