Get out the popcorn (or your copy of “Inner Excellence”) as the Los Angeles Rams face the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 3. Both teams sit at 2-0 and are facing off in a rematch of last year’s Divisional Round game won by Philly, 28-22. The Eagles and Saquon Barkley ran wild on the Rams in 2024. Will it be L.A.‘s turn this season? Time to turn that hate into sacks, Jared Verse.
Ahead of the anticipated playoff rematch, I asked Bleeding Green Nation writer Brandon Lee Gowton some questions about A.J. Brown’s painfully slow start, the Eagles’ repeat chances and more. Huge thanks to Brandon for taking the time to answer my questions this week!
Q – Philadelphia moved to 2-0 after winning a hard-fought Super Bowl rematch over the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. The Eagles are again the class of the NFC, so how realistic is a repeat with this team after they blitzed their way to a title last season?
A – The thing I always bring up whenever I’m asked about the Eagles’ chances of repeating as Super Bowl champions is that there hasn’t even been a repeat NFC East champion since 2004. So, the Birds “merely” winning their division again this year would be a significant accomplishment.
There should be no doubt that they’re *capable* of winning Super Bowl LX. This team just wins. Nick Sirianni has the fourth-highest winning percentage of any head coach … ever. He’s only behind Guy Chamberlin, John Madden and Vince Lombardi. Jalen Hurts is 16-0 in the last 16 games he’s started and finished.
This isn’t to suggest that they’re invincible. Despite their 2-0 start, they clearly have flaws and issues to work through. But the same was true for the team that started 2-2 last year after getting absolutely blown out by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4.
It’s quite possible that the Eagles need some time to fully round into form. This early season stretch is essentially preseason for the starters since they don’t actually play in those meaningless games.
It’s also possible that they just won’t be as good as they were last season since that team turned out to be one of the best in NFL history. There’s naturally going to be some regression. And there are plenty of other good teams out there who might be able to knock them off.
TL;DR — A repeat is realistic but far from guaranteed.
Q – A.J. Brown has been off to a slow start this season, with only 35 receiving yards through the first two games. Many people’s fantasy teams (including my own) have taken a hit because of it, but besides that, what has been the cause for the dip in production thus far?
A – Pretty hard to believe, right?
He’s simply too good to have just 35 yards through two games.
There’s been some thought that he’s injured, though he hasn’t been listed on the injury report. He did miss a portion of training camp due to hamstring injury, so, one could wonder if there are lingering effects there.
But the biggest issue is the Eagles’ passing attack being out of sync. That much was also an issue for them most of last year … until the two biggest games of their season: the NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl LIX.
New Eagles offensive coordinator and play-caller Kevin Patullo (who was promoted from his previous position of passing game coordinator) has been criticized for being too predictable early on this season. While there is certainly validity to those claims, it’s not perfectly clear how much blame he deserves since some of these issues pre-date him. Sirianni and Hurts are the biggest common denominators in this equation.
It seems like Sirianni has been focused on playing an especially risk-averse brand of football. It’s impossible to argue that the Eagles *can’t* win this way since, well, all they’ve done is win. But it sure doesn’t feel super sustainable. It should be able to look easier than it has given the talent that the Eagles have on offense.
Again, Brown is way too good to be kept down for too long. I expect his production to kick up in a major way sooner than later. Perhaps as soon as this weekend given the Rams’ cornerback concerns.
Q – The Eagles lost some key pieces on defense this offseason, but again look like a formidable unit with DC Vic Fangio leading the charge. What are the strengths of this unit, and what are some weaknesses that the Rams could exploit on Sunday?
A – Fangio is really good, as Sean McVay can attest to (0-3 head-to-head with the Rams’ offense averaging 16 points in those games). His coaching is a big strength, as evidenced by the Eagles’ most recent win. Unlike in Super Bowl LIX where the Birds didn’t need to blitz a single time to shut down Patrick Mahomes, Fangio sent a bunch of blitzes at the Chiefs last weekend.
When it comes to the personnel, the Eagles have reason to feel encouraged about their front seven. As Matthew Stafford and the Rams’ offensive line can attest to, Jalen Carter is capable of taking over (though his conditioning was just called out by Fangio). Moro Ojomo is a breakout candidate after having a strong offseason. Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt are promising young edge rushers. Newcomer Za’Darius Smith seems to have gas left in the tank; the veteran was pretty disruptive in his Eagles debut. Zack Baun is an absolute stud at off-ball linebacker and first-round pick Jihaad Campbell has flashed encouraging potential early on.
There are more questions in the secondary. The Eagles entered the season with a big concern at CB2, where Adoree’ Jackson didn’t really win the starting competition as much as he lost it less than Kelee Ringo did. Jackson struggled in Week 1 but was better in Week 2, albeit against a Chiefs receiving corps missing multiple starters. The thought of Jackson having to cover Puka Nacua and/or Davante Adams isn’t very comforting. The Rams should absolutely be looking to go after Jackson early and often. In addition to issues in coverage, Jackson has been a bad tackler.
Q – Much of the talk in L.A. this offseason has dealt with how close the Rams were to taking down the Eagles in last year’s playoffs. Who do you believe is Philly’s biggest obstacle to a repeat bid in the NFC and why?
A – Through their entire playoff run, the Eagles were never closer to being eliminated from the postseason than they were late in that game against the Rams. As shown in win probability chart form (via @EaglesRewind on Twitter):
The Eagles are fortunate that Jalen Carter saved their season with his third down sack and subsequent fourth down pressure that forced the Rams into a game-sealing turnover on downs.
When it comes to the top NFC teams, here’s how I currently have them listed in my weekly NFL power rankings that I do for BGN:
1st in NFC (1st overall) — Philadelphia Eagles
2nd in NFC (4th overall) — Green Bay Packers
3rd in NFC (5th overall) — Tampa Bay Buccaneers
4th in NFC (6th overall) — Los Angeles Rams
5th in NFC (8th overall) — Detroit Lions
While you can debate the exact order, there shouldn’t be debate that these are the top five teams in the conference. The San Francisco 49ers might figure in since their schedule is so easy but they’ve also got injury issues going on.
Despite me having the Packers ranked over them, the Bucs stand out as the Eagles’ biggest threat in the NFC. Philly’s struggled with that specific matchup for multiple seasons now. Todd Bowles has Jalen Hurts’ number and Baker Mayfield presents problems for this defense. I’d say most of Philadelphia is fully expecting the Eagles to lose to the Bucs in Week 4.
After the Bucs, I’d say the Packers (that defense is so good) and then the Rams.
Q – The Eagles are a 3.5-point favorite at FanDuel Sportsbook. How do the Rams pull off an upset at the Linc in the Divisional Round rematch?
A – Interesting to see that the line has shifted to Eagles -3.5 since I got around to answering these questions. Seems like a good sign for the Rams, though I’d argue the line opening at Eagles -4.5 was a bad sign for LA.
The Rams will win this game if they can control the line of scrimmage and prevent Saquon Barkley from going wild on them like he did last season. Jared Verse, Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske and Byron Young is a really good defensive front. The Eagles’ offensive line will be challenged. And if the Birds can’t run the ball, that’ll put all the pressure on their ineffective passing attack to figure things out fast. It remains to be seen if they can come up with those answers.
As previously noted, the Rams also need to go after Adoree’ Jackson. And not just by throwing to the guy he’s covering but also by running at him and forcing him to make tackles.
