Gameday – Playoffs – LAR at PHI
Posted: January 19th, 2025 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Comments Off on Gameday – Playoffs – LAR at PHIThe snow is starting to fall so this is going to be an interesting game. Both teams are physical and can play the kind of game needed to handle these conditions. The Eagles feel a bit better suited to it, but we’ll find out for sure in a few hours.
Here are the inactives.
Today’s Inactives#LARvsPHI pic.twitter.com/1FqvXJsba4
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) January 19, 2025
No real surprises for the Eagles. They elevated FB Khari Blasingame and LB Nicholas Morrow on Saturday for the game. Blasingame gives them a FB and helps on STs. Morrow was recently added to offer depth at LB, but mostly to help on STs. With Oren Burks and Jeremiah Trotter Jr having to play on defense, they wanted another LB type to help on teams.
Inactive for the Rams in Philadelphia: Stetson Bennett, Tyler Johnson, John Johnson III, Brennan Jackson, Justin Dedich, Joe Noteboom and AJ Arcuri.
— Sarah Barshop (@sarahbarshop) January 19, 2025
It looks like the Rams will have their starting OL in tact. Arcuri was elevated yesterday, but is now inactive. That feels very unusual.
As for some final thoughts on the game…I think the Eagles will aggressively get the ball to AJ Brown. He was quiet last week and they know they need to get him going. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him targeted on the first play.
The Eagles will want to do a better job on Puca Nakua this time around. He had a good game in the first meeting, especially when he was on the move. Vic Fangio has had time to figure out some ideas, but Nakua is a really good player so slowing him down isn’t easy.
The Eagles will need to tackle better today than they did last week. The Packers had tough, physical skill players who fought through contact. The Rams have similar guys so the Eagles better make sure they do a better job. You don’t want to give up extra yards.
Here are some good nuggets.
One stat from my preview sheet that I did NOT share on the show that I wish I did…#Rams have NFL’s worst success rate vs scrambles this year
Something to watch with Jalen Hurts in this game pic.twitter.com/CWI43QEpgz
— Fran Duffy (@FDuffyNFL) January 19, 2025
Sean McVay’s Rams dominated the Vikings with a 27-9 win, fueled by Stafford’s 178 yards & 2 TDs vs. the blitz.
But the Eagles bring the NFL’s lowest blitz rate (16.2%) and highest pressure rate (36.8%).
Can McVay adjust?
Full analysis https://t.co/cmFD5Yx6hH
— Sharp Football Analysis (@SharpFBAnalysis) January 19, 2025
This is an excellent video breakdown of how Vic Fangio has used Zack Baun to form a 5-man front in nickel to make the other LB’s job easier (will be even more important going forward!) against both zone and gap runs. Easily worth your 16 minutes. #Eagles https://t.co/2cF0K64lLH
— Deniz Selman (@denizselman33) January 18, 2025
If the Eagles win, they will host the NFC championship next Sunday. That shouldn’t be extra motivation. The team should be fired up to win this game by itself. I hope the thought of next week doesn’t prove to be a distraction. I’m sure Nick Sirianni will try to use the Lions loss as a way to make sure his team is locked in. What happened in the regular season doesn’t matter. You just need to be the better team today. Records and rankings go out the window.
Go win the game.
And go Eagles!
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