Instant Observations from Eagles 33, Rams 26: Eagles win wild one on Jordan Davis blocked kick

It was a tale of two halves for the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 3 against the Los Angeles Rams.

They were booed off the field by their own fans at halftime, after managing just 33 total yards of offense in the first half. All of the concerns about the passing offense from the previous two weeks had come to fruition. The Eagles’ running game, after losing Lane Johnson early with a neck injury, could not manage much of anything at all either. The Eagles went down 26-7 early in the second half after a Jalen Hurts strip sack turned into points for the Rams. Things looked kinda hopeless.

And then, something crazy happened: The Eagles passing game woke up. Through some crucial conversions from Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown, and Sean McVay and the Rams struggling on short-yardage situations, the Eagles took a 27-26 lead late on a DeVonta Smith touchdown catch. Hurts finished with 226 passing yards and accounted for four touchdowns. Brown and DeVonta Smith combined for 169 yards. All is well in Philadelphia again.

But, it looked like the Eagles left too much time for the Rams after failing to convert on the two-point conversion following the go-ahead touchdown. Rams kicker Joshua Karty had a look at a 44-yard field goal at the end to win. But Jordan Davis blocked the kick, Davis returned his block all the way for a touchdown, and the Eagles escaped with an absolutely wild, improbable win.

EAGLES BLOCK THE KICK AND JORDAN DAVIS SCORES A TOUCHDOWN BECAUSE WHY NOT pic.twitter.com/XNcYthVUMm

— NFL (@NFL) September 21, 2025

Here is the PHLY Eagles staff’s instant observations as the Eagles improved to 3-0.

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EJ Smith

The lasting visual of Jordan Davis bounding down the field in triumph underscores the exact type of game the Eagles are hoping to win in the early going of the season. The 33-26 win over the Los Angeles Rams wasn’t always pretty — it was downright ugly for most of that first half — but the talent across both sides of the ball made the difference. The offense spun its wheels for most of the first half before leaning on Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown to create something out of nothing, and Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter combined to wipe away two field goals and a fourth-down stop. The Eagles are undefeated with plenty of room left to grow.

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Bo Wulf

Roger Goodell will not sleep until the National Football League no longer features strong men doing big, strong things. Tush pushes, flexes, talking about a good play they made, etc. One can only infer Goodell is emasculated by the men who do the hard work in the game he presides over. Paper pushing tiger.

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Jamie Lynch

What a tale of halves. That first half was like Michael Jordan lost his powers in Space Jam, I still don’t understand what we watched there. Matt Pryor simply can’t be the first guy off the bench to fill in at tackle I guess is my big takeaway because it ALL changed when Fred Johnson entered the game.

Also, throwing the ball to AJ Brown is a good thing, they should consider doing more of that. The guy is a freak & catches everything. Never stray from throwing the ball to him. The stadium & the team feed off of AJ’s energy.

Once again, the Eagles second half defense was impressive. Gotta give a big ol hat tip to Uncle Vic & his defensive changes at halftime this year.

What a wild, wild game.

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Rich Hofmann

Well, one thing is for sure after this game: The Eagles have a new swing tackle.

It has never been easy for the Eagles offense to operate without the services of Lane Johnson, but today was a whole other level. Four straight three-and-outs, full of coward’s draws, followed by a fumble from Jalen Hurts in which Matt Pryor got beat clean by Jared Verse.

Insert Fred Johnson, last year’s swing tackle, and the offense goes on three long touchdown drives to win the game. Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter saved the Eagles with blocked kicks, ensuring the comeback ended in a W.

Hot take here, but the Eagles needed a game like this. I do not know what the teaching points are, but an offense that cannot generate any yardage in the passing game, while running draws and hoping the turnover differential goes your way, is not a way to win. Win or lose, it was great to see that the Eagles rediscovered that passing identity in the second half.

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Fran Duffy

Yeah, this game was pretty gross on offense … in the first half. I’m sure there will be incredibly sane discourse surrounding this unit throughout the week after what we saw as a tale of two halves against the Rams. 33 yards in the first half? Not great!

You can’t just put these inconsistencies on one person. You have receivers running the wrong route. You have offensive linemen losing one-on-one in pass protection. You have missed assignments from running backs against blitzers. Bad throws and playcalls were mixed in throughout those first two quarters. But then after one more three-and-out to open the third quarter, the scheme really opened up! Turns out this AJ Brown guy is pretty good!

I’m interested to see what the tape shows on both sides. The Eagles turned things around defensively as well in the second half, particularly in the run game. So I’m excited to see how that film looks with Vic Fangio’s unit.

Here’s hoping Lane Johnson is not out for long.