By: Kylan Watson

The Philadelphia Eagles traveled to the west coast to face the Los Angeles Rams in a contest that featured the top 2 defensive and offensive lines in football. In this battle of the trenches the Eagles dominated the Rams in all phases of the game. Additionally, they finally got their passing game working and were able to make the Rams pay for daring to leave any receiver open they were able to run LA off their homefield 23-14.

One of the knocks against the Eagles the last few weeks has been their passing game has not been hitting on all cylinders like it was last season. Well, they were able to get it working today as the pass game featured heavily in today’s contest. Jalen Hurts was able to connect with Dallas Goedert for the first touchdown score in this game. The Rams had no answers for the Goedert to Hurts combination. The Eagles finally attacked an opposing defense using the middle of the field which has been severely lacking this season. However, with each game the Eagles offensive attack has been steadily improving. The more comfortable Brian Johnson gets with calling the right plays the more the offense gets in rhythm and puts opposing defenses on their heels. Hurts passed for 303 yards, completed one touchdown pass, and completed 25/33 passes in the contest. Hurts seems to be returning to form and it could not come at a better time for the Eagles as they prepare to face the New York Jets next Sunday and the Miami Dolphins the following Sunday. Two tough defenses that will take away the deep passes from the Eagles dynamic offense, so Hurts will need to take what the defense gives him and for the most part he did that in this game. He did turn the ball over once after under-throwing AJ Brown and the Rams defender picked it off. However, despite that mistake Hurts and the Eagles offense possessed the ball for 38-minutes and kept the Rams defense on the field and no defense can compete when you keep them on the field for that long in a 60-minute contest. If the Eagles can continue that type of offensive domination they will go back to the super bowl and will have a chance to bring another title to Philadelphia.

Not to be outdone the Rams offense dominated the Eagles defense in the first half. They had no answers for whichever receiver LA would put in the slot. As a matter of fact, the Rams first drive featured back-to-back-to-back slants over the middle to Cooper Cupp which ended in a Rams touchdown. Stafford was able to do whatever he wanted, and the Eagles had no answers for it. However, the Eagles made the necessary adjustments during half-time and shut the Rams down in the second half, only giving up six-points to them. They were able to get Stafford on the ground and shutdown the receiving duo of Cupp and Nacua. The Eagles’ defense is at its best when it can get pressure in the face of the opposing quarterback. Once the pressure made Stafford uncomfortable, he threw the ball away and missed two pivotal throws that kept Philadelphia ahead in this contest. Despite being able to get the win today the Eagles will have to figure out what to do with the nickel corner position. Once again Avonte Maddox is injured, and the Eagles have no one who can be as consistent as him right now. Maybe they need to go scour the trade market for a serviceable nickel or hope that Bradley Roby can adjust and get into game shape as quickly as possible to be the nickel corner that the Eagles need to shut down the opposing team’s slot receiver. Right now, the slot is a problem that has shown up in most of the games this season and the Eagles need to solve that problem before they see Garret Wilson, Jaylen Waddle, and Tyreek Hill in the next two weeks.

The Eagles will face a game and hungry New York Jets squad that are missing Aaron Rodgers but have found their form in the last few weeks. The Eagles cannot take this team lightly and will need to make sure that the passing game and the running game are dynamic on the offensive side to take advantage of an aggressive Jets defense. Additionally, the Eagles will need to put pressure on Zach Wilson and force him to make mistakes if they want to get their sixth victory of the season.