Winners
1) Winter weather: If you’re a fan of wintry mix, Sunday was your day. This was not the big fluffy flakes of your childhood memories. This was cold, wet and sloppy. Fields in Buffalo and Philadelphia were coated, especially in Philadelphia, where the snow accumulated rapidly in the second half. Players slid, footballs dribbled away, defensive players in particular looked a step slow as footing worsened. With about 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the ball squirted out of Matthew Stafford‘s hand when he was being sacked. When the elements are that bad, they test a team’s adaptability and the Eagles did a good job adapting, throwing short, safe passes near the boundary to set up a field goal. The Eagles have the advantage of practicing in bad weather and their field goal operation on Jake Elliott‘s 37-yarder in the fourth quarter bore that out — the Eagles were able to clear a small patch of turf, Braden Mann fielded two wobbly snaps for good holds and Elliott drilled the kick that gave the Eagles a seven-point lead.
2) Saquon Barkley: The only person who appeared unbothered by the conditions was Barkley, whose 78-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter essentially sealed the victory for the Eagles and was a marvel of both speed and footing. Most daunting about him is that once he bursts through a hole, his speed allows him to pull away. He finished with 205 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Barkley has six touchdown runs of at least 60 yards this season. Four of them came against the Rams.
3) Eagles offensive line: Maybe the single best unit remaining in the postseason, its talent was most on display when Barkley took the ball in the first quarter, made one small cut, ran through one hole and took off for a 62-yard touchdown. The highlight was Mekhi Becton, his career once left for dead with the New York Jets where he was drafted to be the left tackle, annihilating a Rams defender in his path while playing right guard. With the passing attack struggling, every opponent knows the Eagles are going to lean on Barkley. It doesn’t matter. The offensive line can open holes for him anyway. As they did late in the fourth quarter when Barkley cut to the left, burst through another gigantic hole and sprinted for a 78-yard touchdown.
4) Jared Verse: If you’re going to tell opposing fans you hate them, you have to be prepared to back it up with your play. The Rams rookie did, notching two sacks, including the one that ended the first half when Jalen Hurts was looking for a Hail Mary opportunity and another midway through the second quarter when, on third down, Verse threw Hurts for a 9-yard loss that pushed the Eagles out of field goal range and forced a punt. Verse made himself a villain this week — Barkley slowed down on his 62-yard touchdown run to taunt Verse as he gave chase — but he also kept the Eagles from blowing the game open early.
5) The Rams: They started the season 1-4 after bidding farewell to one of the best defensive players ever, injected young players into their team, survived injuries to their star receivers, rallied to win the NFC West, and then endured the horror of the Los Angeles wildfires. They came up short but for what was supposed to be a transition season, this was an unqualified success.
