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  • The Eagles defeated the Rams 28-22 to advance to the NFC Championship Game
  • Philly’s Saquon Barkley ran for 205 yards and 2 TDs
  • LA’s Matthew Stafford nearly pulled off a miracle win in the final minute

The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Los Angeles Rams 28-22 and will host the Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship Game. Despite the snow, Saquon Barkley carried Philly with 232 total yards from scrimmage. Still, LA nearly managed a miraculous last-minute comeback only to be stopped deep in Eagles’ territory. Our Rams vs Eagles Divisional Round recap looks at how it happened.

The opening odds have Philly as a 4.5-point favorite to beat Washington and earn a trip to Super Bowl LIX.

LA Fought Valiantly, but Fell Short

It’s easy to forget that after a 1-4 start, LA was weighing putting several veteran stars on the trade market including Cooper Kupp, Demarcus Robinson, and even Matthew Stafford. However, they stood pat, got back into the NFC West race, and ultimately won it. Then they beat the favored 14-3 Vikings in the Wild Card at a neutral site in Arizona due to the LA wildfires.

They continued to battle against Philly in hostile territory and a snow-covered field to nearly pull it out.

The Rams’ momentum was lost when Jalen Carter sacked Stafford on a 3rd and 2 with just over a minute remaining. In watching the clip, rookie center Beaux Limmer moved to the left and gave Carter a clear path to the quarterback.

Stafford’s fourth-down pass sailed out of bounds, giving the ball to Philly and letting Hurts run out the clock.

The Rams QB played well despite the weather, completing 26 of 44 passes for 324 yards and 2 TDs. Kyren Williams ran for 106 yards on 19 carries. Tyler Higbee caught 7 passes for 54 yards and a touchdown. Unfortunately for them and their fans in LA who could use some good news, they fell short.

A Little Snow Can’t Stop Barkley

For most of the afternoon, Los Angeles played from behind on the scoreboard, and from behind Barkley, vainly chasing him as they watched him run off into the distance. Had they been able to stop him from gobbling up so many yards on the ground, maybe they would be getting ready to host Washington.

The NFL MVP voting was completed when the regular season ended, but on the national stage, Barkley is showing why the Giants might have made the biggest free agent mistake in league history. He scored on 78 and 62-yard runs.

Even more important, he let his team play relatively conservatively in the inclement weather. Quarterback Jalen Hurts only threw 20 passes, completing 15 for 128 yards.

Of course, the Eagles tested their fans’ nonexistent patience by letting LA march down the field and score a touchdown to get within six points with 2:48 remaining and all three timeouts. Then they gave the ball back after a running play, a sack, and another running play. But the defense held on the final drive and Philly pulled it out.

Washington vs Philadelphia, Part III

The NFC East rivals split their two meetings during the regular season. Philadelphia won 26-18 at home in Week 11. Washington got payback at home in Week 16, 36-33, on a Jayden Daniels TD pass with six seconds remaining. The pressure will be on Philadelphia as a home favorite.

As our Rams vs Eagles Divisional Round recap shows, the Eagles will go as far as Barkley carries them, literally. Whether the Commanders stop him will be the key to which team represents the NFC in Super Bowl LIX.

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