Before the game, the Rams looked like the shorter-handed team. Aaron Donald and Jaylen Watson were inactive, Colby Parkinson was too, and Terrance Ferguson was already out, so tight end was thin. During the game, though, the Eagles took most of the hits. Saquon Barkley's hamstring ended his day. Quinyon Mitchell went to the sideline with a knee injury and was listed as questionable to return. Tank Bigsby left in the 4th quarter and went to the medical tent. By the end, Philadelphia's run game and its top corner were both depleted, which is the opposite of how the injury report read at 1:00 PM ET.
The weather was a factor all day. It was 63 degrees and drizzling at kickoff, and still light drizzle at 59 degrees by the end. The first quarter ended 3-3 and both teams had trouble with the wet conditions early. The 2nd quarter was the reverse. Philadelphia scored 17 points in that quarter, the Rams answered with 7, and the Eagles went into the locker room up 20-10 after their best half of offense in 2 weeks.
Then the Eagles stopped scoring. The 3rd quarter was scoreless for both teams. That helped Philadelphia only because it used up clock, and a 10-point lead with a short week behind them was all the Eagles had left. In the 4th quarter the Rams scored 14 unanswered points, came back from the 10-point deficit, and won on the road. The cross-country trip and early body-clock start the preview worried about didn't show up late. The Rams were the stronger team in the final 15 minutes. Stafford, who blew a lead in Denver with a pick-six, got to finish one this time. Nacua was the deep option he'd been missing, and Stafford hit him downfield.
The Rams' defense deserves more credit than it will get. Without Donald up front and without Watson and Cam Lampkin at corner, it gave up 17 in one quarter and then shut Philadelphia out for the entire second half. Part of that was Barkley's absence. An offense that was already relying on Dontayvion Wicks, Makai Lemon and tight ends called up from the practice squad had nothing to lean on once its best player was out. Philadelphia's 2 points of possible concern before the game, the passing game and the depth, turned out to be the reason it lost.
The Polymarket chat was nearly 10 times the size of an average room this season, so plenty of people watched this one turn. Both teams are now 2-2, and they're headed in opposite directions. The Rams have the comeback they couldn't finish a week ago. The Eagles have lost 2 straight and fly to London to face the Jaguars with Smith viewed as questionable at best, Barkley's hamstring a real concern, and Mitchell and Bigsby to be evaluated.