Eagles stats: Saquon Barkley and Jalen Carter have monster games despite the elements

For the second time in the last three seasons, the Eagles are headed to the NFC championship game.

Their 28-22 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in Sunday’s snowy divisional-round game punched their ticket to the next round of the playoffs, in which the Eagles will take on the Washington Commanders. Philadelphia has reached the second-highest number of conference championship games in the NFL since 2001 with eight total. Only the New England Patriots have more appearances (13). The Eagles lead the league with six conference championship games hosted dating back to 2002.

Here are four stats that paint the picture of the Eagles’ divisional-round win over the Rams that kept their Super Bowl dreams alive:

The Rams tried their hardest to contain Jalen Carter, double-teaming him on 26 of his 49 pass rushes (53.1%), according to Next Gen Stats. But they couldn’t commit two bodies to block him all night long. The second-year defensive tackle generated five of his six pressures in one-on-one situations, with the other one coming when he was unblocked.

» READ MORE: Jalen Carter and a talented roster save the Eagles against the Rams, give them a shot at the Super Bowl

Carter wreaked havoc in the pocket and had a critical third-down sack on the final Rams possession. He also generated a pressure on Matthew Stafford’s ensuing fourth-down dropback that forced him to throw the ball away. Additionally, Carter made a team-high four defensive stops, including a forced fumble early in the fourth quarter.

“That dude is just a monster,” linebacker Zack Baun said of Carter. “The best in the league. Even when the stat sheet doesn’t say ... he’s making a big impact on the game. Forced fumble, TFLs, and sacks, he always has a bunch of batted passes. He does it all. It’s fantastic.”

It may have been snowing Sunday night at the Linc, but Jalen Hurts felt the heat from the Rams’ pass rush. The Rams pressured Hurts on 43.3% of his dropbacks, which marked his third straight game with a pressure rate over 40%, according to Next Gen Stats. In total, Hurts was pressured 13 times, including seven sacks.

Hurts got the ball out quickly, averaging 2.81 seconds to throw, his shortest duration of the season. He thrived on passes of 10 yards or fewer and finished 14-for-16 for 97 yards on underneath attempts. The downfield passing game, however, practically was nonexistent. Hurts completed just 1 of 4 passing attempts for over 10 air yards, a 31-yarder to Dallas Goedert in the third quarter.

Sunday’s game featured a couple of uncharacteristic dropped passes from A.J. Brown, including one over the middle of the field in the first quarter and another in the end zone in the second. His two drops on seven targets broke his streak of 116 targets without a drop, according to Next Gen Stats, which dated back to Week 16 of the 2023 season.

“It’s just tough,” Brown said of his second drop, a bobbled pass that he only controlled when he landed out of bounds. “No excuses. I just wish I could’ve held on to it. The conditions kind of play a part, but it’s just tough. I try to do my best just to hold on to it.”

» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, and Kellen Moore need to be better if the Eagles are to beat the Commanders

Brown finished the divisional-round game with two receptions for 14 yards, a narrow improvement over his single catch for 10 yards in the wild-card game against the Green Bay Packers. His second catch was particularly important, though. In the fourth quarter, Brown made a 9-yard reception on an in-breaking route on fourth-and-4, setting up a 37-yard field goal for Jake Elliott.

Saquon Barkley might as well have been on ice skates on his explosive touchdown runs across an icy Lincoln Financial Field. The star running back eclipsed 20 mph on both of his touchdown carries, one for 78 yards and another for 62, bringing him to a total of 13 runs in which he reached at least 20 mph this season, according to Next Gen Stats.

» READ MORE: Saquon Barkley’s standout stats in a dominant and historic first season with the Eagles

That total is more than double that of any other running back in the league, between the regular season and the postseason. Barkley finished with 205 yards and the two explosive touchdowns on 26 carries, setting a franchise record for rushing yards in a playoff game. He was particularly effective on Sunday when running outside; he carried the ball 13 times for 163 yards and both of his touchdowns (12.5 yards per attempt).

“Whether it’s national spotlight or it’s Saturday [in] the parking lot, it don’t really matter. I just want to make the plays for the team,” Barkley said. “And before that, I kind of just kept telling myself, just locking in, being focused. The O-line did a really good job, and I was able to set stuff up with my shoulders and pop two big ones.”

» READ MORE: Eagles’ Saquon Barkley screaming and sprinting in a winter wonderland and into the history book is a sight to see