INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — For the second straight season, the Philadelphia Eagles are headed to SoFi Stadium with a lengthy winning streak and a team that looks like one of the best in the NFC.
The Los Angeles Rams (5-5) couldn't do much to slow them down last season, but they'll try again Sunday night with a young team that hopes to get where the Eagles (8-2) are already standing — atop their division with a six-game winning streak.
Philadelphia also made this road trip in October 2023 for a meeting of the previous two NFC champions, and the unbeaten Eagles held on for a 23-14 victory despite failing to score a touchdown in the second half. Jalen Hurts passed for 303 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 72 yards and another score, while Jalen Carter sacked Matthew Stafford twice while the Eagles prevented LA from crossing midfield in the second half.
“I just remember that they do a great job of controlling the game,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “They shortened the game, and that’s been a consistent theme that they do an excellent job of. I remember feeling like that’s a good team, and we had our chances, but they certainly made it difficult for us and they earned that win.”
Philadelphia comes into the rematch on extra rest after beating Washington 26-18 in a Thursday night game. The young Rams have won four of their past five, but they haven't managed the consistency necessary to become an elite team.
The Eagles’ NFL-best defense includes one of the league’s best cornerback duos in Darius Slay and rookie Quinyon Mitchell. The Rams’ offense is built around Stafford’s ability to get the ball to Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, two of the NFL’s top wideouts.
That dual matchup should determine whether the Rams can score enough points to keep up with Philadelphia.
“Their personnel is as good as it gets, as far as we’ve seen,” Stafford said of the Eagles defense. “I've just watched them from afar. It’s impressive what you see on tape. They do a really nice job of disguising their looks and giving you a bunch of things to look at.”
The game also features the two front-runners for the AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Mitchell is widely considered the top rookie cornerback in the league, but Los Angeles edge rusher Jared Verse is the consensus favorite for the award so far after his dynamic start to the season with 4 1/2 sacks and 11 tackles for loss.
Hurts is expected to play Sunday after being limited in practice this week by an ankle injury. He said the limited practice was part of a program put together by the Eagles to strengthen his recovery with extra days off. He also cleared concussion protocol after his head was spiked into the ground against Washington.
Hurts has 2,197 yards passing with 12 TDs and five interceptions. Thanks in large part to the “tush push,” Hurts has 11 rushing TDs.
“It’s not necessarily about all health,” Hurts said. “I think it’s a mentality where we are. We’re in a phase of the year where things could have very easily, well, they didn’t end the way we wanted to (last season). So that’s in the back of my mind as we enter this phase and putting an emphasis on finishing strong, putting ourselves in a good place.”
The Eagles remain confident in kicker Jake Elliott as he comes off perhaps the worst game of his career, missing two field goals and an extra point against Washington.
Elliott signed a four-year, $24 million extension in March, but he has already missed five field-goal attempts this season.
He holds the franchise record with seven field goals of 50 yards or more in a season, but has missed all four attempts from 50-plus in 2024.
“It’s funny with Jake, he’s such a competitor and such a good kicker, you almost take it a little bit for granted when he’s out there; it’s an automatic,” special teams coach Michael Clay said. “But I have such supreme confidence in Jake. At times, it’s just not your day. We’d be probably a little bit more on edge if the ball was sprayed all over the place.”
The Eagles are rolling with six straight wins out of the bye, and only Detroit has a better record in the NFC. But Philly fans know better than to expect good times ahead after the Eagles turned a 10-1 start last season into a 1-5 finish and a playoff loss in the wild-card round.
So why should anyone expect the Eagles to keep it together this season instead of collapsing yet again?
“I think we’ve got some really good teammates and coaches. Everyone is just so locked in to becoming better,” coach Nick Sirianni said. “I do feel like that, that everyone is locked in to becoming better. I felt that way last year, too. Don’t get me wrong. It didn’t work. There were things that happened last year that we feel like we’ve corrected, that we’re on the right track.”
AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni celebrates a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys in the second half of an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay watches his team during the first half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford warms up prior to an NFL football game between the New England Patriots and the Rams, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) runs for a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Matt Gaetz withdrew Thursday as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general amid continued fallout over a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed as the nation's chief federal law enforcement officer.
The announcement caps a turbulent eight-day period in which Trump sought to capitalize on his decisive election win to force Senate Republicans to accept provocative selections like Gaetz, who had been investigated by the Justice Department before being tapped last week to lead it. The decision could heighten scrutiny on other controversial Trump nominees, including Pentagon pick Pete Hegseth, who faces sexual assault allegations that he denies.
“While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition,” Gaetz, a Florida Republican who one day earlier met with senators in an effort to win their support, said in a statement.
“There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1," he added.
Trump, in a social media post, said: “I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General. He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect. Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!”
He did not immediately announce a new selection. Last week, he named personal lawyers Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and D. John Sauer to senior roles in the department. Another possible contender, Matt Whitaker, was announced Wednesday as the U.S. ambassador to NATO.
The withdrawal, just a week after the pick was announced, averts what was shaping up to be a pitched confirmation fight that would have tested how far Senate Republicans were willing to go to support Trump’s Cabinet picks.
The selection of the fierce Trump ally over well-regarded veteran lawyers whose names had circulated as possible contenders stirred concern for the Justice Department's independence at a time when Trump has openly threatened to seek retribution against political adversaries. It underscored the premium Trump places on personal loyalty and reflected the president-elect's desire to have a disruptor lead a Justice Department that for years investigated and ultimately indicted him.
In the Senate, deeply skeptical lawmakers sought more information about Justice Department and congressional investigations into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls, which Gaetz has denied. Meanwhile, Justice Department lawyers were taken aback by the pick of a partisan lawmaker with limited legal experience who has echoed Trump's claims of a weaponized criminal justice system.
As Gaetz sought to lock down Senate support, concern over the sex trafficking allegations showed no signs of abating.
In recent days, an attorney for two women said his clients told House Ethics Committee investigators that Gaetz paid them for sex on multiple occasions beginning in 2017, when Gaetz was a Florida congressman.
One of the women testified she saw Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old at a party in Florida in 2017, according to the attorney, Joel Leppard. Leppard has said that his client testified she didn’t think Gaetz knew the girl was underage, stopped their relationship when he found out and did not resume it until after she turned 18. The age of consent in Florida is 18.
"They’re grateful for the opportunity to move forward with their lives,” Leppard said Thursday of his clients. “They’re hoping that this brings final closure for all the parties involved.”
Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. The Justice Department’s investigation ended last year with no charges against him.
Gaetz’s political future is uncertain.
He had abruptly resigned his congressional seat upon being selected as attorney general, a move seen as a way to shut down the ethics investigation into sexual misconduct allegations. He did win reelection in November for the new Congress, which convenes Jan. 3, 2025, but he said in his resignation letter last week to House Speaker Mike Johnson that he did not intend to take the oath of office. He transmitted a similar letter to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as the state launched a special election process to fill the vacancy.
Republicans on the House Ethics Committee declined this week to release the panel's findings, over objections from Democrats in a split vote. But the committee did agree to finish its work and is scheduled to meet again Dec. 5 to discuss the matter.
As word of Gaetz's decision spread across the Capitol, Republican senators seemed divided.
Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who served with Gaetz in the House, called it a “positive move." Maine Sen. Susan Collins said Gaetz “put country first and I am pleased with his decision.”
Others said they had hoped Gaetz could have overhauled the department.
Florida Sen. Rick Scott, a close ally of Trump, said he was “disappointed. I like Matt and I think he would have changed the way DOJ is run.”
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said he hoped that Trump will pick someone “equally as tenacious and equally as committed to rooting out and eliminating bias and politicization at the DOJ.”
Gaetz is not the only Trump pick facing congressional scrutiny over past allegations.
A detailed investigative police report made public Wednesday shows that a woman told police that she was sexually assaulted in 2017 by Hegseth, the former Fox News host now tapped to lead the Pentagon, after he took her phone, blocked the door to a California hotel room and refused to let her leave.
“The matter was fully investigated and I was completely cleared,” Hegseth told reporters Thursday at the Capitol, where he was meeting with senators to build support for his nomination.
Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price, Lisa Mascaro, Mary Clare Jalonick and Adriana Gomez Licon contributed to this report.
Matt Gaetz arrives before President-elect Donald Trump speaks during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., center, and Vice President-elect JD Vance, left, walk out of a meeting with Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., closes a door to a private meeting with Vice President-elect JD Vance and Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
