Los Angeles Rams 14, Philadelphia Eagles 24: When the spotlight shines

We can talk about the crowd (We will).

We can talk about the playoff picture (We will).

But what we should talk about at halftime is the sheer magnitude of this game.

The Los Angeles Rams are losing to the Philadelphia Eagles at halftime, 14-24. But this is no regular regular season football game. With the Carolina Panthers beating the Minnesota Vikings earlier, we’re looking at the #1 and #3 seeds in the Eagles and Rams respectively. This is what matters.

And in the process of what matters, I’m not sure we’ve learned a ton.

Yes, the Rams’ pass rush is not very good. It’s made worse when ILB Alec Ogletree is less than 100%, which he clearly is, and even moreso when the referees are letting the offensive linemen (from both teams, I would note) get away with a lot. Yes, Eagles QB Carson Wentz is very athletic and very good. But yes, the Rams’ offense is also very capable of threatening. RB Todd Gurley is one of the most versatile threats in the NFL. And WR Cooper Kupp is the best rookie WR in the NFL.

So what have we learned from the first half that will really affect the second?

We learned that Rams HC Sean McVay sincerely prefers to lean into his passing game. There’s fair criticism to be had there. I do wish, though, that its detractors were as sure of themselves when the Rams are winning as they are when we’re losing. We learned that the Rams special teams are exceptional, but we also learned the Eagles’ aren’t far behind.

But more than anything, we learned that these games take 60 minutes. We’ve only seen 30.

And perhaps what we’ve learned through 30 minutes won’t matter one iota when we get through these final 30 minutes.

Time to go win a damn football game.