We will find out who will host the NFC Championship game next week when the second double header of NFL 2024 Playoffs action opens up on Sunday evening as the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Los Angeles Rams.
The Washington Commanders are waiting to find out who they will travel to face next week with the winners here progressing to a home game for a shot at the Super Bowl. Things have got a lot more serious for both of these sides.
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles have had an excellent season and now they are probably the favourites to make it back to the Super Bowl for the second time in three years. They cruised past the Green Bay Packers last week, although it should be noted that they were given plenty of help from the Packers in that match with a number of turnovers and some really poor decision making from the Green Bay quarterback. Nevertheless, you take such fortune when it comes along.
The Eagles always looked like they were going to be dangers come the postseason because they have the best running back of the season in terms of explosive impact and their defence has been improving the longer the campaign has gone on. Those are generally the hallmarks of successful teams at this time of year, and if the forecasted snow arrives in this part of Pennsylvania like it is expected to then those qualities will be needed here.
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Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams have had a wonderful season regardless of what happens here. It has been one of taking their opportunities really. They had to bide their time for the likes of the Arizona Cardinals and the Seattle Seahawks to open the door for them in the race for the NFC West title but when they did leave it open the Rams ploughed through it. Then in the postseason last week they took advantage of the wheels having fallen off of the Minnesota Vikings’ offense at just the wrong time.
That isn’t to suggest that the Rams aren’t here on merit. They will still be fuelled by emotion given what is going on back home with the fires and we can expect them to raise their game as a result of that. The one question mark is whether the Rams can run the ball against this Eagles defence. If they can they would have every chance but if they need to rely on their passing game then in these conditions it could be a long evening for them.
Betting
I think this match is all about one man – Saquon Barkley. He had the time of his life when these two met in the regular season and when you consider that the playoffs are all about just winning, especially once the Philadelphia Eagles get in front, then you would have to think he is going to see a lot of the ball, even more so when you consider that the snow is expected to be in town during the time that this match is being played out.
Barkley rushed for a pretty ridiculous 255 yards against this very defence a couple of months ago and while it would be foolish to think he would reach those numbers again, the Rams defence averaged 4.6 yards per carry in the regular season and you would imagine that average will be higher against an elite running back behind such a strong offensive line. Barkley has a rushing yards line of 111.5 here so we need him to handle the ball 23 times if he performs to a nudge above the average the Rams concede. In these conditions and in a playoff game you would expect him to get those. He handled it 25 times for 119 yards last week and I expect similar numbers here.
Tips
Back S.Barkley – Over 111.5 rushing yards for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
