Rams most to blame for Week 12 loss to Eagles

If the Los Angeles Rams secured the win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football, it would have been the ultimate coming out party to the NFL world.

Facing off against the NFL's top rushing offense, top overall defense, and a passing game ripping up 40-plus yard bombs seemingly on the weekly, beating Nick Sirianni's company would have not only put the Rams back in first place, tied with the Cardinals and Seahawks atop the NFC West, but also made them look like legit contenders overall, as they could quite literally beat anyone, even the best team in the NFC.

… unfortunately, that didn't happen. The Rams came out of the gates hot, hitting trick play after trick play to move the ball quickly and even scored seven points in the first quarter before their own mistakes, both on the field and from the sideline, allowed Philadelphia to pull away and close out the contest before the start of the fourth quarter.

What went wrong? Were the Rams simply outmatched by the better team? Or did they take some risks that simply blew up in their faces? Let's take a look at the Rams' Week 12 effort to figure out who is most to blame for LA's loss to the Eagles.

1. Chris Shula and the Rams' run defense

Heading into Week 12, the number one problem the Rams had to solve was slowing down Saquon Barkley on his run to become league MVP.

On paper, that task feels rather tricky, but it's not impossible; Barkley has been held to under 100 yards on four occasions for the Eagles in 2024, including a Week 5 effort against Jim Schwartz and the Cleveland Browns that saw the PSU product average 2.6 yards per carry on the way to just 47 rushing yards.

Would the Rams' attacking defensive front produce similar results for the Rams in Week 12, plugging holes before they could form and blowing up the Eagles' backfield? Nope, their strategy proved to be the opposite of successful, with Shula's aggressiveness opening up opportunities for Barkley to have one of the ten-best rushing games in NFL history.

Discussing the strategy Shula put together after the game, McVay admitted that, unfortunately, the Rams read the situation wrong and ultimately lost the trench battle as a result.

“Yeah, you know the thing that's hard is you get into some of these aggressive looks, and you give him a vertical seam to the second level, and he's got the ability to be able to erase angles and work edges and make people miss,” McVay told reporters. “The last one, you're in a really aggressive defense trying to be able to get a stop on a third and five. Somebody doesn't follow a puller back and that's where he's got the ability to finish those plays.”

Now granted, is that all on Shula? Eh, not necessarily; the Rams are starting a front seven that exclusively has players still on their rookie-scale contract, and while some of those players, like Jared Verse, are incredibly effective, they also don't have the veteran ingenuity to outwit an offensive line like the Eagles who bully teams on a weekly basis.

In summation, while going aggressive was certainly a choice, it turned out to be the wrong one for the Rams on SNF.

2. Kyren Williams' fumbling

In Week 12, it took exactly five snaps for the Rams to lose their footing and any momentum brought by a home game played in a sea of midnight green Keystone State transplants. That's when Kyren Williams, the Rams' lead back out of Notre Dame, put the rock on the ground and set the Eagles up for a field goal.

Now, for fans of the Rams, Williams' ball security issues have become increasingly problematic with each passing season, with the third-year pro now up to five on the year and eight since Week 4 of last season. But when you consider Ronnie Rivers and Blake Corum have combined for just 39 carries versus 207 for Williams, it's not like McVay is really giving anyone else a chance to prove they can lead the run game any better.

Discussing how Williams' early fumble impacted the Rams' game after the loss, McVay noted it was a bummer, as he believed his offensive line came out ready to roll.

“I thought our guys continued to battle. We ended up getting a scoring drive right after that, but it did take the… it was tough because I thought our offensive line came out ready to go,” McVay told reporters. “I thought (RB) Kyren (Williams) was hitting those holes, and that play, you're in scoring position already right there. You felt good about some different options, and for us to turn it over there when we did, it was costly for sure.”

On paper, the suggestion that the Rams' offensive line was in a good position feels rather suspect, as Stafford was under pressure for much of the game, and the rushing offense only averaged 5.1 yards on 18 carries versus 7.0 for the Eagles on an astounding 45. Still, that fumble was all on Williams, and his inability to rip off a run longer than 27 yards falls on him, too.

Is Williams the Rams' RB of the future, or would they be smart to give Corum an extended look? That opinion varies based on the talent evaluation, but one thing is for certain: Williams is not on Barkley's level, even if they seemed closer, talent-wise, before the start of the season.

3. The Rams' offensive line

And last but not least, this was a tough game for the Rams' offensive line, who allowed the Eagles to amass five sacks, 11 QB hits, and 53 total tackles on the game. Stafford was seemingly under pressure on half of his dropbacks, had to make quick decisions with the ball instead of working within the confines of the offense, and ultimately fumbled the ball once himself due to Vic Fangio's relentless rush.

Discussing what went wrong up front for the Rams against the Eagles, McVay noted that consistency limited his offense's effectiveness, as no one player blew it for the unit.

“Yeah, it was a tough night. We’ll go back, and we'll look at it. We knew that they had some guys that were pretty d**n good, but we've got to be able to consistently do a better job and give him a little bit more time,” McVay told reporters. “It wasn't one person in particular. There were some really quick beats and we got to be able to look at that and see where we can be better.”

Unfortunately for Rams fans, offensive line issues have been somewhat of a regular occurrence so far this season, with fixes at center and left guard being overlooked by Warren McClendon Jr's issues as Rob Havenstein's understudy. Until the Rams get all of their ducks in a row and play with their five best men up front, which is probably Alaric Jackson, Steve Avila, Beaux Limmer, Kevin Dotson, and Havenstein, it's hard to really say how high Los Angeles' offensive ceiling can be in 2024.