Eagles-Rams: Birds cruise in L.A.; Saquon Barkley makes Eagles history; Darius Slay, Brandon Graham leave with injuries

Quarterback: B+

Jalen Hurts managed the game efficiently and made big throws and runs when necessary. He completed nearly 70 percent of his passes, tossed a touchdown, and had no turnovers. Hurts also ran for 39 yards on 11 carries. He converted one Tush Push and got the Rams to jump offside in the fourth quarter on a fake sneak.

With receiver DeVonta Smith sidelined, Hurts leaned on A.J. Brown, even though he didn’t drop to throw much. He might have stared down receiver Brown too long on a third-down sack in the second quarter, but the play also didn’t seem to scheme anyone else open. A drive later, he picked up a third down with his legs on a scramble. He did the same on another third down just before the half.

Not far from Hollywood, a familiar movie played out inside SoFi Stadium.

The Eagles, behind a running back worthy of his own Hollywood star and an offensive line built to bully opposing defenses and make room for him to run, exerted their will on the Los Angeles Rams.

Saquon Barkley took a handoff from Jalen Hurts on the first play from scrimmage in the second half and plowed through a hole. He reached the first-down marker and deftly cut to his right, and with three accelerating steps he was off and running with no Rams defender capable of catching him. Barkley’s 70-yard touchdown run gave the Eagles a two-score lead after a first half that was a little back and forth.

The third time was the charm for the Eagles offense in the second quarter. On their third trip to the red zone, A.J. Brown lined up in the slot across from Rams safety Quentin Lake. The star receiver won outside leverage and cut toward the left sideline in the end zone, hauling in a pass from Jalen Hurts. Brown got both feet in the end zone before Lake knocked the ball loose and out of bounds.

The Eagles’ first touchdown of the night put them up, 13-7, with a minute and a half left in the first half. Nakobe Dean quelled the Rams’ attempt at a response on the ensuing possession, bowling over Rams running back Kyren Williams on a blitz and sacking quarterback Matthew Stafford on second down.

On a bizarre sequence at the end of the half, the Eagles turned the ball over on downs on fourth-and-7 at the Rams’ 48-yard line on a Hurts keeper that lost four yards. With two seconds remaining in the half, Josh Sweat sacked Stafford, preventing the Rams from making a Hail Mary attempt.

Is this gonna be a long night for the Eagles defense? So far, it appears that way.

After easily moving the ball deep into Eagles territory before fumbling it away, the Rams on their second drive went 70 yards in nine plays to take a 7-3 lead after one quarter.

Matthew Stafford is an elite thrower, and when his two top receivers, Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, are healthy, this offense is really good. The Eagles are going to have to figure out a way to apply more pressure on him, because right now he has way too much time to throw and those two receivers are too good to be covered for very long.

After what was probably the best opening-drive script and execution of the Eagles season, they came away with just a 3-0 lead after Nick Sirianni opted to take the points from the 3-yard line.

Questionable choice? Maybe. Mike Sielski is sitting next to me and made a good point: Jake Elliott struggled last game, and you take the lead and give him a chip shot.

Still, it felt like a wasted opportunity to go up 7-0 after a pretty perfect series. The Eagles needed just eight plays to take the ball from their own 17-yard line to a first-and-goal from the 8-yard line. They were moving the ball at will, both through the air and on the ground.

The Eagles gained some ground on their biggest competition in the NFC East this year before even kicking off on Sunday — and it came as a bit of a surprise in one of the wildest finishes in the NFL this season.

The Commanders lost to the Cooper Rush-led Cowboys, 34-26, to fall to 7-5 on the season. Meanwhile, the Eagles can improve to 9-2 and move to 3.5 games clear of Washington for the top spot in the division with a win over the Rams.

Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels hit Zach Ertz for a touchdown with just over three minutes left to play to cut it to a 20-17 lead for Dallas, but KaVontae Turpin returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for what appeared to be a game-sealing touchdown.

Winners of six straight games, the Eagles return to the prime-time spotlight for the second week in a row as they visit the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night.

Jalen Hurts and Co. haven’t lost since the bye — but what about your Bird Box record? Have you been keeping pace? Or have you stumbled in recent weeks? Whether you’re undefeated or looking for redemption, we’re back with another puzzle ahead of this week’s matchup.

And if you haven’t played before, the rules are simple: Fill in each cell on the grid with a different Eagles player from the past 50 seasons.

Grant Calcaterra may have been one percentage point away from never playing football again.

It’s hard to imagine the Eagles tight end, occupying a significant but sometimes subtle role in the team’s offense this season, went so far down a path away from the game. In truth, a single question on an exam to become an ambulance driver for a fire department in Los Angeles that would fast-track him toward firefighting made the difference that landed him in the Eagles’ offensive huddle instead.

“I studied my [butt] off,” Calcaterra told The Inquirer. “To pass it, you have to get a 75%. I got a 74%. I was obviously really upset, it was such a big opportunity. But I told the guys in the tight end room, if I would have passed that, I probably would have been doing that right now.”

When the Eagles defense met for the first time this week on Wednesday to prepare for the motion-heavy Los Angeles Rams offense led by Sean McVay, Vic Fangio made sure to emphasize a particular point early on, according to Cooper DeJean — how the Eagles play pre-snap is going to set them up to win post-snap.

The Rams use motion at league-best rates in almost every category. According to Next Gen Stats, their 70.3% motion at the snap and 20.2% usage of multiple motions rank atop the NFL. Overall, their 82% motion rate is their highest in a season since at least 2018. DeJean, the rookie slot cornerback out of Iowa, expressed an understanding that the Rams will try to challenge him by putting their receivers in motion before the snap.

“It’s tough,” DeJean said on Thursday. “When to run with the motion and when to not in certain coverages. You’ve got to be decisive in chasing the motions.”

It’s a little early to be looking at the NFC playoff race, but the Eagles (8-2) need a win against the Los Angeles Rams (5-5) Sunday to keep pace in the race for the No. 1 seed.

The Birds enter Week 12 as the No. 2 team in the NFC behind the Detroit Lions (9-1), who have won eight straight games and are favored on the road against the Indianapolis Colts (5-6) Sunday afternoon.

If the Lions’ win, they’ll improve to 10-1 and remain atop the NFC. However, the Colts are in the hunt for the AFC’s final wild card spot, and an upset win in Indianapolis this afternoon would drop the lions to 9-2.

Tonight’s game against the Rams will likely be the Birds’ only appearance on Sunday Night Football this season.

The Eagles were originally slated to appear twice this year, but the NFL moved their Week 9 matchup against the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars (2-9) out of prime time.

NBC has a strong schedule remaining with only two games that stand out at this point as flex possibilities — Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-6) vs. Dallas Cowboys (3-7) in Week 16, and Miami Dolphins (4-6) at Cleveland Browns (3-8) in Week 17.

The Eagles have taken control of the NFC East after a pivotal 26-18 win over the Washington Commanders — the Birds’ sixth straight win after an early bye week. Now, the Eagles turn their attention to the Los Angeles Rams, who are looking for their own divisional lead, sitting in second place in the NFC West.

The Eagles are 2.5-point favorites over the Rams (5-5), who won four of their last five games to climb back to .500 — including their latest 28-22 win over the New England Patriots. In their competitive win over the 3-7 Patriots, the stellar receiving tandem of Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua accounted for three touchdowns.

The Eagles have an impressive 8-2 record as they head to SoFi Stadium for a prime-time Sunday Night Football matchup. Will the Rams put an end to the Eagles’ hot streak? Or will Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley lead the Eagles to a 9-2 record? Here’s what experts in the local and national media are saying.

The Eagles ruled out wide receiver DeVonta Smith on Friday for their road game against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. Smith did not participate in any of the three practices this week.

Smith was seen walking up the tunnel back to the locker room with a noticeable limp following last Thursday’s victory over the Washington Commanders. He initially popped up on the injury report with a hamstring issue on Nov. 6, the first day of practice following the Eagles’ win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Since then, Smith has been on the injury report every day with the hamstring injury, although he did not have a game status going into their Week 10 game against the Dallas Cowboys or the Week 11 matchup with the Commanders.

Tonight’s Sunday Night Football game between the Eagles and the Rams is scheduled to kick off at 8:20 p.m. on NBC.

Calling the game will be play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico and analyst Cris Collinsworth, long a favorite of Eagles fans. Melissa Stark will report from the sidelines at SoFi Stadium.

Eagles-Rams will also air on the radio on 94.1 WIP, where fans can listen to the familiar voices of Merrill Reese and former Eagles receiver Mike Quick. WIP host Howard Eskin will handle sideline reporting duties.