Eagles-Rams player matchups to watch in Week 5
Eagles-Rams player matchups to watch in Week 5 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Eagles (4-0) are on the road this week to face the Rams (2-2) at SoFi Stadium in Southern California.
Let’s get to the matchups:
Eagles’ secondary vs. Rams receivers
After four weeks of the season, the Eagles have the NFL’s No. 27-ranked passing defense. They’ve given up over 1,000 yards and 9 touchdowns in four games and we just watched as Sam Howell was able to have success and even march down the field against them to tie the game late in Week 4.
While the Eagles signed veteran cornerback Bradley Roby to their practice squad this week, it seems likely he’ll need some time before he’s ready to play. That means the Eagles will continue to use James Bradberry in the slot and Josh Jobe outside. The good news is that the Eagles should be healthier at safety this week after missing Justin Evans (neck) and Sydney Brown (hamstring) against the Commanders.
The Rams enter this game as the No. 2 passing offense in the NFL with 1,155 yards. Sean McVay clearly knows what he’s doing and veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford is playing well. Although, Stafford will enter this game with a hip injury.
The big news for the Rams this season is the play of rookie fifth-round pick Puka Nacua, who has 39 catches for 501 yards and a touchdown through four games. Nacua leads the NFL with 39 catches and is second behind just Justin Jefferson in receiving yards. He’s been exceptional so far. Nacua’s 39 catches and 501 yards are records for a player in his first four games. The next closest is Anquan Boldin, who had 30/464 through four games back in 2003.
“He's played really good so far,” Eagles DC Sean Desai said. “I think Coach McVay and obviously Matt Stafford and all those guys do a great job on offense, and they have really found ways to get him open and get him the ball, and he's done a good job separating at the top routes.”
The news this week is that Cooper Kupp has returned to practice after missing the first four games of the season with a hamstring injury. Kupp is one of the best receivers in the NFL but he played just nine games last year and hasn’t played yet this year. Kupp plays a ton in the slot so it should be interesting to see if the Eagles’ have Bradberry there again.
Nicholas Morrow, Zach Cunningham vs. Tyler Higbee
This could perhaps be the last last game the Eagles are without Nakobe Dean, who injured his foot in the opener. But Morrow and Cunningham have actually played pretty well in his absence.
The one area where Morrow and Cunningham are lacking is in coverage. The Eagles have given up 234 yards to opposing tight ends this season. That’s tied for the sixth-most in the NFL.
It’s not like Higbee is Travis Kelce out there but he is a threat in the receiving game. He has 16 catches for 196 yards this season and is averaging a career-high 49 yards per game so far. With all the attention the Eagles are going to have to pay to the Rams’ top receivers, Higbee could find himself open at times.
Josh Sweat vs. Rams left tackle
The Rams last week had to play without their starting left tackle Alaric Jackson, who has a hamstring injury. That forced an offensive line shuffle. The Rams moved right guard Joe Noteboom back to left tackle and replaced him with Kevin Dotson. To start this week, Jackson (hamstring) and Noteboom (groin) have missed the first two days of practice. That means the Rams might have to start Zach Thomas, which would be a huge advantage for the Eagles.
For the most part, we see Sweat rush from the right defensive end position against left tackles so this could be an opportunity for him to have a big game against the Rams. Through four games, Sweat has 2 1/2 sacks to lead the Eagles’ defensive linemen. He’s second to just Morrow, who had three sacks as a blitzer in Week 4.
The Eagles are going to be without starting right guard Cam Jurgens (foot) for a little bit. Head coach Nick Sirianni said Jurgens is “week-to-week,” which in football terms means he’s going to miss some time. In Week 4, Jurgens was replaced by veteran Sua Opeta, who played well. Sirianni said Opeta was “outstanding” in his time against the Commanders.
While Washington has a really great duo of interior defensive linemen in Jonathan Allen and DaRon Payne, this week represents another major challenge. One of the best defensive players in NFL history happens to play for the Rams. Aaron Donald is 32 now but he’s still playing at a really high level. Through four games, he already has 2 1/2 sacks, 4 TFLs and has been credited with 22 total pressures, the most among interior defensive linemen, according to ProFootballFocus. He’s still a monster and the Eagles are going to have a backup on the interior of their line.
Donald has played the Eagles four times in his NFL career and has yet to register a sack and has just 1 TFL, although he has picked up six QB hits. The Eagles are one of just two teams Donald hasn’t picked up a sack against; the other is the Jets, whom he has faced twice.
Even with that relative success, expect the Eagles to help out Opeta as much as they can sliding their protection Donald’s way.
“Well, I think the biggest thing is any time you play a player of that magnitude, a generational talent, an obvious first-ballot Hall of Famer, there's a certain level of respect,” Eagles OC Brian Johnson said. “A certain level of gamesmanship that goes into how you attack and how you set up your plan.
“He's one of the best defensive players to ever play in this league, so he's obviously going to draw a ton of attention but our guys, I think they are all excited for the challenge, excited for the opportunity to go out there and compete at a high level against one of the best to ever do it.”
Dallas Goedert vs. Rams linebackers
Dallas Goedert has not been a very big part of the Eagles’ passing offense. He has just 13 catches for 88 yards this season.
“Trust me, I promise you, he's still part of the plan of wanting us to get him the football,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “We need to get him the football. Sometimes there's a dry spell in there, too, of what's kind of going on right now.”
The Rams’ starting linebackers, Ernest Jones IV and Christian Rozeboom, are definitely a bit susceptible in the passing game. The Rams have given up 17 catches for 209 yards and 2 touchdowns to opposing tight ends this season. Last week, they gave up 6 catches for 107 yards and 2 touchdowns to the Colts’ trio of Kylen Granson, Drew Ogletree and Mo Alie-Cox.
Eagles WRs vs. Rams corners
We do this every week because the Eagles have an advantage just about every week with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. This week, they’ll see the cornerback trio of Derion Kendrick, Akhello Witherspoon and Cobie Durant. According to PFF, they rank 50th, 67th and 107th, respectively, out of 109 qualified cornerbacks league-wide.
Last year, when Witherspoon was with the Steelers, the Eagles picked on him in a 35-13 win. In that game, Brown had 4 catches on 5 targets for 74 yards and 2 touchdowns going against him. Brown has been on fire recently with 306 receiving yards the last two weeks. No reason to think this shouldn’t be another big game for him.
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