Los Angeles Rams vs. Philadelphia Eagles Pick & Prediction JANUARY 19th 2025

Preview and Prediction

If Saquon Barkley had his way, he would shoulder the entire burden of the Philadelphia Eagles organization and sprint his way into the NFC Championship Game. The Los Angeles Rams have their work cut out for them as they try to prevent this from happening. Barkley will undoubtedly be the center of attention when the Eagles host the Rams in the NFC divisional-round playoff matchup on Sunday afternoon. The No. 2 seeded Eagles are coming off a wild-card round victory over the Green Bay Packers, while the No. 4 seeded Rams advanced after defeating the Minnesota Vikings. This will be the second time these two teams meet this season. In their first matchup, Barkley put on a show, racking up a career-high 302 yards from scrimmage, including a franchise-record 255 rushing yards, and scoring two touchdowns. The Eagles easily cruised to a 37-20 victory, with Barkley becoming only the sixth player in NFL history to record multiple rushing touchdowns of 70-plus yards in a single game. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is well aware that the Rams will be looking to avoid a repeat performance from Barkley. "They will study the film and try to replicate what worked and make adjustments," Sirianni said. "We know that teams will give their best effort to stop Saquon, as we have seen all season." Both teams are no strangers to the big stage. Sirianni and the Eagles are looking to make their second appearance in the conference title game in the past three seasons, while Rams coach Sean McVay is aiming for his third championship game in eight seasons. However, the teams have taken very different paths to reach this point in the postseason. The Eagles were one of the top teams in the NFL for most of the regular season, finishing with a 14-3 record and winning the NFC East title. On the other hand, the Rams struggled early on, losing four of their first five games and sitting at 5-6 in the standings after their loss to the Eagles on November 24. However, they turned things around and closed out the regular season with a 5-1 record, clinching the NFC West title. They then dominated the Vikings in their playoff opener, winning 27-9, despite the game being relocated to Arizona due to wildfires in Los Angeles. McVay believes that their early-season struggles were necessary for their growth as a team. "Those tough moments were necessary for us to get to where we are today," McVay said. "We have shown resilience and grit, and we have learned from our challenges. That's where real growth occurs if you approach it in the right way." Leading the Rams' offense is quarterback Matthew Stafford, who passed for 3,762 yards, 20 touchdowns, and eight interceptions in the regular season. He had a stellar performance last week, completing 19 of 27 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns against the Vikings. Stafford has a 5-1 record in the playoffs with the Rams. Wide receivers Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp will be Stafford's top targets, while running back Kyren Williams will also pose a threat with his 1,299 yards and 14 touchdowns in the regular season. For the Eagles, quarterback Jalen Hurts will look to build on his playoff opener, where he completed 13 of 21 passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns in their 22-10 win. He also rushed for 36 yards on six carries, adding a dual threat to the Eagles' offense as the Rams focus on stopping Barkley. Sirianni praised Hurts for his ability to take care of the football and give his team a chance to win. "It's pretty impressive, isn't it?" Sirianni said. "Impressive by him in being able to lead us to wins and not turn the ball over. And be explosive doing it. Everybody has hard jobs to do, but that's a very hard job for Jalen to do. Can't give him enough credit." Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown will look to have a bigger impact in the passing game after only catching one pass for 10 yards last week. Brown missed practice on Wednesday to rest his knee but is expected to return to practice later in the week and be ready for Sunday's game. On the defensive side, the Rams are coming in hot after tying an NFL playoff record with nine sacks against the Vikings last week. Kobie Turner had two sacks, while Byron Young and Neville Gallimore each had 1 1/2 sacks. The Eagles also have a high-energy defense, as shown in their wild-card round victory over the Packers, where they forced four turnovers. They led the NFL in turnover margin (plus-17) and points scored off takeaways (97) in the final 11 weeks of the regular season. This will be the fourth time these

PREDICTION

Los Angeles Rams

18

25

Philadelphia Eagles

Los Angeles Rams vs. Philadelphia Eagles Recap JAN 19TH 2025