PHILADELPHIA – It’s a no-brainer for the Rams defense – try to stop Saquon Barkley. The Eagles All-Pro running back was unstoppable in their first meeting this year on Nov. 24 in L.A.
Barkley set a team-record for most yards in a single game with 255 yards, shattering the previous mark of 217 from LeSean McCoy in a December blizzard against the Lions in 2013, and his 302 yards from scrimmage were the ninth-most in league history and most in the NFL this year. That outing helped the Eagles beat the Rams, 37-20, that day.
How do the Rams limit him this time? Better yet, can they?
“I don’t think that there’s been a game where he’s been taken away,” said Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts on Wednesday as the Eagles prepare for the Rams’ playoff visit on Sunday (3 pm.).
“They try. He’s a great player. I think we complement each other well he’s been able to just get dirty yards, dirty yards, dirty yards and soon enough he pops one off. That’s been a big part of our success for the team. That’s a credit to everyone playing a role in that - blocking out wide, holding backside players off of a fake, downblocking, or a pull, and the identification of everyone up front being on the same page. It’s a collective effort.”
Hurts had 39 yards rushing against the Rams, as the Eagles stung the Rams’ run defense with 314 yards on the ground.
"Saquon is probably gonna win offensive player of the year," Rams coach Sean McVay told reporters in L.A. “There were some things where we could have put our guys in better spots.”
The Rams lost that night after winning four of their previous five games ad the defeat didn’t break them. They won five of their final six with the one loss coming in a mostly meaningless regular-season finale.
“They’ve always been a great team, and we caught them when they were hot and we’re catching them when they’re hot again,” said Hurts. “This is a young team led by a great coach, great quarterback, great players all around. They got a great defense. They’ve been very disruptive up front. Just gotta come and execute. It starts in the trenches in a game like. We’ve been able to run the ball effectively. Hopefully we can continue to impose our will up front.”
L.A.’s loss prompted a look-in-the-mirror moment for McVay’s team.
“When you have humbling experiences, with the right kinds of people, those are where the real growth opps exist,” he said. “We had a lot of guys as a team look inward and say, 'Is this really what we want to be about? …That humbling night, when you have the right people, a lot of the scars that we’ve had as a team have been what led us to the point where we’re at.”
