Eagles defeated Rams while once again not clicking on all cylinders. Is that their secret weapon?

PHILADELPHIA – A sigh of relief sounded in the Philadelphia Eagles locker room after the game.

“Thank God for our defense,” left tackle Jordan Mailata said when asked about the win.

“That’s a big part of why we’re here celebrating right now — because of that defense,” wide receiver DeVonta Smith added from another section of the cubbies.

Even running back Saquon Barkley, fresh off 232 scrimmage yards but nonetheless part of an offense that failed to reach the end zone for more than 41 minutes in the middle of the game, joined the chorus.

“Man, our defense is special and plays for us,” said Barkley, who rushed for a franchise playoff-record 205 yards. “We’ll go back and see what we can do better offensively.”

In some ways, the concern about Philadelphia’s offense felt dramatic. The Eagles had just won their 16th game of the season, including the playoffs, and will host the Washington Commanders in the NFC championship game after edging past the Los Angeles Rams 28-22.

The Eagles scored 28 points in a game that was loosely characterized as snowy, and more precisely characterized as sleet and sloppy. Their defense managed to generate a pass rush despite the field conditions that left Rams head coach Sean McVay surprised anyone could find a foothold. The Eagles also took advantage of the weather conditions to force three turnovers in the second half.

Philadelphia’s play was far from perfect. And the recipe for this victory added yet another page to the Eagles’ growing book. But three explosive touchdown runs (think: 44, 62 and 78 yards) on an opportunistic defense that didn’t look like it had lost a starting linebacker and cornerback this month were enough to get the Rams outlasted in a game of shifting momentum .

The Eagles processed their cognitive dissonance as the evening progressed. They were elated to return to their second conference title game in three seasons…while also keenly aware of the stalled drives and apparent injury setbacks and occasionally allowing explosive wins to get in their way could stand to win two more games to lift the Lombardi Trophy.

“Our performance today was enough to win, but enough is never enough in terms of the standards we have for ourselves and what we want to do,” quarterback Jalen Hurts said. “There is always hunger. There is always an urge for more and the urge to keep improving, and it will remain that way.

“When you play the game, it’s about improving. But the most important thing in playoff ball is winning and finding ways to win the game. We want to play complementary football, find ways to win and find a way to win.”

In cold, wet play, the Eagles’ offense and defense picked each other up – because they needed to

On the sixth play of the game after a scrimmage, Hurts faked a handoff to Barkley and pulled it. He dodged tacklers as he weaved along the right sideline, with Mailata leading the way and clearing a lane. The fallout had not yet clouded the visions or soiled the turf, but the Rams defenders nevertheless found themselves scattered in vain attempts to keep Hurts from traveling home.

“Saquon needed a break, so I told him I’d do that first,” Hurts later joked. ‘Give me a piece.’

His 44-yard touchdown wouldn’t just give the Eagles an adrenaline rush. It would also require the Rams to consider the quarterback’s legs for the rest of the day. That eased the pressure on Barkley, who would complete a similar path 62 yards home before the end of the quarter.

A two-and-a-half quarter offensive lull ensured the Eagles didn’t run away with the match result as they had run away with two early scores. But the timing of the explosions in Philadelphia was coincidental. For as the game went on, the sleet that Barkley compared more to hail than snow began to cover the field more fervently. The Eagles receivers dropped balls that seemed related to both their ability to track it through the flurries and their ability to lock it in with fluid. Kicks were uncertain, and defensive backs struggled to return kicks fluidly.

“It was a pain in the ass because there were fucking blocks of ice under my foot the whole time,” Eagles pass rusher Josh Sweat said. “And with every step the s*** got higher and higher. If you just look at it, you’ll see that I’m cleaning my damn feet with every step.

“I would rather play on the dirty Brazilian field again before I play there again. I’m not going to lie to you.”

No one used field conditions as an excuse; both coaches and players were well aware that their opponent faced the same circumstances. But as they assessed what went right and what went wrong, the Eagles looked honestly through the snowglobe prism in which this game was played to accept the following: While 128 yards and no touchdowns doesn’t reach the passing standard of an offense with Hurts, A.J. Brown, Smith, Dallas Goedert, Barkley and more… in playoff games that rely heavily on variability, filtering a team’s strengths through the circumstances they can’t change is the way to win.

With a field so slick and sinking that the Eagles changed their cleats at halftime, they tried to win the turnover battle, slow down Rams drives and play an efficient game that would maximize their chances to break off the occasional explosive. Barkley would nearly ice the game with a 78-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter, points needed even more desperately after a tough tackle that landed Hurts in the blue medical tent for about five minutes. Hurts didn’t miss a beat, but wore a brace to finish the match. His limited mobility became apparent when the Rams released him due to safety concerns.

So no, Mailata reiterated, the Eagles were not playing to their “standard.” But they checked the playoff box of ‘survive and win’, crucial in a postseason format with one match per round rather than best of five or seven.

The Eagles’ offense showed plenty of flash. The defense came out strong.

“The team is built exactly the way you want the team to be built: We pick each other up,” cornerback Darius Slay said. “[When] we are not playing at our best, the offense is playing at its best. Offense is not playing at its best, defense is playing at its best.

“[When] we both play our best, we just blow people out.

Eagles may have the right disruptor to slow down Jayden Daniels

As defensive tackle Jalen Carter answered questions at his corner locker, a surprising voice came from a few feet to his right.

“Should I take a picture, JC?” shouted general manager Howie Roseman. “Should I take a picture of what you look like now?”

Carter answered questions from reporters who were so interested in talking to him that they missed Barkley’s concurrent session.

Box scores rarely accurately reflect the impact of a defensive tackle, but Carter was disruptive enough to break even that metric of success. Carter recorded five tackles, two sacks, three quarterback hits, a pass breakup and a forced fumble against a team that knows well how punishing a star defensive tackle can be.

Also credit Carter with sealing the victory when he sacked Matthew Stafford for a 9-yard loss on third-and-2 with 1:14 to play and then hit Stafford again on fourth-and-11, last-ditch effort that preceded to the Eagles’ victory formation.

He routinely wrecked plays and created enough chaos for teammates to deliver, including cornerback Isaiah Rodgers scooping up Carter’s fumble to return it 40 yards and edge rusher Nolan Smith’s later strip sack that set up a recovery by linebacker Zack Baun.

Roseman couldn’t help but fawn over his 2023 first-round draft pick, who has been in dominant form.

“I’m proud of you,” Roseman shouted in Carter’s interview, taking a photo with his phone.

Head coach Nick Sirianni later echoed his general manager’s praise.

“Jalen Carter, he’s special,” Sirianni said. “For him to rush the passer the way he did and our group the way we did when the fundamentals weren’t right, to me, it was a championship effort by the defense.”

The Eagles will need another championship effort from their defense next week to outlast the Commanders and rookie phenom Jayden Daniels, who has thrown for 567 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in the Commanders’ postseason upsets against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions.

Philadelphia will likely need another unleashing of Barkley, and if the Eagles want to feel good about their Super Bowl berth chances, they’ll have to hope for a healthier and less wet version of their passing game.

The Eagles cannot guarantee which of the numerous offensive and defensive looks they have shown this season will prove most useful. But in some ways they’re celebrating the fact that they haven’t clicked on all cylinders – because they believe that the ways in which they’ve tapped each cylinder individually will ultimately give them a deeper arsenal from which they can, they hope, get two more games. to come.

Sirianni calls the Eagles’ brand “battle-tested” and encourages his players to embrace adversity.

Judging from the sounds from his team’s locker room, they are.

“Fighting adversity, which Nick talked about a lot this week,” Baun said. “You never know what it’s going to be before the game, but when it happens, how are you going to react? I think we have responded.

“Resilience is our specialty.”