5 Eagles Players Set Up For Big Days vs. The Rams on Sunday

The Eagles are all set to take on the Rams on Sunday. And while most of Philly will be a bit distracted by the Phillies being in the playoffs, we are lucky enough that the series takes the day off on Sunday. So at least for one day, we can give our undivided attention to the Eagles.

The Eagles are off to a 4-0 start and will look to make it 5-0 when they take on the Rams at 4:05 on Sunday. As far as 4-0 starts go, it has not been the most inspiring. They mostly dominated the Bucs, but there were major issues in the other 3 weeks. But only one other team is undefeated, so they have survived despite some early issues. And they go into this week's 4-point road favorites, with the hopes of staying one of the only undefeated teams in the league.

And despite all the talk of their "struggles" there are a lot of good things they are doing right now. They are among the best-run defenses in the league. Also among the best run offenses in the league. And the passing game is coming off their best week yet with Jalen Hurts putting up 319 yards, 175 of those going to AJ Brown. The passing defense is a bit of a worry. But overall they are winning despite not playing their best football, and we know this roster is talented enough to play better.

So what do they need to do to get to 5-0? What are some of the places they can take advantage of the Rams? On Saturday we went through some of the Rams players who could hurt the Eagles. Let's turn the tables and look at the Eagles who should have big games against the Rams. Because the Eagles do actually have some major advantages that could lift them to a win.

AJ Brown is very familiar with Rams CB Ahkello Witherspoon. He had a run-in with him last year when Witherspoon was with the Steelers, and had one of the best games of his career. 6 catches for 156 yards, and 3 TDs. Two of those TDs came against Witherspoon.

Will we get a repeat? You know AJ Brown will be trying to get Witherspoon on him all game long. He is coming off a big week against the Commanders, but it could be two in a row given this matchup.

Jalen Carter will be on the list to have a big game nearly every week. In his rookie year, despite not playing half of the snaps, he is 2nd among DTs in QB Pressures. Only former Eagle Javon Hargrave has more. He is 3rd in pass rush win rate. All of this, despite getting double-teamed on 63% of snaps, oh and it being in his first season as a pro.

But this week he especially could stand out, given how weak the Rams O-Line is. They are 28th in pass block win rate, and a lot of that comes from their interior O-Linemen. And they will need him with no Fletcher Cox.

Yesterday we talked about Kyren Williams, and how he could hurt the Eagles in short-yardage situations. And with Cox out, a lot of the onus on stopping that falls on Jordan Davis. The good news is Davis does that better than anyone. Of all the DTs, Jordan Davis is 1st in Run Stop Win rate. That is despite being double-teamed on 55% of run plays.

His stats (6 tackles and 2 sacks) do not tell the full story of how dominant he has been. His wins, turn into tackles and sacks for other people. He blows up the pocket forcing either the QB or the RB into the arms of another defender. And like we said with Carter, he gets to go up against a very shaky O-Line.

Goedert has not had a productive start to the season. He is blocking better than anyone, and still contributing, but the receiving numbers have not been there. That could change this week. The Rams linebacker group is one of their biggest weaknesses. They have given up the 8th most yards to Tight Ends. The Colts last week had 107 yards from their Tight Ends, and two touchdowns, against this Rams defense. So if there is any week for him to break out, this would be it.

When Josh Sweat went up against a backup LT in week 2 he hit Kirk Cousins 5 times, got a sack, and a forced fumble. Well, the Rams are having similar injury issues at LT. It's been a rotating door at LT for them all year. Joe Notebloom, who usually plays RG, played there last week. But he is out this week. In week 3 McVay played Zach Thomas there, but he got repeatedly destroyed by the Bengals Pass Rush. The original LT, Alaric Jackson, may return this week, but he was not that good either.

No matter what, it is a mismatch against Josh Sweat. So it could be a big week for Sweat, who is coming off a week where he had 9 QB Pressures.