For the first 15 minutes on November 24, in Week 12, Matt Stafford was five for eight for 56 yards and moving the Los Angeles Rams. That's all Eagles' defensive coordinator Vic Fangio needed to see. After being shredded in the first quarter for 117 yards of total offense and nine first downs, the Eagles held the Rams to minus-6 yards of total offense in the second quarter and did not permit a first down. They forced the Rams into three-straight three-and-outs, before Josh Sweat provided the capper with the Eagles' third sack in the half, a nine-yard takedown, for a total of minus-26 yards. The Rams' 7 points marked the fourth-straight game in which the Eagles' defense had given up 7 points or less in the half.
Once Fangio applied pressure to Stafford, throwing nine blitzes at him, the Eagles' defense adjusted to easily beat the Rams, 37-20, with a heavy dose of Saquon Barkley.
The Rams are still a very capable team and could possibly be even a better team than the Eagles faced during the regular when they meet in the NFC Divisional Round on Sunday at 3 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Eagles were in dime coverage, with six defensive backs on the field, throughout much of the game. Rookie Cooper DeJean was everywhere, as when he came up to defend Cooper Kupp to force an incomplete pass on a third-and-four at the Rams' 27 on Los Angeles' third drive of the game. It has been typical of the rookie's impactful play. Later, on first-and-10 at the Rams' 43 with 9:50 left in the fourth quarter, DeJean was disruptive again, swatting away a pass deep right to Puka Nacua.
Fangio said he might have had more to do with the system.
"I don't know if you can label it that way (that DeJean was successful against Kupp and Nacua)," Fangio said. "We played a lot of zone [coverage]. So, I don't know that you can say he had great success one way or the other against any of their guys."
Still, Stafford can be dangerous, as he was in the Wild Card Round when he chopped up the Minnesota Vikings' defense for 209 yards and two touchdowns in the Rams' convincing 29-7 victory.
When asked this week what problems Stafford still presents to a defense, Fangio said, "His talent and his know-how. He's still one of the top passers in the league. Very, very smart. He can read coverages better than most, if not one of the top two or three. He still has tremendous arm talent. Can put the ball anywhere.
"They drove it on us early in the first drive of the (first) game and then we got a takeaway. Early in the game, we weren't very sharp. They were. And these guys are very game plan-specific team. They are going to have a mode of operation of the way they want to attack you, and we've got to be ready for that."
It also helped having Saquon Barkley go off for a career-best and Eagles' single-game rushing record 255 yards rushing on 26 carries, with second-half touchdown runs of 70 and 72 yards, and an average of 9.8 yards per carry. He finished with 302 yards from scrimmage, including 47 yards receiving.
He probably won't reach 200 yards rushing again on Sunday, though a good dose of Barkley in the snow, on the hard, frozen Linc turf should keep Stafford off the field.