5 things we learned from the Eagles’ win over the Rams
Birds rally back against L.A.
From The Reporter: https://tinyurl.com/3nf7cz4w
PHILADELPHIA — After an atrocious first half, the Eagles rallied from a 19-point third-quarter deficit to beat the Los Angeles Rams 33-26 on Sunday. The Birds’ bend-but-don’t-break defense kept them in it, and then the team opened up its offense for the first time this season.
Here are five things we learned about the Eagles in their wild win.
1. They're resilient and can win in myriad ways
Lincoln Financial Field erupted in thunderous roars after wide receiver A.J. Brown’s first catch of the game — an eight-yard sideline completion — just under 2 minutes into the second half. It was only his second target of the day and just his 11th this year.
Down three scores, the Eagles’ sideline intelligentsia couldn’t afford to overthink. They had to get the ball to Brown and DeVonta Smith, two of the most talented and explosive wide receivers in the league.
Brown looked like the second coming of Terrell Owens, the way he shed would-be tacklers such as Rams cornerback Emmanuel Forbes to pick up first downs and chunks more.
Brown and Smith each hauled in their first touchdowns of the 2025 season. Brown had six catches for 109 yards on 10 targets; Smith had eight receptions for 60 yards on nine targets.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts also hit tight end Dallas Goedert for a 33-yard touchdown after connecting with Brown for 38 yards.
“We executed and I think we played a good brand of football,” Hurts said. “It was a matter of just figuring it out, I think.”
The QB went on to discuss going up-tempo in the second half.
“Playing within the system, playing within your roles, playing within what you're coached to do, and making sure that we're coached to execute it in an advantageous and high-leveraged way, but also just playing within ourselves.
“I think in the second half, when pressure was as high as it was, we kind of just let it loose and went out there and played, and that's the brand of football we played for a long time. So I don't necessarily want to make it harder than what it is.
“We just got to go out there, execute, and play the style of football that we know we can play. The beautiful part about it is we’ve been able to play and win in multiple ways.”
Hopefully this was a wake-up call and not a one-week blip for the Eagles’ coaching staff — get the ball to your playmaking receivers.
“Jalen, Kevin (offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo) and the offensive staff did a great job of finding things that worked and got us out of the rut that we were in,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “Any communication with the quarterback’s going to be critical. He’s the one who’s going to give you confidence to call the things that you need to call.”
2. Jordan Davis’ conditioning is paying off
Defensive tackle Jordan Davis showed up at Eagles training camp in the best shape of his life — 26 pounds lighter and more toned than last fall. He played himself into good condition late last season, but this past July he said he felt amazing, with more energy and stamina than ever, and he was in great spirits.
And it’s showing up this season.
Davis had the game-sealing field-goal block/touchdown return to beat the Rams. He also had five tackles, a sack and a QB pressure.
“He has worked so hard to get himself in great shape to be able to play the amount of snaps he played,” Sirianni said, “and then have all that last (bit of energy) to get a blocked kick and to scoop and score to get in the end zone. Pretty remarkable."
3. Jalen Carter is a trade-off
Defensive tackle Jalen Carter, who was tossed from the season opener against the Cowboys for spitting on Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott’s jersey, is a great player with zero judgment.
When will this dude learn?
Carter, 24, an All-Pro and former runner-up for Defensive Rookie of the Year, made a brilliant field-goal block against the Rams on Sunday and hit quarterback Matthew Stafford twice. But he also got flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct — despite backup defensive tackle Byron Young trying to hold him back to prevent drawing a penalty.
“We know the league is, and rightfully so, cracking down on some of the taunting and the (trash) talking, and that's what they want,” Sirianni said. “I respect that. We have to do a better job because we had three personal fouls today, so we have to do a better job of keeping our emotions in check.”
4. Jared Verse hurts the Eagles
Rams second-year edge rusher Jared Verse, who grew up in Bloomsburg, Pa., gets extra revved-up against the Eagles. Last season, when he won Defensive Rookie of the Year, he talked smack about the Birds before coming to Philly for the divisional playoff game in January. He taunted the crowd pregame and then backed it up with four solo tackles (three for a loss), two sacks and two QB pressures (albeit in a defeat).
On Sunday, he recorded six tackles (four solo and two for a loss), a sack and a pressure. Still, the Rams lost to the Birds once again.
Sirianni is 4-0 against Rams coach Sean McVay.
5. Tush push really isn’t so ‘hard to officiate’
The NFL and FOX initially tried to perpetuate their lie about the tush push. Early in the game, FOX’s Mike Pereira, former NFL vice president of officiating, repeated last week’s phrase: “It’s hard to officiate.”
But it was blatantly obvious that officiating offsides on the tush push is no more difficult than officiating offsides on any other play. Lead broadcaster Joe Davis rightly pointed out that you can find something wrong on almost every play in the league if you slow it down enough.
What percentage of times do O-lines subtly jump offsides on all other running plays? And what percentage of times do defenses line up offsides as they often do against the tush push?
Davis repeatedly mentioned that other teams have the option of using the tush push themselves. Also, the refs missed a clear offensive pass interference call against Devonta Adams on his 44-yard touchdown reception in the first half.
By the way, the L.A. defense lined up in the neutral zone on a fourth-and-1 Eagles tush push in third quarter at the Rams’ own 11.
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Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc.