Philadelphia Eagles vs. Los Angeles Rams Notebook: Third-Downs Thrills, Slot Shenanigans & The Closer
INGLEWOOD, CA - The red-zone woes are still there for the Philadelphia Eagles and the alarm bells may be ringing over the issues at slot cornerback but the end game remains incredibly consistent.
The Eagles are still unbeaten (5-0) after topping the LA Rams, 23-14, Sunday at SoFi Stadium in what seemed like a shootout at halftime but settled into a typical dominant Philadelphia performance when the pass rush started to get home in the second half.
The Eagles were without a number of significant players entering the game including starters at defensive tackle Fletcher Cox (back) and right guard Cam Jurgens (foot), the latter of which was placed on injured reserve on Saturday. Also missing were key reserves at DT and safety in Marlon Tuipulotu (triceps) and Sydney Brown (hamstring).
The team slogged through with Jalen Carter and Hasson Reddick, particularly, speeding up Matthew Stafford to the point that the veteran gunslinger was very uncomfortable over the final 30 minutes.
KUPP OF PANIC
Cooper Kupp returned to the Rams' lineup and the idea of persevering with bigger bodies inside on defense by the Eagles was quickly scrapped. Veteran slot corner Bradley Roby was brought in off the street this week, elevated from the practice squad, and played in an effort to somewhat match up better with Kupp and star rookie Puka Nocua.
Roby, though, was the third man in after Kupp made mincemeat of young options Mario Goodrich and Eli Ricks.
Veteran outiside CB Darius Slay went to defensive coordinator Sean Desai and asked to simplify things in the second half. That and the pass rush did the trick as the Philadelphia defense held the Rams to just 81 yards in the second half.
GO-GO GOEDERT
Dallas Goedert came into the game with 88 receiving yards over the first four games and both Nick Sirianni and Brian Johnson hearing plenty of 'Why can't you get Goedert involved?'
That ended in Los Angeles with Goedert snatching four receptions on the opening drive, including a six-yard touchdown reception. By the third quarter, Goedert had lapped his previous four games with 111 yards and finished with eight receptions in nine targets for 111 yards.
Dallas Goedert after the win in LA.
John McMullen/Eagles Today
THIRD-DOWN MAGIC
Part great offense and part miserable defense, the Eagles started a mind-numbing 11 of 13 on third downs and the two misses were an overthrow by Hurts to a wide-open Quez Watkins, and Watkins failing to turn upfield on a third-and-two which got Nick Sirianni fired up.
The third miss was also a big one as Hurts fired a difficult ball to DeVonta Smith in the end zone with 12:29 left on third-and-goal from the seven-yard line, coming up empty. Kenny Gainwell was wide open underneath and may or may not have made the end zone but he would have been close.
The nitpicking, however, downplays just how effective the Eagles were on the game's most important down.
MISCOMMUNICATION
The Eagles dominated the second half statistically and things would have been easier if the offense punched the football in on a few occasions instead of settling for Jake Elliott field goals. Perhaps, the most disappointing failure was a back-shoulder attempt by Hurts where he and A.J. Brown weren't on the same page, resulting in an interception.
The Hurts-Brown tandem on back-shoulder throws has been a strength dating back to training camp so not being on the same page is a bit of a disappointment.
LET'S GO EAGLES
There were 74,935 in attendance, including Judd Apatow, Leslie Mann, Cedric the Entertainer, and Anthony Anderson. At least half of those in attendance were Eagles supporters, however, and the chants of '"Let's Go Eagles" reverberated throughout SoFi Stadium just as the gassed and overmatched Rams defense was wilting.
Not having a real homefield advantage has been an issue for the Rams since they moved back to Los Angeles.
OFFENSIVE OVERLOAD
Philadelphia had 434 yards of total offense, the fourth consecutive game they've registered at least 415 or more total yards. The Eagles have reached that mark in four straight contests just four other times in history (1953, 2011, 2013, and 2022).
AWESOME A.J.
Coming into the game Eagles star receiver A.J. Brown was only the second player in franchise history to post 25-plus receptions (29), 400-plus receiving yards (414), and 2 or more TDs in the first four games of a season, joining Hall of Famer Terrell Owens in 2005.
That didn't slow in Tinseltown as Brown snared six more receptions for 127 yards and looks downright uncoverable right now.
THE CLOSER
Haason Reddick played the role of Mariano Rivera to critical acclaim and the home of the Oscars, terrorizing Stafford in known-pass situations late in the game to the point Nick Sirianni may have strained a hamstring running down the sideline to meet his edge rusher after his two sacks closed the game.
SLIP-SLIDING TO 99
The Eagles slid everything toward Aaron Donald in their blocking schemes with Jason Kelce, who started his 144th consecutive regular-season game, tying Jon Runyan (144, 2000-08) for the longest streak in franchise history, helping on just about every interior snap and a third blocker also getting involved more often than not. Despite that attention the other Rams front players could not take advnatage of their one-on-one blocks.
The Eagles have have now played five times against Donald and have never allowed a sack to the future Hall of Famer, joining the New York Jets as the only other team who can say that.
