Matthew Stafford had a strong playoff performance, but it won't matter against the Eagles for a specific reason
A big part of the Los Angeles Rams' win over the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night was Matthew Stafford's level of play. The veteran quarterback completed 19 of 27 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns, without turnovers, an impressive statline against Brian Flores' defense—the best of the NFL in the regular season. "Felt like […]
A big part of the Los Angeles Rams' win over the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night was Matthew Stafford's level of play. The veteran quarterback completed 19 of 27 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns, without turnovers, an impressive statline against Brian Flores' defense—the best of the NFL in the regular season.
"Felt like we had a good plan, and then guys were making plays for me, so it was awesome," Stafford said after the game. "Just try to go out there and be aggressive. This time of year, it doesn't really reward you to be timid. Gotta go out there and make plays. Gotta go win games in the playoffs. Can't just hope that things fall your way. So, I thought on offense, defense, special teams, we played that way."
That type of aggressive mentality is perfect to face a Brian Flores' defense, which also relies on aggressiveness, blitzes, and disguises.
Stafford will have to adapt, even after a monster game, because the Philadelphia Eagles defense is totally different. Under Vic Fangio, it's a unit that plays shell, umbrella concepts, with heavy doses of quarters and quarter-quarter-half. Usually, before the snap, the middle of the field is open (MOFO)—which means the two safeties are deep. Disguises are still a big part of the plan, but unlike Flores, Fangio's priority is exactly to avoid big, explosive plays.
Evaluating coverage rates during the 2024 season, you can see the differences. The Vikings play relatively high rates of cover 0 (5.5%), cover 2 man (5.3%) and cover 2 zone (24.4%). Meanwhile, the Eagles use more cover 6 (17.4%) when in zone, and cover 1 (22.9%) when it's man coverage.
Cover 6, also called "quarter-quarter-half," is a combination where the defense plays the concepts of cover 4 in one half (strong side), and cover 2 in the other.
And when the defense goes to cover 3 (a high 29.2% rate in the regular season), it still looks like a two-high shell, and it's a post-snap movement.
Fangio's philosophy was in vogue after Brandon Staley had a lot of success running a version of it with the Rams in 2020. Eventually, though, other teams that tried it failed for several reasons—Los Angeles Chargers, Green Bay Packers. But Fangio himself has kept producing strong units.
Yes, Matthew Stafford had a huge game against the Vikings. He's shown throughout his career the capacity to have great stretches of play, and one of them in 2021 led the Rams to a championship. But the Eagles game on Sunday is a different experience, and the same style that was responsible for the win in the wild card round won't be replicable in the divisional round.
It's time to adapt, and Sean McVay will have to build a completely different gameplan to make it happen.
Rams defense mastered the art of doing more with less, and that was clear in playoff win over the Vikings
Los Angeles advanced with impressive performance
