NFC Game Of The Week
Philadelphia Eagles at Los Angeles Rams
Eagles: If you look at their season, they breezed through the rest of September, all of October and all of November with win. They had a nine-game winning streak going and they were playing impressive football. They didn’t allow any touchdowns in the first quarter of games and throughout the month of November, they only allowed one touchdown all month and that’s incredible. On Sunday night in Seattle, that all came to an end with a 14 point loss at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks. They just didn’t look like that fast paced team that moved the ball down the field so efficiently and smoothly, Wentz was pressured throughout the night and the Eagles defense had such a tough time getting off the field and containing Russell Wilson and keeping him in the pocket. This was the Eagles first loss since week two against the Kansas City Chiefs. Despite that, they’re still in a really good position to win their division (of course, that was decided in October), host a home playoff game and clinch that first-round bye so they’ll have that week off in the playoffs when that rolls around. They just need to get back to playing the football that won them nine in a row and that’s establishing Blount and now Ajayi, spreading your receivers around along with getting the football to the open receiver and their defense has to remain disciplined because they looked totally out of sync against Seattle. They need to get back to being that unit that many called the fastest in the league with how they all swarm to the ball and the secondary has to be locked in at all times. It’s another West Coast game for the Eagles as they look to avoid consecutive losses for the first time all year long.
Rams: For the first time in 14 years, the Rams have clinched a winning record and the last time this happened, they were still residents of St. Louis, they were one of the best teams in the NFL at the time and a guy named Marshall Faulk played for the Rams and now, he’s a member of the Pro Football Hall Of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Just so I can explain how long its been since they had a winning season, George Bush was still the President Of The United States, feel old yet? I didn’t know what to expect from them coming into this year especially with hiring a 31-year-old head coach in Sean McVay, but here they are and the future is extremely bright for them. The Rams have bounced back nicely after a bad loss in Minnesota with wins over the New Orleans Saints who entered that game with an eight-game winning streak and then winning last week on the road against the Arizona Cardinals. Their offense got back to establishing Todd Gurley and when he has it going, it allows Jared Goff to make plays with his arm down the field. Goff is also great when it matters and that’s on third down and in the red zone, where the magic happens. The Rams defense has also been one of the talks of the league and of course you’d expect that when Wade Phillips was your defensive coordinator (look what he did with the Broncos) and you have a guy of Aaron Donald’s caliber. Right now, it’s looking like the Rams will control their own destiny in the NFC West and they can win their division in a few weeks when they play Seattle and they would have to beat the Seahawks for that happen. This Sunday however, they will welcome the Philadelphia Eagles to town.
Eagles Guy To Watch: Jim Schwartz– Yes, this is the defensive coordinator of the Eagles who’s done a good job with the defense. The reason why I’ll be paying close attention to him is because I want to see what type of gameplan he’ll have in place for his defense. He can’t call blitzes a lot because the Rams are the very best at reading it and then attacking upon it.
Rams Player To Watch: Connor Barwin– The former Eagle. He was added to be a veteran piece to this Rams defense and he has a total of four sacks on the season. He knows the best on how the Eagles offense likes to move the ball down the field and how to keep Wentz in the pocket.
Final Analysis: This is the first career match up between Carson Wentz and Jared Goff and we could be witnessing a new quarterback rivalry before our eyes. These two will always be linked to each other after Wentz was selected first overall in the 2016 draft and Goff was taken right after with the second overall pick. It’s also a strong possibility that we will also see these two meet in January. The Eagles need to get back to running the football and using Ertz over the middle of the field. If I’m the Rams, control the clock by keeping this offense on the sideline. Long drives will be your best friend on Sunday.
Prediction: Eagles 30 Rams 26
