Last week, A.J. Brown recorded one catch, three targets, 10 yards, 116 inspirational words and one real gift. The Eagles didn’t need him in a 22-10 win because Saquon Barkley ran for 119 yards and Dallas Goedert bullied his way into the end zone. But what happens if the Rams limit Barkley and dare Jalen Hurts to pass?
We could find out Sunday when Los Angeles (11-7) visits Philadelphia (15-3) at snowy Lincoln Financial Field (3 p.m. ET, NBC). That’s because the Rams are 6-1 since their Week 12 loss to the Eagles, largely because of the team’s dominant defensive front. And if that front can corral Barkley, something it obviously didn’t do in allowing Barkley to explode for a season-high 255 rushing yards on Nov. 24, Hurts will take center stage.
Even before Barkley arrived as a free agent in March, Hurts has followed an applicable pattern over his prior six postseason starts. The Eagles are 0-3 when he passes for 250-or-more yards and 3-0 otherwise. Meanwhile, since the Rams hired Sean McVay in 2017, Los Angeles has never allowed a 100-yard rusher in 12 postseason games. In fact, according to ESPN, those 12 games represent the most by a head coach in NFL history, two better than Steve Owen (1933-50) and three more than George Halas (1933-63).
What’s remarkable is that the Rams have assembled their defensive front in the wake of Aaron Donald’s March retirement. GM Les Snead nailed his first two draft picks in 2024, Jared Verse and Braden Fiske, who already had chemistry from their time together at Florida State. Those rookies paired with phenomenal second-year players Kobie Turner and Byron Young have shut down some of the league’s best attacks in recent weeks.
Last week in a statement win over Minnesota, the Rams matched a single-game NFL playoff record with nine sacks. The Vikings’ lost 82 yards on sacks, more than any team in a postseason game during the Super Bowl era. Verse returned a fumble 57 yards for a touchdown, longest ever by a rookie in a postseason game. Prior to Verse, J.J. Watt in 2011 was the last rookie to score a defensive touchdown in a playoff game.
Serious about Sirianni: Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni joined a pair of Rams greats in reaching the playoffs this season. Only the sixth NFL coach to advance to the playoffs in each of his first four seasons, he joined John Robinson (1983-86) and Chuck Knox (1973-76), as well as John Harbaugh (2008-11), Bill Cowher (1992-95) and Paul Brown (1950-53). Sirianni is now the longest-tenured head coach in the NFC East.
Dickerson still in reach: While Barkley finished 101 yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record, he can still catch Dickerson in another category. Dickerson ranks No. 3 on the all-time list in regular-season and postseason rushing yards. Barkley (2,124 combined) needs only 89 rushing yards on Sunday to eclipse Dickerson’s 1984 combined total, 2,212. Terrell Davis actually has the top two seasons in league annals. Davis combined for 2,476 in 1998 and 2,331 in 1997, helping Denver capture consecutive Super Bowl titles. Incidentally, Baltimore’s Derrick Henry enters the week only 17 yards behind Barkley.
Fine wine: Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford has flourished since Los Angeles acquired him in a trade before the 2021 season. He enters Sunday with a streak of 200 passing yards and multiple touchdown passes in six straight playoff games. Should he reach those marks again at Philadelphia, Stafford would join Aaron Rodgers (nine), Terry Bradshaw (seven) and Joe Flacco (seven) as the only players ever to accomplish a seven-game streak.
For more information on the Eagles and Rams, visit the Philadelphia and L.A. Rams team pages at ProFootballPost.com.
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