The Eagles started the regular season with a win over the Packers, and they started the playoffs the exact same way. Now, in the divisional round, they're preparing for another rematch. They faced the Rams in Week 12 of the regular season, and now they face the Rams in the second round of the playoffs. In their first meeting, the Eagles had a dominant second half, scoring 24 of their 37 total points in the third and fourth quarters, eventually winning the game 37-20. Saquon Barkley had his best career game against LA, putting up 255 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, and 47 receiving yards.
Both rushing touchdowns were 70+ yards, and 31 of his 47 yards through the air came from one play. Matthew Stafford gave the birds some trouble, completing 24 of his 36 pass attempts for 243 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. The Birds were able to get to Stafford five times for 45 yards. Nakobe Dean and Brandon Graham recorded two of those five sacks but will not be playing this week as both are done for the season.
Game Info
Date: January 19th, 2025
Start Time: 3:00 PM ET
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Stadium: Lincoln Financial Field
TV Info: NBC/Peacock (Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth the call)
Eagles Uniform Info: Green helmet, green jerseys, white pants
Rams Statistical Rankings
Points Per Game: 21.9 (19th)
Points Allowed Per Game: 21.9 (15th)
Offensive Yards Per Game: 329.2 (15th)
Passing/Rushing Yards Per Game: 226.1 (11th) | 103.1 (24th)
Defensive Yards Allowed Per Game: 348.2 (25th)
Passing/Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game: 219.5 (19th) | 128.7 (21st)
Third Down Offensive/Defensive Conversion Rate: 36.0% (25th) | 40.3% (19th)
Red Zone Offensive/Defensive Conversion Rate: 52.2% (25th) | 49.1% (6th)
Penalties: 91 (1st)
Penalty Yardage: 798 (6th)
Players Already Ruled Out
Rams: DT Larrell Murchison, LB Troy Reeder
Eagles: LB Nakobe Dean, DT Byron Young
Los Angeles Rams
Defense
In their Wildcard matchup, the Rams put up an extremely impressive NINE sacks from eight different players. Kobie Turner led the way, being the only player with two sacks; Neville Gallimore and Byron Young both had 1.5, Cobie Durant, Ahkello Witherspoon, and Desjuan Johnson all had one, while Braden Fiske and Michael Hoecht each had 0.5. They faced 40 pass attempts from Sam Darnold and held him to 25 completions. They allowed just one passing TD on a catch and run by TJ Hockenson, and Cobie Durant walked away with an interception. They also forced two fumbles, and Jared Verse recovered one. Durant finished the game with a TFL and a pass deflection, filling the stat sheet! They gave up nine points in the game, one field goal, and one touchdown with a failed two-point attempt.
During the regular season, they allowed 21.9 PPG, the same amount they scored. They allow the seventh most yards per game in the league at 348.2. Their run defense especially concerns heading into a game against such a strong defense. They allow 128.7 rushing yards per game, allowing 4.6 per carry and facing 27.7 rushes a game. The Eagles run the ball a whopping 36.5 times per game and average 4.9 per carry, rushing for 179.3 yards per game. Their pass defense was pretty middle of the line, facing the pass, ranking 14th in opponent completion percentage and opponent passes per game, but they rank 19th in pass yards allowed per game.
Offense
In their first-round game, Matthew Stafford completed 70% of his passes, throwing for 209 yards and two touchdowns while not turning the ball over at all. The offense played a clean game, and they did not turn the ball over. The O-line gave up two sacks but lost just seven yards. No player had over 60 receiving yards, with Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp both pretty quiet in the game. Nacua had five receptions for 44 yards, while Kupp only had one reception and just one target all game, but it was a big hitter that went for 29 yards. Kyren Williams had himself a game totaling 76 yards on the ground and 16 plus a touchdown through the air.
Their offensive ranks are nothing crazy; they don't rank within the top 10 in any stat besides interception thrown percentage and sack allowed percentage. They rank 11th in passing yards and 24th in rushing yards, landing middle of the line in total yards, putting up the 15th most at 329.2. They rank seventh worst in third down and red zone percentage, and those are two areas they definitely need to clean up when heading into a game against a team that ranks within the top five in both stats defensively.
Philadelphia Eagles
Defense
The Eagles' defense had another good performance against Green Bay last week. They gave up zero first-half points last week and just 10 in the game. They held Jordan Love to zero touchdown passes and THREE interceptions coming from Zack Baun, Darius Slay Jr, and the rookie Quinyon Mitchell got his first career pick. They had just two sacks, both coming from Nolan Smith, who also had eight tackles and two TFLs; he had a career game in his first real playoff experience. Zack Baun continued his dominant season, not only having the previously mentioned int but also totaling eight tackles and a PD.
During the regular season, they gave up the second least PPG, allowing just 17.8 per game, first in yards allowed per game with 278.4, first in opponent yards per play at 4.7, third in TDs allowed per game at 1.9, and they allow opponents to convert on third down just 35.5% of the time, third best in the league, and they allow TDs in the red zone just 50% of the time, fifth best in the league. Teams run the ball against less than 25 other teams. The Birds face 24.5 runs per game, allowing just 104.2 yards on 4.3 YPC per game, and they give up the second-fewest rushing TDs of any team. Their secondary pushed this D from good to great, giving up the fewest pass yards per game, allowing just 174.2 per game! They give up a league-best six yards per pass and hold teams to a 62.2% completion percentage, sixth-best in the league. They do all this while facing 31.9 pass attempts per game.
Offense
The Eagles didn't start the season the greatest offensively, but they did enough to win the game and have plenty to grow off of. Jalen Hurts didn't do anything super flashy, but like he has done all season, he played efficiently and won. He had 131 yards on 13 completions, throwing two touchdowns and no interceptions. He added 36 yards on the ground, averaging six yards per carry. DeVonta Smith was the only player with over 50 receiving yards, having 55 on four receptions. AJ Brown had just one catch on three targets and had 10 yards, but the good thing about him is no matter how bad a game he has, he always bounces back, and his and Hurts' chemistry is as good as any QB/WR duo in the league. Dallas Goedert also had four receptions and went for 47 yards and a touchdown.
Saquon Barkley was licking his lips, seeing that he had yet to face this Rams defense. He went for 300+ total yards and two touchdowns the first time he faced them. He had 119 yards on 25 carries last week and had two receptions for just four yards. He'll be the Eagles' recipe for success, as he has been for most of the season. He's the centerpiece of this offense, and teams never seem to have an answer for him. He's most likely going to win OPOTY and may be an MVP candidate as well; this season has been something special to watch, and all of Philadelphia can only hope he can do even half of what he did the first time he saw LA.
Betting Info
Points Spread: PHI -5.5 (-122) | LAR +5.5 (-102)
Moneyline: PHI (-250) | LAR (+205)
Over/Under: O 42.5 (-110) | U 42.5 (-110)
Lines Via Draft Kings as of 0/0/25
Prediction
The Rams have struggled against the run all season, and it was most prevalent when they welcomed the Birds to LA. This time, the game is in Philadelphia in the playoffs, so that already rowdy Philly crowd is gonna be even louder and more obnoxious. Stafford and the Rams are the only team that put up numbers against the Eagles' secondary, but watching the game, they still didn't do a whole lot and ended up losing by 17 points. Keep in mind that 7 of LA's 20 points also came in garbage time, so do they really count? It should be a closer game than the first one due to the competitiveness of the playoffs and the experience this Rams team has, but I still have the Birds coming out on top.
Final Score: Eagles 27, Rams 16
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