Los Angeles Rams vs Philadelphia Eagles: Five Eagles to watch

The Philadelphia Eagles had their nine game winning streak snapped last weekend by the Seattle Seahawks and they’re sure to be hungry for redemption against the upstart Los Angeles Rams.

Look for these players to be featured as the Eagles look to hold onto their current position as the #2 seed in the NFC playoff picture.

Carson Wentz

Wentz is the frontrunner for MVP as the NFL enters the home stretch of the 2017 regular season. He’s silenced whatever doubters were left and has played extremely well this season. Last week in Seattle, he had nearly 350 yards and a touchdown, but also had two turnovers.

If the Rams are going to slow down this offense, it starts with getting pressure on Wentz. If given time in the pocket, he will pick you apart and it will be a very long day for Rams fans. Even when pressured though, Wentz is going to get his. It’s going to come down to Wade Phillips putting the onus on ‘bend but don’t break’ and forcing turnovers.

The Rams don’t need to shut Wentz down... try to would be foolish. They just need to make him uncomfortable enough to make some mistakes.

Zach Ertz

Everyone knows that a young QBs best friend is a great TE. Wentz and Ertz are no exception to that rule. Only one player on the Eagles has more targets or receptions (more on that in a second) and Ertz is rightfully leading the NFC in pro bowl voting.

He’s a stud and he cleared concussion protocol Thursday, so he’s going to be a full go against the Rams - and that’s a scary thought. The Rams need to take away Wentz’s safety valve, and that’s not going to be an easy task.

Alshon Jeffery

Jeffrey is leading the Eagles in most receiving categories, and the Eagles rewarded that recently by taking his one year ‘prove-it’ deal and turning it into a four year, $52M contract extension.

Trumaine Johnson will be tasked with slowing Jeffrey and putting the onus on Torrey Smith and Nelson Agholor to beat the Rams. Tru has struggled this season though, so the Rams will be in trouble if Jeffrey is able to exploit a dinged up Rams secondary early on.

Mychal Kendricks

PFF has Kendricks rated as the #6 LB in the NFL this season. He’s having an All Pro type season and corralling him will be no easy task. He is stout against the run, can rush the passer, and is no slouch in coverage either. He’s the Eagles version of Seahawks star Bobby Wagner and is one of those players you have to scheme around.

I trust Sean McVay to plan accordingly, but I fully expect Kendricks to be a menace all day.

Rodney McLeod

Remember “Priority A” back in early 2016? Yeah, neither does McLeod. He chose to chase the money to Philly, where the Eagles gave him a five year, $35M contract. While he’s getting paid like a top 10 safety, PFF has him rated as the #48 safety in the NFL. Not quite on par with his pay......

While McLeod restructured his deal in May, according to Spotrac the Eagles have an ‘out’ after this season. It will be interesting to see how that plays out, but I digress.

If Jeff Fisher was still around, I’d expect him to go on a vendetta to try to expose McLeod, but luckily the Rams now have McVay calling the shots. Despite McLeod’s struggles, the Eagles are allowing the 4th lowest passer rating in the NFL this year - primarily due to their 16 interceptions (McLeod has 3).

Look for McLeod to play with a chip on his shoulder as he faces his former teammates.