Concerns about Jalen Hurts and the passing game are real. But Saquon Barkley and a ferocious defense have Philly exactly where it wants to be.
PHILADELPHIA — Sighs of relief canvassed the Philadelphia Eagles’ postgame locker room.
“Thank God for our defense,” left tackle Jordan Mailata said when asked about the win.
“That’s a big part of why we’re in here celebrating now – because of that defense,” wide receiver DeVonta Smith added from another section of cubbies.
Even running back Saquon Barkley, fresh off 232 scrimmage yards but nonetheless part of an offense that failed to reach the end zone for more than 41 minutes in the middle of the game, joined the chorus.
“Man, our defense is special, making plays for us,” said Barkley, who rushed for a franchise playoff-record 205 yards. “We’re going to go back and see what we can do better on offense.”
In some ways, the concern floating over Philadelphia’s offense felt dramatic. The Eagles had just won their 16th game of the season, playoffs included, and will host the Washington Commanders in the NFC championship game after powering past the Los Angeles Rams, 28-22.
The Eagles scored 28 points in a game liberally characterized as snowy, and more precisely characterized as sleet-filled and sloppy. Their defense managed to generate pass rush despite field conditions that left Rams coach Sean McVay surprised anyone could find firm footing, the Eagles also leveraging weather conditions to force three turnovers in the second half.
Philadelphia’s game was far from perfect. And the recipe for this win added yet another new page to the Eagles’ growing book. But three explosive touchdown runs (think: 44, 62 and 78 yards) sandwiching an opportunistic defense that didn’t look like it’d lost a starting linebacker and cornerback this month were sufficient to outlast the Rams in a game with oscillating momentum.
Eagles CB C.J. Gardner-Johnson: “They rank us No. 1 defense. We talk about it. We preach it. We got to go out there and show it. It’s one of those moments we got to go out there and show that we can do this.
“It’s so surreal.” pic.twitter.com/tEjZE2lhgA
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) January 20, 2025
The Eagles sorted through their cognitive dissonance as the evening wore on. They were elated to return to their second conference title game in three seasons … while also acutely aware of the stalled drives and seeming injury setbacks and occasionally allowed explosive gains that could get in their way of winning two more games to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
“Our performance today was enough to win, but enough is never enough in terms of the standards we have for ourselves and what we want to do,” quarterback Jalen Hurts said. “There’s always a hunger. There’s always a drive for more and this urge to continue to improve, and that’s how it will continue to be.
“When you play the game, it’s about improving. But the number one thing in playoff ball is winning and finding ways to win the game. We want to play complementary football, be able to find ways to win, and go out there and find a way to win.”
In cold, wet game, Eagles offense and defense picked each other up – because they needed to
On the game’s sixth play from scrimmage, Hurts faked a handoff to Barkley and pulled it. He eluded tacklers as he zigged up the right sideline, Mailata up ahead and clearing a lane. Precipitation hadn’t yet blurred visions or sullied the grass, but Rams defenders nonetheless found themselves splayed in futile attempts to keep Hurts from traveling home.
“Saquon needed a break, so I told him I’d do it first,” Hurts joked later. “Get me a piece.”
His 44-yard touchdown wouldn’t just infuse the Eagles with a shot of adrenaline. It would also require the Rams defense to account for the quarterback’s legs the rest of the day. That eased some pressure on Barkley, who would travel a similar path 62 yards home before the quarter ended.
A two-and-a-half quarter offensive lull kept the Eagles from running away with the game result the way they’d run away with two early scores. But the timing of Philadelphia’s explosions was fortuitous. Because as the game elapsed, the sleet that Barkley likened more to hail than to snow began to blanket the field more fervently. Eagles receivers dropped balls that seemed related both to their ability to track it through the flurries and their ability to secure it with moisture. Kicks weren’t certain, and defensive backs struggled to backpedal fluidly.
“It was ass, because it was damn ice blocks underneath my foot the whole time,” Eagles pass rusher Josh Sweat said. “And every step the s*** just kept getting higher and higher. If you just watch it, you see me cleaning my damn feet every step.
“I’d rather play on the s***ty Brazil field again before playing on that again. I ain’t gonna lie to you.”
No one used the field conditions as an excuse, coaches and players alike well aware that their opponent faced the same conditions. But as they assessed what went right and what went wrong, the Eagles looked honestly through the snow-globe prism in which this game was played to accept: While 128 yards and no touchdowns doesn’t reach the passing standard of an offense featuring Hurts, A.J. Brown, Smith, Dallas Goedert, Barkley and more … in playoff games that hinge heavily on variability, filtering a team’s strengths through the circumstances they can’t change is the way to win.
With a field so slick and sinking the Eagles changed their cleats at halftime, they sought to win the turnover battle, slow Rams drives and play an efficient game that would maximize their chances of occasionally breaking off an explosive. Barkley would nearly ice the game with a 78-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter, points needed even more desperately after an awkward tackle that landed Hurts in the blue medical tent for roughly five minutes. Hurts didn’t miss a snap but did wear a brace to finish the game, his limited mobility evident when the Rams sacked him for a safety.
Eagles QB Jalen Hurts on knee injury: “Tough game. A challenging game. I was able to finish the game and we’ll see how the week goes.” pic.twitter.com/EtmwIz0MAw
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) January 20, 2025
So no, Mailata echoed, the Eagles did not play to their “standard.” But they checked the playoff box of “survive and win,” crucial in a postseason format that features one game per round rather than best of five or seven.
The Eagles offense flashed enough. Its defense rose to the occasion powerfully.
“The team is built just how you want the team built: We pick each other up,” cornerback Darius Slay said. “[When] we ain’t playing our best, offense playing its best. Offense not playing our best, defense playing its best.
“[When] we both playing our best, we just blow folks out.”
Eagles may have the right disruptor to slow Jayden Daniels
As defensive tackle Jalen Carter took questions at his corner locker, a surprising voice chimed in from a few feet to his right.
“Need me to take a picture, JC?” general manager Howie Roseman shouted. “Need me to take a picture of how you look right now?”
Carter was fielding questions from reporters interested enough in talking to him to miss Barkley’s simultaneous session.
Box scores rarely capture a defensive tackle’s impact well – but Carter was disruptive enough to penetrate even that metric of success. Carter registered five tackles, two sacks, three quarterback hits, a pass breakup and a forced fumble against a team that knows well how punishing a star defensive tackle can be.
Credit Carter, too, with sealing the Rams win as he sacked quarterback Matthew Stafford for a nine yard loss on third-and-2 with 1:14 to play and then hitting Stafford again on the fourth-and-11, last-ditch attempt that preceded the Eagles’ victory-formation kneel.
He routinely wrecked plays and created sufficient chaos for teammates to deliver, including cornerback Isaiah Rodgers scooping Carter’s fumble to return it 40 yards and edge rusher Nolan Smith’s later strip sack setting up a recovery by linebacker Zack Baun.
Roseman couldn’t help fawning briefly over his 2023 first-round pick rounding into dominant form.
“I’m proud of you,” Roseman yelled into Carter’s interview, as he snapped a photo with his phone.
Head coach Nick Sirianni later echoed his general manager’s praise.
“Jalen Carter, he’s special,” Sirianni said. “For him to rush the passer the way that he did, and our group rush the way that we did in moments where the footing wasn’t great – that, to me, was a championship effort by the defense.”
The Eagles will need another championship effort from their defense next week to outlast the Commanders and rookie phenom Jayden Daniels, who has thrown for 567 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in the Commanders’ postseason upsets of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions.
Philadelphia will likely need another unleashing from Barkley, and if they want to feel good about their Super Bowl berth chances, they should hope for a healthier and less-sleet-impaired version of their passing game.
The Eagles can’t guarantee which of the myriad offensive and defensive looks they’ve flashed this season will prove most useful. But in some ways, they celebrate that they haven’t been clicking on all cylinders – because they believe the ways they’ve individually tapped into each cylinder will ultimately give them a deeper arsenal from which to pull in what they hope are two more games to come.
Sirianni calls the Eagles brand “battle-tested,” encouraging his players to embrace adversity.
From the sounds of his team’s locker room, they are.
“Fighting adversity, Nick talked about this week a lot,” Baun said. “You never know what it’s going to be before the game, but when it happens, how are you going to respond? I think we responded.
“Resiliency is our specialty.”
