With their Super Bowl-winning quarterback Nick Foles back in the lineup, they looked like a championship-level team for the first time since February.
This has been a strange season for the Philadelphia Eagles, and perhaps the oddest twist came on Sunday.
There’s probably no cause-and-effect in play, but when Nick Foles filled in for Carson Wentz on Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles finally looked like the championship team we saw last season. Foles, who won Super Bowl MVP last season, led one of the biggest upsets in the NFL this season, as Philadelphia beat the Los Angeles Rams 30-23. The Eagles are 7-7, not in great shape in the playoff race but still alive with two weeks to go. The 8-6 Seahawks and the 7-6-1 Vikings have the NFC wild-card spots for now. The Eagles are still in range, and only trail the NFC East-leading Cowboys by a game too.
The Rams, who started 11-1, looked bad for the second straight week in a loss. The upset loss was a severe blow to their chances of getting the No. 1 seed in the NFC. The second half was a stunning display of futility, with Jared Goff stumbling to the ground and throwing a back-breaking interception, a fake punt that fell incomplete and not a lot of fight from the defense.
When the Rams showed some signs of life, punt returner JoJo Natson simply dropped the ball and the Eagles recovered the unforced fumble with 2:51 left. That gave the Rams little time after a missed field goal, and Todd Gurley couldn’t get out of bounds on a key play in the final seconds, bleeding precious time off the clock.
