Eagles vs. Rams: A mystifying trend the Birds must fix, and everything else to know ahead of Sunday’s game

A normal NFL halftime typically lasts between 12 and 14 minutes, give or take, from the final first-half whistle to third-quarter kick.

For Eagles coaches, it’s a pretty frenetic period. Offensive coordinator Sean Mannion takes an express ride on an elevator down from the coaches’ booth and gets together with his staff. They talk about the looks they’re seeing, the notes they’ve taken.

“We quickly put together and chart our course for the second half, communicate it with the players, and then we’re out,” Mannion said Thursday.

Nick Sirianni, who usually is pretty guarded, didn’t want to go into too much detail about the halftime routine when asked about it a day later. But he did mention that the idea is to be making adjustments on the fly between series as the game goes on.

“That’s so important that they’re going through that process at that time because halftime, there may be certain things that you say, ‘OK, we can’t get that drawn up right,’” he said. “‘Hey, we want to put this in here. Hey, we can’t get that drawn up. Draw it up for halftime. We’ll put it in there.’

“There are some things that are saved for halftime, but the majority of it is happening within the game.”

Regardless of when and how the Eagles are adjusting, whatever is happening at halftime might need a makeover. It’s only been three games, but no one is worse in the third quarter right now than the Eagles, who have eight three-and-outs on 11 third-quarter drives. That’s three more than anyone else in the NFL.

There have been various reasons for each punt. No series is identical. The Eagles have had negative runs, negative swing passes, penalties, and other detrimental plays. But the play sequencing and planning certainly has contributed. It’s something Mannion, a first-time play caller, said the staff is trying to correct.

“Certainly, as a staff and as a team, we’re working through getting better there,” Mannion said. “You hate to do a lot of nice things in the first half of some of these games and kind of fall into a rut in the second half.

“We’re working at that. We’re attacking it each day to be better there coming out of halftime.”

— @Jeff_Neiburg

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The Eagles and Rams kick off at 1 p.m. Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. The game will be aired on Fox29 and called by the network’s top duo of play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt and analyst Tom Brady. Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi are the sideline reporters.

As usual, Merrill Reese and Mike Quick will have you covered for the local radio broadcast on 94 WIP.

Looking to watch the game somewhere in the city with fellow Eagles fans? Here’s our latest list of places to watch.

Eagles

Fixing the ugly third-quarter trend won’t get any easier with DeVonta Smith slated to miss Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury. He may be out beyond this week, too.

The Eagles also will be without a key defensive starter in Zack Baun, who remains in the concussion protocol. Those absences mean Dontayvion Wicks is slated to be the No. 1 wide receiver on Sunday while Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is the next man up at linebacker.

Out

Rams

Puka Nacua is on track to the return for the Rams, who, entering Week 3 and dating back to when he was drafted in 2023, were averaging 6.1 yards per play with Nacua on the field, compared to 5.1 yards when he’s off the field. But the big news of the day Friday came when Sean McVay ruled Aaron Donald (back) out.

Donald came out of retirement and rejoined the team after training camp. His absence means Los Angeles is without two of the better defensive front-seven players in the NFL in Donald and Myles Garrett, who is on injured reserve with a knee injury.

Out

Questionable

Smith’s absence is a big blow to the Eagles. In previous seasons, they have withstood the loss of Smith or A.J. Brown knowing the other would be out there. Can Wicks provide the same comfort? We’ll find out Sunday, and maybe next week in London, too.

“Being me,” Wicks said Thursday when asked what gives him confidence he can thrive in a larger role. “I already had that confidence. Been had it.”

The team’s best pass catcher being out comes at a pivotal time for an offense that needs to start putting things together. The Eagles haven’t successfully married their run and pass games the way they said they wanted to. The running game showed some signs of life in the first half on Monday night, and the Eagles will hope to build off of that Sunday.

What went wrong Monday, and what can we expect Sunday vs. the Rams? Plus, what are the biggest concerns so far for the Eagles? I broke it down with my colleague Olivia Reiner earlier this week in our latest Gameday Central pregame show.

Be sure to check out the latest episode of unCovering the Birds, including a fresh mailbag. And after the game, Ryan Novozinsky will be live from the press box breaking down the action.

The Eagles are a home underdog for the first time since 2023. They were 10-1 when they hosted the San Francisco 49ers in Week 13 of the 2023 season. A 42-19 beat down at Lincoln Financial Field started a late-season collapse.

Check out this week’s odds and props here.

A clean sweep, all by double digits. That means the Eagles probably win by two scores, right?

Check out the reasoning behind our picks and McLane’s keys to the game. As for the rest of the country, here’s a look at the national media predictions for Sunday.

32.9% — That’s DeVonta Smith’s target share through three games. Brandon Graham, now away from football and in the podcasting world, got some traction last week after the Eagles’ Week 2 win when he said he thought Jalen Hurts was playing freely and not having to force the ball to certain players.

Maybe he meant the way the offense is designed gives Hurts more answers, or maybe he was referring to Hurts not having to force the ball to A.J. Brown. Either way, the numbers tell a different story. If Smith’s target share number holds up, he would have the highest single-season target share of any Eagles player since at least 2000, according to Next Gen Stats.

Smith is slated to miss this week’s game and possibly next week’s in London. Goedert still isn’t back from injury. Hurts is going to have to put his trust in others.

There are other numbers worth paying attention to this week, too.

“Who are we?”

Well, that’s kind of existential, Jalen.

But it’s the question the quarterback said he posed to the locker room in the aftermath of their 27-7 loss on Monday night.

“Ask yourself that question because that’s a choice you can make, and being deliberate and intentional on how we move forward, so we can continue to improve,” Hurts said.

Here’s more on Hurts challenging his teammates to look inward.

“Humility is one play away if you’re sleeping on somebody, so we don’t take anybody lightly at the end of the day,” Davante Adams said.

The Rams are road favorites Sunday afternoon in Philly, but they know wins don’t come easy in the NFL.

Rams QB Matthew Stafford on the Eagles: “They’re always a tough out, especially at their place.”

It won’t be snowing this time, though.

McVay gets to coach against one of his former quarterbacks, too, in Mannion.

Thanks for reading. The weekly Eagles newsletter will be back again next Saturday sent to your inbox all the way from London, where the Eagles take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 5.