FINAL SCORE: Eagles drop to 0-2 with loss to Rams, 37 to 19

Well, my confidence in the Philadelphia Eagles beating the Los Angeles Rams was clearly misguided. The Eagles are now 0-2 after losing to the Rams by a final score of 37 to 19. The Birds got off to a bad start and never truly recovered. The season outlook is already tenuous.

Read on for a recap and some instant postgame thoughts, I guess!

FIRST QUARTER

• Miles Sanders fumbled just two carries into his 2020 season. Sanders only fumbled twice as a rookie; twice in one game against the Detroit Lions.

• Josh Sweat started over Derek Barnett at defensive end. Malik Jackson started over Javon Hargrave at defensive tackle.
• The Rams moved down the field with ease after the Eagles’ turnover. Avonte Maddox and Nathan Gerry were victimized in coverage. Could be nice for the Eagles’ offense to not give the other offense short fields to work with. Could also be nice for the defense to hold the opponent to a field goal. RAMS 7, EAGLES 0.

• The Eagles answered the Rams’ first touchdown drive with a field goal. Carson Wentz missed high (drink) on a throw to Dallas Goedert over the middle before a short pass to Sanders was stopped short of the sticks. At least the Eagles were able to move the ball and get some points? RAMS 7, EAGLES 3.
• The Rams didn’t face much resistance as they methodically moved down the field for a touchdown on their second drive. Marcus Epps blew a coverage on a Cooper Kupp gain, Maddox got beat along the sideline ... just too easy for the Rams. RAMS 14, EAGLES 3.

• The Eagles followed the Rams’ second touchdown with a punt. J.J. Arcega-Whiteside dropped Carson Wentz’s pass on 3rd-and-2. JJAW’s good camp clearly hasn’t translated to the regular season.

SECOND QUARTER

• The Rams moved down the field with ease again on their third touchdown drive. Sean McVay just schooled Schwartz. RAMS 21, EAGLES 3.

• The Eagles finally found some rhythm on offense by driving down to the 1-yard line and sneaking it in with Wentz. Doug Pederson flexed some creativity by getting Jalen Hurts involved as a decoy. The Eagles attempted a two-point conversion but Sanders’ stretch run was sniffed out and stopped short of the line of scrimmage. RAMS 21, EAGLES 9.

• The Eagles’ run defense, which is usually pretty good, couldn’t stop the Rams ground game as Los Angeles easily moved into long field goal range. The defense tightened up, though, with Fletcher Cox helping to force Jared Goff’s first incompletion (!). Then Brandon Graham sacked Goff on third down to force the Rams into a punt. A Rams drive without points ... what a miracle!
• The Eagles took over with just over two minutes remaining in the first half. They picked up one first down but had to punt after Wentz overthrew an open Zach Ertz on 3rd-and-5. Inaccuracy issues still an issue. Fortunately for Wentz, T.J. Edwards stripped Cooper Kupp on the Rams’ punt return and K’Von Wallace recovered to set the Eagles up at LA’s 11-yard line. Big break. Sanders found a big hole up the middle to give the Eagles another score. Jake Elliott’s extra point hit the right upright but doinked in. RAMS 21, EAGLES 16.

THIRD QUARTER

• The Eagles forced the Rams into a three-and-out. Another miracle!
• DeSean Jackson finally saw his first target with around 12:30 remaining in the third. He then dropped a screen before catching a nice throw from Wentz for a first down. He caught another ball on 3rd-and-6 for another first down. It looked like the Eagles were going to at least get three more points — if not take the lead with a touchdown — before Wentz threw a terrible interception into double coverage on a target meant for JJAW in the end zone. Does anything good ever happen when targeting JJAW?

• The Rams drove down to goal-to-go but got set back by an offensive penalty. Los Angeles had to settle for a field goal, keeping it a one possession game. RAMS 24, EAGLES 16.

FOURTH QUARTER

• The Eagles used 10 plays to drive into the red zone. The drive stalled and Elliott came in to make the 33-yard field goal. Pederson could’ve set the Eagles up at 4th-and-3 from the 10-yard line with the Rams lining up offside ... but he opted to decline and take the points. That was not exactly “fearless.” RAMS 24, EAGLES 19.
• The Rams got the ball back and instantly moved into Eagles territory with a big run by Darrell Henderson. Then Goff connected with Tyler Higbee in the end zone for a third time with Gerry trailing yet again. Bad. RAMS 31, EAGLES 19.
• The Eagles reached 4th-and-2 from the Rams’ 36-yard line and obviously had to go for it. Wentz’s throw for Goedert over the middle was knocked down.
• The Rams moved to the Eagles’ 2-yard line and scored another touchdown to end any doubt. Malik Jackson blocked the extra point, whoop-dee-do! RAMS 37, EAGLES 19.
• Wentz threw his FOURTH pick of the season to prevent the Eagles from accumulating any positive garbage time stats.

FINAL SCORE

RAPID REACTION

• It feels like forever since watching the Eagles was actually fun.
• History of teams starting 0-2 just isn’t good. Only about 12% have made the playoffs since 2007.
• Wentz is seriously on the struggle bus right now. He’s been really bad. Outplayed by both Dwayne Haskins and Jared Goff in back-to-back losses. Yikes.
• I thought Nate Herbig did some nice things today. It’s not all bad! (Oh, but he also got hurt.)
• I’m a Jim Schwartz defender and I was bullish about this defense. So I’m pretty foolish after seeing the Eagles’ defensive coordinator get pantsed by Sean McVay.
• The Eagles reportedly signed Nickell Robey-Coleman because they believed he was a top five nickel corner. He certainly did not play anywhere near that levlel.
• The disconnect between the Eagles valuing Gerry and the fans disliking him was certainly not bridged today. Gerry got abused in coverage and missed tackles.

INJURIES

• Fletcher Cox got hurt about 10 minutes in to the first quarter. He quickly returned.
• Jalen Reagor got banged up after making a catch over the middle with just under 12 minutes in the second quarter. He entered the game and took another big hit shortly after.
• Isaac Seumalo got hurt with about six minutes remaining in the second quarter. Matt Pryor (!) came in to play left guard. Seumalo did not return due to a knee injury.
• Darius Slay got hurt around 11:47 remaining in the fourth quarter. Landed on the ball and held his midsection. He later returned.
• Nate Herbig got hurt late in the game.