Week 2 Preview: Eagles Need Another Confidence Builder vs. LA Rams
PHILADELPHIA - Desperation comes early in the NFL and the Eagles are staring down the barrel of 0-2 unless they can find a way to again vanquish the Sean McVay Rams.
The matchup has recently been a tonic for Philadelphia, persevering in Los Angles back in 2017 after Carson Wentz went down with his ACL/LCL injury and turning the trick again in 2018 when most had the Eagles left for dead.
This time it’s far earlier in the season with the Rams coming east in front of no fans at Lincoln Financial Field due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After an unsettling season-opening loss to the somewhat talent-deficient Washington Football Team reinforcements are on the way, starting with Pro Bowl right tackle Lane Johnson, albeit at less than 100 percent, lead running back Miles Sanders and defensive end Derek Barnett.
With Rams vs. Eagles, once might be a fluke and two times a coincidence but three times?
That’s a trend and exactly what Philadelphia needs, something that could result in its mojo back and less stress for Doug Pederson with a confidence-building win.
OFFENSIVE SCHEME: McVay combines pre-snap movement with a ton of play-action looks to get a quarterback with significant arm talent in Jared Goff wide-open looks to explosive receivers like Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, and Josh Reynolds.
The key is staying disciplined and the Eagles have done that better than most when it comes to the Rams.
“When you're talking about the Rams, you're really talking about the OG team as far as doing that kind of stuff,” defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said of the pre-snap movement. “Again, that's one of those things: you play perfect nine out of 10 times, that 10th play can be a difference-maker.
“... Nothing we haven't dealt with. It's just that the number of times they bring it, it just keeps the pressure on the defense. It's up to us to respond to that. We have to be able to play lights out, mistake-free football.”
The play-action part of things is helped along by movement, as well as tempo and the efficacy of the running game itself.
“They have a ton of distraction,” said linebacker Nate Gerry. “Obviously the tempo they always do, sometimes they’re really fast, sometimes they’re really fast to go really slow.
"They have a bunch of different tempos and they’ve got a bunch of eye candy for the linebackers with people crisscrossing behind the line of scrimmage and obviously being able to run the ball really well helps the play-action game and that’s one thing they’ve always been able to do in the past.
“Even last week against Dallas they ran the ball really well and any time you can run the ball well it opens up play action.”
DEFENSIVE SCHEME: There is no more Wade Phillips with the Rams with Brandon Staley taking over as the DC. His expertise is in the back seven but obviously the strength of the LA defense is Aaron Donald, the best defensive player on the planet and surely the worst day of the year for the interior of the Eagles’ offensive line. LA also has a star cornerback in Jalen Ramsey and a very athletic edge rusher in Leonard Floyd.
Technically, it’s a 3-4 front but really it’s multiple looks with Donald moving up and down the line of scrimmage to take advantage of perceived mismatches.
STRENGTH: It’s hard to gravitate away from Donald, who had four QB hits in Week 1 against Dallas. He’s always in the backfield and blowing up plays with uncanny penetration.
You’ve got to do a mix of things to slow him down, starting with double teams but also working in screens and draws that use his strengths against the rest of the LA front seven which often can’t carry its own water when compared to the superstar.
“Aaron Donald, he’s a monster,” Eagles QB Carson Wentz said. “Everyone knows it. Everyone around the league knows the type of player he is and how he can really disrupt an offensive game plan. And so for us, we’re aware of that. Somebody we’ve got to always know where he is, but at the same time, we’ve got to execute, not play afraid, not play timid. . . . He is a game wrecker.”
The Eagles have had some success against Donald and have never allowed him a sack to date but the issue is further exacerbated this season by the absence of Brandon Brooks (Achilles’) and the move to second-year player Nate Herbig at right guard. To be kind, that’s a mismatch, and even though the Rams are expected to move Donald all over this season, the expectation is they will focus on the mismatch more often than not.
“Obviously Aaron Donald is a great player, tremendous player,” Pederson said. “There are not many offensive lines out there that really kind of slow this guy down. I mean, he just goes from snap to whistle. He's 100 miles an hour and that's tough.
“For us, it's about understanding where he lines up and he does move - it's a different scheme. It's not the same Wade Phillips scheme. It's a different scheme so they move him around the D-Line just a little bit more, so it's imperative that we understand where he's at. Communication is of the utmost, obviously, and it starts with (Jason) Kelce and echos along the offensive line.”
WEAK LINK: Outside of Ramsey, the Rams’ secondary looks like it was patched together by McGyver with some chewing gum and a little chicken wire. The other two corners - Troy Hill and Darious Williams - are waiver-wire pickups and one of the safeties is a 2020 sixth-round pick in Jordan Fuller. Wentz should have plenty of opportunities to hit some things down the field.
UNDER THE RADAR: The Rams probably improved their running game by moving on from the banged-up Todd Gurley and giving the RB1 job to Malcolm Brown.
In the Week 1 win over Dallas, Brown rushed for 79 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns. He’s just enough of a threat to put some uncertainty back in the Rams’ play-action game which is a very important part of the offense.
MATCHUP TO WATCH: Derek Barnett has been a full-go at practice and should be ready to return from a nagging hamstring injury. The Eagles need him on the field and a more consistent pass rush for him. Squaring off against the ageless Andrew Whitworth is a good test. At 38, Whitworth is a lot like Jason Peters. He’s not what he once was but he knows all the tricks of the trade.
OUTLOOK: Typically this would be a no-brainer for the Eagles. A west coast team coming east in a body-clock game in front of 70,000 screaming Philadelphians. That’s a recipe for tapping out by halftime so the COVID-19 environment will help the Rams in many ways, starting with easy communication for the offense, which relies on a ton of pre-snap motion.
The guess here, however, is that the returning talent - starting with Sanders, Johnson, and Barnett - will be enough to get the Eagles their first win of the season.
Final Score:
JOHN MCMULLEN: Eagles 23, Rams 17 (0-1 on the season, 0-1 vs. the spread)
ED KRACZ: Eagles 27, Rams 23 (0-1 on the season, 0-1 vs. the spread)
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM and every Monday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SportsMap Radio. He’s also the host of Extending the Play on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
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