The Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles have been linked for the past decade, not only by quarterback decisions atop the 2016 draft, but also by trading away those highly drafted QBs after reaching Super Bowls with them and even after signing them to expensive extensions.
The Rams traded Jared Goff and won a Super Bowl with Matthew Stafford. The Eagles traded Carson Wentz and won it all with Jalen Hurts.
As these teams prepare for a Week 3 rematch of the January playoff game Philly won on its way to the most recent Super Bowl, the matchup is fascinating for different reasons.
Young vs. old
Philly, which had the NFL’s fourth-oldest snap-weighted defense two seasons ago, brings the league’s youngest into Week 3. The unit is led by the game’s oldest and most experienced defensive coordinator, the 67-year-old Vic Fangio.
The Rams, led by the NFL’s fourth-youngest head coach in 39-year-old Sean McVay, possess the oldest snap-weighted offense, headlined by Stafford and new receiver Davante Adams.
It’s a mismatch of experience, but the Eagles went 2-0 against the Rams last season while fielding the third-youngest snap-weighted defense (the Rams had the ninth-oldest offense). Having Saquon Barkley rush for 255 and 205 yards in those games certainly helped. The Rams, who scored 20 points on offense in each game, did have the Eagles on their heels late in the divisional playoffs, driving to the Philadelphia 13-yard line in the final 1:14 before stalling in the 28-22 defeat.
Fangio, hired by the Eagles before last season, has been coaching in the NFL since 1986. He has seen just about everything there is to see, including dramatic changes in playing style. This season might be a new experience for him as a play caller.
The Eagles’ starters through Week 2 average just under 25 years old, a full year younger than the Week 1-2 starters averaged for any of the 20 defenses Fangio has coordinated since 2000, per TruMedia. That includes stints with Indianapolis, Houston, San Francisco, Chicago, Denver (as head coach), Miami and now Philly.
In fact, the average age of Philadelphia’s defensive starters (24.88) is the fourth-lowest through two weeks among 830 teams since 2000. Many of the youngest defenses this century were part of poor teams in the middle of extensive rebuilds, like the 2017 Browns, 2019 Dolphins, 2008 Chiefs and 2013 Bucs. The most notable exceptions? The 2017 Saints and 2022 and 2023 Chiefs, contending-level teams that found defensive riches in the draft, as the Eagles have.
It’s been an excellent mix so far, with Philadelphia ranking first in defensive EPA per play, counting playoffs, since hiring Fangio before last season. But the Eagles are 15th this season through victories over Dallas and Kansas City, with some question marks.
The defense lacks proven veteran depth at defensive tackle, linebacker and safety. Defensive linemen Josh Sweat and Milton Williams left in free agency for deals with a combined $45 million in average annual salary. Defensive backs Darius Slay (free agency), C.J. Gardner-Johnson (trade) and Isaiah Rodgers (free agency) followed them out the door, as Philadelphia dialed back its cash spending to 20th in the NFL, following several years near the top of the league.
Ninth-year corner Adoree’ Jackson, signed as a free agent from the New York Giants, has struggled as the second outside corner, entering in nickel packages when 2024 second-round pick Cooper DeJean bumps inside. Jackson nearly gave up a late 75-yard touchdown to Kansas City in Week 2, except the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes overthrew his wide-open receiver, Tyquan Thornton.
The table below shows where the Eagles’ primary defenders have gotten younger since 2023. The age shifts are most pronounced in the secondary. (Jalen Carter’s ejection before the first play from scrimmage kept him out of the lineup for Week 1 this season, but we’ve included him here.)
Philadelphia has gotten a league-high 787 defensive snaps this season from its own draft choices selected since 2023. That total might be higher if Carter, a 2023 first-round pick, had played against Dallas in the opener.
DeJean and fellow second-year corner Quinyon Mitchell have played all 113 snaps. First-round rookie linebacker Jihaad Campbell has played 106 snaps. Defensive tackle Moro Ojomo, outside linebacker Nolan Smith and second-round rookie safety Andrew Mukuba have each played 91.
Challenges and opportunities
Two veteran coaches said having talented young defensive players can be easier than having talented older ones. That is because veteran players sometimes have their own ideas about what has worked previously or in other places. Some want to be co-coordinators, without taking into account details that matter more to coaches, such as what the team has practiced most.
“Sometimes, getting those young guys in there, they buy into what you want,” one of the coaches said. “You can coach those guys hard to get it right.”
If there’s a secret sauce to Fangio’s defense, it might be holding disguises a tick or two longer after the snap — not just in the secondary, where post-snap rotations are critical, but also at linebacker, the position Fangio is best known for coaching.
“A lot of guys think the secondary is disguising, but the tells are coming right from the alignments of linebackers,” the other coach said. “Vic will align with neutral alignments at linebacker. That is a detail that he took further.”
Turning little-used New Orleans cast-off Zack Baun into an All-Pro was not all about coaching, but it surely played a role. The second coach thought Fangio’s plan for Kansas City in the Super Bowl last season was textbook simplicity wrapped in complexity. Philly hardly blitzed, but the Eagles were dialed into the well-practiced details of their disguises.
“People say, ‘Oh, he played a very simple defense,'” the second coach said, “but nobody can just copy that and go play it the next week.”
The Eagles’ secondary, while promising, has had issues this season and will be tested by Stafford, Puca Nakua and Adams (Fangio told reporters he expects “an all-day sucker” of a battle). Stafford, 37, has shown no limitations despite missing most of training camp with a back issue, and Adams is off to a strong start in his 12th season.
Rich history, high stakes
The Fangio-McVay history is rich, as the scheme Fangio implemented with the Bears against McVay in 2018 became a blueprint for stifling the Rams. New England weaponized it against McVay in a 13-3 Super Bowl victory over the Rams that season.
Fangio is 3-0 as a defensive play caller in games against the McVay-era Rams, with his defense coming out ahead from an EPA standpoint in two of them. But McVay overhauled his scheme after the Super Bowl defeat to New England, especially in the running game. He’ll need his own defense, which is the NFL’s fifth-youngest on a snap-weighted basis this year, to keep Barkley from controlling the game (the Rams rank first in defensive EPA per play this season after facing Houston and Tennessee).
Nothing is too pivotal in Week 3, but this is a good early fight for positioning in the NFC, which appears more open than the AFC, especially near the top. The Eagles are 5-1 against the Rams during the McVay era in Los Angeles. They were 9-3 in the conference last season on their way to securing the No. 2 seed. The Rams were only 6-5 in the NFC last season before resting starters against Seattle in Week 18.
Green Bay is already 2-0 in the NFC and has dominated its first two games. The Eagles and Rams are both 2-0 without hitting stride just yet. Which team will make the early move?
(Photos of Matthew Stafford, left, and Cooper DeJean: Wesley Hitt, Cooper Neill / Getty Images)
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