
January 17, 2025
Can A.J. Brown, Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, and the Eagles beat the Rams again?
One playoff rematch down with another right on deck for the Eagles, this time with the right to advance to the NFC Championship Game on the line.
It'll be Matthew Stafford and the Rams back at Lincoln Financial Field this Sunday for the NFL Playoffs' Divisional Round.
The two previously faced one another in L.A. back in Week 12, where Saquon Barkley ran for a franchise-record 255 yards and the Eagles pulled away with the game, 37-20, for, at the time, their seventh consecutive win.
The Eagles went on to close out the season with wins in 12 of their last 13, then took down the Packers last week in the Wild Card Round.
The Rams recovered from that loss to win five of their last six, the NFC West title, and then last Monday night's upset over the 14-3 Vikings.
Does L.A. have another upset in store, or will the Eagles keep on rolling with their sights set on the Super Bowl?
Here are our predictions...
TV: NBC/Peacock (Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, Melissa Stark)
RADIO: 94.1 WIP (Merrill Reese, Mike Quick, Devan Kaney)
Sportsbook | Spread | Money Line | Total O/U |
DraftKings | PHI -6 | LAR +225 PHI -278 | 44.5 |
FanDuel | PHI -6.5 | LAR +240 PHI -295 | 44.5 |
BetRivers | PHI -6 | LAR +230 PHI -286 | 43.5 |
BetMGM | PHI -6 | LAR +225 PHI -275 | 44 |
ESPN BET | PHI -6.5 | LAR +220 PHI -270 | 43.5 |
In their Week 12 blowout win over the Rams in L.A., the Eagles scored 37 points, racked up 481 yards, and didn't turn the ball over. Defensively, the Eagles allowed two long Rams drives to start the game — with one ending in a fumble and the other ending in a touchdown — but adjusted thereafter and held the Rams' offense in check the rest of the game.
The Rams finished 26th in regular season defensive DVOA, however, if you don't include a Week 18 loss to the Seahawks during which they rested starters, the Rams have allowed single-digit points in each of their last four games. So, they have been better on that side of the ball lately, though they haven't faced an offenses as good as the Eagles'.
Weather forecasts are showing that there could be 4-5 inches of snowfall during the afternoon on Sunday with wind gusts of up to 20 MPH. It could be a difficult day to throw the football. That's advantage Eagles, who have the clearly superior rushing attack. As we showed in our Friday mailbag, here are the Eagles' and Rams' rushing yard differentials (regular season + playoffs):
Team | Rushing yards | Rushing yards allowed | Rushing yard differential |
Eagles | 3217 | 1878 | +1339 |
Rams | 1855 | 2316 | -461 |
There's no need to overthink this one. The Eagles wrecked this team a couple months ago, and the weather favors the Birds' style of play.
MORE: Snow in forecast for Eagles-Rams
The Eagles' offense didn't totally inspire confidence last week when they made a cakewalk win look labored over the Packers. However, this is an offense that has proven it can bounce back and evolve. In six games, not including a meaningless Week 18, the Eagles failed to post 350 yards of offense during the regular season — as they did in the NFC Wild Card last week. In all six follow-up games, they posted more yards than the previous game, with five of the six over 350. They went 6-0 in each of these contests.
I think the offense returns to form and the defense stays in its elite form, handling the one-dimensional Rams, a team they handily defeated earlier this season.
The Rams were impressive in their Monday night win over the Vikings without a doubt, but overall, I'm not sure they're significantly better than the Green Bay team the Eagles just beat by two scores. Jalen Hurts left much to be desired on Sunday, but this is a defense-first, run-first team. If QB1 continues to play mistake-free football, the Birds are advancing.
Requiem for the 2001 NFC Championship Game.
MORE: Eagles-Rams Wild Card Round injury report, with analysis
This defense can handle the Rams.
And this offense, with Saquon Barkley, can more than handle the Rams.
We already saw it happen, and I don't think enough has changed in the couple of months since to believe it can't again.
I'd also watch out for A.J. Brown here. Week 12 in L.A., he caught six passes for 109 yards and a touchdown. Last week in the Wild Card, he only had one catch for 10.
But usually, when he has a quiet game like that, the answer always seems to end up huge, and I think whatever he follows up with on Sunday will be what sends the Eagles to the NFC Championship Game.
MORE: How do the 2024 Eagles stack up against 2022 and 2017?
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