Ram Slammed

PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles were unable to take advantage of a pair of takeaways and capitalize on largely turbulent play from the Los Angeles Rams, falling to the west coast visitors 24-20 in gut-wrenching fashion.

Attrition on both sides of scrimmage greatly impacted the Eagles, who lost, among others, running back Saquon Barkley (hamstring) early in the contest and cornerback Quinyon Mitchell (knee) in the second half.

The offense, which came up empty on third downs, going 0-for-12, again buckled coming out of the break. To recap the six second half drives: punt, punt, turnover on downs, turnover on downs, punt, turnover on downs.

The defense, which generated a pair of first-half interceptions, kept the Eagles in this one as long as it could, but the dam eventually broke. In the waning stages of the game, the Rams produced touchdown drives of 98 and 75 yards, respectively, the latter of which proved to be enough to outlast a team that led by 10 for much of the second half.

On the game-winning Rams touchdown march, the offense received the ball with 2:55 remaining. Quarterback Matthew Stafford delivered strikes to WR Puka Nacua and TE Tyler Higbee of 16 and 13 yards, respectively, to kickstart the drive. Running back Kyren Williams touched the ball on the final three plays, punching in the final for a touchdown off the left side to capture the lead for good, 24-20.

This left the Eagles with just over a minute to work with, but the offense stalled on a drive that began with a Byron Young sack of Jalen Hurts for a seven-yard loss and the Rams, defeated by the Eagles in the previous four matchups, would ultimately hold on.

“The last couple times we’ve been here, like you said, it probably felt like we played better in those games and had opportunities to win games and didn’t get it done,” Stafford said after the game. “That’s the NFL. You have to go earn every single one of them.

“Obviously, our defense was outstanding today, getting that stop a bunch of times, but the one late was huge for us. It gave us the opportunity to try to get some points on a long drive. We would go down there and get a touchdown. And then getting off the field late in the game again, it gave us another opportunity. So I can’t say enough good things about our defense and how resilient they played today. We put them in some tough spots.”

Hurts completed 12 of 27 pass attempts for 93 yards and two touchdowns. The leading rusher was Tank Bigsby, who headed to the locker room with a few minutes remaining after sustaining an injury, who carried 14 times for 55 yards. Second-year wide receiver Darius Cooper led the Eagles in receiving, producing 33 yards and two touchdowns on three receptions and seven targets.

Of the defensive side, Jeremiah Trotter Jr. led the Eagles in tackles (15), while Nolan Smith accounted for the unit’s only sack. Defensive backs Drew Mukuba and Cooper DeJean secured both of the Eagles’ turnovers.

Eagles inactives vs. Rams: WR Hollywood Brown, WR DeVonta Smith, QB Cole Payton, S Marcus Epps, LB Zack Baun, RT Lane Johnson, OL Fred Johnson, TE Dallas Goedert.

The team announced, roughly 30 minutes ahead of inactives, that Johnson (personal) would be questionable. It’s worth noting that this was clearly a gameday development, as the Eagles would have most certainly elevated one of their practice squad tackles (John Ojukwu, Kiran Amegadije) ahead of Saturday’s deadline in anticipation.

When Nick Sirianni was asked postgame whether he expects to have Johnson back, he replied: “We’ll see where we are.”

Game observations

* The Eagles opened in 12 personnel, with TEs Johnny Mundt and E.J. Jenkins. The wide receivers were Dontayvion Wicks and Darius Cooper. Given the personnel, this gives the Eagles their strongest contingent of blockers at the point of attack and on the perimeter. Of course, Barkley’s first carry went for a gain of two yards, and the Eagles were forced to punt two plays later.

* While the Eagles’ defense had experienced a three-game turnover drought, the streak ended on the first defensive series. On a 1st-and-5 from the L.A. 30, Stafford faced pressure off the edge, with Jonathan Greenard bearing down. Stafford lofted a throw over the middle to WR Konata Mumpfield that S Drew Mukuba sprawled out to corral, returning possession to the L.A. 28 following a 23-yard return.

It was timely, as it seemingly created a spark for the sidelines and fans in attendance. As the saying goes, turnovers tend to come in bunches. That, momentarily, proved to be true, as defensive back Cooper DeJean sniped another Stafford pass later, returning it 25 yards to the L.A. 35-yard line. Three plays later, Hurts found WR Darius Cooper for his second touchdown of the afternoon. DC Vic Fangio’s unit has been close at times over the past few weeks, but perhaps now the tide turns.

* The pass protection really struggled to contain the Rams’ rush, as Hurts was facing a considerable amount of pressure. Now, context is important here. Thirty minutes before the inactives were released, the Eagles faced the possibility of pivoting to rookie T Markel Bell to replace Johnson, which then became a reality.

There’s also a new center still acclimating and a former center moonlighting at left guard that has experienced some challenges. Still, there’s only so much an offense still finding its way can do without adequate protection, and leaky pass protection is exacerbated when missing two of the Eagles’ top three receiving options. And no, there isn’t much the Eagles can do to shake things up. What they’re fielding right now is probably the strongest group of five. Maybe more repetitions with this configuration will iron out the wrinkles that have lingered.

For what it’s worth, on first watch, I thought Bell held up decently – especially when considering his lack of first-team reps leading up to Sunday’s game. What was Jordan Mailata‘s message to the rookie once receiving word?

“You’re up, baby,” he said. “This is what you were here for. This is what you were born to do. This is why you came here. You’re up. It’s as simple as that. No need to complicate it.”

Sirianni also spoke on Bell’s first start:

“Sometimes it’s hard to see exactly what’s happening with an offensive lineman unless it’s going really bad, I feel like sometimes — I didn’t feel like, ‘Hey, that one was on Markel.’ We’ll see. We’ve got to watch the tape. But I thought he battled and went in there and played his butt off. I know he was coming off the field every time, just having given it his all. He was ready to play and you love that about him. We’ll have to look at the tape, but I think he battled and played his butt off.”

*I understand the questioning of the decision to go for it on a 4th-and-2. A field goal there puts the Eagles up 13, and with the way the defense had been playing, there was reason to believe the Rams couldn’t climb back from that deficit. But a touchdown there makes it a three-score game and essentially puts the game out of reach. It appeared as though Cooper, the intended receiver, slipped on the play. I didn’t take issue with the decision.

* Some Eagles offensive numbers from Sunday to put into perspective: 0-for-12 on third down. Twelve first downs compared to 24 for the Rams. 172 total net yards compared to 415 for the Rams. The offense has been disjointed and lacks synchronization. The under center/play action has been sporadic and the execution, as quarterback Jalen Hurts put it after the game, was “poor”. While the offense was always expected to require time to develop, you’d ideally like to see tangible signs of growth.

In the first two wins of the season, you saw more of what was widely expected to become hallmarks of this offense, but what ultimately propelled the Eagles to squeaking out those narrow victories was Hurts taking over and putting the offense on his shoulders.

“We’re going to forge together,” Hurts said. “We’re going to figure out a way. We’re going to grow, and we’re going to reflect on these things as we’ve done following any and every game, and come together and continue to get better as a team.”

* I thought the two new faces in the starting lineup on defense – LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and S Michael Carter II – performed well. Trotter Jr. looked as advertised; smart and instinctive. He led the Eagles with 15 tackles, though he did miss an important one in a critical spot on the Rams’ game-winning drive. Carter II got the start for an injured Epps, and just might’ve put his stamp on a starting job. The converted nickel covered a lot of ground and wrapped up as a tackler. He also made a couple of nice plays in coverage — Carter II was credited with three passes defended — specifically on a second quarter 3rd-and-10, defending a pass against WR Konata Mumpfield to force a punt. He closed quickly in coverage and appeared to react a tick faster than Epps.

Carter spoke about the communication between him and Mukuba after the game:

“I feel like it was good, man. I feel like it was good just being able to get in and, like, settle into the game. And then it just kind of felt natural, just being in with him and making sure we were on kind of on the same page. Him looking at me and us communicating. Obviously, I was still on some special teams as well, so he looked out for me on certain situations as well.

“We were kind of moving in and around, just helping each other. And that was a big thing, just making sure that we looked out for each other and we had each other’s backs out there tonight.”

* When Quinyon Mitchell left the game with a knee injury, veteran Jonathan Jones came on in relief. Predictably, Stafford challenged him deep. WR Davante Adams slipped past him, but the pass was overshot. Jones, of course, was tagged with an unnecessary roughness penalty late in the game on a 3rd-and-10 play that would have set up 4th-and-1. This was on the Rams’ 98-yard scoring drive that was eventually capped with a Kyren Williams touchdown plunge. Jones also had a chance at an interception late, off an errant Stafford pass to Adams, but was unable to reel it in.

Speaking of the defensive backs, veteran Kenny Moore did see the field for one defensive snap. But when Cooper DeJean briefly missed some time, it was second-year pro Mac McWilliams who came on to replace him, not Moore. McWilliams logged three defensive snaps. This suggests that Moore is still learning the subtleties and nuances of Fangio’s defense.

* One unit that shined Sunday afternoon? Special teams. K Jake Elliott made field goals of 29 and 56 yards, respectively, and has gotten off to a hot start. P Braden Mann returned to his usual form. WR/PR Britain Covey recorded 59 yards on three returns – including a 41-yarder that set up a short touchdown drive – and continues to make good decisions to help the team in terms of field position. And aside from the penalty, CB Kelee Ringo made a nice tackle in coverage from his gunner spot and brought a lot of juice. LB Smael Mondon Jr. was active in coverage as well.

* The injury report this week will be one worth monitoring. There’s the key players ruled out Sunday against the Rams: WR DeVonta Smith (hamstring), LB Zack Baun (concussion) and S Marcus Epps (groin). But on Sunday, Barkley left the game early with a hamstring injury and didn’t return. Fellow RB Tank Bigsby left the game late and spent a considerable amount of time in the medical tent before heading indoors with a few minutes remaining in the game. CB Quinyon Mitchell sustained a knee injury in the second half and never returned. OLB Jonathan Greenard departed with an ankle injury and was eventually downgraded to out. And then there’s the Lane Johnson storyline that most certainly bears watching. Injuries have snowballed at a challenging early point of the season.

— Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) is the Eagles beat reporter for InsideTheBirds.com.