Eagles-Rams takeaways: Vic Fangio has defense in playoff form; analyzing Saquon Barkley’s MVP case

LOS ANGELES — The Eagles extended their winning streak to seven games with another emphatic victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

Moving 2½ games clear of the Washington Commanders in the NFC East and staying one game away from the Detroit Lions for the best record in the conference, the Eagles further solidified themselves as one of the best teams in the NFL going into the playoff push.

Here’s what we learned:

The talent of this Eagles defense is well-established by this point in the season, but the variety of offenses the group will face in the coming weeks will serve as a barometer for just how all-encompassing coordinator Vic Fangio’s call sheet really is.

Fangio’s success against Rams coach Sean McVay in the 2018-19 season has become part of NFL lore. Former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick borrowed from Fangio’s Chicago Bears and won a Super Bowl in part because of it, but even Fangio acknowledged just how much time has passed since and how much has changed since he authored that game plan as head coach of the Bears.

» READ MORE: Eagles’ Brandon Graham says he suffered a season-ending triceps injury

Things may change, but the result stayed more or less the same on Sunday night. The Rams moved the ball at will on their opening two drives. A fumble ended their first series abruptly in the red zone, but the following drive featured the type of pre-snap confusion and chunk gains in the run game that the Rams rely on to put defenses in a bind.

Both Fangio and the players responded rather quickly. Using linebacker Zack Baun as a walk-down edge defender to turn the Eagles’ four-man fronts into five-down looks, the Eagles went on to contain the Rams’ running game without sacrificing much on the back end.

Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean have proved their mettle against elite receiving corps already this season, but the challenge of lining up against Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua stretched beyond individual matchups because of how often the Rams use them in motion to flummox defenders. Mitchell and DeJean did quite well against the vaunted pair. According to Next Gen Stats, DeJean was matched up against Kupp on nine of his 37 routes and gave up three catches for just 11 yards on five targets. Nacua fared better against the Eagles secondary, but some of his production came when matched up away from Mitchell and DeJean.

What stands out most from the performance is just how often the Eagles won on high-leverage downs. Los Angeles finished the game 0-for-8 on third downs, which essentially became the difference in the contest and the reason the Eagles outgained the Rams by nearly 200 yards.

Watching those plays back, it’s fair to note some of the failed third-down attempts led to manageable fourth downs and that a pass interference call against Isaiah Rodgers moved the chains on one. Outside of that, big-time plays from players like DeJean, Brandon Graham, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson made the difference.

Simply put, the Eagles defense won in the majority of the moments that mattered against a surging offense led by one of the league’s best offensive play-callers.

It’s a good thing the Eagles have one of the league’s best defensive play-callers to match.

Saying Saquon Barkley deserves to be in the conversation for Most Valuable Player is somehow both self-evident and unorthodox given the recent history of the award.

Fair or unfair, MVP has become a quarterback’s trophy. It would likely require an unprecedented season from a running back or wide receiver to break the 11-year streak of signal callers winning the award, but Barkley’s historic performance with 302 yards from scrimmage on Sunday gives him a chance to meet that very requirement.

Adrian Peterson was the last running back to win MVP, breaking a five-year drought for the position. Let’s see how his award-winning 2012 season compares to Barkley’s per game averages so far, with LaDainian Tomlinson and Shaun Alexander’s MVP years and Derrick Henry’s best season without an MVP added in as well:

Barkley’s yards, both rushing and receiving, should put him on track to make a strong comparison with Peterson. With 12 total touchdowns, he’s also on pace to surpass Peterson’s 13 scores but come up short of Tomlinson’s record-breaking 31 and Alexander’s 28. Henry’s 2020 season, which is pretty similar to Barkley’s numbers so far this year, might be reason for pessimism. Henry’s production was enough to win offensive player of the year, but he didn’t even finish in the top three of the MVP voting that favored Aaron Rodgers.

Some prominent sportsbooks had Barkley squarely behind Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson for MVP going into Sunday night’s game. He’s bound to close the gap on the two, but by how much?

The Eagles are suddenly light on the edge.

Brandon Graham said he’ll miss the rest of the year with a triceps injury, which won’t just leave a void in leadership presence on the field for the Eagles, it also will leave them without one of their most reliable defensive linemen for the final stretch of the season.

One of the few lingering questions about this team’s ceiling already put the pass rush in the spotlight. Free-agent signing Bryce Huff landed on injured reserve leading into Sunday’s game, meaning Graham’s injury leaves the Eagles with just three healthy edge rushers on the active roster and two additional guys on the practice squad in Tarron Jackson and Ochaun Mathis.

Either way, the string of injuries will lead to the defense leaning even more heavily on the accelerated development of young players like Nolan Smith and rookie Jalyx Hunt. It also will put an onus on Josh Sweat to produce as the third and final healthy edge rusher on the team’s active roster.

» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts has become a game manager quarterback. That’s a good thing for the Eagles.

Perhaps the Eagles’ interior defensive line, a group that benefited from Jalen Carter drawing constant double teams on Sunday with Milton Williams logging two sacks, can generate enough pressure for it not to matter. If not, the edge rusher group might be a cause for concern as the stakes rise for the Eagles late in the season.

Landon Dickerson, up: This could have gone to almost any of the Eagles offensive linemen, but Dickerson had an impressive block on the second level to help clear space for Barkley’s 70-yard touchdown run at the start of the third quarter. Dickerson’s ability to move people in the run game has become a big part of the team’s identity since he and Jordan Mailata formed a gargantuan pairing on the left side of the offensive line. You also may have noticed how often Jalen Hurts veers behind Dickerson and Mailata on quarterback sneaks this year as well.

Isaiah Rodgers, neutral: Rodgers has been rather reliable in relief duty for Darius Slay so far this season, but he didn’t have his best game against the Rams. The veteran cornerback gave up a few big catches and had a costly pass-interference penalty with the Rams facing third-and-long early in the third quarter. His forced fumble earlier in the game keeps him from being a thumbs down, but the Eagles will need him to be more steady in coverage if Slay misses time next week or later in the year.

Jalen Carter’s one-on-ones, down: Carter is starting to get the Fletcher Cox treatment. According to Next Gen Stats, Carter was double-teamed on 22 of his 35 pass-rushing snaps and had just one pressure as a result. It’s hard to knock him, though, considering that Williams had two sacks working against one-on-one blocks when the protection slid Carter’s way. Just like we saw with Cox whenever he had a fellow interior rusher capable of generating pressure, that partnership will be the key to freeing up Carter enough to make an impact. By the way, Carter played 114 consecutive snaps between Week 10 and Sunday night when he was pulled late in the game, which is a mind-bending statistic for a defensive tackle.