They performed a fairly good first half. And then they performed a completely sensible second half.

The Eagles on Sunday turned the primary workforce in 32 years to open a season 5-0 after dropping the Super Bowl the earlier yr with a 23-14 win over the Rams at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.

They’re now 19-3 over the past two years and 25-5 of their final 30 video games.

The Eagles led 17-14 at halftime earlier than outscoring the Rams 6-0 after halftime and outgaining them 249-50 within the second half till the ultimate 30 seconds.

The Rams had the soccer for under 9:43 within the second half.

Let’s get to our 10 Instant Observations:

1. This was a masterpiece by new defensive coordinator Sean Desai. Everything the Rams did early, the Eagles shut down within the second half. Everything that labored towards them early, Desai discovered a solution for late. That’s a fairly high-powered Rams offense and an elite quarterback with two record-setting receivers, and the Eagles shut ‘em out within the second half and held them to 50 yards. The Eagles lined, they pressured, they tackled – this was an incredible efficiency by a protection with a patchwork secondary lacking Fletcher Cox towards the No. 4 offense within the NFL. A real signature achievement for Desai.

2. This was simply as a lot a masterpiece by new offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, who I assumed actually channeled his Inner Steichen together with his balanced, inventive play calling. The Eagles have been fairly unhealthy within the crimson zone and will have scored much more factors, however they moved the ball up and down the sector on the Rams all day, they stored the Rams’ protection off steadiness, neutralized Aaron Donald, attacked deep and combined within the run recreation with each D’Andre Swift and Kenny Gainwell, within the second half to maintain the clock transferring. The Eagles piled up 453 yards, held the ball for 38 minutes, protected Jalen Hurts, transformed an insane 13 out of 18 third downs, threw for over 300 and ran for over 150 yards and simply wore down the Rams as the sport went on.

3. I knew A.J. Brown was good. I knew he was actually good. I knew the Eagles received the very best of that draft-day commerce final yr. But I’d be mendacity if I mentioned I knew he was this good. He’s solely performed 22 video games in an Eagles uniform – 26 together with the postseason – however I’m comfy saying he’s pretty much as good as Eagles WR I’ve ever seen. That consists of Mike Quick, who put collectively 5 straight Pro Bowl seasons, that features DeSean Jackson, who scored lengthy touchdowns at an unprecedented fee, and, yeah, that even consists of T.O., who harm his personal worth with all of the useless drama he introduced with him to Philly. Brown is enjoying at such an astronomical degree proper now – 131 yards in Tampa, 175 vs. Washington and 127 Sunday – and that’s 432 yards within the final three video games. Those 432 yards the final three video games are essentially the most in a three-week span by any Eagles receiver in not less than 50 years. He’s so easy when he catches the ball after which clicks on linebacker mentality with the ball in his arms, trampling defenders, stiff-arming corners, working by folks as a lot as working previous them. Brown is unstoppable.

4. Loved the idea of getting Dallas Goedert concerned shortly. It simply does a lot for this offense when the Eagles set up early that the passing recreation is extra than simply Hurts-to-A.J. and Hurts-to-DeVonta. Goedert got here into the sport with 88 yards all yr and had greater than half of that on the opening drive – 4-for-45 and a six-yard TD, his first this yr. He had extra catches and yards (and TDs) on that drive than in any whole recreation the primary month of the season. Goedert is simply too gifted, too useful, too vital to be averaging 22 yards per recreation, and it seemed just like the Eagles made a concerted effort to get him going, and it labored. Goedert completed with eight catches for 117 yards, second-most of his profession. That’s the actual Dallas Goedert and the one we have to see each week.

5. Considering a few of the guys who have been enjoying within the secondary, I’m undecided you can ask for something greater than what they gave. Josh Jobe had by no means performed a defensive snap earlier than opening day. Eli Ricks had performed one snap earlier than Sunday. Mario Goodrich had gotten on the sector on protection in a single recreation in his life, the Vikings in Week 2. Bradley Robey simply signed right here Wednesday. Heck, it’s straightforward to neglect Reed Blankenship was an undrafted rookie final yr and was making his eighth profession begin. The Rams went in spite of everything of them, and the Eagles’ younger d-backs hung in there higher than anyone might have hoped. What was most spectacular was how effectively they performed within the second half. Cooper Kupp was 6-for-95 earlier than halftime, 2-for-23 after halftime. Puka Nacua 3-for-34 earlier than halftime, 3-for-23 after halftime. A variety of that was stress. The Eagles actually delivered some heavy stress on Matt Stafford within the second half, and stress on a QB is a younger d-back’s greatest pal. But general, contemplating who was on the market and who wasn’t? This was an actual triumph for this makeshift no-name secondary.

6. Red zone continues to be an enormous downside for the Eagles. They have been twenty fourth within the league coming into this week with touchdowns on simply 46 p.c of their red-zone drives, and Sunday in L.A. was extra of the identical. A drive all the way down to the 16 netted three factors. A drive all the way down to the 20 netted no factors because of a turnover. A drive all the way down to the 8 netted a subject purpose. It hasn’t been anybody factor. A penalty right here, a dropped move there, a miscommunication right here, a missed throw there. Whatever the explanation, these are alternatives the Eagles can’t proceed to squander. They have been Third-best within the league within the crimson zone final yr and with the expertise they’ve on offense that’s the place they need to be once more. They received away with it Sunday, however they’ve received to be higher.

7. Kudos to Sua Opeta for holding up simply fantastic in his sixth profession begin and second at proper guard. This was an undrafted free agent going up – not less than for a lot of this recreation – towards one of many best inside linemen ever, and Opeta held Aaron Donald in test, similar to the Eagles have at all times finished. Donald is a beast towards all people else, however in 5 video games now towards the Eagles – 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2023 – Donald has zero sacks, and the Rams are 1-3 in these 5 video games. He had one solo sort out Sunday and that it. No pressures, no QB hits, no tackles for loss. Talking to Opeta throughout the week, I actually appreciated his mentality. He embraced the problem. He mentioned he had the utmost confidence in himself and seemed ahead to proving himself towards a man like Donald. Cam Jurgens can’t come again for not less than three extra weeks, however the Eagles have to be ok with the way in which Opeta went out and battled towards Donald and towards the Rams.

8. Britian Covey was a stable, dependable punt return final yr, however this yr he’s turn into an precise weapon. Covey averaged a good 9.3 yards per return final yr and was as much as 11.1 over the past 13 video games – Seventh-highest within the league throughout that span. And the Eagles would have been joyful to have that kind of manufacturing once more. But Covey has proven large development as a returner this yr. He’s seeing the sector higher, making faster cutbacks, working away from site visitors, and the outcomes are spectacular. On Sunday, Covey picked up his fourth return this yr of not less than 20 yards – he had just one final yr – to extend his season common to 16.9. He’s now the primary Eagle with a 20-yard return in three straight video games since Darren Sproles towards the 49ers, Rams and Giants in 2014. Covey was sitting in second within the NFL coming into the sport and didn’t do something to harm his rating. The Eagles signed Covey to be a protected, dependable man who would catch every thing and get you six or seven yards of subject place. So far, he’s been a lot, way more than that. He’s turning into a man who can actually flip subject place and make life simpler for the offense.

9. If there have been nonetheless any lingering questions on Jalen Hurts and the Eagles’ passing recreation after Sunday, there can’t be anymore. The inconsistency, the errors, the dearth of cohesion we noticed the primary few weeks of the season have disappeared, and Jalen Hurts and Company are again in that 2022 mode the place you simply anticipated them to attain on each drive. Or each play. Hurts was spectacular Sunday and he’s now put collectively back-to-back 300-yard video games. Hurts completed 25-for-38 303 yards with a TD move to Goedert, one interception he in all probability shouldn’t have thrown and one other speeding TD. And a 75-yard TD drive in 32 seconds? How is that even potential? And he seemed just like the Jalen of outdated working the ball too. The Eagles wanted it and he delivered with 72 speeding yards. The numbers are staggering: Hurts is now 28-11 in his profession, and solely seven QBs – together with Dan Marino, Kurt Warner and Patrick Mahomes – have gained extra video games of their first 39 begins. He’s 25-3 since Nick Sirianni’s Roots Underground speech in late October 2021, and most significantly he as soon as once more seems unstoppable. And we’ve seen what can occur when Hurts seems unstoppable.

10. D’Andre Swift has had video games with higher stats, however I actually liked his efficiency Sunday. Swift didn’t do a lot early – 5-for-7 speeding and caught three passes for 18 yards within the first half. But within the second half, when the Eagles pulled away and took command of the sport, Swift got here up large. In the second half, when the Eagles held the ball for 19 ½ minutes, Swift was 12-for-63 speeding – most of it towards a stacked field – and caught three extra passes for 20 yards. That’s 83 web yards after halftime towards a protection that knew the Eagles wished to run. Swift is so robust, so tough to carry down. Through 5 video games he has 434 speeding yards and 509 scrimmage yards – over 100 per recreation. What an acquisition.