Rams’ fumbles in the snow derail playoff upset bid in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kyren Williams made a cut in the snow, then the Rams’ 1,200-yard rusher had the football pop loose on a clear — well, clear-ish — slick path snow-blown clean of a wintry mix.

The ball rolled free, recovered and returned by the Eagles, ending one drive for Los Angeles.

Matthew Stafford dropped back on the next series, tried to get rid of the football, but was strip-sacked and the Eagles pounced on another fumble.

The Eagles kicked two field goals in the fourth quarter off two game-changing fumbles — Los Angeles turnovers that might not have happened under clear skies at SoFi Stadium.

In the snow and cold, the Rams coughed up late scoring chances and lost 28-22 Sunday to the Eagles, falling one game short of hosting the NFC championship game.

“We had two turnovers that don’t necessarily occur in different elements,” Rams coach Sean McVay said.

From a 1-4 start to NFC West champions, the Rams navigated a short week following a playoff win over Minnesota and kept the game close until the final possession.

Even with the frosty fumbles, the Rams — who toughed out the last two weeks as wildfires have devastated large portions of Southern California — still had an upset in sight.

Stafford, who threw for 324 yards with sore ribs, kept the Rams in it with a 4-yard TD pass to Colby Parkinson that made it 28-22. The Rams got the ball back with two minutes left and Stafford completed consecutive passes of 11 and 37 yards to move the ball into Eagles territory.

Stafford, who has thrown multiple touchdown passes in each of his first seven playoff games with the Rams, was sacked by Jalen Carter on third down and threw an incomplete pass on fourth down to end the threat.

“I felt like we had total control toward the latter part of that game,” McVay said. “The momentum was in our favor and we had an opportunity to be able to win that game and we just came up short.”

Cooper Kupp had a surprisingly small role again, catching only five passes for 61 yards. Only six days after he spit up blood in the playoff win over Minnesota and was taken to the hospital with a chest injury, Tyler Higbee returned to catch a 4-yard touchdown pass that tied it at 7 in the first quarter.

Williams rushed for 106 yards — so many more potentially lost because of his fumble.

“It felt like as an offense, we had them on the ropes, and that they probably felt it, too,” Stafford said. “We were moving the rock really well the last two drives, and then just a couple of unforced errors here and there and got behind the sticks.”

Saquon Barkley kept a grip on the football for the Eagles and continued to torment the Rams with rushing touchdowns of 62 and 78 yards. He ran for 205 yards overall.

In two games this season against the Rams, Barkley had 52 carries for 459 yards and four touchdowns — all over 60-plus yards.

“Saquon got to the second level, similar to the first game, but there were some different layers that we did have in our defense,” McVay said. “He was able to pull away.”

Joshua Karty kicked two field goals for the Rams. The defense sacked Jalen Hurts for a safety that brought the Rams to 16-15.

Unlike the start to their season, the Rams ran out of time to come back.

“There were a lot of people at 1-4 that were talking about who was going to replace everybody on every position of our team and, ‘Should we sell the farm at the trade deadline? Should we tank?’ All of that,” Stafford said. “So just proud of our guys for not listening to all that and just going and playing and doing what we can do. And we did that.”

The playoff game ended with a few shirtless fans among the crowd 65,000 at the Linc going wild for the Eagles.

Yeah, the same fans Rams rookie linebacker Jared Verse said he hated.

Verse got trolled by Barkley after the Rams rookie linebacker and Pennsylvania native said he “hates Eagles fans.” The first-round draft pick attended high school in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, which is about 100 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

Barkley scored on a 62-yard run for a 13-7 lead, but not before the 2,105-yard rusher slowed near the end zone and looked back to clown the trailing Verse.

Verse egged on fans during pregame warmups and relished the boos that rained him on in the light snow. Once the game started, the Eagles showed on the big screen Verse on the bench and fans booed again.

Verse winked at the camera, stamping his name on the list of Philly sports villains.

Verse made the Pro Bowl and is a strong contender for the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year award after getting 77 pressures and 4 1/2 sacks.

“It’s still cool. I love his game,” Carter said. “He’s a baller.”

Verse ran his mouth. But Barkley and the Eagles ran the ball all the way to within a win of their second Super Bowl trip in three seasons.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

By DAN GELSTON
AP Sports Writer