INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — For the second straight season, the Philadelphia Eagles are headed to SoFi Stadium with a lengthy winning streak and a team that looks like one of the best in the NFC.
The Los Angeles Rams (5-5) couldn't do much to slow them down last season, but they'll try again Sunday night with a young team that hopes to get where the Eagles (8-2) are already standing — atop their division with a six-game winning streak.
Philadelphia also made this road trip in October 2023 for a meeting of the previous two NFC champions, and the unbeaten Eagles held on for a 23-14 victory despite failing to score a touchdown in the second half. Jalen Hurts passed for 303 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 72 yards and another score, while Jalen Carter sacked Matthew Stafford twice while the Eagles prevented LA from crossing midfield in the second half.
“I just remember that they do a great job of controlling the game,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “They shortened the game, and that’s been a consistent theme that they do an excellent job of. I remember feeling like that’s a good team, and we had our chances, but they certainly made it difficult for us and they earned that win.”
Philadelphia comes into the rematch on extra rest after beating Washington 26-18 in a Thursday night game. The young Rams have won four of their past five, but they haven't managed the consistency necessary to become an elite team.
Strength against strength
The Eagles’ NFL-best defense includes one of the league’s best cornerback duos in Darius Slay and rookie Quinyon Mitchell. The Rams’ offense is built around Stafford’s ability to get the ball to Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, two of the NFL’s top wideouts.
That dual matchup should determine whether the Rams can score enough points to keep up with Philadelphia.
“Their personnel is as good as it gets, as far as we’ve seen,” Stafford said of the Eagles defense. “I've just watched them from afar. It’s impressive what you see on tape. They do a really nice job of disguising their looks and giving you a bunch of things to look at.”
Defensive rookie dynamos
The game also features the two front-runners for the AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Mitchell is widely considered the top rookie cornerback in the league, but Los Angeles edge rusher Jared Verse is the consensus favorite for the award so far after his dynamic start to the season with 4 1/2 sacks and 11 tackles for loss.
Hurts expected to play
Hurts is expected to play Sunday after being limited in practice this week by an ankle injury. He said the limited practice was part of a program put together by the Eagles to strengthen his recovery with extra days off. He also cleared concussion protocol after his head was spiked into the ground against Washington.
Hurts has 2,197 yards passing with 12 TDs and five interceptions. Thanks in large part to the “tush push,” Hurts has 11 rushing TDs.
“It’s not necessarily about all health,” Hurts said. “I think it’s a mentality where we are. We’re in a phase of the year where things could have very easily, well, they didn’t end the way we wanted to (last season). So that’s in the back of my mind as we enter this phase and putting an emphasis on finishing strong, putting ourselves in a good place.”
Just for kicks
The Eagles remain confident in kicker Jake Elliott as he comes off perhaps the worst game of his career, missing two field goals and an extra point against Washington.
Elliott signed a four-year, $24 million extension in March, but he has already missed five field-goal attempts this season.
He holds the franchise record with seven field goals of 50 yards or more in a season, but has missed all four attempts from 50-plus in 2024.
“It’s funny with Jake, he’s such a competitor and such a good kicker, you almost take it a little bit for granted when he’s out there; it’s an automatic,” special teams coach Michael Clay said. “But I have such supreme confidence in Jake. At times, it’s just not your day. We’d be probably a little bit more on edge if the ball was sprayed all over the place.”
Here we go again?
The Eagles are rolling with six straight wins out of the bye, and only Detroit has a better record in the NFC. But Philly fans know better than to expect good times ahead after the Eagles turned a 10-1 start last season into a 1-5 finish and a playoff loss in the wild-card round.
So why should anyone expect the Eagles to keep it together this season instead of collapsing yet again?
“I think we’ve got some really good teammates and coaches. Everyone is just so locked in to becoming better,” coach Nick Sirianni said. “I do feel like that, that everyone is locked in to becoming better. I felt that way last year, too. Don’t get me wrong. It didn’t work. There were things that happened last year that we feel like we’ve corrected, that we’re on the right track.”
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AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL
Greg Beacham, The Associated Press
