Ostensibly, general manager Les Snead and coach Sean McVay<\/a> signed lineman Poona Ford<\/a> to improve the overall run defense. To give a young ascending front an experienced player.<\/p>\n But it really boiled down to one thing: Stop Barkley.<\/p>\n \u201cI have heard that,\u201d Ford, chuckling, said this week. \u201cBut, you feel me, I don\u2019t look at it like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Maybe not. But Rams<\/a> fans who cringed while watching Barkley amass more than 200 yards rushing and score on two long touchdown runs in each of the Rams\u2019 defeats by the Eagles last season hope that is the case.<\/p>\n The Rams gave Ford a three-year contract that includes $17 million in guarantees, according to Overthecap.com<\/a>. They also signed linebacker Nate Landman<\/a> to a one-year, $1.1-million deal.<\/p>\n Through two games \u2014 victories over the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans \u2014 both moves paid off as the Rams gave up only one touchdown.<\/p>\n But Barkley, mobile quarterback Jalen Hurts<\/a> and a line led by tackles Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata present an entirely different challenge for a Rams team regarded as a Super Bowl contender.<\/p>\n Ford played five seasons with the Seattle Seahawks and one season each with the Buffalo Bills and the Chargers before joining the Rams. He has played against Barkley twice.<\/p>\n In 2022, Ford and the Seahawks limited Barkley to 53 yards and a touchdown in 20 carries in a 27-13 victory. In 2023, when Ford played for the Bills, Barkley rushed for 93 yards in 24 carries in a 14-9 Bills victory.<\/p>\n (Stew Milne \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a tough runner, a physical runner,\u201d Ford said, \u201cand it\u2019s just really, everybody get to the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n Barkley, the reigning NFL offensive player of the year, sprinted virtually untouched to the end zone four times against the Rams last season.<\/p>\n He rushed for 255 yards and scored on runs of 70 and 72 yards in a 37-20 Week 12 victory<\/a> over the Rams at SoFi Stadium. He rushed for 205 yards and scored on runs of 62 and 78 yards in the Eagles\u2019 28-22 NFC divisional-round victory<\/a> at Lincoln Financial Field.<\/p>\n \u201cYou feel like you play good, you play good, and the next thing you know, boom, he hits it,\u201d Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula said this week when asked about Barkley. \u201cJust have to do it every single snap because at any point he can break the game open.\u201d<\/p>\n The 5-foot, 11-inch, 310-pound Ford aims to help stop that from happening again.<\/p>\n Ford, 29, began his career with the Seattle Seahawks in 2018 as an undrafted free agent out of Texas. He played five seasons for the Seahawks, and then played the 2023 season with the Buffalo Bills.<\/p>\n Last season with the Chargers, he had three sacks and intercepted a pass.<\/p>\n After an aggressive recruiting pitch from McVay, Ford signed with the Rams.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know coach McVay, he\u2019s pretty intense,\u201d Ford said before the season. \u201cHow could I not?\u201d<\/p>\n Defensive line coach Giff Smith, who previously worked for the Chargers, said he spoke with edge rusher Khalil Mack and Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. when the Rams were pursuing Ford.<\/p>\n \u201cThey love him,\u201d Smith said, \u201cso I knew we would mix well.\u201d<\/p>\n Rams defensive tackle Poona Ford runs on the field before a win over the Tennessee Titans on Sept. 14.<\/p>\n (John Amis \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n It did not take long for the self-described \u201cpretty chill\u201d Ford to blend with other players in his position group.<\/p>\n \u201cPoona fits in perfect,\u201d said veteran lineman Larrell Murchison, who was hosted by Ford during a college recruiting trip at Texas. \u201cThey all thought he was quiet when he first got here and now\u2026no!\u201d<\/p>\n Said Ford: \u201cOnce I get comfortable with the group, I\u2019m able to express myself more and be myself like my family and close people know.\u201d<\/p>\n Rams players on defense and offense noted that Ford is more than a run stopper \u2014 he has 11 \u00bd sacks \u2014 and that he can make plays across the field.<\/p>\n \u201cThat dude is strong as hell,\u201d edge rusher Jared Verse said. \u201cHe\u2019s strong and he\u2019s stout, you can\u2019t really move him. And you think like, \u2018Oh, Poona is just a big run stopper or somebody that could just help with the run.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThat man can rush.\u201d<\/p>\n After edge rusher Byron Young recorded a sack in the opener, he said Ford had \u201csuffocated everything\u201d along the line and made his job easier.<\/p>\n \u201cJust having him right there, clogging the hole, like taking on two, three sometimes,\u201d Young said, laughing. \u201cYou can\u2019t complain about that.\u201d<\/p>\n Landman and fellow inside linebacker Omar Speights said Ford\u2019s ability to handle double teams and slow down running backs helps them make plays. By not allowing ballcarriers to get to the second and third levels of the defense, Ford also is limiting contact sustained by defensive backs, safety Quentin Lake said.<\/p>\n Ford\u2019s experience and \u201cmature presence\u201d have been welcomed by a mostly young front that includes linemen Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske, Tyler Davis and rookie Ty Hamilton.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re built with guys in Year 1, 2 and 3,\u201d Fiske said, chuckling. \u201cJust to have that veteran presence, it\u2019s like in a way a calming presence of \u2018Hey, this guy\u2019s got his stuff together.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cKobie\u2019s obviously super smart, but we still have our youthful moments on the field. So to have that veteran presence… is very reassuring.\u201d<\/p>\n In Eagles victories over the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs, Barkley rushed for a combined 148 yards and two touchdowns.<\/p>\n Ford is looking forward to helping the Rams neutralize Barkley and the Eagles on Sunday.<\/p>\n And beyond.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody\u2019s been playing great,\u201d he said. \u201cLooking at what we\u2019ve done, it kind of has me excited for the future, once we hit our stride and how good we can really be.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n After Saquon Barkley ran past, through and over them twice last season, the Rams made a big move to stop the Philadelphia Eagles\u2019 star running back from doing it again. Ostensibly, general manager Les Snead and coach Sean McVay signed lineman Poona Ford to improve the overall run defense. To give a young ascending front … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Poona-Ford-at-the-center-of-the-Rams-specialized-Stop.com2F382F602Fcdf1ee8242ee9d5548a770ea.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3514"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3516,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3514\/revisions\/3516"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} <\/p>\n
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