The Secret to a Rams' Playoff Upset Win Over the Eagles

The Los Angeles Rams will be facing the Philadelphia Eagles in the Divisional Round of the playoffs on Sunday afternoon and are seeking revenge from their loss to the Eagles back on Nov. 24.

But do the Rams actually have enough to beat Philadelphia, which is unquestionably one of the most talented teams in football?

It will be a tall task for sure, but Zoltan Buday feels that it could be done if Los Angeles heavily utilizes one particular feature in its offense: the play-action pass.

"Partially due to the temporary absence of wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua and the injuries on the offensive line, quarterback Matthew Stafford did not play at his best in 2024. In fact, his 76.0 PFF overall grade ranks only 20th among quarterbacks so far this season," Buday wrote. "Nevertheless, the Rams signal-caller has still been among the best in the league this season on play-action passes. Stafford completed 71.3% of his play-action pass attempts in the regular season for 1,444 passing yards, the fourth most among 44 qualifying quarterbacks."

The play-action pass has always been a lethal weapon for elite quarterbacks, and that doesn't change just because Stafford is 36 years old.

As a matter of fact, he may have to employ it even more against Philadelphia.

"Furthermore, he recorded nine touchdown passes on these plays but did not throw a single interception, leading to a 119.2 passer rating, fifth in the league," Buday added. "In addition, Stafford earned a 91.5 PFF passing grade on these plays, which ranked third in the NFL and leads all eight quarterbacks of the teams that are still alive."

Clearly, Stafford is terrific when he goes to the play action, so expect to see a healthy dose of that on Sunday.

The two-time Pro Bowler was impressive during the Rams' Wild Card Round win over the Minnesota Vikings last weekend, going 19-for-27 with 209 yards and a couple of touchdowns in the 27-9 victory.

Stafford actually played fairly well against the Eagles in the regular-season meeting between the two squads, completing 24 of his 36 throws for 243 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

He may need to be even better this time around.

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