Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore isn’t expecting a repeat of the team’s first game against the Rams this season.
That game came in Los Angeles in Week 12 and it saw the Eagles pick up a 37-20 win behind an overwhelming offensive performance. They picked up 481 total yards and ran for 314 of them. Saquon Barkley had 302 total yards on his own as the Rams dropped to 5-6 on the year.
While the performance wasn’t a great one for the Rams, it did seem to spark something in the team because they won their next five games to sew up a division title and their defense played lights out in the Wild Card win over the Vikings. That’s why Moore said at a Tuesday press conference that he doesn’t expect the past results to be predictive of what’s coming this Sunday.
“Saquon had a great day out there,” Moore said, via a transcript from the team. “Long time between those two games, a bunch of other games. They are playing as well as any defense in the league right now, and they are playing really confidently. They will stress us in a lot of different ways. And there will be a lot of challenges associated with our run game based on them having the film and the film they have put out the last month and a half, which has been really, really impressive. It will be a challenge.”
The win over the Vikings was the fourth time in five games — a Week 18 game with backups seeing heavy time was the exception — that the Rams have held their opponents under 10 points. Moore and the Eagles will have to make sure that doesn’t happen again if they want to extend their season.
The forecast for Saturday in Kansas City does not call for the kind of extreme cold weather that we saw in last year’s playoff game against the Dolphins or at other postseason contests at Arrowhead Stadium, but it will still be colder than the Texans are used to at home.
How teams that play indoors handle the change in conditions is always something to watch in the postseason and it’s supposed to be 27 degrees with some wind when the Texans take the field this weekend. It’s something that head coach DeMeco Ryans acknowledges while adding that the team can’t allow it to be an obstacle.
“The weather can be a challenge if you allow it to be a challenge,” Ryans said, via Aaron Wilson of KPRC. “For me and for our guys, it’s something we can’t control. You don’t control the weather. Wherever we have to play, we’re ready to go play. We understand we’ll be on the road. It’s going to be cold, that’s what we have to deal with. And it’s not a challenge for us, it’s just something the other team has to deal with as well. So, we’re ready to go. There’s no excuses about weather. We’ve got to go suit up and we’ve got to go play ball.”
One benefit for the Texans is that they were just at Arrowhead in December for a Week 16 game against the Chiefs. It was 30 degrees that day and the weather didn’t have much impact on the proceedings, but the Texans still lost 27-19 and they’d like a different result this time around.
In 2023, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce’s production dipped during the regular season and he faced questions about whether he was no longer the same kind of player he’d been throughout his career.
Kelce rested in Week 18 and returned to lead the league in postseason catches, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns as the Chiefs won the Super Bowl for the second straight season. Kelce’s production took another step down in 2024, which raised another round of questions about his level of play despite being part of the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
The Chiefs rested Kelce again in Week 18 this season and quarterback Patrick Mahomes said at a Tuesday press conference that he expects that to to be the springboard for another big postseason.
“I think the greats step up in the playoffs,” Mahomes said. “It’s just higher intensity and the best players and the best leaders step up and make the best plays. He’s done that and I expect the same from him going into this playoffs.”
There’s little reason to doubt Mahomes and Kelce given all they’ve done together and that leaves little reason to think the Chiefs can’t make a run at a third straight title in the coming weeks.
The eight teams remaining in the playoffs show just how important it is to prioritize the quarterback position when building a winning team.
All eight of the starting quarterbacks still in the playoffs were high draft picks, with seven going in the first round and one in the second.
Two of the remaining quarterbacks were first overall picks, who were traded for each other: Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and Lions quarterback Jared Goff. The Lions took Stafford first overall in 2009, the Rams took Goff first overall in 2016, and they were traded for each other (with the Lions also getting two first-round picks) in 2021. With the Rams winning the Super Bowl in Stafford’s first season, and Goff leading the Lions to two of their best seasons in franchise history the last two years, that’s a trade that both teams are glad they made.
And the other six playoff teams are glad they drafted their quarterbacks when they did.
Washington’s Jayden Daniels was the second overall pick in 2024. Houston’s C.J. Stroud was the second overall pick in 2023. Buffalo’s Josh Allen was the seventh overall pick in 2018. Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes was the 10th overall pick in 2017. Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson was the 32nd overall pick in 2018. Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts, the only second-round pick, was the 53rd overall pick in 2020.
There’s more than one way to build a winner in the NFL, but there’s one move that matters more than anything else when building a roster: hitting on the right quarterback.
The Ravens are road favorites heading into Buffalo in the divisional round of the playoffs,.
Buffalo opened as a home favorite when the playoff matchup was set, but as money came in on Baltimore, the line has shifted to the Ravens as 1-point favorites.
When the teams met in the regular season, it was no contest: The Ravens beat the Bills 35-10 in Baltimore. Plenty has changed since then, however, and Ravens-Bills looks like a close game, and the best matchup of the divisional around.
The biggest favorites of the divisional round are the Lions, who are favored by 9.5 points against the Commanders.
The Chiefs are 7.5-point favorite over the Texans. In Week 16 the Chiefs beat the Texans 27-19 in Kansas City.
The Eagles are 6-point favorites over the Rams. In Week 12 the Eagles beat the Rams 37-20 in Los Angeles.
The Lions find themselves in an unfamiliar position as they head toward their playoff opener against the Commanders this week.
As the first seed in the NFC, the Lions are favorites to advance to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history and they will have the eyes of the entire football world on them as they try to deliver the same way they have all season. On Monday, Lions head coach Dan Campbell was asked how he thinks his team will handle the new circumstances that they find themselves in this week.
“We’ve had attention for four years here,” Campbell said at his press conference. “I mean, there’s been more stuff that’s been made out, that’s been built one way, we’ve been so good, we’ve been so bad, we’re a laughingstock, now we’re great, and it’s just been this rollercoaster of up and downs, and it’s the next week of it, you know what I mean? And so this is nothing new that we’re in right now. This is nothing new for me, for the coaches, for the players. We’re in the middle of the circus, man, and it’s about time to perform. That’s the world we’re in.”
Being the center of attention also means that the expectations are higher than they’ve been in the past and Campbell was asked about whether this season has to end with the Lombardi Trophy to be considered a success. Campbell said “everything’s about this game right now” and that all thoughts will be on Washington until there’s reason to focus on another opponent.
The Rams didn’t play the Vikings at SoFi Stadium as originally planned on Monday night, but they were able to make Arizona feel a little bit like home.
Charter buses brought around 1,500 season ticket holders from Los Angeles to the game and quarterback Matthew Stafford called it “unbelievable” to have the support of fans at the relocated game. The game was moved because of the toll wildfires have taken on the Los Angeles area and Rams players were in Arizona for several days before the game as they moved with their families in order to practice and prepare in safer surroundings.
It was a lot of upheaval before a big football game, but the Rams were sharp on the field in a 27-9 win and Stafford said that the team never lost sight of the fact that they could “give the people back home something to cheer about” amid trying times.
“There was definitely every excuse in the book to come out here and be lethargic and woe is me and all that, but we knew we weren’t playing just for us,” Stafford said in his postgame press conference. “Playing for people back home that needed something to watch and enjoy and I’m glad we could give that to them.”
The Rams won’t get the same kind of fan support in Philadelphia for their divisional round game against the Eagles, but they’ll have the same chance to channel the emotions of the moment toward a chance to extend their season a little bit longer.
Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold completely changed his career trajectory this season by leading the team to 14 wins and a spot in the playoffs, which is why PFT made him our most improved player of the year.
It’s the first time that Darnold will be starting in the postseason, but he doesn’t need that game experience to know what playing in the tournament means. His bad outing in Week 18 helped lift the Lions to the NFC North title and top seed in the conference and another one on Monday night against the Rams would make the overall story of his season look a lot different.
“It’s kind of where legacies, I guess, are made,” Darnold said, via Andrew Krammer of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “Not just winning games, but winning those later games like AFC, NFC championships, winning Super Bowls. That’s how you’re going to be remembered.”
The Vikings have expressed plenty of confidence that Darnold will bounce back with a strong game against the Rams. If he does, the comeback tale will be all the more impressive when all is said and done.
The Chargers have handed in their final injury report ahead of Saturday’s playoff game in Houston.
Running back J.K. Dobbins and wide receiver Quentin Johnston have both received questionable designations. Dobbins (knee) returned to action in Week 18 after an injured reserve stint and was limited in practice all this week. Johnston (thigh, illness) missed Wednesday’s practice, but returned for a limited workout on Thursday.
Wide receiver Josh Palmer (foot) won’t play and defensive back Ja’Sir Taylor (rib) is expected to sit out as well after being listed as doubtful.
Right guard Trey Pipkins (oblique), linebacker Denzel Perryman (groin), cornerback Eli Apple (hamstring), and wide receiver Simi Fehoko (elbow) were also listed as questionable. Apple and Fehoko will need to be activated from injured reserve if they are going to play against the Texans.
The state of Packers quarterback Jordan Love’s elbow has been closely watched since he injured it in last Sunday’s loss to the Bears and word from Thursday’s practice was more positive than it was on Wednesday.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said at his press conference that Love was a full participant in practice. Love was limited on Wednesday when the team began its on-field work ahead of Sunday’s game against the Eagles.
Love called himself “hopeful” that he’ll be good to go for that contest when he spoke to reporters on Wednesday and Thursday’s development suggests that he’s moving in that direction, although it remains to be seen whether there will be any impact on his play.
LaFleur said that Malik Willis was also a full participant after being listed as limited by a hand injury on Wednesday. Friday will bring a final set of updates before the team heads to Philly for the wild card round.
