Eric Williams
NFL reporter
The Los Angeles Rams’ solely defensive Pro Bowler, Jared Verse acknowledged he might have performed higher in his crew’s 37-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 12 at SoFi Stadium.
Specifically, the rookie edge rusher did not persistently keep in his house to cease explosive working performs.
“I put us in a nasty state of affairs in a number of positions,” Verse mentioned after the sport. “I did not get my DBs in a superb place after I was working. A few instances, I took the within as a result of I felt prefer it was open after I needed to keep on the sting. Overall, I really feel like we might have accomplished higher.”
Saquon Barkley turned in a historic efficiency in opposition to the Rams that day, dashing for a career-high 255 yards. In the second half alone, he rumbled for 182 yards dashing, together with landing runs of 70 and 72 yards. Barkley grew to become simply the sixth participant in NFL historical past to document a number of dashing touchdowns of 70 or extra yards in a single recreation. Philadelphia’s 314 complete dashing yards in opposition to the Rams had been the second-most by any crew this season.
And even at SoFi in Los Angeles, the raucous Philadelphia trustworthy let the Rams learn about it.
“I hate Eagles followers,” Verse informed the Los Angeles Times this week. “They’re so annoying. I hate Eagles followers.
“When I see that inexperienced and white, I hate it. I get actually indignant. Like I get actually sizzling.”
With the 2 groups assembly once more within the NFC Divisional Round on Sunday, this time at Philly’s Lincoln Financial Field, the plain query is: Can Verse and LA’s younger protection work out how one can comprise one of the best protection within the league?
“If you’ll be able to’t cease the run, it is very tough,” mentioned Quentin Lake, the Rams’ security officer. “We simply have to remove the explosive performs, remove the explosive runs and we’ll be tremendous.”
After Barkley’s beautiful efficiency, LA’s protection did simply that. In the ultimate seven video games of the common season, the Rams held groups to 104 dashing yards per recreation. They received six of these video games, with the one loss a 30-25 setback to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 18, a recreation through which most of Los Angeles’ starters didn’t play.
Last week, in a 27-9 wild-card win over Minnesota, the Rams held the Vikings to 106 dashing yards.
Of course, Barkley and the Eagles symbolize a completely completely different problem.
“There are methods you have got to have the ability to change your look, as a result of in the event that they work out what you are doing and also you sit in the identical services up entrance, they’ll beat you up and embarrass you,” Rams coach Sean McVay mentioned.
Should the Eagles concern the Rams of their divisional spherical matchup?
It’s not so simple as the Rams placing more and more bigger our bodies close to the road of scrimmage to sluggish Barkley. They may even should take care of one of many league’s finest quarterbacks, Jalen Hurts, who ran for 630 yards throughout the common season. According to FOX Sports Research, Hurts leads all NFL QBs with 64 dashing first downs and 14 dashing touchdowns this season, together with the playoffs.
Add in defending the most effective receivers within the league, AJ Brown, on the perimeter, and it turns into a tall order for first-year Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula.
On Sunday, the Rams protection will give attention to first downs to attempt to get into extra favorable third-down conditions. In Week 12, the Eagles had been 9 of 15 on third down as a result of they’d manageable distances to maneuver the chains, not permitting the Rams to warmth up their potent move rush.
“They had been on third down a good quantity of instances, and it was third-and-favorable,” Shula mentioned. “So clearly you don’t wish to be in that 4 to five vary the place the percentages are clearly just a little extra in opposition to you.
“You should discover a technique to get them…off the route, get them on second-and-longs the place you get these third-and-longs, and you may earn the proper to hurry the passer.”
As for the move rush, the Rams might play just a little extra conservatively on Sunday. Overall this season, they blitzed 24.7% of the time, the ninth-lowest fee within the league and Los Angeles’ lowest fee since 2018. However, within the Week 12 matchup in opposition to Philadelphia, the Rams blitzed Hurts with the 34.6% of his dropbacks, their fourth-highest fee in a recreation in 2024.
The outcomes weren’t distinctive. Hurts completed 6-of-9 for 96 yards when he blitzed in that recreation. He additionally ran 12 instances for 39 yards.
“Plenty of the issues that actually harm us had been issues we did to ourselves,” Rams defensive sort out Kobie Turner mentioned. “Different methods we come out of our gaps and we ought to be extra stable. Or we’re creating vertical seams and permitting 26 (Barkley) to seek out vertical creases.
“At the top of the day, we all know a number of these items come all the way down to what we will management. And we all know we’re attacking every little thing we will management so we will get a win on Sunday.”
Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for greater than a decade, protecting the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN e Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.
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