When the Philadelphia Eagles left the field after successfully defeating the Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon, they had no clue who they would be playing in the Divisional Round of the 2025 NFL Playoffs: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Minnesota Vikings, or the Los Angeles Rams.

Now granted, the first shoe dropped rather quickly, as the Commanders shockingly unseated Baker Mayfield and the Bucs and guaranteed that they would be facing off against the Detroit Lions in the Divisional Round. As one of the three teams that beat the Eagles in 2024, fans were leery about another showdown with Todd Bowles' defense even months after the team's Week 4 low point, especially as the ghosts of last year's Wild Card loss still linger in the minds of Philly's faithful.

And then, on Monday night, Eagles fans finally got their final answer, with the displaced Rams beating the Vikings into submission with their incredible pass rush on the way to a commanding 27-9 victory in Arizona.

With just four teams left on the NFC side of the playoff bracket, with the one, two, four, and six seeds all still alive, drawing the Rams is more or less what fans should have expected coming into Monday night and may even be a considered a favorable matchup, considering Philly's anit-Buccaneers bias and the Vikings impressive regular season record.

But is it?

In Week 12, the Eagles absolutely dominated the Rams, with Saquon Barkley turning in an all-time great performance with 255 yards on the ground, but has LA turned the corner since that fateful Sunday Night? In a word, yes, yes they have, with Sean McVay settling into a newfound commitment to establishing the run with his 1,299-yard rusher, Kyron Williams.

Will this Divisional Round matchup be easy? No, but with 75 percent of the league about to watch the game from home, should it be? If the Eagles are going to make it to the Super Bowl, they first need to beat teams like the Rams that want nothing more than to play spoiler for the Birds. Fortunately, this is a special Eagles team, and even if they are facing off against a noticeably better team than their Wild Card Weekend foe, they should still be able to secure the win by the game's end.

Philadelphia Eagles center Cam Jurgens (51) snaps the ball to quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) in a game against the Cleveland Browns at Lincoln Financial Field.
Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

1. The Eagles offensive line slows down the Rams pass rush

In Week 19, the Rams defense turned in a fantastic effort, tying the all-time playoff sack record at nine while holding Sam Darnold to 245 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in a lopsided loss.

The pride of USC was seemingly never comfortable for the entire game in Arizona,  with the pocket constantly under attack due to his incredibly porous interior offensive line and a Rams defensive coordinator in Chris Shula who smelled blood in the water. Factor in an injury to Brian O'Neill at right tackle, and even when Darnold's guards and center held up, Jared Verse and company were flying off the edge to stop his momentum on the spot.

Fortunately, the Eagles don't have Blake Brandel, Garrett Bradbury, and Dalton Risner in the middle of their offensive line, but instead, the dynamic trio of Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, and Mekhi Becton, with Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson rounding out arguably the best individual unit in the entire NFL.

In Week 12, Hurts was only sacked once on 22 dropbacks versus LA, with Barkley taking on the brunt of the offensive workload because he was averaging an astounding 9.8 yards per carry. While the Rams were effective on Wild Card Monday Night Football from a pass rush perspective, they were only able to amass eight sacks over their final five wins of the regular season and struggled at times to pressure opposing quarterbacks even with an incredible collection of young pass rushers 0n the roster.

If Hurts is sacked nine times, then yeah, the Eagles will be in trouble, but if the Rams rush looks more like Week 12 than Week 19, Philadelphia should be in a position to dictate the tone of the game on the ground instead of having to play McVay's game dictated by Williams' runs.

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley

2. Saquon Barkley takes his frustration out on the Rams defense

While the Rams' young pass rush has the potential to become one of the better units in the league once their players become more and more comfortable at the NFL level, the same cannot be said for the team's run defense, which has been downright suspect in 2024.

Finishing out the regular season with the 22nd-ranked rushing defense, the Rams allowed 2,210 total yards on 477 attempts – or 4.6 yards per carry on a micro level – while watching all but four of their opponents rush for triple-digit yards in the regular season, including Philly's 314 yards performance at SoFi. While the Vikings just barely surpassed 100 yards in their loss to LA, going for 106 on 22 attempts, they still did the job on the ground effectively, with Aaron Jones, Cam Akers, and company averaging 4.8 yards per carry, which is more than the Rams allowed per run on the season.

Considering Barkley wasn't allowed to go for Eric Dickerson's all-time record and has to instead “settle” for Terrell Davis' overall rushing record of 2,476, it's safe to assume nobody was more excited to see Stafford and McVay celebrating on the sidelines at the end of the game than the pride of Penn State.

Can Barkley make a major dent in Davis' record, with the NFL's rushing leader sitting pretty at 2,124 yards and counting? Assuming he earns a full workload against LA, which he should, it feels like only a matter of time before pundits are once again asking if the former New York Giant is having the best season by any running back in NFL history following another huge playoff performance.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) carries the ball past Los Angeles Rams safety Russ Yeast (2) in the first half at SoFi Stadium.
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

3. Jalen Hurts gets the win over Matthew Stafford

Well, Eagles fans, how many times have you heard this one before? Jalen Hurts squares up against one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL, finished the game with fewer yards and attempts than his foe, but still came out of the game with the win?

It happened when Philadelphia came to LA, as well as in Week 19 against the Packers, and it will probably happen again in Week 20 when the Eagles welcome the Rams to the City of Brotherly Love.

Now granted, that isn't a knock against Hurts, as he's been cast into a role in 2024 by Nick Siriani, Kellen Moore, and company and has largely knocked the assignment out of the park. Where other quarterbacks like Kenny Pickett or Tanner McKee might check things down for a few easy gains, Hurts is far more willing to rip off a big run on third down, leading to his disproportionate impact on the rushing game, even if it comes at the expense of his own passing stats.

Stafford, by contrast, has thrown the ball an average of 32 times per game, and even if his efficiency numbers are a bit down versus his LA prime, he's still been effective enough to lead LA to a 5-1 record down the stretch.

Could LA end up turning in a 300-yard passing effort against the Eagles in the Divisional Round? Potentially so, but considering the Eagles have the best passing defense of any team left in the playoffs, it feels far more likely that Vic Fangio turns in another exemplary effort and helps to lead his team back to the NFC Championship game for the first time as Philly's defensive coordinator.