Now that the Rams' 2020 schedule is officially out, it's time to resume our offseason opponent breakdowns on theRams.com. Up next is Los Angeles' Week 2 road game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
2019
The Eagles were a 5-4 team going into their Week 10 bye, but three consecutive losses after the break put their playoff hopes in jeopardy. Still, they rallied to win their final four games of the season – including a Week 16 victory over the Dallas Cowboys which paved the way for an NFC East-clinching win over the New York Giants in Week 17 to earn the fourth playoff seed in the conference.
Unfortunately for Philadelphia, starting quarterback Carson Wentz sustained a head injury on the first play of its second offensive series in its Wild Card game against the Seattle Seahawks. Despite veteran backup Josh McCown's best efforts, the Eagles fell to the Seahawks 17-9.
That bad injury luck followed a challenging regular season in which 32 different Eagles players dealt with injury at various points, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. Wide receiver was the position hit hardest, with starters Alshon Jeffery (six games), DeSean Jackson (13 games) and Nelson Agholor (five games) all missing time. Defensively, starting defensive tackle Malik Jackson suffered a season-ending foot injury in the opener against the Washington Redskins.
Changes
The most notable transactions occurred on defense, highlighted by the Eagles trading a third-round pick and fifth-round pick in this year's NFL Draft to the Detroit Lions for three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay. Slay received a three-year contract extension from the Eagles as well. They also signed former Rams slot cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman to a one-year deal.
On offense, Philadelphia said goodbye to Agholor, who signed with the Las Vegas Raiders as an unrestricted free agent, and hello to former TCU star Jalen Reagor, who it selected with its first-round pick in this year's draft. To further bolster their wide receiver depth, the Eagles also acquired WR Marquise Goodwin and pick No. 210 in the 2020 NFL Draft from the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for pick No. 190.
Head coach
Doug Pederson enters his fifth season as head coach of the Eagles, compiling a 38-26 regular season record through his first four years with the franchise. Philadelphia went 13-3 and won Super Bowl LII in 2017, Pederson's second season.
What to watch for
The quarterback battle
This game will pit the 2016 No. 1 overall pick (Rams quarterback Jared Goff) against the 2016 No. 2 overall pick (Wentz).
Through their first four seasons in the league, Goff has completed 62.4 percent of his passes for 14,219 yards and 87 touchdowns with 42 interceptions, while Wentz has completed 63.8 percent of his passes for 14,191 yards and 97 touchdowns with 35 interceptions.
The two previous matchups between Wentz and Goff have been high-scoring affairs, producing a combined 78 points in 2017 (a 43-35 Eagles win) and 53 points in 2018 (a 30-23 Eagles win). Both took place in Los Angeles.
