Eagles travel through snow, Rams advance to NFC Championship Game

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Eagles rode the strength of Saquon Barkley and the defense to reach the NFC Championship Game and beat the Los Angeles Rams 28-22 in the divisional round on Sunday.

In other words, nothing has changed.

Barkley once again proved to be the Rams' nemesis, rushing for a franchise record 205 yards. He had two touchdown rushes of 60 or more yards, including a 76-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter that sparked a party at Lincoln Financial Field, complete with “MVP” chants and snowball throwing.

His performance was reminiscent of Week 12 against Los Angeles, when he rushed for a franchise-record 255 yards.

When the game was in doubt — quarterback Jalen Hurts was knocked down by a safety late in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to one. Former Georgia teammates Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith Jr. were forced to fumble in back-to-back series and hit two field goals to give Philadelphia some breathing room. Then Barkley hit closer.

There will be some health questions surrounding the injury (he appeared to hurt his left leg in the second half) and whether the passing game holds up to the test in Sunday's NFC Championship Game against the Washington Commanders (3 p.m. ET, Fox) . But there's no denying the effectiveness of the formula that got them there.

Biggest hole in the game plan: Clock management ended the first half. Coach Nick Sirianni's handling of the situation is questionable. After a sack by Hurts brought the Eagles back to the Rams' 45-yard line, Philadelphia could have used a timeout with 20 seconds left to try and make a play that would get them back into field goal range. Instead, Sirianni let the clock run down to three seconds and set up a Hail Mary, which resulted in another Hurts sack and zero points for the Eagles.

Most surprising performance: Eagles cornerback Isaiah Rodgers replaced the injured Quincyon Mitchell and made one of the game's biggest plays, catching a fumble from Kyren Williams on the first play of the fourth quarter. The ball was returned 40 yards. It looked like Barkley had cashed in for his second touchdown of the day, but it was ruled short and Jake Elliott fielded a field goal to put the Eagles up 19-15.

Jaw-dropping statistics: Barkley's top speed during the two touchdowns was 20.78 mph. He has nine rushing touchdowns this season, reaching speeds of over 20 miles per hour. The Eagles had six such touchdowns before this season, dating back to 2016 when NFL Next Gen Stats debuted. Los Angeles Chargers rookie wide receiver Ladd McConkey is the only ball carrier with a faster maximum velocity (20.84) this postseason. — Tim McManus

Next game: vs. Washington Commanders, Sunday, 3 p.m. ET (Fox)

The Rams lost to the Eagles in the playoffs on Sunday, scoring 22 points while playing in heavy snow for much of the game in Philadelphia.

The offense reaches the end zone twice: On the Rams' first drive of the game, quarterback Matthew Stafford throws to tight end Tyler Higbee A 4-yard touchdown pass to Higbee tied the game at six with just under 2 1/2 minutes remaining. – Click on the game.

Stafford completed 26 of 43 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Stafford finished his third playoff appearance with 15 touchdown passes for the Los Angeles Rams, tying Kurt Warner for the most in franchise history. .

The teams traded possessions fairly evenly for three quarters before the Rams struggled to protect the ball, with running backs Kyren Williams and Stafford fumbled on back-to-back drives in the fourth quarter.

The Rams are the first team since the Dolphins in 2016 to fumble on two consecutive drives in the playoffs, according to ESPN Research.

Jaw-dropping statistics: Stafford's touchdown pass to tight end Higbee in the first quarter was 0.4 yards away when the pass arrived. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, this is the fewest touchdown receptions Stafford has thrown as a Rams player.

Promising trends: Pass rush. A week after tying a playoff record with nine sacks, the young Rams defense held Hurts to seven sacks for a total of 16 sacks in two games — the first official sack count since the '19 season. The most sacks in two postseason games since sacks. 1963, according to ESPN Research.

Biggest hole in the game plan: Stop the Eagles' run. The Rams, who allowed 314 rushing yards in a Week 12 loss to Philadelphia (including Barkley's franchise-record 255 yards), are well aware of the challenge. The Eagles' first two touchdowns were 44 yards (Hurts) and 62 yards (Barkley), and Philadelphia finished with 285 yards rushing. — Sarah Barshop