Before he signed with the Rams last March, safety Kamren Curl played four seasons for the Washington Commanders in the NFC East.
That resumé makes him something of a resident expert on the Philadelphia Eagles, and star running back Saquon Barkley, who played six seasons for the New York Giants.
“I’m a little familiar with them,” Curl said Wednesday.
On Sunday night, the Rams will try to keep alive their playoff hopes when they play the streaking Eagles at SoFi Stadium.
The Eagles are 8-2 and have won six games in a row with an offense that features Barkley, quarterback Jalen Hurts, receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, one of the NFL’s best offensive lines and a defense that ranks at or near the top.
“Their roster, top to bottom, is as good as it gets in this league, if not the best,” Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said.
Curl has played seven games against the Eagles. He faced Barkley six times against the Giants.
“They’re going to do what they do,” Curl said of an Eagles team coming off a victory over the Commanders. “They believe in their players, so they don’t really switch things up.
“They think that their skill players are better than yours. … It’s going to be good playing against them again.”
Barkley has made the Eagles the top rushing team in the NFL.
He has rushed for 1,137 yards and eight touchdowns while averaging 113.7 yards per game. He also has two touchdown receptions.
Since leaving the struggling Giants as a free agent, “it’s not all on his shoulders,” Curl said.
“He looks fresher,” Curl said. “He looks faster. He’s always been a great player and now he looks healthy. And like I said, those skill players complement him and he complements them, so it’s going to be a good challenge for us.
“But I feel like if we play our brand of football, we can come out with the W.”
Barkley has been “a huge energy spark” for the Eagles, Rams coach Sean McVay said.
“They’ve hit their stride, and it’s no mystique why they’ve won six games in a row and they’re finding their identity,” McVay said. “And certainly Saquon is in the middle of a lot of really good stuff that they’re doing.”
Hurts has passed for 12 touchdowns and rushed for 11, once again excelling in short-yardage situations with the Eagles “Tush Push” play.
McVay said that at this point in the season, simulating the play in practice and “what that would actually be like and some of those rugby scrum-type of settings” is difficult.
“It’s why they’re one of one,” McVay said. “A lot of people try to emulate that, but they’re the ones that have done it at such a high level.”
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Last season, the Eagles defeated the Rams, 23-14, at SoFi Stadium.
Now the Eagles have a new offensive coordinator in Kellen Moore and a new defensive coordinator in Vic Fangio. (Former defensive coordinator Sean Desai is a senior defensive assistant for the Rams.)
McVay has not faced Fangio since 2018, when Fangio was the Chicago Bears’ defensive coordinator for a 15-6 victory over the Rams.
Jared Goff was the quarterback then. Stafford is now.
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“They do a really nice job of disguising their looks and giving you a bunch of things to look at,” Stafford said. “They’re not wasting players in any kind of coverage or anything like that.
“They don’t have somebody to cover an area of grass just to cover an area of grass if nobody’s over there. They’re always trying to buy back defenders and do a great job of using the guys that they have on the field. That’s what makes this defense a challenging one.”
Etc.
The Rams did not practice but conducted a walk-through. Offensive lineman Rob Havenstein (ankle) and cornerback Charles Woods (ankle) were listed as non-participants on the injury report. Cornerback Cobie Durant (thigh), offensive lineman Joe Noteboom (ankle) and defensive lineman Neville Gallimore (shoulder) were limited…. A day after the Cleveland Browns signed offensive lineman Geron Christian off the Rams practice squad, the Rams opened the 21-day window for rookie offensive lineman KT Leveston to return to practice from injured reserve.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.