Eric Williams
NFL reporter
The Los Angeles Rams’ only Pro Bowler, Jared Verse, admitted he could have played better during his team’s 37-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 12 at SoFi Stadium.
Specifically, the rookie edge rusher didn’t stay in his slot to stop explosive running plays.
“I put us in a bad hole in many places,” said Verse after the game. “I didn’t position my DBs well when I was rushing. A couple of times, I went in because I felt like it was open when I had to sit on the edge. I feel like I could have done better.”
Saquon Barkley posted a historic performance against the Rams that day, rushing for a career-high 255 yards. In the second half alone, he rushed for 182 rushing yards, including 70 touchdown runs and 72 yards. Barkley became just the sixth player in NFL history to record multiple rushing TDs of 70 yards or more in a single game. Philadelphia’s 314 rushing yards against the Rams were the second most by any team this season.
And even at SoFi in LA, rowdy Philly is letting the Rams hear about it.
“I hate Eagles fans,” Verse told the Los Angeles Times this week. “They’re boring, I hate Eagles fans.
“When I see that green and white, I hate it. I get really angry. Like I’m really hot.”
With the two teams set to meet again in the NFC divisional round on Sunday, this time at Philly’s Lincoln Financial Field, the obvious question is: Can the Verse and LA’s young defense contain the league’s best running back?
“If you can’t stop the run, it’s very difficult,” Rams safety Quentin Lake said. “We just need to end the explosive games, end the fireworks, and we will be ready.”
Ever since Barkley hit his jaw, LA’s defense has done just that. In their last seven games of the regular season, the Rams held teams to 104 rushing yards per game. They won six of those games, their only loss being a 30-25 blowout to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 18, a game in which most of LA’s starters did not play.
Last week in their 27-9 wild card win over Minnesota, the Rams held the Vikings to 106 yards rushing.
Of course, Barkley and the Eagles pose an entirely different challenge.
“There are ways you have to be able to change the way you look, because if they find a rhythm in what you are doing and you just sit in the front row, they will mock you and embarrass you,” Rams. said coach Sean McVay.
Should the Eagles fear the Rams in their divisional round?
It’s not easy as the Rams put more and bigger bodies near the line of scrimmage to slow down Barkley. They also have to deal with one of the best running quarterbacks in the league in Jalen Hurts, who rushed for 630 yards in the regular season. According to FOX Sports Research, Hurts tops all NFL QBs with 64 first downs and 14 rushing touchdowns this season, including the playoffs.
Add in protecting one of the league’s best receivers in AJ Brown on the perimeter, and it’s a tough task for Rams first-year defensive coordinator Chris Shula.
On Sunday, the Rams defense will focus on early downs to try to get into good situations on third down. In Week 12, the Eagles were 9-of-15 on third down because they had controllable yards to move the chains, not allowing the Rams to burn off their power play.
“They got third downs the right times, and it was third down and it was good,” Shula said. “So, obviously, you don’t want to be in that third-and-4-to-5 range where the odds are obviously slightly tilted against you.
“You’ve got to find a way to get … them out of the way, get into second and that’s when you get those third-and-longs, and you can get the right to chase the passer.”
As for their pass rush, the Rams could play it a bit slower on Sunday. Overall this season, they have struck out 24.7% of the time, ninth lowest in the league and LA’s lowest since 2018. However, in a Week 12 game against Philadelphia, the Rams hit Hurts on 34.6% of his drops, the fourth-highest rate in the game in 2024.
The results were not good. Hurts finished 6-of-9 for 96 yards when he was hit in that game. He also rushed 12 times for 39 yards.
“A lot of the things that hurt us the most were things we did to ourselves,” Rams defensive end Kobie Turner said. “Different ways where we come out of our gaps and we have to have a gap that feels good. Or we create straight seams and let 26 [Barkley] for straight creases.
“At the end of the day, we know a lot of these things come down to things we can’t control. And we know we’re attacking everything we can control to come out with a win on Sunday.”
Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, including Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers of ESPN and Seattle Seahawks of the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.
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