Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK The Detroit Lions open the 2024 season against the Los Angeles Rams but it’s a different team than they faced in the Playoffs last season—especially on defense. In what was the shortest offseasons in my lifetime, football has returned to our lives. The NFL schedule makers came up with a good way to start the 2024 NFL season with a rematch of last year’s NFC Wild Card game between the Detroit Lions and the Los Angeles Rams on “Sunday Night Football.” The Lions are aiming to win the Super Bowl this year—no, seriously, it’s a real thing and even a local furniture store is running a promotion about it. This is a tough game to start the season with, as the Lions will once again face their former quarterback Matthew Stafford at Ford Field. When these teams faced off in the Playoffs last season, one of the week’s biggest storylines was, “Will Stafford get booed?“ and the answer was a convincing yes. Will that change this time around? Probably not. Lions fans were close to tasting a first-ever Super Bowl appearance last season, and this year they want to make it to the big game and even win the whole thing. It doesn’t matter who is in their way, even if it’s their old franchise quarterback. The Rams though, won’t just lay down and let the Lions win. They want revenge for what happened last year and they have their own high aspirations for this season. Three years removed from their Super Bowl title in 2021, the Rams’ honeymoon period came and went. With the NFC seeming to have improved over the offseason, their chances are only getting tougher. What also makes it even more challenging, is how the retirement of defensive lineman Aaron Donald changed the defense and overall team’s future. Their chance to start a new championship begins Sunday night, so let’s look at the Rams in our Week 1 scouting report for the 2024 season. Los Angeles Rams Last Season 10-7 record (2nd in NFC West) 8th in points scored, 19th in points allowed Overall DVOA: 17th (7th on offense, 22nd on defense) Last season for the Rams was similar to the Lions back in 2022, a rough start but a strong finish. In the first nine games, the Rams were 3-6 and were started to be counted out, but a bye week rejuvenated the team and they finished the season going 7-1 (a 10-7 record) and making the playoffs. The offense found some help in rookie wide receiver Puka Nacua, who finished the season breaking countless rookie records, with his most notable being most yards (1,486) and catches (105), to go along with his six touchdowns. This helped the Rams’ passing game as wide receiver Cooper Kupp was able to take a step back as the number one option in the offense. Kupp was still effective though, registering 59 catches for 737 yards and five touchdowns on the season. It wasn’t just the passing game that helped out, as another young player stepped up in running back Kyren Williams. He finished with 1,144 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns, along with 32 catches for 206 yards and three touchdowns. The balanced attack with Williams on the ground and Nacua and Kupp in the air gave the Rams some balance in their offensive game plan. The defense was the biggest issue for the Rams, as it wasn’t as dominant as it once was, yet Donald still produced 53 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, eight sacks, and three pass deflections. Kobie Turner, a rookie defensive tackle, finished with 57 tackles, a team-high nine sacks, eight tackles for loss, and two pass deflections. Regarding the secondary, safety Jordan Fuller was their only playmaker recording 94 tackles, eight pass deflections, three forced fumbles, three interceptions, and a tackle for loss. The Rams were tied with three other teams with the fewest turnovers produced last season with 18. 2024 Offseason Key additions: LG Jonah Jackson, TE Colby Parkinson, QB Jimmy Garoppolo, CB Tre’Davious White Key losses: DL Aaron Donald, S Jordan Fuller, LB Ernest Jones IV, QB Carson Wentz, C Coleman Shelton, C Brian Allen 2024 NFL Draft picks Round 1: DE Jared VerseRound 2: DT Braden FiskeRound 3: RB Blake CorumRound 3: S Kamren KinchensRound 5: DE Brennan JacksonRound 6: DT Tyler DavisRound 6: K Joshua KartyRound 6: WR Jordan WhittingtonRound 6: C Beaux LimmerRound 7: G KT Leveston The biggest change is obviously the loss of Donald, who is a sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Famer and will certainly be missed in the trenches. With that said, the Rams replaced him with multiple defensive linemen in the draft, including two edge rushers, and two defensive tackles. The Rams know how much attention Donald got from opposing offensive lines and with him out of the picture, Turner is probably their main defensive line threat. The offensive line and secondary got some help, too, with former Lion Jonah Jackson to give them a starting guard/center option. Cornerback Tre’Davious White boosts the secondary, as someone who can make plays. There was some drama just a few days ago as starting middle linebacker and team captain Ernest Jones supposedly requested a trade…until he didn’t. The confusion ended after he was traded to the Tennessee Titans, followed by Rams head coach Sean McVay saying he didn’t request a trade and the move was a football decision. Jones was the Rams leading tackler with 145 tackles last season and now the job could be had between veterans Christian Rozeboom and Troy Reeder, or younger guys who stood out in the preseason and training camp in Jake Hummel and Omar Speights. 2024 season outlook The Rams are looking for a new beginning on defense with Donald’s departure, but I think his loss will be felt heavily this season as the team learns to adjust to life without him. Additionally, they are in a tough division with the defending NFC Champion

Your new daily word game obsession is here. Be one of the first people to try out our new NFL player guessing game. We’re back for another day of SB Nation’s in-5 daily trivia game. Just a reminder that this remains a beta that we’re testing out this week. Today’s game is down below and you can play yesterday’s game here. The goal of the game is to guess the correct random NFL player with the help of up to five clues. We’ll mix in BOTH ACTIVE AND RETIRED PLAYERS this week. It won’t be easy to figure it out in one or two guesses, but some of you might be able to nail it. It will be a mix of well-known players and some “that guys” that we haven’t thought of in some time. The game will appear in slot #3 of the POD layout each day this week, with a new article each day for the game. After you correctly guess the player, you can click “Share Results” to share how you did in the comments and on social media. We won’t go into other details about the game as we’d like your feedback on it. How it plays, what you think of it, the difficulty level, and anything else you can think of that will let us know what you think and how we can improve the game. You can provide feedback in the comments of this article, or you can fill out this Google Form. Enjoy! What we need from you Play the game (reminder that the answer could be EITHER an active or retired player) Share your result in the comments and on social media Provide feedback (Google Form or in the comments below) SB Nation in-5

Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images New and updates on Philadelphia’s depth chart. The Philadelphia Eagles issued their second official injury report on Wednesday in advance of their Week 1 game against the Green Bay Packers on Friday night in São Paulo, Brazil. Note that this report is an estimation since the Eagles are not actually practicing today. They had a Sunday-Monday-Tuesday practice schedule before flying to South America today on Wednesday. The big news is that Devin White is listed under DID NOT PARTICIPATE. He is not traveling with the team to Brazil and has thus been ruled OUT of Friday’s game. White unexpectedly appeared on Tuesday’s injury report as a limited participant due to an ankle injury. Apparently he got hurt in practice. Based on how he took nearly all of the first first-team linebacker reps in practice this offseason, White was originally expected to be a Week 1 starter. But reports indicate Dean was actually slated to be the guy at MIKE: Nakobe Dean was slated to be the #Eagles’ starting MIKE LB before the team listed Devin White on the injury report on Tuesday, NFL sources said. Dean beat White out in training camp. It’s’ unclear what role the Eagles had for White, if any, on defense. Nevertheless, he wasn’t… https://t.co/eZOFZNiZN4 — Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) September 4, 2024 Further, there was reportedly some buzz the Eagles might actually trade White as the team trimmed their roster from 90 players down to 53: There were murmurs that the Eagles could trade Devin White before the cutdown—Zack Baun and Nakobe Dean both were really good in camp. So, fair or not, White missing the opener won’t help his case for a big role in the defense. https://t.co/6Sm5wIIETw — Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) September 4, 2024 Interesting. White, who got benched late last season, did not set the world on fire in training camp. But he did have some moments where his athleticism stood out. Dean had a rough start to camp (as Vic Fangio even publicly acknowledged) but he finished the summer strong. The thought here was that White and Zack Baun would start but Dean would still see a good amount of playing time, perhaps even the most out of any linebacker in a given game. We could see a three-man rotation when White is able to play again; Fangio admitted there’s an ongoing battle at the position. Then again, Fangio also said it would be ideal to settle on two full-time starters. So, here’s an opportunity for Dean to capitalize on the momentum and establish himself. There’s no question he’s looked good playing downhill but he still must prove 1) that he’s not a liability dropping back into coverage and 2) he can stay healthy. White’s absence means the Eagles have three backups behind Dean and Baun: Oren Burks, Jeremiah Trotter Jr., and Ben VanSumeren. Burks missed most of camp but did some nice things in the final preseason game. JTJ and BVS both showed intriguing potential on both defense and special teams. One player was listed under LIMITED PARTICIPATION: Isaiah Rodgers. Rodgers was also listed as limited on Tuesday due to a hand injury. The current expectation is that he’ll be playing on the outside when the Eagles shift Quinyon Mitchell inside to line up as the nickel cornerback. If Rodgers isn’t able to play, it’ll be Kelee Ringo in his stead. The Eagles listed two players under FULL PARTICIPATION: A.J. Brown and Landon Dickerson. They were listed as limited on Tuesday with “rest” designations. They’re good to go. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES INJURY REPORT (WEDNESDAY) DID NOT PARTICIPATE LB Devin White (ankle) — ruled OUT, was not able to travel with the team LIMITED PARTICIPATION CB Isaiah Rodgers (hand) FULL PARTICIPATION WR A.J. Brown (rest)OG Landon Dickerson (rest) GREEN BAY PACKERS INJURY REPORT (WEDNESDAY) The Packers also did not practice on Wednesday due to travel so this report is an estimation as well. Two changes to Green Bay’s Tuesday injury report: 1) Rookie running back MarShawn Lloyd was upgraded from DNP to limited. Seems like he might be able to play, albeit at less than 100%. If Lloyd is active, he’ll serve as Josh Jacobs’ backup. Third-string running back Emanuel Wilson is still dealing with a hip issue. 2) Second-string tight end Tucker Kraft was added to the injury report with a back issue. He was listed as limited. We’ll see how he’s listed on Thursday’s final injury report. Elsewhere, starting wide receiver Romeo Doubs was listed as limited again due to a hand issue. Depth defensive lineman Arron Mosby was ruled OUT due to a personal matter; he is not traveling to the game. LIMITED PARTICIPATION LB Edgerrin Cooper (hip)WR Romeo Doubs (hand)TE Tucker Kraft (back)RB MarShawn Lloyd (hamstring)DB Carrington Valentine (hamstring)RB Emanuel Wilson (hip)

Think you can figure out which Eagles player we’re talking about? You’ll get five clues to figure him out in our new guessing game! We’re back for another day of BGN’s in-5 daily trivia game. Just a reminder that this remains a beta that we’re testing out this week. Today’s game is down below and you can play yesterday’s game here. The goal of the game is to guess the correct Eagles player with the help of up to five clues. We’ll mix in BOTH ACTIVE AND RETIRED PLAYERS this week. It won’t be easy to figure it out in one or two guesses, but some of you might be able to nail it. The game appears in slot #3 of the BGN layout each day this week, with a new article each day for the game. Additionally, there is a more general version of this at SBNation.com, which features a variety of random players that do not necessarily have Eagles history. After you correctly guess the player, you can click “Share Results” to share how you did down in the comments and on social media. We won’t go into other details about the game as we’d like your feedback on it. How it plays, what you think of it, the difficulty level, and anything else you can think of that will help us improve this game. You can provide feedback in the comments of this article, or you can fill out this Google Form. What we need from you Play the game (reminder that the answer could be EITHER and active or retired player) Share your result in the comments and on social media Provide feedback (Google Form or in comments below) Bleeding Green Nation in-5

The Eagles head coach talked about Jalen Hurts’ development this offseason, being excited for Friday Night Football in Brazil, and about his DB coaching staff. The Eagles had one last practice on Tuesday before their big travel day to Brazil, and head coach Nick Sirianni spoke to reporters ahead of taking the field. He talked about how he’s excited to see Saquon Barkley in this offense, he’s excited to play Friday Night Football again, and he’s excited to play in front of passionate fans in Brazil — while noting he’s bummed they’re not playing in front of the passionate fans in Philly. As they prepare for a long nine-plus hour flight, Sirianni said that he typically falls asleep on long trips like that, but he and OC Kellen Moore, and Kevin Patullo, will watch some film and maybe a movie. He also doesn’t know exactly what the setup will be at the hotel and facilities, but said the Eagles organization has a wonderful staff that will keep everything as familiar to a regular road game as possible. Here’s what the head coach had to say: On playing a new DC in Week 1 Sirianni acknowledged that there will be a lot of unknowns and surprises around the league in Week 1 regardless of whether team’s had coordinator changes, but a team having a new DC does require digging a little deeper in their planning. As for the Packers, Sirianni said that they looked back at DC Jeff Hafley film when he was the head coach at Boston College, and he’s someone that Sirianni has a lot of respect for. “[Hafley]’s obviously done an unbelievable job to earn the opportunity to be the defensive coordinator – for the Green Bay Packers is obviously a huge honor too. We’ll have to be ready for anything. Without giving up secrets of what we’ve done, we’ve looked at a bunch of stuff as well, but also knowing everything is alive, right. There are other guys on the staff that probably have influence as well of what they talk about.” On seeing Saquon Barkley with the offense “Yeah, [Saquon Barkley] made a run at practice yesterday and I just remember – I was wearing sunglasses, it was sunny, I was just kind of taking my sunglasses off and looking at a couple of coaches like, ‘Alright, this is awesome that we got him here.’ Not only for the play that he brings to the field and the cut that he made yesterday at practice, but also his leadership and the person that we have.” Sirianni went on to say that as a coach, he’s excited for everything. He’s super excited about Barkley, but he also got goosebumps about playing a game on Friday night, taking them all back to Friday Night Football growing up. The head coach also admitted he’s excited to play in Brazil in front of very passionate sports fans – although, he is bummed to miss out on playing in front of Eagles fans in Philly. “Man, there are so many things to be excited for, and Saquon a obviously a big one of those.” On Jalen Hurts’ development “[Jalen Hurts] dove into everything that he needs to do to be a great quarterback and continue to be a great quarterback in this league. He’s worked his butt off not only on the offense, but also with his strength and conditioning, with his leadership, with his accuracy, with his decision making. And I’ve just seen him attack the off-season and the training camp like I’m so used to seeing Jalen attack everything. And I’m excited for him to be able to go out there and show everybody what he’s been working on, because he’s put so much time into it. I’m excited for his season that he’s going to have and who he is as a player.” On the Eagles’ DB coaches Sirianni had a lot of good things to say about the team’s new defensive back coaches, pointing out that he’s worked with Joe Kasper before and has so much respect for him and everything he brings to the table. He was excited to have to chance to bring Kasper back under DC Vic Fangio. He also talked about how much respect Christian Parker has around the league, and for someone as young as he is, that speaks to the impressive things he’s done. Fangio had worked with Parker in the past, but Sirianni noted that he’s exactly as advertised. The head coach also pointed out CB coach Roy Anderson, quipping that Ravens’ head coach John Harbaugh raved to him about Anderson prior to the preseason game a few weeks ago. “Again, the guys get their foot in the door potentially because someone had worked with them, or we’ve heard a good thing about them. Then you do the research on the person, and just a lot of good reports coming back on all those guys. And then you don’t know it completely until they get in the building, and they’ve just done a phenomenal job.”