Eagles-Rams preview: Five things to watch

In Week 3 of the NFL season, the Philadelphia Eagles will face a familiar foe in the Los Angeles Rams, who they faced twice in 2024. Here is what to look for in their Sunday matchup.

1) Saquon Barkley ran all over the Rams last season

Barkley's two games against the Rams:

• Week 12, in L.A.: 26 carries, 255 yards, 9.8 YPC, 2 TDs.

• Divisional Round, in Philly: 26 carries, 205 yards, 7.9 YPC, 2 TDs.

• TOTAL: 52 carries, 460 yards, 8.8 YPC, 4 TDs.

He had TD runs of 70, 72, 62, and 78 yards in those games. Do you want to see all of those again? Sure you do.

70 yards:

72 yards:

62 yards:

78 yards:

Jalen Hurts even added a 44-yard TD run of his own.

In the two Rams games last year, Hurts had 109 rushing yards.

Add it all up, and the Eagles rushed for 599 yards against the Rams last year. The only reason they didn't top 600 was because of kneeldowns.

The Eagles' offensive line straight bullied the Rams' front in the run game last season. Spoiler: Because of the way those games went last season — and because the Eagles' passing offense hasn't looked good yet this season — their game plan is going to be to stop the run.

2) A.J. Brown will see an old friend on Sunday

The Rams' top three cornerbacks Week 1 were Ahkello Witherspoon, Emmanuel Forbes, and Cobie Durant. Witherspoon broke his clavicle against the Titans Week 2, and is now on IR. Their top three corners are now Forbes, Durant, and Darious Williams.

I was surprised to see that Forbes is starting for an NFL team. Forbes is listed at 6'1, 180, and 180 is probably generous. He is outweighed by Brown by about 50 pounds (as the picture to the right when Forbes played for the Commanders illustrates), and Brown has proven to be a matchup nightmare for Forbes in the past.

Here's Brown beating Forbes for a 59-yard TD in 2023:

And then Brown beating him again in the same game for the win:

Brown has not yet gotten on track this season. In two games he has 6 catches for 35 yards, and a long reception of 8 yards. Now would be a good time for him to take advantage of a matchup very clearly in his favor.

3) The Rams have a dangerous young pass rush

The Rams' starting front four of Byron Young, Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, and Kobie Turner combined for 28.5 sacks in 2024, though none of them had double-digit sacks individually. Young leads the Rams so far in 2025 with 3 sacks. (Video via @NFL_DF.) Of course, the Eagles have the best offensive line in the NFL, with two All-Pros (Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata), two additional Pro Bowlers (Cam Jurgens and Landon Dickerson), and a fifth guy (Tyler Steen) who has been solid so far this season.

4) The Rams have a motion-heavy offense, a quarterback who is playing well, and a great wide receiver duo

"They have a great offense," Vic Fangio said. "Their scheme is really good and tough to prepare for, and tough to play. They got a great quarterback operating it. They now have two great receivers. Sean [McVay] does a great job calling the game. He's a really good play caller throughout the course of a game. It's an extremely difficult assignment."

The two receivers Fangio is referring to are Puka Nacua (18-221-0 already in 2025), and newcomer Davante Adams (10-157-1), who already seems to have a good rapport with Matthew Stafford.

The Rams use heavy motion to scheme their receivers open. Nacua had 9 catches for 117 yards against the Eagles Week 12 last season, with 8 of those catches coming after Nacua went in motion, pre-snap, as shown in the two videos below:

"You just got to play your techniques and your fundamentals regardless of what's going on in front of you," Fangio said of the Rams' motion. "It's discipline."

5) Where might the Eagles go #Feastin'? 🍗

The Rams' offensive line looks like this:

Avila sprained his ankle Week 1 against the Texans. If he can't play, Dedich will likely start at LG. He had a rough afternoon Week 2 against Jeffery Simmons.

The usually dependable Havenstein (now 33 years old) struggled the first two weeks.

The Eagles' D-line is starting to come together. They got good pressure on Patrick Mahomes Week 2 and often forced him to get the ball out sooner than he would have liked.

#FeastinMeter: 5/10 turkey legs 🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗

BONUS: We should also probably mention Rams RB Kyren Williams here

Williams finished seventh in the NFL in rushing last season with 1299 yards. However, he only averaged 4.1 yards per carry, and he only had 2 rushes of 20+ yards. He is not a game-breaker. It's also worth noting that he had 5 fumbles last season, including 2 against the Eagles Week 12:

He also had this devastating fumble in the playoffs:

Whenever Williams gets the ball, the Eagles need to be punching at the football.

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