ClutchPoints
Why did the Los Angeles Rams lose to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2025 NFL Playoffs? Is it because of the snow, which limited the team’s schematic optionality? Because Matthew Stafford’s final throw sailed out of bounds? Or because the Eagles simply made a few more plays than their opponents, fair and square?
You know, it’s probably not just one thing, but the fact that Saquon Barkley ran for 200-plus yards for the second-straight game certainly didn’t help Sean McVay’s case.
Now granted, it’s hard to say that the Rams’ defense was bad in Week 20, as Chris Shula’s front seven still recorded seven sacks against Nick Sirianni’s offense in what was easily the team’s least effective pass-blocking game of the year. Jared Verse proved why he’s the Defensive Rookie of the Year favorite. The rest of the rotation showed up as well. And even when Braden Fiske went down with a game-ending injury, the Rams were still able to give Jalen Hurts a very long night in a snowy South Philly affair.
But still, even if the Rams found ways to impact the passing game more than almost any other team the Eagles played in 2024, their attacking style of defensive front play led to a slew of incredible runs by Barkley, who ended up finishing out the game with 232 overall yards, 205 on the ground plus 27 more as a receiver.
Was this an aberration? Going for over 200, yes, but giving up plenty of yards on the ground wasn’t, as the Rams allowed 2,210 rushing yards over the course of the regular season, which ranked 22nd in the NFL, and allowed Aaron Jones and company to go for over 100 in the Wild Card Round of the 2025 NFL playoffs.
While the Rams would be foolish to overhaul their front seven too much heading into 2025, as they were putting in work in the playoffs with the same core largely returning next season, they could use help slowing down the run, either with the addition of a big nose tackle capable of replacing Bobby Brown III as the designated run stuffer at defensive tackle, or a hammer-dropping linebacker who can clean up the defensive line’s issues.
Could the Rams sign someone like Sebastian Joseph-Day, who basically fit that bill with the Tennessee Titans in 2024? Sure, but why not right one of their biggest wrongs of 2024 and bring in Joseph-Day’s former teammate, Ernest Jones IV, who frankly should have never been traded in the first place?
Before Jones IV was traded to the Tennessee Titans, many considered the third-round pick out of South Carolina the lynchpin of LA’ defense.
Standing 6-foot-2, 230 pounds, Jones IV saw the field as a rookie in 2021 on the way to a Super Bowl win, broke out in 2022, and played some of the best football you will see in 2023, when he was strong against the...
