Eagles Vs. Rams Playoff Battle: Snow And Cold, Odds, What To Know

PHILADELPHIA, PA — The Eagles are two wins away from their third Super Bowl ticket in seven years.

The battle continues Sunday afternoon as the Birds host the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Divisional round, essentially the quarterfinal round of the NFL playoffs.

The Rams are coming off a huge win against the Minnesota Vikings, and perhaps the most impressive performance of the Wild Card week all around. The Rams were 10-7 in the regular season, four games behind the Eagles, but they played like a Super Bowl contender last weekend, limiting a powerful Vikings offense to just a handful of field goals en route to a 27-9 blowout. And they did it playing on unfamiliar soil in Arizona, as their home field advantage in LA was taken by the ongoing wildfires.

The Birds, meanwhile, handled the Packers, 22-10, but it felt like more of a 40-6 kind of game given the turnovers and ball control. The Birds are heavily favored, but no one can sleep on the Rams after last week. Here's what to know:

Key details

Kickoff will be 3 p.m. on Sunday in south Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field, as the Eagles host their second consecutive home playoff game.

The game will be broadcast on NBC.

The weather

Once again, the weather will be a significant factor in the Eagles game. The National Weather Service is calling for early rain to turn to all snow by the time the game starts. Up to 3 or 4 inches could fall. Temperatures will not get above 35, and will start dropping as the sun sets amidst the middle of the game, eventually falling to 17 overnight. See latest forecast.

This could have been seen as hampering the Eagles against Green Bay last weekend; the cheeseheads play half their games on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. But the Rams bask in a Mediterranean climate all year round in Los Angeles, and are just coming from a comparatively toasty game in Glendale. It's fair to say the Birds, playing in Philadelphia's slot machine climate of record breaking heat followed by record breaking cold, are slightly better adapted to the type of weather coming on Sunday than the Rams.

Recent history

Since 1990, the Eagles are a stunning 13-4 against the Rams. Since 2005, they're 8-1. It's stunning because the Rams have had a host of excellent teams over the past 35 years, and the Birds have had their share of flightless faubles. But the Eagles appear to have LA's (and St. Louis's) number.

Of course, what really matters is their performance recently. The Eagles won a highly anticipated slugfest with LA back in late November, 37-20. They also beat a similar version of this Rams team in Oct. 2023, 23-14.

Passing Hurts

While the Birds took care of business against Green Bay, many analysts have pointed out that the game easily could have been put out of reach early, thanks to the number of turnovers forced by a ruthless Eagles defense.

Instead, the Birds air attack did not capitalize, and they relied chiefly on Saquon Barkley. Heading into the final minutes of the 3rd quarter, Jalen Hurts had only 37 yards passing during the entire game.

He boosted his final line with an excellent fourth, but questions about the Eagles air attack which have lingered all year came back again after Sunday's win. It doesn't help that Hurts had not played in three weeks, and the national microscope was already going to be on him, peering for rust.

Hurts has silenced these questions in the past, time and again. Expect him to do so on Sunday. But be prepared for broadcasters doubting him until he runs up Brady-esque numbers.

Odds and predictions

The Eagles are 6.5 point favorites to defeat the Rams, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. That's a full point higher than their spread against the Packers last week, which was 5.5., amid ongoing questions about Hurts's recovery from his concussion.

The Birds are also minus 275 moneyline favorites, as compared to minus 130 last week. Clearly, gamblers are all in on the Birds after their win against Green Bay.

Analysts are less sure. Sports Illustrated calls for a Rams upset, as does one of ESPN's three analysts. The other two ESPN writers both predicted the Eagles, however, and USA Today's three experts all agreed with a Birds win. ESPN's computer analysis, meanwhile, gives the Eagles a 65.4 chance of winning, and NFL's own win probability model gives the Birds a 72 percent chance.

What's next

If the Birds win, they'll play the winner of the top seeded Detroit Lions and the sixth seeded Washington Commanders.

If the Lions win as expected, they'll host the NFC Championship in Detroit.

If the Commanders pulled off a miracle and upset the 15-2 Lions, then the Eagles would have home field advantage the NFC Championship would be in Philadelphia.