Eagles-Rams player matchups to watch in divisional round

The No. 2-seeded Eagles are hosting the No. 4-seeded Los Angeles Rams in the NFC divisional round Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Linc.

The Eagles beat the Rams in Los Angeles in Week 12 by a score of 37-20. To get to this game, the Eagles beat the Packers 22-10 and the Rams beat the Vikings 27-9.

Here are some key matchups to watch on Sunday:

Saquon Barkley vs. Rams run defense

The last time these two teams played in Week 12, Saquon Barkley had the game of his life. He had 26 carries for 255 yards and 2 touchdowns and also caught 4 passes for 47 yards. Barkley in that game set franchise records for rushing yards in a game and scrimmage yards in a game. Barkley was good before that, but that was the moment where you realized just how special his season really was.

Of those 255 yards, 150 of them were rushing yards over expected, which was the second-most in a single game since 2018, according to NextGen Stats. So as much as the Eagles’ offensive line bullied a pretty good Rams’ defensive line, it’s worth noting that Barkley made a lot of it happen on his own too. He also had two 70+ yard touchdown runs in this game and reached 21+ mph on both of them.

The Rams this season ended up with the No. 22 run defense in the NFL and were 26th in yards-per-attempt, giving up 4.6 yards per pop. They gave up 314 to the Eagles in Week 12 but haven’t given up more than 143 in any game since. Against the Vikings in the playoffs, they gave up just 106 but they also got a big lead and the Vikings were forced to throw to play catch-up. Meanwhile, Barkley rushed for 119 yards against the Packers and could have had more if he didn’t slide late in the fourth quarter.

Eagles’ OL vs. young and talented Rams DL

If you watched the Rams’ win over the Vikings on Monday night in the wild-card round, the thing that probably stood out most was the Rams’ pass rush. They ended up sacking Sam Darnold nine times in that game and eight different players contributed to that total. This is a defensive line without any superstars but they have a ton of good young players up front including Kobe Turner, Byron Young, Braden Fiske and Jared Verse.

Verse this season ended up with 4 1/2 sacks but had 76 pressures, which ranked fourth in the NFL behind just Trey Hendrickson (92), Danielle Hunter (90) and Myles Garrett (84).

The Eagles, of course, have one of the best offensive lines in football and in Week 12, the Rams sacked Jalen Hurts just one time for 12 yards. Despite having just one sack, the Rams had a pressure rate of 34.6% in that game, which was just around their regular season pressure rate.

For the most part, the Rams like to get pressure with their four-man front. Their blitz rate is bottom 10 in the NFL and their blitz rate was even lower in the first playoff game.

A.J. Brown vs. Rams cornerbacks

While everyone remembers Barkley’s monster game in Week 12, A.J. Brown got his too. In that game, Brown was targeted 7 times and had 6 catches for 109 yards and a touchdown. The Rams cornerbacks are Darious Williams, Akhello Witherspoon, Cobie Durant, Quintin Lake and Josh Wallace. Although, Witherspoon in the wild-card round suffered a thigh injury and his status is worth monitoring all week.

Here’s where Brown did his damage in Week 12:

Vs. Darious Williams: 5 targets, 4 catches, 86 yards

Vs. Quintin Lake: 1 target, 1 catch, 6 yards

Vs. Omar Speights: 1 target, 1 catch, 17 yards

And even though Brown didn’t catch a ball against Witherspoon in Week 12, he had a huge game against him a couple years ago when Witherspoon was still with the Steelers. So that’s a matchup the Eagles can exploit too.

In that first matchup, Williams lined up against Brown on 18 of 23 routes and pressed just twice, according to NextGen Stats. Brown has been dealing with a knee injury and the Eagles have been monitoring him throughout the week, so he might not be 100 percent for this game. But after a one-catch performance in the wild-card round it seems like Brown could have a big day on Sunday.

We should mention that if Williams ends up on Brown, then DeVonta Smith will have a matchup against either Witherspoon or his backup or Lake in the slot. The Eagles’ pass game wasn’t very good in the first playoff game but this is an advantageous matchup.

Kellen Moore vs. Chris Shula

Give credit to Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula, who had a really good game plan ready for the Vikings in the wild-card round. The Eagles actually interviewed Shula for their DC job in 2023 after Jonathan Gannon left for the Cardinals’ head coaching job. The Eagles ended up with Sean Desai that season.

Moore in recent weeks has been linked to several head coaching vacancies and the Eagles would obviously prefer not to lose him for continuity’s sake. But it’s not like his offense has performed that well this season. The Eagles’ inefficiencies in the passing game showed up again in the wild-card round. This is an offense with way too much talent to struggle the way they did for the entire middle of that game.

Give Moore credit for adapting to his personnel this season and for tailoring his offense to Jalen Hurts. But even he admitted the passing game wasn’t as good as it needed to be last week. Eventually, if the Eagles want to get to the Super Bowl, that’s going to need to improve. It’s going to take a better game plan and it’s going to take some better play-calling from Moore.

Eagles corners vs. Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua

The Rams have been a completely different team since they got Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua back from injury earlier this season. Even though the Eagles won by three scores in Week 12, Kupp and Nacua still had big games. Nacua had 9 catches on 13 targets for 117 yards and Kupp had 8 catches on 11 targets for 60 yards and a touchdown.

In that first matchup, the Rams deployed Nacua from a tight alignment a lot and he gained 78 of his 117 yards on those plays, according to NextGen Stats. That was the fourth-most by any WR since 2016. You can probably expect the Rams to use him in a similar way on Sunday. Nacua is a fun receiver to watch because he’s so tough with the ball in his hands. He basically becomes a running back after the catch. The Eagles missed a few tackles against Josh Jacobs last week. If they’re going to miss tackles in this game, they might be bouncing off Nacua. Nacua this season was ninth in the NFL in YAC/expected with 124 yards and he played in just 11 games.

The Rams really move these two stud receivers around so it will really take a full team effort to slow them down. Most of Nacua’s snaps come out wide but he will flip sides and ends up in the slot too. Most of Kupp’s snaps come from the slot, which sets up another Cooper vs. Cooper matchup against rookie Cooper DeJean.

There’s no doubt that the Rams have a star-driven offense and they’re much better when those stars are on the field. This stat from NextGen Stats shows that: Since the start of the 2023 season, the Rams have had Matthew Stafford, Kyren Williams, Kupp and Nacua on the field for 784 of their 2,240 offensive snaps (35%). In those snaps, they have averaged 1.3 more yards per play, +0.15 more EPA per play, a success rate that’s 4.1% higher and an explosive play rate that’s 5.2% higher.

Vic Fangio vs. Matthew Stafford, Sean McVay

Last week, we talked about Fangio’s faceoff against Matt LaFluer and this week he’ll see Sean McVay, one of the other coaches who independently listed Fangio as the toughest defensive coordinator to face in a 2019 ESPN article.

Here’s what McVay said about Fangio’s defense back then:

“For us, I think Fangio and the Bears did an outstanding job of a sound scheme with versatility mixed with great players. And clearly what New England did down the stretch was impressive. Those are the two defenses that gave us the most trouble. I thought the Saints were excellent as well.”

While Fangio is on a different team with different players, he has still proven himself to be one of the best defensive coordinators in the NFL this season. His defense finished No. 1 for a reason.

The respect goes both ways too. Here’s what Fangio said about McVay on Tuesday:

“He's got a great offense that he has great command of, and he's a really good play-caller during the game. He can change gears on you at a moment's notice, and he's one of the top play-callers in the league for sure, without a doubt.”

Against the Packers, Fangio had a great game plan and ended up using Cover 4 at an extremely high rate. It worked out really well.

With these Rams, the Eagles have to be disciplined with their eyes. There’s a lot of eye candy with motion in this offense. The Rams had the highest motion rate (71%) and the highest multiple motion rate (19.4) in the NFL this season, per NextGen Stats. Another fun motion stat: Kupp this year traveled 2,820 yards in pre-snap motion to lead the league.

Eagles DL vs. Rams OL

The Rams’ offensive line has been in flux for most of the season but they settled on this line in the playoff game:

LT: Alaric Jackson
LG: Steve Avila
C: Beaux Limmer
RG: Kevin Dotson
RT: Rob Havenstein 

The only difference from the first time these two teams played is that Havenstein is now in there at right tackle. In Week 12, the Eagles faced Warren McClendon. Early in the season the Rams were starting big free agent signing Jonah Jackson at guard then center but he’s now on the bench. The rookie sixth-round pick Limmer has played well and earned his spot over Jackson. Dotson is the only guy on that line to stay healthy and he ended up being really solid.

The Eagles’ offensive line finished with the No. 1-ranked offensive line on PFF’s end-of-the-year rankings, while the Rams finished 14th. This is a middle-of-the-pack offensive line.

But if you remember back to that first matchup, the Eagles’ defensive line did some damage, sacking Stafford five times, which was the most he was sacked all season long. Milton Williams had 2, while Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham and Nakobe Dean each had one. The Eagles are obviously without Graham and Dean in this game. The Rams double-teamed Jalen Carter a ton in that first matchup and Milton Williams was able to win his 1-on-1 matchups. If he can do it again on Sunday, it would go a long way.

Eagles LBs vs. Kyren Williams

While there’s no question that Saquon Barkley is the best running back in this game, Kyren Williams is no slouch. He finished seventh in the NFL this season with 1,299 yards with 14 touchdowns and an average of 4.1 yards per attempt. He also caught 34 passes for 182 yards. In the first matchup, he had 16 carries for 72 yards and a touchdown but was held without a catch. Williams gets what is there in this offense but finished with 0 rushing yards over expected this season, which ranked 27th among qualified running backs and his EPA/attempt of -0.09 ranked 23rd.

The Eagles will be without Nakobe Dean for the rest of the playoffs after the MIKE linebacker suffered a torn patellar tendon in the wild-card round. Zack Baun was an All-Pro in 2024 but now will have a combination of Oren Burks and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. playing next to him. There’s no doubt that losing Dean is a big deal for this defense and Sean McVay is going to try to exploit whichever backup linebacker ends up in this game.

Tight end Tyler Higbee is also a possibility to stress the linebackers. The 32-year-old suffered a chest injury that put him in the hospital but he’s expected to play against the Eagles. Higbee this season played in just three games in the regular season after coming back in December from an ACL tear in last year’s playoffs. But the veteran had 5 catches for 58 yards in the playoff win before leaving.

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