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.
Winners
Josh Karty, K
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.
Quentin Lake, DB
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.
Kyren Williams & Blake Corum, RB
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.
- Williams: 20 rushes for 94 yards (4.7 avg); plus two receptions for 18 yards and a TD
- Corum: eight carries for 53 yards (6.6 avg)
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.
Poona Ford, DT
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.
- Barkley: 18 carries for 46 yards (2.6 avg)
Losers
Matthew Stafford, QB
The Eagles’ only first half offensive production followed an absolute gift of an interception from Stafford. While the veteran had some shining moments, in the aggregate this felt like a very disjointed and underwhelming performance.
The Rams’ usage of Davante Adams has been confusing and could be part of Stafford’s struggles. Nearly all targets to Adams seem like low-probability plays. There are few schemed deep shots, and while both of capable of doing it the hard way it’s inefficient to ask them to do it often. Is the addition of Adams a better idea than reality?
All-in-all, Stafford finished with 19 completions on 33 attempts (58%) for 196 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. It’s never a good day when you are the second-most productive passer with Jalen Hurts on the other sideline.
Darious Williams, CB
All of the Rams corners were outmatched size-wise by AJ Brown. Williams was particularly ineffective in coverage on Brown, including when he decided to play up contact in hopes of drawing an offensive pass interference flag instead of attempting to fight for the ball. When Brown got the ball on catch and run opportunities, Williams did not seem interested in contact.
The Eagles aren’t the only team with a physical presence at receiver. They must find a solution moving forward with Ahkello Witherspoon out for an extended time.
Beaux Limmer, C
Limmer was probably in the game less than 10 snaps in replacement of Kevin Dotson, who returned for the final offensive possession. Limmer looked entirely overwhelmed, and this comes on the heels of his Week 2 benching in favor of Justin Dedich.
Limmer was also responsible for blocking Jordan Davis, who blocked the would-be game-winning field goal and returned for a touchdown.
