‘A bleeping horror show:' Rams' nine sacks sure got Eagles' attention

Nine sacks.

Nine of ‘em.

In their wild-card win over the Vikings Monday night, the Rams tied the NFL record for sacks in a playoff game.

You got the feeling they could have gotten a few more if they really wanted.

That was a monster performance by the Rams’ young defensive linemen, and that’s a front the Eagles will have to contend with in their conference semifinal game Sunday at the Linc. 

Sam Darnold didn’t stand a chance against the Rams’ pass rush, taking nine sacks for 82 yards in the Vikings’ 27-9 loss in Arizona. In 1993, Derrick Thomas and the Chiefs sacked Warren Moon nine times in a 28-20 win at the Astrodome, and in 2021 Jeffrey Simmons and the Titans sacked Joe Burrow nine times in a 19-16 loss in Nashville. 

The 82 sacks yards is most ever in a postseason game and 10th-most in NFL history in any game.

“The Vikings pissed me off, I'm not going to lie to you,” Jordan Mailata said. “The Vikings pissed me off. They made (the Rams) look like it was out of the world. I mean, they're a great defense, and those guys play tough. 

“And (the Vikings) just weren't matching the physical battle. It was all night, which I tip my hat off to the Rams. Like, that was evident. You could see that. From the jump, it was just, you know, ‘Clash, clash, clash.’”

The Rams have this deep fleet of young linemen who form the nucleus of their defense. Braden Fiske had 8 ½ sacks during the regular season, interior lineman Kobie Turner had 8.0, Byron Young 7 ½ and Jared Verse 4 ½. Fiske and Verse were 1st- and 2nd-round picks this year, and Young and Turner were 3rd-round picks last year.

Six Rams had at least one sack Sunday, and only one team in history has had more different players with a sack in a playoff game. That was the Packers in their 2003 overtime conference semifinal loss to the Eagles at the Linc.

“It's like their whole d-line,” Lane Johnson said. “They all have about eight sacks, their pressures are up. I feel like individually they're really good. They can create pressure, and then they do a great job of running games together.

“So if you watch the Minnesota game, it was a bleeping horror show. people getting beat 1-on-1, getting beat (by) games. … You know,  bleep, thank God A.D. (Aaron Donald) isn’t still there.

“But these guys are really good. I mean, it's their first year together really, they're going to bleeping really take off. They're already taking off. They're really one of the more talented groups I’ve seen.”

The Eagles allowed 45 sacks this year, which is a lot. That was 13th-most in the league for a team that threw the ball less than anybody other team. From a percentage standpoint, only the Bears allowed more sacks per pass play than the Eagles.

A lot of that has to do with the nature of Jalen Hurts’ game. Because he runs around so much in the pocket and holds onto the ball so long, he’s going to be a sitting duck sometimes. But he’s only been sacked 11 times in six career playoff games.

When the Eagles beat the Rams 37-10 in November, Fiske had the Rams’ only sack. The Eagles know the best way to neutralize pass rush is to run the ball, and the Eagles ran it 45 times for 314 yards in that game. But when they do throw Sunday, they’ve got to be aware of every one of those Rams pass rushers.

“We have to give them credit but also understand that we're good players, too,” Mailata said. “So we're going to be put in situations where we're 1-on-1. You have to win that block. And so when you look at those situations where they have continuous waves of guys who are just successful at getting sacks, this is what you get paid to do. 

“You get paid to block those guys and unfortunately there are going to be plays where you have to block them 1-on-1 and there won't be a plan. So that's just the name of the game. It's going to be man-on-man and it's going to be good-on-good. That's what people want to see. That's what they want. 

“There's really no plan. The plan is like, ‘All right, if we want to lose anywhere, it's lose to a blitz.’ We can't lose up front, because that's where it starts.”

Don't miss the next Mission 59 special this Friday on NBC Sports Philadelphia for exclusive playoff coverage, expert analysis and more, brought to you by Toyota.

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