Eagles beat Rams with Jalen Hurts' arm, legs − and butt; why rookie thanked fans for sacks

LOS ANGELES − Jalen Hurts beat the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday with his arm, his legs and his butt.

And the Eagles needed all of it, plus another strong game for rookie defensive tackle Jalen Carter; by far the best game of the season for tight end Dallas Goedert; and so much more for the 23-14 win in front of an Eagles-heavy crowd at SoFi Stadium.

The Eagles improved to 5-0 for the second straight season and only the fourth time in team history.

That's because the Eagles had fits trying to stop Rams receiver Cooper Kupp in the first half, when he had 95 of his 118 yards receiving before shutting the Rams down in the second half.

And the Eagles also had fits on offense when they drove the ball deep into Rams territory. They were 2-for-6 in the red zone Sunday, but Hurts' interception in the third quarter didn't count because the Eagles were at the 20 yard line, not inside of it.

BEATING THE RAMS: Live analysis: Jalen Carter destroying Rams; high drama on Eagles' last-second 'tush push'

But the Eagles still controlled the ball as the Rams had no answer for Hurts' multi-faceted attack, nor for A.J. Brown, who had his third straight game with 100 or more yards with 127. Goedert, who came into the game with 88 yards receiving in four games, had 117 on Sunday.

And Hurts threw for 303 yards and ran for a season-high 71 more on 14 carries.

Hurts' best run went for only 1 yard. That was the "tush push" touchdown from the Rams' 1-yard line with just 2 seconds left in the first half, giving the Eagles a 17-14 lead.

That came just 32 seconds after the Rams' rookie Puka Nacua caught a 22-yad TD pass to give the Rams a 14-10 lead. It would have been easy for the Eagles to take a knee, and go into the locker room trailing by four points. But that's not what they did.

So on third down, Hurts threw a gutsy pass to Brown over the middle on 3rd-and-1 with 17 seconds left, which Brown caught with one hand. The play went for 36 yards, plus another 15 for a horse-collar penalty, putting the Eagles at the Rams' 15 with 7 seconds left.

Brown said that play "changed the momentum of the entire game."

Added Hurts: "You always want to be aggressive. The moment you stop playing the game the way you want to play the game, and being aggressive, you’re doing yourself a disservice. It’s just a matter of execution and trust. We did a great job on that play."

Hurts then threw incomplete into the end zone for Brown, but Derion Kendrick was called for pass interference, putting the ball at the 1 with 2 seconds left.

Everyone knew what the Eagles were going to do next. Even the Rams. And especially the throngs of Eagles fans who attended the game, making up at least half of the 75,000 fans on hand.

It didn't matter. Hurts, behind his offensive line, and with some pushing on his backside from receivers behind him, got into the end zone as time expired.

"I’m not going to lie," center Jason Kelce said. "As soon as it was pass interference, I think everyone in the stadium knew what was happening. You’re getting the ball at the 1, and the (chances) that they’re going to keep us out from a yard is so low.

"I’m not an analytics guy, but you got a 90% chance to score a touchdown, I’m taking that all day over kicking for 3 points, right?"

Then Carter and the defensive line took over to a large extent in the second half. Carter, getting more playing time with Fletcher Cox's back injury, had 2 sacks. Haason Reddick sacked Stafford on back-to-back plays late in the game on third and fourth down that sealed the victory.

It certainly wasn't like that in the beginning.

The Eagles started the game with Mario Goodrich on Kupp. That didn't work, so they went to Eli Ricks. That didn't work, so they went to Bradley Roby, the veteran signed just last Wednesday. That didn't work either. And neither did Darius Slay lining up the slot on occasion as Kupp caught a 39-yard pass on him late in the first half.

Still, the defense held up for the most part.

And Carter did not disappoint. He had a sack in the first half. Then on the Rams' first possession of the third quarterback, Carter sacked Stafford, bringing him down at the 9 for a loss of 11 yards. On the next play, he had a QB pressure on Stafford who threw the ball away.

Later in the drive, Stafford completed a pass to Kyren Williams, but Jordan Davis was there to wrap him up for a 3-yard loss, setting up a 3rd-and-10. But Carter was in the area, as he was when Stafford was called for intentional grounding on the next play as Josh Sweat was barreling in on him.

Carter said the Eagles' fans at the game helped make the difference in getting to Stafford, who threw for only 75 yards in the second half and the Rams never crossed midfield.

"We had a lot of fans out there, so it was loud," Carter said. "So (the Rams) had a little hand movement on the snap. And it was like the second time they (would move their hand and snapped it) … I used that as a point, and I used that to get off faster.

"Oh yeah, the fans helped for sure. Eagles fans, every week, it’s always packed. Away game, home games, whatever."

The Eagles couldn't score either as Hurts threw his interception from the Rams' 20 after completing passes of 49 and 11 yards to Goedert.

But the Eagles kept taking time off the clock.

It certainly seemed like it would be a high-scoring affair early on.

The Eagles marched down the field on the first possession, scoring on Hurts' 6-yard TD pass to Goedert. But the Rams answered on their first possession, with Tutu Atwell catching Stafford's 2-yard pass in the end zone.

Then both offenses proceeded to struggle with their mistakes.

The Eagles faced a 3rd-and-2 from the Rams' 15, when Hurts threw a screen to Quez Watkins. But instead of turning upfield for a first down, Watkins tried running to the outside and was pushed out of bounds after no gain.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni was livid and slammed his headset to the ground as the Eagles kicked their first of three field goals, taking a 10-7 lead.

But they got the job done.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Philadelphia Eagles control second half, defeat Los Angeles Rams