Can Rams get redemption against Eagles, Saquon Barkley?

LOS ANGELES — Little represented the suddenness with which the Rams’ 2024 season came to an end better than their head coach in his postgame press conference.

Sean McVay stood, his face red and snow-kissed after his team’s 28-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in blistering conditions. His voice was still raw from calling plays over the roar of Lincoln Financial Field. His eyes were still wide after a go-ahead drive stalled in the red zone, one or two play calls and executions away from the NFC championship game.

“I didn’t see it going any other way than us winning that game 29-28,” McVay said at the time, his voice ever-so-subtly betraying the pain of that not being the case.

The energy around the Rams has been much sunnier to start the 2025 season than that cold January day. At 2-0 to start the season, the Rams are displaying more resilience and know-how than they did either of the past two Septembers.

There’s a quiet confidence that this team is good. Just how good, however, is something that has to be proven every week. And in Week 3, the Rams will get their chance to prove it against the same Eagles (2-0) that ended their season eight months ago.

“It’s one that sticks with you a little bit,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said of that last meeting in Philadelphia, where the Rams return Sunday. “You look back at the tape [this week in preparation], you watch some of that this week just because it was the most recent time that we played them. I realized that we were close in a lot of areas and then a lot of areas we need to clean up as well.”

Those areas vary between both sides of the ball. The offense wants to improve in that red area after converting two of five attempts against the Eagles in the postseason and five of nine through the first two weeks of this season.

On defense, the focus will center on Eagles running back Saquon Barkley.

The reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year carved the Rams up in both meetings in 2024. In the NFC Divisional playoff game, that meant 26 carries for 205 yards and touchdowns of 62 and 78 yards. The Rams tried to pack the box and keep Barkley at the line of scrimmage, only to see him take off when he got past the first and second levels of the defense, just as he did in a 37-20 romp in November at SoFi Stadium.

“When you take away the four big runs that they had against us, it changes the game completely,” outside linebacker Jared Verse said. “All you have to do is eliminate the explosives. If we take away the explosives, both of those games are very winnable.”

Each player doing his job was the defense’s point of emphasis coming out of the first meeting. Verse said he felt like the team improved in that area in the postseason meeting, but the Rams went out to improve the 11 players on the field in the offseason, too.

Free agents Poona Ford and Nate Landman were acquisitions made with an eye toward improving the run defense. Ford’s job is to absorb blockers at defensive tackle and allow Landman to come to clean up Barkley from his spot at interior linebacker. The formula has yielded some success, with the Rams ranking 12th in the NFL in estimated points added (EPA) per play in run defense at -0.100, up from 20th a year ago.

But Weeks 1 and 2 opponents Nick Chubb and Tony Pollard are not Barkley.

“You feel like you play well and then next thing you know, boom. He hits it,” defensive coordinator Chris Shula said. “We just have to play sound, good gap, sound defense, good knockback at the line of scrimmage, gang-tackle, pursuit and all the same stuff that you would play in traditional run defense.”

And while this is a chance for the Rams to measure where they are in the race of the NFC’s elite, they aren’t trying to put any more pressure on the meeting than another game.

“It’s Week 3, if you win or lose here, it’s not the end of the world. Last time I checked, nobody gets into the playoffs off of Week 3,” defensive tackle Kobie Turner said. “When you’re a competitor of the highest level, you look forward to going up against those teams that have competed and done it at the highest level. And what better opportunity than to do it against the former Super Bowl champions and obviously this year is a new year. Everything pans out.”

RAMS (2-0) at PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (2-0)

When: 10 a.m. Sunday

Where: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia

TV/Radio: FOX (Ch. 11)/710 AM; 93.1 FM; 1330 AM (Spanish); Sirius 383, 228