PHILADELPHIA — Despite the sleet and snow, the Philadelphia Eagles relied on their strong defense and created two turnovers in the fourth quarter to beat the Los Angeles Rams, 28-22, in a close NFC divisional-round game that ended with a crucial defensive play.
The Rams had an opportunity to win in the last two minutes, but their drive came to a halt when Matthew Stafford was sacked on third-and-2 at the Philadelphia 13-yard line. The pass attempt on fourth down was incomplete.
Late in the third quarter, it looked like the Rams were gaining momentum after a safety against Jalen Hurts, which put them just one point behind. However, Eagles defensive lineman Jalen Carter knocked the ball loose from running back Kyren Williams on the next drive. Eagles cornerback Isaiah Rodgers picked up the loose ball and ran it back to the Rams’ 10-yard line.
After that, Jake Elliott kicked a short field goal to put the score at 19-15. Then, Nolan Smith reached Stafford on a third-and-10, causing a strip-sack that once again gave the Eagles the ball in a great position.
Philadelphia will hold the NFC championship game for the second time in three years this Sunday. They will face off against their NFC East rival, Washington, who surprised everyone by beating the top-seeded Detroit Lions on Saturday.
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A mix of sleet started falling shortly after noon in the City of Brotherly Love, but it cleared up before the game began. However, by the first quarter, the snow returned. Soon, heavy, wet snow fell on Lincoln Financial Field for the rest of the game.
Eagles shut down the Rams and are set to face the Commanders in the NFC title game
The wet conditions were clear right from the start of the game. Rodgers lost his footing before a Rams player could tackle him, cutting short his 22-yard return.
However, for the second week in a row, the Eagles got off to a quick start. Hurts had plenty of space to dash for a 44-yard touchdown, which was the longest rushing score of his career, on the sixth play of the game. Left tackle Jordan Mailata was pulling to the other side and didn’t even have anyone to block. Hurts had to dodge one weak attempt at his legs from Neville Gallimore, but it didn’t slow him down much. This was the second consecutive week with an early touchdown – Elliott struggled again by missing another extra point – as Hurts completed his first three passes before reaching the end zone.
Five minutes later, Eagles fans fell silent when Tyler Higbee caught a 4-yard touchdown pass that Stafford perfectly threw into a tight spot at the goal line. The extra point put the Rams ahead 7-6.
Barkley, who had run for 255 yards on 26 carries in the regular season matchup against the Rams, impressed again with a 62-yard run to score in the first quarter. Right guard Mekhi Becton knocked down Rams linebacker Christian Rozeboom, while right tackle Lane Johnson celebrated by pointing as Barkley crossed midfield.
The running back had something to say to Jared Verse, the rookie defensive lineman for the Rams, who had made comments about Eagles fans earlier in the week and was also bold during pregame warmups before scoring a touchdown.
In the fourth quarter, Barkley started a snowball fight in the upper deck of Lincoln Financial Field with another impressive touchdown run, this time from 78 yards away. He ended the game with 205 rushing yards on 26 carries.
Barkley now has the most rushing touchdowns of more than 60 yards in a single season (including the postseason) with six.
A deep pass from Stafford to DeMarcus Robinson to end the first quarter should have been picked, but the receiver won the struggle for the slightly underthrown ball against Rodgers, who was in for the injured Mitchell. Los Angeles settled for a field goal from Josh Karty after a holding penalty to make it 13-10.
As the snowfall increased, the scoring began to decrease. In the final moments of the half, Rams linebacker Omar Speights caused Hurts to fumble, and Kenneth Gainwell recovered the ball. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni called a timeout with just three seconds left to give his team one last chance to score, but Hurts ended up getting sacked again.
Verse recorded two of the Rams’ four sacks in the first half. The Eagles rushed for a total of 171 yards in the first 30 minutes, with 116 of those yards coming from just three plays: the touchdown by Hurts, the touchdown by Barkley, and a 10-yard rush by Gainwell.
