Do the LA Rams face a panicked Eagles team already in game two?

The 1-0 LA Rams take on their nemesis in the 0-1 Philadelphia Eagles today. But are the Eagles panicking, and already calling this a must-win game?

The LA Rams take on the Philadelphia Eagles today, a game that the Eagles are already naming this one a “must-win” game. That is a bit melodramatic, particularly considering that the Rams are not a division rival. The greater “must-win” was the game that the Eagles lost a week ago. The Eagles are already 0-1 in the NFC East, and they have lost to one of their division’s early games.

That’s a sign of panic. Should this be that much of an emotionally charged game, considering that this is just week two?  I don’t normally consider the Eagles a panicky team. In fact, the Eagles in the past years have been better whenever they face adversity.  Are the Eagles trying to manufacture adversity to play better?

Eagles need desperation to play with inspiration

The LA Rams are not in this to be emotional. I don’t think any excessive emotions help the Rams at all. This is a road game, a clean crisp in and out for the Rams. With the Rams in the hunt for something bigger and better, this is not the game to go wild and animated. But the lack of respect of Jared Goff, the Rams running game, and the Rams offense overall.

That’s the problem with playing on emotions. If the Eagles need to feel disrespected, backs-against-the-wall, nobody loves them, in order to win, then that eventually will fail. Each year, the Philadelphia Eagles seem to push it to the brink and then come roaring back to win later in the season.

Rams cerebral in this one

The Rams proved in week one that the coaches can anticipate what their opponent wants to do, and use that against them.  The Cowboys wanted to get to Goff quickly, and so the Rams used that against them.  The Eagles will make a similar mistake. The Eagles defense plays with emotion and has a way of doing things that really won’t flex all that much to adapt to the team the defense faces in that game.

The Rams can study the Eagles offense and defense and built a game plan to not only defeat what the Eagles did but can anticipate what the Eagles will try to do better and stop them there as well. Such as, the Eagles saw the Rams put up two touchdowns by running back Malcolm Brown, and will likely focus a lot of energy to stopping him today. But the Rams can pass when Brown is in the backfield, or simply rotate in another running back.

The consensus that Goff is ‘just average’, the Rams are ‘a .500 team’, and that the Rams defense is ‘only Aaron Donald’ is everywhere. That’s just fine for the LA Rams. By the time that other teams figure out that they’ve underestimated this Rams team, it will be too late.