Survive and advance — 5 takeaways from Rams-Eagles Divisional a day later

In the NFL playoffs, the only thing that matters is the final score.

It does not matter how you got there, or who got you there, but if you come out on top and advance, it is all that matters.

The Eagles are moving on to the NFC Championship Game. Have their last two wins been pretty? No. But have they won? Absolutely.

The Eagles took down the Rams in the Divisional Round at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday, 28-22. They will host their second NFC title game in the last three years, hosting the Commanders next Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET on FOX.

Here are my five takeaways a day after the win:

A character win

This win on Sunday showed what this Eagles team is all about. So much went wrong. The Eagles missed a ton of opportunities, blew so many chances, dropped passes, made foolish penalties, made bad decisions, and still won the ballgame due to the best-run game and defense in the NFL.

They fought, battled, and survived.

This Eagles team does not win pretty, but they are always able to combat adversity and come out with a victory. Whether it is a Week 14 game against the Panthers, or the NFC Divisional Game in a blizzard against the red-hot Rams.

The Eagles should be playing so much better and punching these teams into the ground. They will be the first to tell you that. But all they do is find ways to win, things great teams do.

The most valuable Eagle ever

The MVP award is awarded to the most valuable player in the NFL. It is down to Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson for the league-wide award. However, I do not believe there is a single player more valuable to a specific team than Saquon Barkley.

Where are the Eagles without Barkley? I can tell you they definitely would not be hosting a game next week. But with him, they may be the best team remaining in the postseason.

Barkley set a new single-game franchise record with 255 rushing yards in Week 12 on Sunday Night Football at SoFi Stadium over the Rams, including two 70+ yard touchdowns. This time, he ran 26 times for a franchise postseason-record 205 yards and touchdowns of 62 yards in the first quarter and 78 yards in the fourth quarter to stick a fork in the Rams.

He has passed Eric Dickerson for rushing yards in a season (regular/post). He needs 156 yards to have the most rushing yards ever in a season, which is the winner’s record.

Barkley does something unbelievable every single game. It is beyond ridiculous.

Also, take a look at this block from big No. 77 Mekhi Becton. Gross.

Jalen Carter and the takeaways in the end were huge

Yes, Barkley was a huge reason the Eagles won this game. But, if the defense does not force those two turnovers in the fourth quarter, who knows what conversation we are having right now?

At the peak of the snowstorm, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Carter punched the ball out of Kyren Williams‘ hands, and Isaiah Rodgers scooped it and returned it 40 yards.

The very next drive, Nolan Smith, who has emerged himself as an elite pass rusher off the edge, forced a fumble that Zack Baun recovered, setting them up at the eight-yard line.

The Eagles blew these chances, as they just turned into two field goals, but it was a stretch where the defense really got to Matthew Stafford and the Eagles took command. We all know Stafford’s numbers in the snow, and the Eagles took advantage.

The Eagles tied the franchise postseason record on Sunday with five sacks and 10 tackles for loss, six quarterback hits, 10 pass knockdowns, and two takeaways.

And things did get threatening in the final few minutes. The Rams drove 70 yards for a touchdown with 2:48 left and then 60 more yards down to the 13 in the final seconds. They had 135 of their 402 yards in the final 4 1/2 minutes. But, Carter took over.

On third-and-two from the Eagles’ 13-yard line with 1:14 to go in the game up six, Carter broke through the Rams’ offensive line and sacked Stafford for a nine-yard loss, forcing a long fourth down, which the Rams failed to convert.

Carter finished with two sacks, five tackles, two tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, a pass knockdown, and a forced fumble. He is a freak.

The passing offense has to be better, again

It is easy to say that the Eagles do not need a high-powered passing offense because of how good the running game and defense are. But once again, the passing game was bad.

Jalen Hurts may not be turning the ball over, but after looking back, he just has not looked comfortable ever since that concussion. He is not throwing with confidence, he is standing in the pocket way too long, and is taking far too many sacks.

Hurts dropped back 27 times on Sunday and was sacked seven times. That is absurd.

Hurts had a wide-open Dallas Goedert right in front of him, but instead took the sack and the safety.

Here is another one, where Hurts seems to have Barkley, but rather looks off of him and takes a sack.

A.J. Brown‘s drop for what would have been a 35-yard touchdown just before halftime sucked, the conditions were brutal, the offensive line did not help Hurts out at all, and Hurts injured his leg after being sacked, but the bottom line is this offense has too much talent for the passing attack to be this poor against a bottom-10 defense.

All that matters at this point in the game is winning football games, but there is a lot to be concerned about with this passing offense.

But, here is some Hurts defense

I thought I was out of ways to defend Hurts on Sunday, but I squandered up something.

Hurts, Josh Allen, and Patrick Mahomes all won their games this weekend. Here is how their stat lines stack up:

Hurts: 198 total yds, 1 TD, 0 TOs
Mahomes: 191 total yds, 1 TD, 0 TOs
Allen: 147 total yds, 2 TDs, 0 TOS

Hurts had the most total yards but is the only one being criticized. But the bigger point for me is the one thing all three quarterbacks have in common. Zero turnovers.

Justin Herbert threw four interceptions last week against the Texans, Jordan Love threw three to the Eagles last week, and Jared Goff had three against the Commanders on Saturday night.

Another thing, all four losers this weekend out-gained the winners. The Texans had 336 total yards, compared to the Cheifs’ 212. The Lions had 521 to the Commanders’ 481 total yards. Los Angeles recorded 402 yards, compared to Philadelphia’s 350. And finally, the Ravens out-gained the Bills 416-273.

But in all four of those games, the team that won the game also won the turnover battle.

Yes, Hurts and the passing offense have to be better. He made a lot of bad decisions and made foolish blunders on Sunday. But, he is not making plays to lose the Eagles games. And in January, that is what really matters.

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