Eagles Postgame Show: The Birds keep winning, but can they keep it up against tougher teams?

Monday, October 9, 2023

Jalen Hurts, tough defense carry Eagles to a 23-14 win over Rams

Postgame show: Jalen Hurts and a tough defense carry the Eagles to a 23-14 victory over the Rams

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The Philadelphia Eagles remain unbeaten after holding off the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday by the score of 23-14.

Jalen Hurts passed for 303 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 72 yards and another score, Dallas Goedert had eight catches for 117 yards and A.J. Brown had six catches for 127 yards.

The Birds couldn't reach the end zone in the second half and had to rely on the defense, which shut out the Rams after halftime.

The two scores for the Eagles came from a pair of field goals from kicker Jake Elliott.

But will that be enough when the schedule gets tougher as the season goes on?

On this week's Postgame Show, Seth Joyner said the team has to become more efficient in the red zone.

"These better teams they play against, they're not going to be these teams with field goals, they're going to have to beat these teams with touchdowns," Joyner said.

Watch this week's Postgame Show for a full breakdown of Sunday's win and what the Eagles need to do to step up their game.

Eagles' missed opportunities

The Eagles earned another road victory punctuated by another set of successful "tush push" plays, but they'll also lament missed opportunities while failing to score at least 25 points for the first time this season despite racking up 454 total yards.

Philadelphia went 13 for 18 on third downs after struggling in that area last week, but also had to settle for short field goals by Jake Elliott after drives lasting 17 plays, 15 plays and 10 plays.

The Philly defense covered for the offense's shortcomings, with Eagles rookie Jalen Carter picking up two sacks in the stadium where he won a national title with Georgia nine months ago. Haason Reddick also had two sacks.

After coming off injured reserve this week, Kupp made a remarkable return to the NFL in the first game since November 2022 for the 2021 Offensive Player of the Year. Kupp missed the final eight games of last season with an ankle injury before getting sidelined early in this year's training camp with a hamstring injury.

Goedert caught a 6-yard scoring pass to cap Philadelphia's opening drive, but the Rams responded with a 14-play march that included six targets of Kupp before Atwell's TD catch.

Los Angeles went up 14-10 with 32 seconds left in the first half with a drive including two exceptional throws by Stafford, who hit Kupp for a 39-yard gain before finding Nacua in the corner for a 22-yard TD.

But Hurts scored on a 1-yard tush push at the halftime gun after going 75 yards with major help from Rams cornerback Derion Kendrick, who committed 28 yards in penalties while trying to defend Brown.

LA's Ahkello Witherspoon made an impressive end-zone interception in the third quarter to keep the Eagles from pulling away, but the Rams' offense couldn't capitalize on any opportunity.

INJURIES

Eagles: DT Fletcher Cox (back pain) missed his first game of the season.

Rams: DL Bobby Brown left the field on a cart with his right leg stabilized with 1:50 to play. ... OL Joseph Noteboom missed his first game of the season after injuring his groin last week.