Eagles-Rams Preview: Five Things to Watch When the Rams Have the Ball

The Philadelphia Eagles’ opponent in the divisional round will be the Los Angeles Rams, who the Eagles eliminated in Week 12 in Los Angeles. Offensively, the Rams had two long drives to start the game, one ending in a fumble and the other ending in a touchdown. Afterwards, Vic Fangio and the defense clamped down and kept the Rams offense in check for the remainder of the night.

Here are our five things to watch for when the Rams have the ball.

1) The Eagles secondary against Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua

Kupp and Nacua make a very good wide receiver tandem. Both players have been banged up at times this season, but are now healthy.

Kupp has been a volume receiver throughout his career. In 2021, he made the second-most catches in a single season in NFL history, with 145 receptions for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns. He was not that level of player since, but remains a good receiver, especially outside the slot.

Nacua had the most receiving yards by a rookie in NFL history last season, with 1,486 yards and 6 touchdowns on 105 catches.

Kupp and Nacua’s numbers have declined significantly in 2024, at least relative to their professional abilities:

In the past, Eagles fans might watch this game and think, “Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua, Matthew Stafford… Uh oh! .” But in 2024, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean have been major upgrades over James Bradberry and (take your pick from those who have played in the slot for them in recent years).

Of course, the Rams as a team pose problems for opposing defenses with their heavy use of the pre-snap motion.

“No. 1, we have to be able to react to it and adapt to it properly,” Fangio said before the Week 12 game. “They move a lot at different paces, and they try to take you out a little bit. out of your position and get back on your heels a little bit. We have to be ready for that and be able to play correctly and not let the movement confuse us at all.”

Nacua had 9 catches for 117 yards against the Eagles in Week 12, including 8 after Nacua went into motion, pre-snap, as shown in the two videos below:

Fangio will need to have a better answer for these games against Nacua where he meets the discovery formation.

2) Eagles Peanut Punchers vs. Rams RB Kyren Williams

Rams RB Kyren Williams finished 7th in the NFL with 1,299 rushing yards and tied for 5th in rushing touchdowns with 14. The NFL’s 1,000-yard rushers in 2024:

Player	Rushing	Yards	YPC	T.D.
Saquon Barkley, Eagles	345	2005	5.8	13
Derrick Henry, Ravens	325	1921	5.9	16
Bijan Robinson, Falcons	304	1456	4.8	14
Jonathan Taylor, Colts	303	1431	4.7	11
Jahmyr Gibbs, Lions	250	1412	5.6	16
Josh Jacobs, Packers	301	1329	4.4	15
Kyren Williams, Rams	316	1299	4.1	14
Chuba Hubbard, Panthers	250	1195	4.8	10
Aaron Jones, Vikings	255	1138	4.4	5
Bucky Irving, Buccaneers	207	1122	5.4	8
James Conner, Cardinals	236	1094	4.6	8
Rico Dowdle, Cowboys	235	1079	4.6	2
Tony Pollard, Titans	260	1079	4.2	5
Najee Harris, Steelers	263	1043	4.0	6
Joe Mixon, Texan	245	1016	4.1	11
James Cook, bills	207	1009	4.9	16

As we noted last week, in the list above, the Eagles faced Derrick Henry, Bijan Robinson, Josh Jacobs x2, Chuba Hubbard, Bucky Irving, Rico Dowdle x2, Najee Harris and, of course, Williams him -even this season. So, you know, they’ve faced a lot of good backs this year.

Williams was among the league leaders in yards rushing because he had a lot of carries, but he’s not much of a threatening back. Of the players listed above, only Harris had a worse yards per carry average. He also only had 2 carries of 20+ yards, tied with Dowdle for worst among the backs listed above. For comparison, Saquon Barkley had 17 runs of 20+ yards.

Williams is also a groping machine. He has had 5 fumbles this season, including 2 against the Eagles in Week 12:

Jalen Carter’s punch at the end of the video above is vicious.

The Eagles have had 13 takedowns via fumbles this season, 4th in the NFL. Most of them occurred against running backs, as opposed to strip sacks on opposing quarterbacks. They do a great job hitting the ball, and Williams is sloppy with his ball security.

3) Rams TE Tyler Higbee vs. Eagles’ new-look LBs

Higbee is a good player who tore an ACL and MCL in the playoffs last season and didn’t return to the field until Week 16 of 2024. He didn’t get much action early in his return, but he had a huge first half against the Vikings, making 5 catches for 58 yards.

However, he suffered a chest injury (he was coughing up blood) and had to be taken to hospital. He was the Rams’ leading receiver at the time he was injured.

The Rams didn’t get much production in the passing game from their tight ends otherwise in 2024. Their primary receiver at the tight end position was Colby Parkinson, who had 30 catches for 294 yards and 1 touchdown .

Higbee’s injury is not serious and Sean McVay said Tuesday that he expects Higbee to play. The Eagles will need to replace Nakobe Dean, whose season ended with a torn patella tendon. It remains to be seen whether Oren Burks or Jeremiah Trotter will get the start and how Dean’s snaps can be distributed between the two, but expect the Rams to test the middle of the field with Dean out.