The Los Angeles Rams are the first team in National Football League history to lose four of their first five games and then go on to win a division title. They are also looking to become the second team in NFL history to win a Super Bowl after getting outscored by their opponents in the regular season.
In 2011, the New York Giants scored six fewer points than they allowed in the regular season and then went on to down the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. This year, the Rams gave up 19 more points than they scored in the regular season, but there is an asterisk next to that stat.
The problems the Rams confronted defensively were mostly in the first five weeks of the season, before their bye on October 13th. Los Angeles had three main factors for their slow start. First, the Rams offense was having trouble, so the defense was on the field a lot. Second, they had injuries on both sides of the ball, and third, they were looking to plug the hole left by the retirement of Aaron Donald.
Over the first five weeks they were outscored by 35 points, which means this, since they got healthy and made adjustments during their bye week they have outscored their opponents by 16 points. Now, that does not rank as a high number, but it does turn the negative points for and points against numbers on its head.
Okay, Los Angeles has won ten of their most recent 13 games with impressive wins over the Buffalo Bills and a pair of victories over the Minnesota Vikings. One of their losses was against this week’s opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles. Nick Sirianni’s team got the better of the Rams in Los Angeles eight weeks ago, 37-20. Now the two teams meet in Philadelphia where the Eagles are favored by six points.
In the playoffs teams will give themselves away with postgame comments and celebrations. You can see a team that celebrates a win like it is going to be their last, and squads that take a victory as little more than a step towards their ultimate goal.
Take the Eagles for example.
After they beat the Green Bay Packers in last week’s Wild Card action there was little celebration in the Eagles locker room. No, the conversation was more focused on how they are going to have to play better this week against the Rams.
Now that is a winning conversation. A team on the other side of a victory declaring in all sincerity that they need to play better.
And they probably will.
Eagles Quarterback Jalen Hurts had a couple weeks off to recover from being in concussion protocol. He suffered the injury in Week 14 in an eventual loss to the Washington Commanders. After sitting out the last two weeks, games the Eagles won over the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants, Hurts returned to action last week in their opening playoff game against the Packers.
He looked rusty early.
Still, the Packers overall talent, and a poor performance by Green Bay, was enough to have the Eagles notch a 22-10 victory. Now, with one week to knock the cobwebs off and get back in rhythm with his team, Hurts and his Eagles take on a Rams team off a satisfying victory in a game forced to be played in Arizona to avoid the fires in Southern California.
There were a lot of moving parts last week in the Rams matchup against Sam Darnold and company, and they caught a Minnesota team that simply played poorly in the wake of losing a chance for the top seed in the conference with their defeat the prior week in Detroit.
Let's just say the Vikings weren’t at their best, but in the Los Angeles locker room they weren’t saying they need to play better this week. They were content on playing as good as they did in downing the Vikings when they meet the Eagles on Sunday.
What we have here are two winners: one geared to play better, one poised to get beat.
Qoxhi Picks: Philadelphia Eagles (-6) over Los Angeles Rams