For the third-straight week in a row, the Philadelphia Eagles find themselves facing off against a team with playoff aspirations, with the Los Angeles Rams taking their second direct flight of the year from LAX to PHL for an NFC showdown.
Soon, fans will get to see if Nick Sirianni is able to get his offense back on track, supercharging a Kevin Patullo-led unit that has been inconsistent in Weeks 1-2 to the heights that became standard under Kellen Moore, or if things will remain frustratingly consistent, with both the passing and rushing units underperforming versus expectations.
And as for the defense? Well, Sean McVay is arguably the best offensive mind the Eagles have faced so far this season, with a pair of elite wide receivers in Davante Adams and Puka Nacua who could give struggling CB2 Adoree' Jackson fits in the open field.
Will historical president and momentum give Philly their second win of the season at the Linc? Or will the Rams finally take down a team that has been little-bro-ing them for years?
Saquon Barkley returns to vintage form
In 2024, Saquon Barkley was unstoppable.
Fresh off an extended stay in New Jersey, where he was the sometime engine of the New York Giants' offense, Barkley became a force of nature running behind Jeff Stoutland's offensive line, amassing over 2,000 yards from scrimmage in the regular season before breaking Terrell Davis' all-time record for rushing yards over a full campaign, including the postseason.
In 2025, Saquon Barkley has looked, well, stoppable.
Now granted, after turning in one of the very best rushing seasons in NFL history, it makes sense that Barkley would be at the top of opposing scouting reports, with defensive coordinators the world over looking to do everything in their power to shut down the Penn State product. But through two games, Barkley has just 148 yards on the ground, 60 from an admittedly strange game against the Dallas Cowboys on opening night, and 88 against a Kansas City Chiefs team that refused to let him rip off a long run.
Fortunately, while Los Angeles will also be making a special point to slow down No. 26, with Chris Shula likely committing serious personnel up front to making the Eagles' offense one-dimensional, the Rams are still the Rams, and Barkley has never run for less than 200 yards in midnight green uniform against them.
Despite adding a pair of quality players to their front seven in Nate Landman and Poona Ford during the offseason, the Rams still rank middle-of-the-pack in terms of run defense, allowing 223 total yards on 53 attempts for a 4.2 yards per attempt average. While Barkley may not go for 200 yards for the third-straight game against the Rams, he will almost certainly pass into triple digits for the first time this season, allowing Patullo to run a more versatile offense and capitalize on the gravity No. 26 presents.
Jalen Hurts doubles his season passing total
Like Barkley, Jalen Hurts hasn't quite reached his typical production in 2025 through two games, with the Super Bowl MVP only throwing for 253 yards while completing 75.6 percent of his passes.
While some, including Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, have used this fact to bash Hurts for being a game manager, a modern-day Darren McFadden, or worse, he's largely taken what opposing defenses have given him, with a single massive completion to Jahan Dotson in Week 1 proving he can still very much launch the deep ball if the opportunity is there.
The problem? Big plays just haven't been there, to the point where his yards per attempt is just under two yards fewer than his yards per attempt.
Fortunately, if the Eagles do end up getting the running game going against the Rams, history shows that Shula will begin to load up the box to slow Barkley down, which, in turn, could open up more one-on-one looks for DeVonta Smith and AJ Brown against Cobie Durant, Quentin Lake and especially Emmanuel Forbes, who Philadelphia routeenly dominanted when he was still a member of the Washington Commanders.
In 2024, Hurts averaged 153.5 per game against the Rams, 179 in the regular season, and 128 in the playoffs. If things go his way in Week 3, Hurts might just double his 253-yard total for the season and remind fans that he's more than just a game manager.
The Eagles continue to dominate the Rams
While the Eagles haven't lost a game since December 22, riding an eight-game win streak into Week 3, their winning ways against the Rams date back even further, with their last loss to Sean McVay's squad coming all the way back in 2020, when Doug Pederson was still leading the team.
That's right, over the entire Nick Sirianni era, the Eagles are a perfect 3-0, with only their Divisional round showdown being considered a close contest.
The Eagles are at worst a wash at wide receiver and running back, have the far better offensive line, and even if Matthew Stafford will almost certainly finish the game with more passing yards than Hurts, that hasn't led to success in the win-loss column. On defense, Vic Fangio's unit looks as good as ever, even if he has a few new strengths and weaknesses across the board. And if the Rams get behind, the veteran coordinator should be able to dictate the tempo LA can play with on offense, as opposed to the other way around.
Could the Rams secure the win? Sure, but history says the Eagles have the Rams' number, and that should prove true until McVay can definitively prove it otherwise.
