Eagles Stifle the Rams

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Eagles Stifle the Rams

Posted: October 9th, 2023 | Author: Tommy Lawlor 

More than a few people thought the Rams had a good chance to upset the Eagles on Sunday. The Rams were only 2-2, while the Eagles were 4-0. But it was the style of play and matchups that everyone felt gave LA a chance in this game. That held true for a while, with the Rams leading 14-10 late in the first half.

Then the Eagles took control of the game. They added a TD to go into halftime up 17-14. The Eagles dominated the second half and won the game 23-14. There were only six points scored in the second half, but the Eagles offense gained 250 yards and moved the ball up and down the field. The Rams? Not so much.

That is some stifling defense.

The game sure didn’t start that way. Cooper Kupp made his season debut and Matt Stafford got him the ball early and often.

Kupp finished the game with 8 catches. The Eagles adjusted to him as the game went along and found ways to slow him down. Part of this was on better coverage and part was on a better pass rush. There were times when Kupp was open downfield by a step and Stafford didn’t have time to get off a good throw. The DBs weren’t blanketing him, but they covered well enough that Stafford had to make tough throws. The DL did their part and those plays ended as incompletions.

The Eagles tried different players in the slot. Bradley Roby made his Eagles debut and did some good things. Mario Goodrich played some. I’ll need to re-watch the game to really understand what worked and what didn’t.

It was easy to see the pass rush pick up in the second half. Stafford was sacked 3 times, including a pair by Haason Reddick to close out the game. Josh Sweat didn’t get a sack, but got pressure several times. Jalen Carter had a sack in each half. Some of this pressure was simply due to Eagles rushers winning one-on-one battles. It also felt like Sean Desai was more aggressive with blitzes.

The Rams defense focused on trying to make the Eagles play small-ball. So the Eagles did that. And did it very well. They had four drives of at least 10 plays. They had three others that had at least 7 plays. That is some serious ball control. You do that by winning on third down. The Eagles went 13 for 18, which is mind-blowing since the Rams came into the game ranked second in the league in third down defense. The Eagles converted over and over and over.

Jalen Hurts played his best game of the season. He was 25-38-303 as a passer and 15-72-1 as a runner. That was his best running game of the year. His legs were a real weapon in this game.

Dallas Goedert had his best game of the year, going 8-117-1. It was good to see him come alive. AJ Brown stayed red hot and went 6-127. He had some big time catch and run plays. His 38-yarder late in the half set up a TD.

None of this happens without the Eagles OL having an outstanding performance. They made Aaron Donald a non-factor. He still doesn’t have a sack against the Eagles in his career. Crazy. The Eagles ran for 159 yards and Hurts had plenty of time to throw on most of his attempts. The big guys up front controlled the line of scrimmage, even without RG Cam Jurgens. Sua Opeta started in his absence and played well.

The only real complaint with the Eagles offense is them bogging down in the red zone. They finished 2 for 6, but one of those was intentionally conservative to work the clock so it is really 2 for 5. The failure to score TDs kept the Rams in it. This was a one-score game until the 4:06 mark. One mistake could have turned a good game into a disaster. Thankfully the Eagles never made that huge mistake. But they must improve in the red zone. Kicking field goals won’t beat good teams.

Give the Rams credit for playing hard and really battling. The Eagles just had too much talent and played a cleaner game. They are now 5-0 for the second straight season. They aren’t perfect to be sure, but they just keep winning.

Not bad.

http://igglesblitz.com/2023/10/eagles-stifle-rams/