Bleeding Green Nation
Opponent perspective on Philadelphia’s upcoming matchup.
The Philadelphia Eagles are traveling to SoFi Stadium this weekend to take on the Los Angeles Rams. It’s a sneaky important game for the Birds.
In order to preview this Week 12 battle, I reached out to our enemies over at Turf Show Times. The ebullient Evan Craig kindly took the time to answer my questions about this upcoming tilt. Let’s take a look at the answers. [For my answers about the Eagles, stay tuned to TST.]
What went wrong was very simple and could be traced back to injuries. The injury bug took out LA’s top two receivers and decimated the offensive line, though not to the extent of the miserable 2022 campaign. Matthew Stafford could only do so much given what he was working with. The Rams have managed to get back on track again, by getting healthier. When Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp returned against the Vikings, Stafford had his best game of the year to that point by throwing 4 touchdown passes. That was only the second game Kupp and Nacua had played together since the season opener in Detroit. Plus the defense has been lights out since early October after struggling to find their footing early in the year. They have kept the team in every game (excluding that crappy Cardinals game) while injuries ravaged the offense which was quite unexpected entering the season.
This might be somewhat of a cop-out answer but the offensive playmakers are the Rams’ biggest strengths. We’ve seen the team when its top weapons are out and the results aren’t pretty. With Puka, Kupp and Kyren Williams all in the same lineup, this is easily one of the best offenses in the league. That was the case in the second half of last season when the Rams finished 7-1 and were scoring at will.
On the flip side, I hate to say this but the biggest weakness is Matthew Stafford. He hasn’t been consistent enough to make me feel confident in him for the homestretch. The injuries and other factors were not his fault, but sometimes Stafford has been erratic and overly aggressive and it has cost the team. Even in the Rams’ overtime win over Seattle a few weeks back, he didn’t have a great performance despite throwing the game-winning touchdown. Sometimes we’ll get duds like the MNF letdown versus Miami and then he’ll unexpectedly toss 4 TDs against the Patriots like he did Sunday. The Matthew Stafford experience is becoming a rundown rollercoaster at this point. We’ll have a little fun here and there but mostly you’re feeling nauseous over the feeling of what’s to come.
*By far the biggest...
