4 differences between the Eagles and the Rams from Week 12 to the Divisional Round

The NFL is a week-to-week league, and when there are eight weeks in between games a whole lot can change. That’s the case this week when the Philadelphia Eagles play the Los Angeles Rams in a rematch of their Week 12 game.

The Eagles roster is going to look a little different on either side of the ball, the Rams have changed their tune on defense, and the game is being played 2,396 miles away from where it was played the first time.

Both the Eagles and the Rams will look a little different on Sunday

It’s easy to forget what happened in a game eight weeks ago. That’s especially true when two monumental things happened in that game: Brandon Graham’s season ended and Saquon Barkley broke the franchise single-game rushing record. 

Meaningful players who missed Week 12

DeVonta Smith was out of the Week 12 game with a hamstring. That was the first full game A.J. Brown had ever played without DeVonta, but the passing game didn't struggle. Jalen threw for 179 yards and A.J. was responsible for 109 of them. If the Eagles need their passing game this week, having DeVonta there will make things easier for Jalen. It’s Devonta Smith… he’s awesome. Not much more needs to be said. 

Rob Havenstein is the Rams’ starting right tackle, and he was out in Week 12 with a shoulder injury. Instead, they played third-stringer Warren McLendon who allowed two sacks and needed a lot of help to keep the Eagles pass rush at bay.

Tyler Higbee only played in four games this season. In the 2023 NFC Championship game, his knee exploded and he was on the IR until Week 16. He went to the hospital on Monday night because he had a chest injury that was making him spit up blood, but Sean McVay says that he’ll be full-go this weekend. He’s one of the league’s better tight ends and the Rams haven’t gotten a whole lot out of their other guys. 

Milton Williams and Darius Slay don’t completely fall into this category, but it’s worth noting both of them. Milton was on the Eagles injury report going into that Week 12 game with an ankle injury. He only played 35.6% of the defensive snaps, and his average is 48.9%. He wasn’t on Wednesday’s injury report, so he should be all good for Sunday.

Slay left the Week 12 game early in the third quarter with a concussion. Even though he missed a little bit of time in the Wild Card game, he’s not on the injury report.

Meaningful players who played in Week 12

Brandon Graham tore his triceps in Week 12, but that happened about halfway through the fourth quarter. He was a machine up until the end: one incredibly violent sack on a third down, a season-high four pressures (two of which were quick pressures), and just all-around disruption throughout the game. It stinks not to have BG in this game, but Nolan Smith is playing like a demon so it should be fine.

Nakobe Dean tore his Patellar Tendon last week. It sucks for a lot of reasons, but specifically for this game, it means the Eagles are going to have to roll with Jeremiah Trotter Jr. or Oren Burks as the linebacker alongside Zack Baun. Either of those guys is going to be a big downgrade from Dean, who was having BY FAR the best season of his career.

Alaric Jackson is the Rams' starting left tackle. He showed up on their estimated injury report as a DNP with a chest injury. He played the whole game on Monday night, so who knows how serious this is. 

Ahkello Witherspoon hasn’t been the Rams’ starting cornerback all season, but he was in the wild card game, where he ended up with a thigh injury in the third quarter and never returned. He was also on the injury report as a DNP. 

Bobby Brown III is one of the Rams’ early down big boy run-stoppers. He’s also on the injury report as a DNP with a shoulder. He’s played 91% of his snaps this season on early downs, and at 324 pounds he’s the Rams’ biggest defensive tackle by about 20 pounds. Less meat up front means the Eagles' offensive line can make Saquon’s job even easier.

The Rams’ defense might have turned a corner

Going into the Week 12 game, the Rams defense was allowing 23.9 points per game. After they played the Eagles, their defense allowed 14.8 points per game (excluding Week 18 where they rested starters). That’s a crazy amount better. 

In his media availability on Tuesday, Rams head coach Sean McVay was asked about Week 12 being a turning point for their season. McVay said, “I think when you have humbling experiences with the right kinds of people, those are where the real growth opportunities exist. 

“…Really, as a team, you can look inward and say, ‘Is this really what we want to be about? Where are the things that we can adjust and adapt from a coaching perspective?’ …I think a lot of the scars that we’ve had as a team have been what led us to the point that we’re at. 

“I know the greatest growth opportunities that have taken part with myself in particular, are when it’s the most challenging times, and you’re thinking ‘Man, I don’t like this at all,’ …I think there's a respect and an understanding of what’s going to be required if we want to continue..” 

Basically, they know exactly what happened to them, they hated it, and they changed… or maybe they didn’t…

The teams that they played after the Eagles were the Saints, the Bills, the 49ers, the Jets, the Cardinals, the Seahawks (again, we’re not counting that game), and the Vikings. 

The Bills and the Vikings are the only two good teams in that run. While what they did to the Vikings was impressive (nine sacks and only allowed nine points), their defense might as well have not shown up to the Bills game. They gave up 445 yards and 42 points. 

So, they really shut down some bad offenses (which is exactly what playoff teams should do), but when they actually had to beat good offenses there were some significantly mixed results. The realest of reality checks will come on Sunday when they have to stop the Eagles’ offense that initially broke them.

Football weather

The Week 12 game was played in Los Angeles where the weather was 60 degrees and manufactured to be flawless in SoFi Stadium. 

The divisional round is going to be just about as far from that as you can imagine. The game is being played at 3 PM and Accuweather says the forecast for Sunday, January 19th is 35 degrees, but it will feel like 15. It also says that it’s going to be “Mostly cloudy with a little snow and rain.”

It’s going to look and feel a whole lot different for everybody. The Eagles have been practicing in this weather for the past two weeks is only going to help them. The Rams haven’t had to leave the SoCal/Southwestern climate since December 22nd, so it’ll be almost a month since they’ve had exposure to anything close to 15 degrees.

The last time Matt Stafford played a late-season game in Philadelphia was The Snow Bowl in 2013 where he went 10-of-25 for 151 yards. Meanwhile, Shady McCoy ran for a cool 217 yards. It would be sick if Saquon got his own snow game this weekend. He might just not get tackled at all.