Sep 21, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver AJ. Brown (11) reacts after a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams during the second half at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images Eric Hartline
The Rams had Karty, but the Eagles had playboys.
While the big-picture takeaway from Sunday's Eagles win over the Los Angeles Rams will be the offense waking up and storming back from a 26-7 deficit to win, the comeback would have been all for naught if it wasn't for two blocked field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter.
With the Rams looking to extend their 26-21 lead by three points — which would have forced the Eagles to score a touchdown and convert a two-point conversion just to force overtime — Jalen Carter blocked a 36-yard field goal attempt by Los Angeles kicker Joshua Karty:
Eagles blocked the field-goal attempt from the Rams!
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Even after a 17-play, 91-yard drive gave the Eagles a late lead, it appeared Matthew Stafford and Kyren Williams had set the Rams up to kick a game-winning field goal as time expired. Instead, Jordan Davis blocked the field goal and returned it for a touchdown, giving the Eagles a 33-26 win, and handing a bad beat to anyone who had the Rams covering the spread:
Jordan Davis and the Eagles called game!
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Here are some other takeaways as the Eagles move to 3-0 in a come-from-behind victory.
Even though the Eagles won their first two games and were in it at halftime Sunday, it wasn't a prisoner-of-the-moment take to say that the offense had been boring through the first 10 quarters of the Kevin Patullo Era.
What was particularly noticeable was that A.J. Brown was targeted just once in the first half, and had zero receptions. This came after the three-time Pro Bowler was held to just six catches for 35 yards over the first two weeks of the season.
But Brown exploded in the second half, reasserting himself as one of the NFL's most dominant pass catchers and igniting a stagnant passing offense. Brown finished the day with six catches for 109 yards and a touchdown, all of which came after halftime:
A.J. Brown has arrived in the second half. 🫵
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Meanwhile, Jalen Hurts connected with DeVonta Smith for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown with less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter. Smith had eight catches for 60 yards Sunday.
The passing offense certainly isn't a finished product, but the second half was enough to talk Eagles fans off the ledge.
In our "On Pattison Picks" piece, I chose the Eagles to win a close game in large part because the Rams hadn't shown an ability to prevent Barkley from running wild on them.
When the Eagles and Rams met on Sunday Night Football in Week 12 last season, Saquon Barkley set a new single-game franchise record with 255 rushing yards. His longest touchdown was 72 yards.
He then proceeded to rush for 205 yards in a snowy 28-22 NFC Divisional Round victory by the Eagles over the Rams in January.
However, to their credit, the Rams did keep Barkley from having a major impact Sunday. Though he had a pretty sick spin move in the fourth quarter to secure a crucial first down, Barkley was held to 46 yards on 18 rushing attempts Sunday. If you told the Rams before the game that Barkley held been held under 50 yards, they would have thought they escaped Lincoln Financial Field with a victory. But the Eagles are such a talented team that they were able to narrowly escape even without a major impact from the reigning Offensive Player of the Year.
While it worked in the favor of the Eagles, this was such a ridiculous taunting penalty called on Puka Nacua:
Puka Nacua flagged for taunting for celebrating after a 1st down pic.twitter.com/r1voEtoQ1K
Nacua's flex wasn't even directed at a specific Eagles defender. Even if it was, he made a great play in an NFL game, if he wants to flex and spin the ball, more power to him. The overwhelming majority of NFL fans don't want to see teams flagged for this, and certainly not if it's a 15-yard penalty.
The Eagles will travel to Raymond James Stadium — which has been a house of horrors for them — in Week 4 to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It will be a battle of two 3-0 teams, as the Buccaneers won 29-27 over the New York Jets on a walk-off field goal Sunday.
