Eagles ride Saquon Barkley heroics, late defensive stand to snowy victory over Rams and NFC title game berth

Snow games make for wonderful theater. There’s a reason games with white fields are so memorable. It’s a dream for NFL Films.

The Philadelphia Eagles didn’t mind it. Saquon Barkley had another monster game against the Los Angeles Rams, and the Eagles defense barely held off the Rams’ rally in the final minutes to win 28-22 and advance to the NFC championship game.

The conditions on Sunday were a lot different than the Rams are used to. The Philadelphia Eagles handled the conditions slightly better. The Eagles defense held in the final two minutes when the Rams had a chance to win it, forcing a big sack on third down and then an incompletion on fourth down with less than a minute to go. The Eagles will host the Washington Commanders, an NFC East rival that beat Philadelphia in the final seconds of a Week 16 game.

Two crucial fourth-quarter fumbles were a big difference for the Rams. It seemed like neither one would have happened under normal conditions, but on Saturday the ball was hard to hold in the snow. The Rams offense couldn’t move the ball much in the second half and the turnovers led to six critical points for Philadelphia. And in both Eagles-Rams games this season, one in the snow and one in sunny and warm Southern California, the Rams defense simply couldn’t contain Barkley.

It’s a tough loss for the Rams. They played well to win the NFC West and then advance to the divisional round. They’ll leave Philadelphia to start the offseason wondering if the result would have been different in normal weather conditions. The Eagles had to be happy to have home-field advantage on Sunday. In a close finish, it might have been the difference.

Eagles break big TD runs in 1st half

The Eagles weren’t exactly sharp offensively, but they hit two big plays in the first quarter to get a lead. Jalen Hurts took a run to the right and it opened up wide for him. He ran 44 yards for a touchdown. Jake Elliott missed the extra point but Philadelphia led 6-0.

After the Rams scored a touchdown to take a 7-6 lead, Saquon Barkley had yet another long touchdown run. Barkley broke a 62-yard touchdown run, slowing up at the end to tease Rams edge rusher and Philadelphia villain Jared Verse before he scored. Barkley and Hurts became the first teammates in the Super Bowl era to each have a touchdown run of 40 or more yards in a postseason game, according to NBC.

It was great to hit those two plays, but that was pretty much the extent of their offense. The Eagles had 196 yards at halftime and 106 of that came on two plays. The Eagles didn’t have a completion on a pass that was five or more yards past the line of scrimmage before halftime. The cold and snow did not help either offense, but for the Eagles it had to be frustrating. It was a continuation of Philadelphia’s issues in the passing game that have persisted for much of the season.

But since the Eagles have a very good defense and the Rams were affected by the snow too, Philadelphia stayed in front. They led 13-10 at halftime. It was a grind-it-out game amid snow flurries. It felt like playoff football. Then the snow got heavier, the field got messier and it turned from a well-contested playoff game to both teams just trying to function as they slid around.

The snow globe in Philadelphia looked great on television, but even simple football movements became very tough.

A snowy 2nd half

The field became covered with snow in the second half, which didn’t help footing from either team. The most notable play of the third quarter was an injury.

Jalen Hurts was sacked and bent backward, putting a lot of pressure on his knee. He stayed in for one more play, a handoff, then went to the blue medical tent as the Eagles tried a field goal. The kick was good but Hurts clearly was struggling when he came back in the game. That led to a sack in the end zone and a Rams safety when Hurts couldn’t move. The Rams trailed 16-15 and given Hurts’ banged-up knee, there was concern. It’s an injury that will be monitored all week leading up to the NFC title game.

The snow helped the Eagles out though. Kyren Williams had the slippery ball punched out by Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter, and Philadelphia recovered. After a long return to the Rams’ 10-yard line, Barkley got three straight handoffs and he was just short of a touchdown on the third one. On fourth-and-goal the Eagles were going to run a tush push but right tackle Lane Johnson had a false start that pushed it back five yards. Philadelphia settled for a field goal, which was another disappointment for the Eagles offense and a big win for the Rams defense.

It didn’t matter much because the Rams couldn’t do anything on offense. Matthew Stafford had the ball pop out of his hands for a fumble and the Eagles recovered. That led to another Elliott field goal in tough conditions, which pushed the Eagles’ lead to 22-15 with 6:18 left.

The Rams punted after that and then Barkley kept his footing while the Rams defense couldn’t find theirs on a 78-yard touchdown. Philadelphia missed the extra point, which didn’t seem like that big of a deal in the moment. The Rams finally got some offense going when they were down two points and scored a touchdown with 2:48 left to stay alive. The Rams defense got a stop, with the defense getting a huge sack on Hurts on second down, and the Eagles punted. The Rams surprisingly had a chance to win it.

The Rams started to move the ball again, something they had rarely done in the miserable weather. Puka Nacua had a ridiculous 37-yard catch with 1:25 left down to the Eagles’ 21-yard line.

It wasn’t an easy game for either team but the Eagles held on in the snow. Barkley in particular was the difference as the Eagles advanced. There will presumably be better weather in Philadelphia for the NFC championship game next week, but the Eagles might not mind if there’s another snowstorm.