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Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks: Rams learn strength of offense Limited Marshall Faulk Jersey , weakness of defense in Week 5 win The Los Angeles Rams’ offense appears to be unstoppableThe Seattle Seahawks threw some serious haymakers at the Rams’ perfect record on Sunday, but each time Seattle made a big play, the Rams were able to counter. The Minnesota Vikings game, while never feeling as in doubt as the Seattle road win did, similarly resembled a Star Wars scene, with space crafts dumping laser beams on each other continuously until the final minute. But with interesting weather conditions, increased pocket pressure, and concussions to receivers Cooper Kupp and Brandin Cooks; the machine kept slogging through a feisty Seattle defense. As long as Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, and Sean McVay are in the building there seems to be a belief that the Rams will outlast whatever an opposing offense can muster. And Goff’s office usually remains clean and safe behind a line that has somehow improved entering their second season together. The defense remains a work in progressOn an individual level, most defensive players have performed adequately. Surely having Aqib Talib back would buy some time so that the pass rush could get home and contain quarterbacks more often, but technically backup corner Troy Hill played well in Talib’s place. Obviously, the defense was hurt by several Marcus Peters’ gambles in the Seahawks game, but it seems that the edge rushers, Samson Ebukam and Matt Longacre need to provide more containment on the pass rush moving forward. Ndamukong Suh and Aaron Donald are doing a good job of blasting the gut, but if quarterbacks are able to drift out of the pocket to buy themselves time Eric Dickerson Jersey , the job is left incomplete. Against the run the Rams defense has been solid at times this season. The Seahawks game was not one of those times. Seattle’s gruesome twosome of Chris Carson and Mike Davis had lanes all day against the Rams. It’s hard to be sure what Wade Phillips answer will be, but perhaps he will dial back some of the pass rush on occasion, and emphasize gap integrity that could provide more of a chance to read plays and stay home; similar to the way the Falcons played against the Rams in last year’s Wildcard game. And that is the last bit of advice this blogger will lend to a genius like Wade Phillips today. Let’s see what adjustments take place this week.Sean McVay has cultivated a championship cultureWhether it’s the offense having barbecues together in their spare time, or going for it in 4th down situations where few other coaches would, McVay has put ownership of his team’s destiny in his player’s hands. Following Sunday’s win McVay reasoned ,“They wanted to go for it, so you want to put the trust in them, and they delivered.” What he really just did, was he allowed Jared Goff to take a major step toward becoming a respected team leader. It’s easy to forget that most of the players are in their mid-20s, and how easy it is to be a fool at that age. But McVay is a true teacher who takes the time to explain why and how things work to allow for a big-picture understanding. No matter what big personalities the Rams have brought in, this team seems about as professional as it gets. NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Saints coach Sean Payton dismisses the premise that the Eagles could derive extra motivation from the widespread perception that New Orleans ran up the score on them when they met in November.“My question would be: We’re all playing hard in these divisional playoff games, right?” Payton began, referring to Sunday’s rematch in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs. “Are you going to play harder” because of a perceived slight?Still, Payton expects a more competitive affair than the Saints’ 48-7 blowout of the Eagles on Nov. 18, which gave Philadelphia the dubious distinction of becoming the first reigning Super Bowl champion to lose by that wide a margin in the following regular season.The Eagles (10-7) appeared to be sinking fast when their loss in New Orleans dropped them to 4-6. But they’ve rallied to win six of seven since, including a road victory against the Los Angeles Rams that helped New Orleans (13-3) capture the conference’s top seed.“They’ve kind of been in a playoff role really going back to those games Torry Holt Jersey Salute to Service , needing to win to get in,” Payton noted. “So it’s impressive.”Now the Eagles, who opened as 10-point underdogs this week, can ruin the Saints’ Super Bowl dreams with a second straight road upset.“We’re looking forward to it,” Eagles tight end Zach Ertz said. “We’re a completely different team than we were seven weeks ago. I don’t think the team that showed up on that Sunday is even remotely close to the team that we are right now.”Such a lopsided loss in New Orleans could have resulted in finger-pointing and a fractured locker room, Ertz suggested. Instead, Ertz said, “It was a rallying point for our season.”The Eagles survived last week’s wild-card round with a 16-15 victory in which quarterback Nick Foles — who’s won four straight starts since taking over for injured starter Carson Wentz — engineered a late scoring drive capped by a fourth-down touchdown pass. And that only stood up after Chicago kicker Cody Parkey’s “double-doink” miss on a field-goal attempt that hit both the upright and crossbar in the final seconds.Philadelphia likely will need more offense in the Superdome, where the Saints averaged 37 points in Drew Brees’ seven home starts before the record-setting QB got a rest day during the club’s anti-climactic regular-season finale.“I assume they’ll come in as motivated as ever. Just like we’re going to come in as motivated as ever,” Brees said. “Just two really good teams about to play in a playoff game.”Some other story lines surrounding the third Eagles-Saints playoff clash since Payton and Brees joined forces in New Orleans in 2006.STARTING FASTThe Eagles have won 19 straight games when they score in the first quarter, including 7-0 this season. They scored on a field-goal drive last week in the first quarter. It’ll be even more important to score early against the high-powered Saints. New Orleans is 5-0 when leading after one quarter, 9-0 when leading at halftime and won eight times by double-digit margins.“We are starting the games better now over the last six, seven games,” Eagles offensive coordinator Mike Groh said. “Defense is doing a really good job getting off the field early in the game. We’re able to get the lead.”Coach Doug Pederson has deferred the kickoff to the second half whenever the Eagles have won the coin toss. Perhaps he’ll reconsider if he wins the toss this week.RESTED SAINTSSeveral prominent Saints players haven’t played in more than two weeks. Brees, who completed an NFL single-season record 74.4 percent of his passes, and dynamic running back Alvin Kamara Authentic Jack Youngblood Jersey , who had 1,592 yards and 18 TDs from scrimmage, were both healthy scratches in Week 17.Meanwhile, two starting offensive linemen who’ve been nursing injuries — left tackle Terron Armstead (chest) and right guard Larry Warford (knee) — both sat out the regular-season finale.“Our O-line being healthy, back to pretty much 100 percent, guys are just excited, rejuvenated and ready to play,” Kamara said.Armstead has yet to confirm he’ll be ready, but he practiced this week and said with a smile, “I feel good about Sunday.”DUMP-OFFSBoth teams are adept at using running backs as receivers. Kamara (81 catches, 709 yards) is New Orleans’ second-leading receiver behind Michael Thomas. Mark Ingram also has been effective on screens for New Orleans.Meanwhile, the Saints anticipate the Eagles to look for former Saints running Darren Sproles, who, like Foles, did not play in the previous meeting.“Darren has got incredibly good instincts on setting up some of these screens,” said Payton Limited Jared Goff Jersey , who employed Sproles similarly from 2011-13. “Quite honestly, we haven’t been as good this year as we have in other years in that area, but a lot of it depends on the opponent you’re playing.”PROVEN PROTECTIONAlthough All-Pro defensive linemen Aaron Donald (20½ sacks), J.J. Watt (16) and Khalil Mack (12½) combined for 49 sacks this season, they were all held without a sack against Philadelphia.An offensive line featuring All-Pro center Jason Kelce, Pro Bowl right guard Brandon Brooks and tackles Lane Johnson and Jason Peters has held up well against their best competition. Their latest challenge features Saints end Cameron Jordan (12 sacks) and tackle Sheldon Rankins (eight).“Any time that we hear a lot about our opponent, especially the guys up front, it just seems like our guys have really embraced that opportunity and embraced the challenge,” Pederson said.Having Peters and Johnson at the tackle spots allows Pederson to let those guys man-up against opponents’ premier pass-rushers instead of using tight ends on double teams.“As a play caller it makes it a little easier because they are playing well, and they are controlling the line of scrimmage,” Pederson said. “The more guys you can put into a route, obviously, more opportunities for completions.”