Rams coach Sean McVay said after Sunday night’s 37-20 loss to the Eagles that all his team can do is bounce back.
“There’s humbling nights like this in football,” Mcvay said. “It’s all about how you respond. I do know that this team has the capability to be able to respond, and we’ll get ourselves up off the mat and we’ll have a good week of preparation this week.”
The good news for the Rams is that at 5-6, they’re only a game out of the NFC West, where all four teams are tightly locked with the Seahawks and Cardinals at 6-5 and the 49ers tied with the Rams at 5-6. If the Rams do get up off the mat, the division title is right there for them to take.
But it’s been a frustrating season for McVay’s team, and Sunday night showed how big a gap there is between the Rams and the top teams in the NFC.
Saquon Barkley has looked like one of the best free-agent signings in recent memory during the 2024 season.
The Eagles running back continued to put himself squarely in the MVP conversation with his performance against the Rams on Sunday Night Football, helping lead Philadelphia to a decisive 37-20 victory.
Barkley scored twice on touchdowns of 70 and 72 yards and paced the offense from start to finish. The Eagles used a dominant run game to control the clock, running for over 300 yards on the night in 33:41 of possession time. While the Eagles took a 13-7 lead into halftime, Barkley extended that on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, using a burst of speed to go 70 yards for a touchdown.
On Philadelphia’s next drive, Barkley took a screen pass 31 yards to the Los Angeles 13, setting up Kenneth Gainwell’s touchdown on the next play.
Barkley put the cherry on top of a sterling night with his 72-yard score late in the fourth quarter to ice it. He ended the game with 302 yards from scrimmage — 255 rushing, plus 47 receiving yards on four catches.
Barkley set a new single-game career high, and with over a month left in the season, Barkley set a new career high in season rushing yards on Sunday night. He now has 1,392 yards for the season, topping his previous high of 1,312 in 2022.
Jake Elliott hit field goals of 21 and 31 yards in the first half to open Philadelphia’s scoring before A.J. Brown caught a 6-yard TD from Jalen Hurts to give the club a 13-7 halftime lead.
Gainwell’s 13-yard score put Philadelphia up 27-13 before Elliott hit a 26-yard field goal to extend that advantage to 30-14.
Hurts ended the game 15-of-22 passing for 179 yards with a touchdown. He also rushed for 39 yards.
While the Rams were able to move the ball well early on, a Kyren Williams fumble prevented the club from scoring on its opening possession. Williams did put the ball in the box on a 1-yard run on the next drive.
But after that, Los Angeles’ offense struggled mightily. A questionable defensive pass interference penalty helped put the Rams in position for their second touchdown of the day — a 2-yard pass from Matthew Stafford to Demarcus Robinson. But then Joshua Karty missed a 47-yard field goal wide right late in the third quarter to keep L.A. off the board.
Karty missed a 26-yard attempt last week.
Stafford connected with Cooper Kupp for a 27-yard touchdown just outside of the game’s final minute.
Stafford ended the contest 24-of-36 for 243 yards with two TDs. Nacua caught nine passes for 117 yards. Kupp caught eight for 60.
The Rams finished 0-of-8 on third down.
Notably, Eagles cornerback Darius Slay had to exit the game with a concussion. Veteran edge rusher Brandon Graham — who had a terrific game with a sack, two tackles for loss, and three QB hits — was ruled out in fourth quarter with an elbow injury.
With the win, the Eagles are now 9-2 and are in firm control of the NFC East. That will be on the road again next week to face the Ravens.
Los Angeles has now fallen to 5-6 on the season. The club will be in New Orleans next weekend to take on the Saints.
It didn’t take long for Saquon Barkley to make yet another special play in the second half.
After a touchback, Barkley took a handoff on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter and took it for a 70-yard touchdown to give the Eagles a 20-7 lead over the Rams.
Barkley got through the hole, made a cut to his right, and was off to the races. Once Barkley reached the second level, there wasn’t a Rams defender close to reaching him.
It was Barkley’s longest run of the season and the second-longest run of his career.
Through a half and one play, Barkley has 143 yards on 14 carries.
The Eagles had stalled out in the red zone on two possessions in the first half. But the third time was the charm, as A.J. Brown caught a 6-yard pass with 1:27 left in the second quarter to give Philadelphia a 13-7 lead at halftime.
Running back Saquon Barkley has paced the offense for Philadelphia, rushing for 73 yards 13 carries and catching three passes for 16 yards.
But Jalen Hurts has also come through in the pass game, completing 11-of-15 for 101 yards with a touchdown. He’s rushed for 35 yards on nine attempts.
Brown leads with 69 yards on four receptions.
Jake Elliot connected on field goals of 21 and 31 yards in the first and second quarter, respectively.
Los Angeles began the game moving it effectively, but Kyren Williams fumbled in the red zone to end the game’s opening possession. Philadelphia scored a field goal off their extra drive to take a 3-0 lead.
Williams came through on the next drive, putting the ball in the box for a 1-yard touchdown.
But from there, Los Angeles didn’t get another first down in the first half — going three-and-out three times. The Rams will enter the third quarter 0-of-3 on third down.
Matthew Stafford ended the first half 7-of-11 for 67 yards. Williams had 55 yards on nine carries. Nacua caught four passes for 45 yards.
Philadelphia will receive the second-half kickoff.
Kyren Williams fumbled to end the Rams’ first drive against the Eagles on Sunday.
But he came right back to get in the end zone and gave Los Angeles a 7-3 lead with 1:02 left in the first quarter.
Both the Rams and Eagles have found plenty of success moving the ball to open the Week 12 matchup. Williams had a 27-yard run to put Los Angeles in the red zone on the game’s opening possession. But he then fumbled with Philadelphia recovering.
The Eagles then ran through the Rams’ defense, getting down to first-and-goal at the 8 without even facing a third down. But L.A. stuffed a shovel pass to Dallas Goedert on third-and-goal from the 4, inducing the Eagles to settle for a 21-yard field goal to take an early 3-0 lead.
Williams was on the field to start the next drive, despite the fumble. The Rams didn’t face a third down either on their way to the red zone, with an 18-yard pass to Puka Nacua setting up Los Angeles with first-and-goal at the 7. A defensive pass interference penalty then put L.A. at the 1-yard line, and Williams came through with a touchdown from there.
Through two drives, Williams has 45 yards on six carries. Nacua has caught three passes for 39 yards.
There were no surprises on the inactives list for the Eagles or Rams for Sunday Night Football.
Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith is inactive with a hamstring injury, having been ruled out for the contest on Friday. He did not practice all week.
Returning from a shoulder injury, Philadelphia receiver Britain Covey is active as expected after he was a full participant in practice all week.
On the other side, Rams starting right tackle Rob Havenstein is inactive due to an ankle injury. He was a limited participant in practice on Thursday and Friday before being listed as doubtful. He’s now sidelined for a third consecutive game.
Smith, quarterback Tanner McKee, offensive lineman Trevor Keegan, offensive lineman Darian Kinnard, offensive lineman Nick Gates, and cornerback Eli Ricks are inactive for Philadelphia. McKee is the club’s designated emergency third QB.
For the Rams, quarterback Stetson Bennett, cornerback Charles Woods, running back Cody Schrader, outside linebacker Brennan Jackson, offensive lineman Dylan McMahon, offensive lineman Rob Havenstein, and defensive lineman Desjuan Johnson are inactive.
DeVonta Smith won’t be available at wide receiver for the Eagles against the Rams on Sunday, but they will have Britain Covey.
The Eagles announced that Covey has been activated from injured reserve on Saturday. They did not have to make a corresponding move because they had an open roster spot after placing edge rusher Bryce Huff on injured reserve this week.
Covey had seven catches for 34 yards in the first three weeks of the season. He also returned one punt for nine yards.
The Eagles also announced that they have elevated tight end C.J. Uzomah from the practice squad. Uzomah made his first appearance of the season in Week 11.
The Giants benched quarterback Daniel Jones for business reasons, not for football reasons. And the Giants allowed personal feelings to interfere with what would have been the best business decision — prevent him from going elsewhere and proving the Giants wrong, Saquon-style.
But they’re going to waive him. Even though they haven’t done it, the owner has said it’s going to happen. (The reason for the delay isn’t clear, but it’s clearly coming.)
While many have adopted the narrative that Jones stinks, he doesn’t. He hasn’t. He helped lead the Giants to the playoffs in 2022. With Jones at the helm, the Giants beat the Vikings in Minnesota in the wild-card round. His struggles have typically traced to subpar offensive line play.
Once he’s released and clears waivers (he absolutely will), Jones will be free to sign with any team at any time. He’ll first need to ask whether to join a team now or wait.
Waiting would allow Jones to get a better feel for who the real contenders will be — and it might give him a chance to play sooner than later, if a starter gets injured elsewhere.
Regardless, consider the backup situations for the various contenders and ask whether a guy who earned a contract that paid $40 million per year and won a playoff game would be better than the current No. 2.
Buffalo: Mitch Trubisky. (Probably.)
Miami: Skylar Thompson/Tyler Huntley. (Yes.)
Baltimore: Josh Johnson. (Yes.)
Pittsburgh: Justin Fields. (Yes, but they seem to be committed to Fields as current backup and potential future starter.)
Houston: Davis Mills. (Yes.)
Kansas City: Carson Wentz. (Probably.)
L.A. Chargers: Easton Stick. (Yes.)
Denver: Jarrett Stidham. (Yes.)
Philadelphia: Kenny Pickett. (Yes.)
Washington: Marcus Mariota. (Probably.)
Detroit: Hendon Hooker. (Yes.)
Minnesota: Nick Mullens. (Yes.)
Green Bay: Malik Willis. (Yes, although Willis has played well this year.)
Atlanta: Michael Penix Jr. (Yes, but they likely wouldn’t do it.)
Tampa Bay: Kyle Trask. (Yes.)
Arizona: Clayton Tune. (Yes.)
Seattle: Sam Howell. (Yes.)
San Francisco: Brandon Allen. (Yes.)
L.A. Rams: Jimmy Garoppolo. (Probably.)
So, yes, someone who is currently contending should want Jones. Jones can afford to take his time. To wait for a clear shot to potentially contribute on a team that has the ability to go deep into the playoffs.
And maybe to wait to see if/when a starter gets injured and an immediate need arises for Jones to play, sooner than later.
Cardinals defensive lineman Darius Robinson could make his NFL debut Sunday.
Neither he nor coach Jonathan Gannon committed to Robinson playing this week, but he had three limited practices in his return from a calf injury. The team lists him as questionable to play against the Seahawks.
Robinson injured his calf in an Aug. 22 practice, sending him to injured reserve to start the season. The Cardinals designated him to return Oct. 9, and he had a limited practice.
But Robinson’s mother died, so he didn’t practice again until this week.
The Cardinals ruled out safety Jalen Thompson (ankle) and list linebacker Xavier Thomas (back) and offensive lineman Jonah Williams (knee) as questionable.
The team added Thomas to the practice report Friday. Williams was limited all week but is trending toward a return.
The Rams are unlikely to have their right tackle for Sunday’s matchup against the Eagles.
Right tackle Rob Havenstein is officially doubtful for Week 12 with an ankle injury. He did not practice on Wednesday and was limited on Thursday and Friday.
Havenstein has missed the last two weeks with the injury suffered against the Seahawks on Nov. 3.
Los Angeles ruled out cornerback Charles Woods (ankle) and offensive lineman KT Leveston (ankle).
Cornerback Cobie Durant (thigh), offensvie lineman Joe Noteboom (ankle)., nose tackle Neville Gallimore (neck), and offensive lineman Kevin Dotson (illness) are off the injury report and are set to play.
