The Dodgers’ World Series trophy was in the house. So was Olympic gold medalist Jordan Chiles.
Also on hand Sunday night at SoFi Stadium were members of the St. Louis Rams’ 1999 Super Bowl championship team, including four Hall of Fame players from an offense known as “The Greatest Show on Turf.”
Despite their presence, the Rams demonstrated once again that they cannot yet be considered championship material — not at least with what consistently has been a less-than-great offense and a defense that got steamrolled by Philadelphia Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley.
Barkley amassed 302 total yards as the Eagles rolled past the Rams 37-20 in front of a crowd of 74,400 — about half of them Eagles fans.
Barkley rushed for a franchise-record 255 yards and scored on second-half runs of 70 and 72 yards.
“He’s a different type of player,” Rams rookie edge rusher Jared Verse said. “I’ve never seen a running back like that.”
Barkley, quarterback Jalen Hurts and receiver A.J. Brown led the way as the Eagles amassed 481 yards, including 314 yards rushing.
“Any time an opponent gets [314] rushing yards, like that’s embarrassing,” Rams defensive lineman Kobie Turner said. “So we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
The defeat dropped the Rams’ record to 5-6. Though unimpressive, it is not a death knell for the Rams’ playoff hopes, especially with the Arizona Cardinals (6-5) and San Francisco 49ers (5-6) both losing Sunday.
The Rams have six games left, starting next Sunday at the New Orleans Saints.
They then will face the Buffalo Bills at home before traveling to play the 49ers in a key NFC West game. They finish with a road game against the New York Jets and home games against the Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks (6-5).
“Our division is wide open, so that’s a good thing to look forward to,” safety Quentin Lake said. “Obviously, now it’s kind of like a win-or-go-home mentality.”
Linebacker Michael Hoecht agreed.
“It’s starting to get to the point where, it’s like it’s crunch time for us,” Hoecht said.
The Rams probably won’t be postseason bound unless they eliminate momentum-killing turnovers such as running back Kyren Williams’ fumble on the opening drive. They also must consistently protect Matthew Stafford better and become more consistent in the kicking game.
It was a rough night for McVay, who was facing Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio for the first time since 2018, when Fangio’s Chicago Bears defense dominated the Rams in a 15-6 victory. The Bears performance gave New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick a blueprint for how to beat the Rams in Super Bowl LIII.
The Rams knew what they were up against — a team that featured one of the NFL’s best offensive lines and a defense that went into the game ranked second against the pass, seventh against the run and No. 1 overall.
The notoriously slow-starting Rams took the opening kickoff and drove down the field, only to have Williams fumble inside the 20-yard line. Thereafter, they failed to get into a consistent rhythm.
The Rams gained only 290 total yards and converted none of their third-down opportunities. Stafford was sacked five times.
“You play this game long enough, you’re going to have unfortunate nights,” said Stafford, who completed 24 of 36 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns. “You don’t ever want them to get out of hand like they did, but gotta move on.”
Said McVay: “We’re going to come back swinging. I know that much.”
On Sunday, a Rams defense was like a swinging gate for Barkley.
Minutes after the 1990s band Smash Mouth performed at halftime, Barkley smashed the Rams in the mouth.
On the first play of the third quarter, he took a handoff from Jalen Hurts, broke through the line of scrimmage and cut to the right sideline en route to a 70-yard touchdown that increased a 13-7 halftime lead to 20-7.
Read more: 🏈 Rams-Eagles summary
Early in the fourth quarter, Barkley broke free again and sprinted 72 yards up the middle for a touchdown and a 37-14 lead.
The seventh-year also caught four passes for 47 yards as the Eagles won their seventh game in a row and improved to 9-2.
“That’s why he’s had, arguably, an MVP type of season so far,” McVay said.
McVay and his players said they planned to put the defeat behind quickly.
“There’s humbling nights like this in football,” McVay said, “It’s all about how you respond. I do know that this team has the capability to be able to respond.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
