The Rams walked out of Philadelphia with a 24-20 win. The Eagles walked out with a blown 10-point lead, two banged-up running backs, and a head coach explaining another fourth down. That's how Week 4 closed. Monday night still has to be played.
Darius Cooper's catch put Philadelphia up 13-3, and it was the last good thing that happened to the Eagles' offense. Jalen Hurts threw for 93 yards in his first game without the injured DeVonta Smith, and the Eagles turned in the worst third-down performance in franchise history, per Yahoo Sports. Ninety-three yards is the tell. Hurts had nobody he trusted to win on schedule, and the offense compressed into short stuff that a good defense can sit on.
The fourth-down failures came for a second straight week. Nick Sirianni spent Monday explaining a crucial call, and Emmanuel Acho pinned the loss on him. I won't go that far. Two straight weeks of bad fourth-down decisions is a pattern, not noise, and the head coach owns it either way.
Up 10 late, the Eagles' defense allowed two Rams touchdown drives inside the final 7 1/2 minutes. That number should bother Philadelphia more than any coaching debate. Ten-point leads with that little clock left are supposed to be wins.
Matthew Stafford threw two interceptions and won anyway. That's the Rams' season in miniature: good enough to beat a reeling team on the road, not clean enough to trust against a defense that punishes turnovers.
Two Eagles running backs left Sunday with injuries, and Tank Bigsby is headed for surgery on a core muscle, per PFT. That backfield is a full-on waiver scramble now. Whoever gets the first crack at carries next week is worth real FAAB, because the job is open and the offense still wants to run.
Several Rams assistants were caught on video pounding on the glass and taunting Eagles fans during the comeback. Sean McVay said he spoke with them and that they'll "learn" and "we'll be better." Right response, delivered fast. It's still a bad look for a staff that sells itself on poise, and the clip isn't going away.
Monday night, Noah Fant is inactive for the Saints and Atlanta linebacker Samson Ebukam will play. Fant's absence takes a middle-of-the-field option off the table for New Orleans, so anyone streaming him should go elsewhere. Ebukam gives the Falcons' pass rush a body they've been missing.
My read on the Eagles: fade the passing game until Smith is back. Hurts is a matchup QB2 right now, not a QB1, and I'd rather stream a quarterback against a soft defense than start him against a good one. If Smith returns next week and Hurts throws for 250, I'm wrong. I don't think I am.
