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Your In-Depth Eagles at Rams Week 14 Preview

Adrian Fedkiw|

So the Philadelphia Eagles are basically going to be playing another home game in Los Angeles.

If it’s even going to be played there. Raging wildfires have engulfed parts of Southern California, forcing the Los Angeles Rams to move their practice on Wednesday. Plans for the moment, however, are to play the game as scheduled at the Coliseum.

It’s also the first matchup between Carson Wentz and Jared Goff, the No. 1 and 2 picks in the 2016 NFL Draft.

 

EAGLES PASSING GAME VS. RAMS PASS DEFENSE
PHI- 102.4 PASSER RATING (4/32), 242 YPG (14/32)
LAR- 77.3 PASSER RATING ALLOWED (5/32), 211 YPG ALLOWED (8/32)

Wentz had thrown at least two touchdowns in every game since Week 5, but then he went to Seattle and didn’t play like an MVP for the first time in a while. He wound up throwing for over 300 yards in the second half and finished 29-of-45 for 348 yards with a touchdown and interception. Wentz, however, left at least 17 points on the field and those numbers weren’t indicative of how off his ball placement was.

Wentz misfired twice to Nelson Agholor on deep crossing routes. He did it once in the first half when he overthrew him on a play that could’ve put the Eagles in field goal range and again in the second half when he failed to hit Agholor in stride on a woule-be touchdown.

Wentz also committed his first red zone turnover of the season, fumbling the ball at the 1-yard line.

The other part in this equation is Doug Pederson. Wentz was just 9-of-13 in the first half for a measly 45 yards, while Alshon Jeffery and Zach Ertz were targeted only once. It was far too conservative of a game plan going against a Seattle defense without Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor. The Eagles have the No. 1 offense in the NFL, they don’t have to respect anyone. Despite all of that, Wentz was still nearly able to claw the Eagles back in it in the fourth with a pair of breathtaking third down conversions.

The Rams like to get after the quarterback and are third in the NFL with 38 sacks on the season. Aaron Donald leads the way with eight sacks, but the guy to watch is Robert Quinn. Halapoulivaati Vaitai comes off a rough outing going against Frank Clark, while Quinn has posted three of his 5 1/2 sacks on the season the last three weeks. Quinn struggled making the adjustment from 4-3 defensive end to 3-4 outside linebacker earlier this season, but has figured everything out. Big V hadn’t been tested much at left tackle until last week and the competition gets tougher Sunday. Will Vaitai be able to handle it?

Brandon Brooks also has a tough responsibility with Donald. He hasn’t surrendered a sack all year.

Another matchup to watch will be Alshon Jeffery going against Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson. Johnson is at his best defending physical wideouts, which Jeffery is. Nelson Agholor comes off a game where he caught seven passes for 141 yards and a touchdown so we’ll see if he can continue that momentum. It was announced Thursday that Zach Ertz had cleared concussion protocol and will be able to go Sunday. That’s big news.

Safety Lamarcus Joyner will be an x-factor for the Rams. He’s made a seamless transition from cornerback to safety and has had his best season.

 

EAGLES RUNNING GAME VS. RAMS RUN DEFENSE
PHI- 4.6 YPC (4/32), 143.5 YPG (2/32)
LAR- 4.7 YPC ALLOWED (30/32), 122.8 YPG ALLOWED (27/32)

After seeing just 20 carries in his first three games as an Eagles, Ajayi toted the rock nine times for 35 yards against Seattle. I expect him to see an even bigger workload on Sunday.

The Rams are 30th in yards per carry allowed at 4.7 and have struggled defending the edges all season long. Teams like the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings have run all over them. Philadelphia is at its best running the outside zone and sweep plays and I believe Ajayi and Corey Clement will be a big part of the gameplan. If the Eagles get them going along the perimeter, it’ll go a long way towards winning this game.

It might be a little tougher for LeGarrette Blount to find traction in between the tackles with Donald and Michael Brockers lurking. Lane Johnson and Brandon Brooks, however, have excelled in run blocking and maybe Blount can get going a bit running off the right side of the line.

 

RAMS PASSING GAME VS. EAGLES PASS DEFENSE
PHI- 77.0 PASSER RATING ALLOWED (4/32), 225 YPG ALLOWED (16/32)
LAR- 98.6 PASSER RATING (7/32), 258 YPG (7/32)

Can the Eagles get to Goff and force him to make mistakes?

In two of the three losses the Rams have had, Goff struggled with pressure. The Eagles generate the highest pressure rate in the NFL at 42%, according to Pro Football Focus. When you make Goff get the ball out and have to make quick decisions, that’s how you beat him. In Goff’s defense, his decision making against pressure the second half of the season has improved. It also helps that his head coach Sean McVay helps him out with audibles at the line of scrimmage.

Pederson commented on Goff this week and how he and Wentz compare to one another. Goff was drafted No. 1 overall in the 2016 NFL Draft and Wentz was taken right after him by the Birds at No. 2.

You see a lot of the same characteristics in the two quarterbacks. Obviously size, strength, athleticism. Both have great IQ, football intelligence. And athletic guys in both quarterbacks.

I think, too, in both cases, it just comes down to having really good coaching around each quarterback, each young quarterback, and you can see the growth that Jared’s made over the course of the past year. And obviously it’s a direct relationship to the run game and the offensive line staying intact, and playing great defense and special teams.

So all of that is something that they have benefitted this season, and Jared has done a nice job with that and obviously he’s being coached well.

The addition of left tackle Andrew Whitworth this past offseason has been a huge upgrade for Los Angeles’ offensive line after the dumpster fire it had last year. So the left side of the Rams’ offensive line is solid, with Whitworth and left guard Rodger Saffold having great seasons. Where the Eagles might be able to take advantage is attacking the right side of the line and right tackle Rob Havenstein and right guard Jamon Brown, which is where Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox will be attacking.

Graham, meanwhile, saw snaps at defensive tackle Sunday and recorded a sack from that spot for his eighth of the season.

Robert Woods emerged as Goff’s favorite target this season, but hasn’t played since suffering a shoulder injury in the Rams’ 24-7 loss to the Vikings in Week 11. He is doubtful for sunday. Ronald Darby will be matched up against Sammy Watkins, who has four of his six touchdowns the last five games. Rookie Cooper Kupp is second on the team with 665 yards working primarily from the slot. He’s a route runner, shifty in space and at 6’2, has the size advantage over most slot cornerbacks. It’ll be a challenge for Patrick Robinson. McVay likes to use a lot of bunch and stack formations as a way to get his wideouts get free releases.

Watkins is the brother of Eagles safety Jaylen Watkins. He talked about what it will be like going against his brother.

Todd Gurley will be a handful coming out of the backfield as well. Philadelphia allowed 11 receptions for 128 yards to Seattle tight ends and running backs last week. Linebacker Mychal Kendricks gave up five of those catches for 63 yards and a touchdown on six targets. Gurley is second in the NFL among running backs in yards after the catch.

 

RAMS RUNNING GAME VS. EAGLES RUN DEFENSE
PHI- 3.5 YPC ALLOWED (5/32), 68.1 YPG ALLOWED (1/32)
LAR- 4.0 YPC (16/32), 115.2 YPG (14/32)

The Eagles are still tops in the league in rushing defense, but their tackle will need to be improved if they want to be successful against Gurley. Mike Davis carried the ball 16 times for 64 yards in Seattle’s win over Philly. The Eagles have allowed just one 100-plus yard rusher this year and that was back in Week 2 and Kareem Hunt.

Gurley combines speed and strength, being able to break runs to the outside and punish defenders in the open field. He leads the NFL with 1,502 total yards.

Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz compared him to Le’Veon Bell.

He’s a big back, but he picks and chooses his holes. He can run downhill, but he also has some Le’Veon Bell in him when it comes to picking his way through.

 

PREDICTION:

We’re about to find out about the character of the Eagles Sunday. It’s a pivotal game in regards to the NFC standings. If the Birds can beat the Rams and the Panthers defeat the Vikings in Carolina, Philadelphia would not only hold a one-game advantage over the Vikes for the No. 1 seed again, but overtake them in the tiebreaker due to a perfect record against common opponents. The Rams are tough to throw on and have the third most sacks in the NFL, so I expect Pederson to get the ground game going against the 30th ranked run defense of Los Angeles. It is susceptible along the edges of its defense and the Eagles run the outside zone and sweeps very well. I also believe Jay Ajayi will see another increase in carries. The Rams have a solid left tackle in Whitworth, but Cox and Graham can certainly have their way against the right side of the Rams’ line to force pressure on Goff. If the Eagles can establish the run and get the heat on Goff, they will win.

27-23 Eagles.

 

You can follow Adrian Fedkiw on Twitter (@AdrianFedkiw) and e-mail him at [email protected]. Subscribe to The Bitter Birds on YouTube here. Follow Philly Influencer on Twitter (@PHL_Influencer), Facebook and Instagram.

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