Game Preview – Playoffs – LAR at PHI
Posted: January 18th, 2025 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Comments Off on Game Preview – Playoffs – LAR at PHIAnother week, another rematch for the Eagles. They opened the playoffs by beating the Packers, the team they had defeated in the season opener down in Brazil. Now the Eagles are in the divisional round and will face the Rams, the team that they beat in late November. The final score was 37-20. In some ways the game was closer than that score. In some ways, it wasn’t that close.
The Eagles trailed 7-6 late in the first half. They scored a TD to go up 13-7 at the half. They added a TD to open the second half and went up 20-7. The Rams scored to make it 20-14. The Eagles then put up 17 straight points to completely blow the game open. A garbage time TD made the final score 37-20.
The Eagles felt in control from the middle of the second quarter on. They controlled the line of scrimmage. They had more playmakers, on both sides of the ball. The Rams are a good team and they battled, but the Eagles were just better that day. The starters for the Rams haven’t lost since that game. The Eagles only lost once, in that wild shootout with Washington.
Too many people are caught up in the Rams record of 10-7. That is deceiving. They are as hot as any team in the league.
The big story of the first meeting was Saquon Barkley running for 255 yards. The Eagles were 24-114 at halftime and exploded after that, running for 200 yards. Barkley had TDs of 70 and 72 yards. The Rams finished the season 22nd in rush yards allowed and 26th in yards per carry allowed. They are vulnerable to the run.
The Eagles OL was able to bully the Rams in the November game. LA has a good front, but they are better at rushing the passer and attacking than eating blocks and clogging gaps. The Rams were embarrassed with the first performance. They will have a chip on their shoulder in this game. Can they make adjustments to slow down the Eagles? That’s the huge question.
LA can’t just sell out to stop the run.
Eagles/Rams 2024: Don’t forget about AJ Brown
While everyone remembers Saquons day vs the Rams, AJ Brown had the quietest 100 yards games I can remember as he caught 6 passes for 109 yards and a TD to help beat the Rams 37-20.
All 6 catches below ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/bFb0n0mdoK
— Fly Eagles Fly Bets (@Fly_EaglesBets) January 17, 2025
The Eagles didn’t have DeVonta Smith in that game. Jalen Hurts handed the ball to Saquon and threw it to AJ. The Rams had no answer for either. The Rams defense has been red hot recently. The starters haven’t allowed more than 9 points in a game since playing Buffalo on Dec 8th. Other than last week, the opponents were bad so it is hard to get a feel for just how good the defense has been.
Philly is a tough matchup for them because of the OL. The Eagles can open holes in the run game and pass protect at a high level. Go re-watch last week’s game against the Vikings and you will see the Rams win the line of scrimmage. They had 9 sacks and were disruptive all game long. I re-watched the Eagles-Rams game and Philly was the team that won the LOS.
The team that wins the LOS on Sunday should win the game.
There was a lot of talk about Hurts and the Eagles passing game after the GB win. Hurts only threw for 131 yards and looked rusty in that game. It kept the score closer than it should have been, but the Eagles still won by 12 points. I think they know the passing game has to be better moving forward. Hurts doesn’t need to throw for 300 yards, but the Eagles need to be better than 2 for 11 on third downs and AJ Brown needs more than one catch.
There is a *but* to all of this. The forecast calls for snow on Sunday. We’ll have to wait and see how that affects the teams. Snow has different effects depending on visibility, amount, timing, etc.
The Eagles defense has been great all year. They limited LA to 290 yards and 20 points in the first meeting. Brandon Graham was a key player in that win and he’s out with an injury. Nakobe Dean is also out. That will make things tougher, but the defense still has plenty of firepower.
The Rams will focus on blocking Jalen Carter. They did that in the first game and Milton Williams had 2 sacks and a FF because he faced single blocking. Carter and Williams were disruptive last week and are playing well. Jordan Davis is playing his best football of the year. Nolan Smith is playing his best football so the Rams will have their hands full.
Milton Williams WAS A BEAST against Los Angeles on Sunday Eagles vs Rams TOP TAKEAWAYS
Could the Birds already have a defensive end on the roster that could take more snaps going forward?#Eagles #FlyEaglesFly #MiltonWilliams #BrandonGraham pic.twitter.com/pPSYlkNLhZ
— Party on Broad Podcast (@PartyOnBroad) November 26, 2024
We don’t know what is going on with the Rams OL. Here are the starters from last week.
LT Alaric Jackson
LG Steve Avila
C Beaux Limmer
RG Kevin Dotson
RT Rob Havenstein
Jackson was listed with a chest injury during the week. Sean McVay said on Thursday that he would play this week. But then today the Rams elevated OT AJ Arcuri. That has people wondering if Jackson is going to play. If he’s out, that will hurt the OL.
Matt Stafford is a veteran player and terrific QB so he can compensate for some issues. He will make a few “wow” throws every game. But he is a pocket passer and needs a pocket. If Carter and Williams can push the pocket, Stafford is going to have a tough game. If the edge rushers get the best of the OTs, Stafford will have a tough game.
The Rams skill players aren’t dynamic, but they are tough and physical. I think they could fare well in the snow. Those guys battle for every yard and tend to go N-S more than making a bunch of crazy cuts. There is a stat going around about Stafford struggling in bad weather games. I would bet most of those came during his Lions days when he wasn’t on good teams. We know he did lose to the Eagles in a snow game in 2013. He went 10 for 25 in that game, a 34-20 loss. The Lions scored 2 STs TDs.
You know the Rams will try to attack Oren Burks (and/or Jeremiah Trotter Jr). I’m guessing Burks plays since he is the veteran. Burks has played against the Rams seven times, including two starts. He has faced Sean McVay’s offense and has an idea of what to expect. We know McVay has struggled at times against Vic Fangio. McVay would love to have success and beat Fangio to put that story to bed. That will be tough to do since the Eagles have the best defense in the league.
This is a game the Rams can win. Stafford would need to play lights out. He will make some plays, the Eagles just need to limit them. The Rams would also need to win the turnover battle. The Eagles have protected the ball well since early in the season, but with cold, snow and playoff football you never know what will happen.
I can’t get past the feeling that this Eagles team is just different. They are smart, physical and tough. They hand the ball to Saquon and he kills defenses. They play great defense. They embrace doing the dirty work.
Vic Fangio has had an illustrious career but the job he’s done with Nolan Smith, Nakobe Dean, and Zack Baun is among his finest achievements.
Nobody weighing 235 pounds should ever be able to 2-Gap a tackle, let alone an elite one. pic.twitter.com/EXrn9eFVxp
— Max Toscano (@maxtoscano1) January 15, 2025
I expect an Eagles win. Let’s hope the snow makes it even more fun to watch.
_