The Eagles’ defense played 52 ½ brilliant minutes and 7 ½ awful minutes. The 7 ½ awful minutes wiped out everything that happened in those first 52 ½ minutes.
For the first 3 ½ quarters Sunday, the Eagles held the Rams to 10 points, 256 yards, 14 first downs and 177 passing yards.
And in the last half of the fourth quarter, the Rams piled up 14 points, 159 yards, 12 first downs and 140 passing yards.
And just like that a defensive masterpiece turned into a nightmare.
“Yeah, (Matt) Stafford, great veteran quarterback,” said Jeremiah Trotter Jr. after his first meaningful career start, in place of Zack Baun. “He’s definitely leading and commanding that offense. We’ve just got to be a little bit sharper, be a little bit tighter and Stafford, he’s going to pick you off when you make those small mistakes. That’s the type of QB he is.”
The Eagles led 20-10 with 7 ½ minutes left when the Rams got the ball after a 4th-down stop. They proceeded to put together 98- and 79-yard touchdown drives to stun the Eagles 24-20.
This is the first time in 30 years the Eagles have lost a game allowing two touchdowns in the final 4:01. In November 1996, they lost 36-30 to the Cards at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., on Boomer Esiason touchdown passes to Larry Centers with 2:45 left and Marcus Dowdell with 14 seconds left.
It’s the first time they’ve allowed two TD drives of 75 or more yards in the final 7 ½ minutes of a game since the NFL began tracking drive lengths in 1977.
Stafford, pressured and ineffective much of the game, was 12-for-15 for 140 yards on the two late touchdown drives.
So he threw for 177 yards on the Rams’ first 11 drives and 140 yards on the last two.
“I think that’s when he’s at his best, in those most critical and clutch moments,” Sean McVay said of Stafford. “It’s what makes him a great football player. It’s what makes him a guy that everybody always believes we have a chance when he’s our quarterback.
“What I love is that he doesn’t let some previous things that he could do differently affect his ability to say, ‘Let’s just be right here right now. Let’s be totally and completely present, and let’s try to do this next right thing and let’s stack play after play after play and let’s see where we’re at and shoot for us to take the lead with plenty of time where they had to use all their timeouts.’ Thought it was really well executed by Matthew and those guys and damn proud of them.”
By the end of the game, the Eagles’ defense was missing Zack Baun and Marcus Epps, who are injured and inactive, as well as Quinyon Mitchell, Jonathan Greenard and for a few snaps Cooper DeJean.
No excuse. Every team deals with injuries. And as long as you have 11 guys who are ambulatory, you can’t give up two long touchdown drives in the game’s final 7 ½ minutes.
“I’m never going to use anything as an excuse,” Sirianni said. “We have to look at ourselves in the mirror. We have to pick ourselves back up. … Life hands you a lot of different scenarios. Football hands you a lot of different scenarios. You’ve got to be accountable to who you are and to what you do, each and every one of us.
“You’ll never hear me say a word about an injury. I have a lot of faith in everybody on this football team. There’s a reason they’re Philadelphia Eagles. I’ve got to do a better job. We’ve got to play better. We’ve got to coach better. All of us have things to get better from. I don’t care who’s on the field.”
The Rams averaged 19 yards on their first 11 drives, then averaged 89 yards on their last two.
The Eagles’ defense has struggled late in games all year.
They allowed 13 points after halftime in their opening-day win over Washington, gave up 10 in the second half in Nashville, then allowed 17 in Chicago and 14 Sunday. Including the last two regular-season games last year – the Bills and Commanders – and the playoff loss to the 49ers they’ve allowed double-digit points in the second half in seven straight games.
In all, the Rams netted 415 yards, the 2nd-most the Eagles have allowed at home under Vic Fangio.
There were plenty of encouraging signs the first 3 ½ quarters Sunday. The Eagles pressured Stafford, they got their first two takeaways of the season, they tackled better, they stopped the run, they got big stops when they needed them, they even got a sack from Nolan Smith. Trotter and Carter, subbing for injured players, both played well.
It all evaporated in the game’s final 7 ½ minutes.
“You gotta be honest,” said Michael Carter, who played well at safety in place of Epps. “I’m gonna get in tomorrow and watch it. And just really evaluate ourselves a a unit, how we finish. We’ve got to finish better.”
