The Rams could be our biggest competition this year

[Eagle60]

EAGLESHall of Fame RB says the Rams are perfectly constructed to dethrone the Eagles

Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis says the Los Angeles Rams retooled and are built to beat the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC

Glenn Erby
Eagles Wire



SKIP

• The Rams and Eagles played a close game last season, with the Eagles winning 28-22.
• The Rams have added Davante Adams and hope to challenge the Eagles.
• Jerome Bettis believes the Rams are built to beat the Eagles.
• The Rams' late-game comeback attempt against the Eagles fell short.

The Rams and Eagles have gotten quite familiar over the past three years, and the two teams met in a hard-fought 28-23 win for Philadelphia in which a Jalen Carter sack on Matthew Stafford prevented a likely touchdown pass. The Eagles went on to win the Super Bowl and return as one of the best teams in the NFL.

The Rams brought back Matthew Stafford on a new deal, moved on from Cooper Kupp, and upgraded with the free agent signing of all-world wide receiver Davante Adams. The Rams are loaded, and one former legendary running back and Hall of Famer believes they're "beat to defeat Philadelphia."

During a recent sit-down with RG.org, Jerome Bettis told DJ Siddiqi that Sean McVay's team is constructed to give the Eagles all they can handle.

“When you look at the Rams, they are a dark horse,” Bettis says in a one-on-one interview with RG of his former team.

“In their division, they are the favorites,” says Bettis of the Rams. “I think the Niners are going to be good, but not great. The Rams definitely have an advantage on that side. I think the team they’re going to have to beat is going to be the Eagles. They’re going to be right back at it again. They’re built to beat the Eagles, and if they can slow down the running game, they’ve got a chance.”

In that January 19 victory, Philadelphia appeared to put the game away after going up 28-15, but the Rams scored a late fourth-quarter touchdown to pull within seven. After the Eagles could not maximize their final offensive drive, the Rams had one final shot on a ten-play, 60-yard drive that fell short with an incomplete pass to Puka Nucau at the Philadelphia 22-yard line.

[musicman]

Our biggest competition is Washington IMO . They remain healthy, they will be tough. Gotta get out of the division first

[Eagle60]

Our biggest competition is Washington IMO . They remain healthy, they will be tough. Gotta get out of the division first

And that's no gimmy this year either!

[musicman]

The division is coming back to power. Washington can play with anyone. Dallas has as much talent as anyone. If Dak keeps his eyes open just 2-3 times a game, they have the ability to beat anyone. If someone comes out and acts like an NFL QB, the Giants will be a tough game. This is how I like it, when every game is contested.

[sfphillyfan]

I wonder (hope) for a Jayden Daniels regression this year. CJ Stroud got figured out in his second year. He'll probably have a progression in year 3 but NFL defensive coordinators are really good sometimes.

[Eagle60]

I wonder (hope) for a Jayden Daniels regression this year. CJ Stroud got figured out in his second year. He'll probably have a progression in year 3 but NFL defensive coordinators are really good sometimes.

I saw Stroud on several occasions last season and I don't think that the stats told the whole story on him. It looked to me like his offensive line took a few games off and that's when he looked bad. When he had time he looked like the same guy that I saw his rookie year. That's just my opinion of course.

[NoDakIggle]

I have to agree 60 but that is the case on every team. You need the beef doing their part. No QB can be successful if you have to run for your life ten times a game and no RB can run for 2005 yards without the OLine. That is why fans who get it don’t mind when the GM picks the road grader guard or massive LT. I didn’t understand that so much when I was 20 but fifty years later I sure do.

[dawkins20]

Schedule alone favors the Rams being the team to worry about getting the 1 seed. They also have a ton of good young talent. I personally do see them being that 1 seed. The biggest question will be if they are the best (lions choke last year) or just the regular season darlings with an easy schedule.

[Eagle60]

Schedule alone favors the Rams being the team to worry about getting the 1 seed. They also have a ton of good young talent. I personally do see them being that 1 seed. The biggest question will be if they are the best (lions choke last year) or just the regular season darlings with an easy schedule.

It all comes down to injuries Dawk. Wasn't Stafford out for quite a bit of a stretch last year?

[dawkins20]

Think he played 16 games. One more than Hurts. They too us to the brink. Traveling across the country playing in front of the best fans in the world, in the snow. Kind of impressive. Especially with the young talent they have.

losing Kupp hurts, but Davante Adams fills in nice. To me, they are way more balanced and talented than Commanders.

but I agree. It will always come down to injuries. Can’t wait. Off season is so boring

[FairOaks]

I wonder (hope) for a Jayden Daniels regression this year. CJ Stroud got figured out in his second year. He'll probably have a progression in year 3 but NFL defensive coordinators are really good sometimes.

Stroud had a horrific OL, which was part of "figuring him out". It's always possible that could happen -- Commanders spent some quality picks to import the LT of that Texans OL last year -- but kind of doubt it. But, teams did find ways to slow down our 2022 offense after an offseason so sure, it's always possible -- then the question is if Daniels can re-adjust. They could also have a better team and a worse record this year -- they played a relatively easy schedule last year and still had to get quite lucky a few times. They did legitimately beat some good teams as well, but their schedule is harder this year, and they may not get as lucky.

Rams definitely seem to have some talent that gave us trouble. That said, we were almost in kneel-down mode that playoff game before the prevent defense did zilch and gave up a very fast score, then the offense goes three and out, then the prevent defense failed again until the Rams got to the 15 yard line. They did play us tough otherwise both games, except for the Saquon Barkley home runs. We will see if they keep improving.

Lions have the talent to compete with us for sure -- there would have been no better test for Fangio's defense than them last year, but we never got to see that matchup. Their defense just got too riddled with injuries. The big question there was how much of their success was Ben Johnson, and how much does that loss hurt.

49ers should be a lot better just based on health, but they have also lost a bunch of players so who knows.

Always possible that Dallas has found enough talent, and health, to look good for a while in the regular season.

[sfphillyfan]

Niners have the easiest schedule this year which will have everyone on their bandwagon but they’re just not that good. Their SB is closed.

[Eagle60]

Detroit is a lot like 49ers were after we won the Super Bowl. The Lions I'll say we were lucky that defense got all banged up or they would have beat us and the Niners said the same thing when they lost their two quarterbacks against us. Who knows, maybe they are right. You need a lot of luck to win a Super Bowl. Not many teams can repeat a championship.

[musicman]

I don't know if anyone beats us at the end of the year , even if Detroit is healthy.

[FairOaks]

I don't know if anyone beats us at the end of the year , even if Detroit is healthy.

I'm not sure even a healthy Detroit beats us either but I think it would have been very interesting -- they may have stressed our defense in ways no other team could, and they could have scored a fair number of points. With that injured defense though not sure they could stop us much at all.

The teams I was most wary of in the playoffs were Tampa Bay, and Detroit. Tampa because Bowles seems to have Hurts' number to an extent, and Detroit because of their offense. We avoided them both -- was very happy to play the Commanders instead. Green Bay gave me a bit of anxiety too as they peaked in the playoffs the year before, but I think they were in a bit more of a rut this year. Would have mildly preferred the Vikings but ended up not mattering.