Turf Show Times
The Los Angeles Rams had the Philadelphia Eagles on the ropes in the first half before hitting a mental block in the second. Philadelphia comes away with a home win at 33-26. The Rams move to 2-1.
While Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, and the Eagles offense could muster little production through two quarters, the final two told an entirely different story. Meanwhile, Philly made Los Angeles pay for their offensive red zone woes and a propensity to settle for field goals far too often.
The Rams had a chance to take the lead in the game’s final moments before the Eagles blocked Josh Karty’s kick and returned for a touchdown to pad the lead.
This is a loss that will sting for a while for fans, especially those looking for vengeance after losing to Philadelphia in last year’s divisional playoff game.
How did we get here? Let’s point some fingers on an individual level.
The Rams have found a cheat code within the NFL’s new kickoff rules. Josh Karty is able to launch a long-range squib kick that is almost impossible for returners to catch. Philly often started within their own 20-yard line and at times were pinned even further back.
Taking out his two blocked field goals—at no fault of Karty—he was automatic on all four of his attempts today.
Lake was easily LA’s best coverage player in this game. He was all over the field and finished with four pass breakups. He made six total tackles.
I didn’t think coming into this game that the Rams would have much success running the football; however, the Eagles were intent on taking away the deep ball and invited LA to run. Williams and Corum made Philly pay for most of this game, though the Eagles did seem to stiffen up on the ground when they needed a stop.
This is as close to a shared backfield as we’ve seen from the Rams under McVay and in Williams’ tenure as the starting running back. With the way Corum has played over the last two weeks, he deserves more carries moving forward.
The Rams signed Poona Ford with their run struggles against Barkley last year in mind. He executed the mission well on Sunday and proved LA right, although other areas of the roster took a big step back in this game versus the divisional round game still on the top of our minds.
Ford played well and this was especially important with Braden Fiske battling an oblique injury.
The Eagles’ only first half offensive production followed an absolute gift of an interception from Stafford. While the veteran had...
