Eagles-Rams Players' Games In Week 5 - 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 vs. Rams secondary receivers

Four weeks into the season, the Eagles have the No. 27 NFL pass defense. They gave 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.

Although the Eagles signed veteran cornerback Bradley Roby to their practice squad this week, it’s likely he will need some time before he’s ready to play. This means the Eagles will continue to use James Bradberry in the slot and Josh Jobe on the outside. The good news is that the Eagles should be healthier at safety this week after being without Justin Evans (neck) and Sydney Brown (hamstring) against the Commanders.

The Rams enter this game as the NFL’s second-largest passing offense with 1,155 yards. Sean McVay clearly knows what he’s doing and veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford is playing well. However, 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 in four games. Nacua leads the NFL with 39 catches and is second to Justin Jefferson in receiving yards. He has been exceptional so far. Nacua’s 39 catches and 501 yards are records for a player in his first four games. The closest is Anquan Boldin, who was 30/464 in four games in 2003.

“He’s been playing really well so far,” Eagles DC Sean Desai said. “I think Coach McVay and obviously Matt Stafford and all those guys are doing a great job on offense and they’ve really found ways to get him in front and get him the ball and he’s done a good job of getting himself on the top paths.”

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 NFL’s best receivers, but he only played nine games last year and has yet to play this year. Kupp plays a lot in that slot, so it will be interesting to see if Bradberry returns to the Eagles.

Nicholas Morrow, Zach Cunningham vs. Tyler Higbee

This may be the Eagles’ last game without Nakobe Dean, who injured his foot in the opening game. But Morrow and Cunningham actually played pretty well in his absence.

The only area where Morrow and Cunningham lack 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 has a career average of 49 yards per game. With all the attention the Eagles have to give to the Rams’ top receivers, Higbee could be open at times.

Josh Sweat vs. Rams Left Tackle

The Rams had to play last week without starting left tackle Alaric Jackson, who has a hamstring injury. That forced an offensive line change. The Rams moved right guard Joe Noteboom back to left tackle and replaced him with Kevin Dotson. Earlier this week, Jackson (hamstring) and Noteboom (groin) missed the first two days of practice. That means the Rams may have to use Zach Thomas, which would be a huge advantage for the Eagles.

Most of the time we see Sweat rushing against left tackles from the right defensive end position, 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 right behind Morrow, who had three sacks as a blitzer in Week 4.

Sua Opeta vs Aaron Donald

The Eagles will be without starting right tackle Cam Jürgens (foot) for a short time. Head coach Nick Sirianni said Jurgens is “week-to-week,” which in football means he will miss some time. In Week 4, Jürgens was replaced by the experienced 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 players in Jonathan Allen and DaRon Payne, this week presents another big challenge. One of the best defensive players in NFL history happens to play for the Rams. Aaron Donald is now 32 but he is still playing at a very high level. According to ProFootballFocus, he already has 2 1/2 sacks, 4 TFLs and 22 total pressures in four games, the most among interior defensive linemen. He’s still a monster and the Eagles will have a replacement on the interior of their line.

Donald has played against the Eagles four times in his NFL career, has yet To a sack and only has 1 TFL despite recording six QB hits. The Eagles are one of only two teams Donald hasn’t gotten a sack against; the other is the Jets, whom he has faced twice.

Despite this relative success, we can expect the Eagles to help Opeta as much as possible by moving their protection in Donald’s direction.

“Well, I think the biggest thing is that any time you play against a player of that caliber, a generational talent, an obvious first-ballot Hall of Famer, you feel a certain level of respect,” said Brian Johnson, OC of the Eagles. “A certain level of gamesmanship depends on how you attack and how you plan your game.

“He’s one of the best defensive players to ever play in this league, so obviously he’s going to draw a lot of attention, but I think our guys are all excited for the challenge, excited for the opportunity to go out and compete .” a high level against one of the best there has ever been.”

Dallas Goedert vs. Rams linebacker

Dallas Goedert wasn’t a 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 to get him the football,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “We have to get him the football. Sometimes there’s a dry spell about what’s going on.”

The Rams’ starting linebackers, Ernest Jones IV and Christian Rozeboom, are definitely somewhat vulnerable 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 almost every week with AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith. This week they will see the cornerback trio Derion Kendrick, Akhello Witherspoon and Cobie Durant. According to PFF, they rank 50th, 67th and 107th, respectively, among 109 qualified cornerbacks across the league.

Last year, when Witherspoon was with the Steelers, the Eagles picked him in a 35-13 win. In this game, Brown had 4 catches on 5 targets for 74 yards and 2 touchdowns against him. Brown has been on fire lately with 306 receiving yards in the last two weeks. There’s no reason to think this shouldn’t be another big game for him.