The Eagles are NFC East champions and a playoff berth is finally secure. The Birds were locked into a shootout with one of the top offenses in the league and even in wake of losing Carson Wentz, came out on top. It wasn’t the most complete performance of the season however. Here’s a look at the ballers and fallers from Sunday afternoon.
Ballers
Carson Wentz
The City may be holding its breath as we await the confirmation on the injury Carson Wentz sustained against the Rams, but there is no questioning that this may have been his best game of the season. Without his top target, Wentz found eight different receivers in the first half alone and ended his day with 4 touchdowns, 291 yards and an interception that was completely not his fault. If it wasn’t for the clinical precision of Carson Wentz, the Eagles would not have been in a position to seal the deal in the fourth quarter to begin with.
Torrey Smith
The former Niners wideout broke out against the Rams, notching his first 100 yard game since week 3 of 2015. Smith hadn’t registered a reception for more than 11 yards since the game against Arizona, so to see him take full advantage of the Rams beaten up secondary was vindicating. The Eagles have now had a receiver pick up 100 yards in each of their last three games. Much has been said about Smith and his production this year, but little will be said about how valuable he was to the Eagles yesterday.
Trey Burton
No Ertz, no problem. Trey Burton showed his value again yesterday, amassing 71 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Eagles may have been missing one of their most lethal receiving threats, but the versatility and athleticism of Trey Burton was invaluable on Sunday as he carved his way through the Rams defense to provide both Wentz and Foles a much needed support arm.
Nigel Bradham
Back-to-back highlight-reel plays on Sunday saw Bradham assert his authority in Los Angeles. Bradham ended the afternoon leading the team in tackles and amassing two tackles for a loss. The loss of Jordan Hicks has been minimized through the play of Bradham, who week in and week out continues to prove himself as one of the best coverage linebackers in the league.
Chris Long
The veteran defensive end had a phenomenal play on Jared Goff and his former team, forcing a fumble that would be recovered by the Birds. The defensive end has been a pleasant surprise all season ‘long’, but his impact against the Rams as phenomenal.
Fallers:
LeGarrette Blount
7 carries for 12 yards. It only took Doug Pederson an entire first half to figure out that Jay Ajayi was the more productive back against a Rams Defense that ranked 27th against the run. Blount was smothered from start to finish and it’s puzzling why the Eagles continued to throw him into the mix when nothing seemed to be working. Blount’s production has dipped over the last few weeks but the team almost refuse to pull him out of the game until it’s too late. Either way, Ajayi did see the playing-time that the teem needed him to see.
Rodney McLeod
McLeod is a strange addition to this list purely because he did redeem himself late in the fourth quarter. But missed tackle after missed tackle, McLeod struggled against his former team. Some of the biggest plays in the game happened due to McLeod’s inability to wrap up a ball-carrier…and that’s something that has to change.
Jalen Mills
Where is Jalen Mills?! The Eagles starting cornerback was almost completely invisible on Sunday. Pharaoh Cooper gave Mills an incredibly tough breaking route to defend and ultimately drew the PI flag. Cooper Kupp would also score on Jalen Mills inside the red zone. It’s not what we’re used to seeing from the “Green Goblin”.
Mandatory Photo Credit: AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo
