Philadelphia Eagles: Don’t sleep on the Los Angeles Chargers’ offense

While it may not seem as such, the Philadelphia Eagles need not take the Los Angeles Chargers’ offense with a grain of salt.

So, the Philadelphia Eagles are 2-1. They just came off of a nail-biter against their division rival in the New York Giants, and now sit atop the NFC East (tie-breakers included). What could possibly go wrong? Well, here come the Los Angeles Chargers.

That’s right! The Birds have to go west of the Mississippi and take on the Bolts. Look, I get it. The Los Angeles Chargers are 0-3 on the season. The Philadelphia Eagles are 2-1 and have shown signs of improvement over the last three weeks. How in the world could the Chargers present a serious threat to the Eagles?

*Enter Philip Rivers*

The Chargers have had an interesting history with the Eagles. The Chargers lead the all-time series seven to four. In the last two games, Rivers was the starting quarterback and dominated. Through two games, he totaled 56 completions on 72 attempts for 650 yards and five touchdowns. Rivers has done well for himself against Philadelphia.

But Pete, Rivers had the benefit of LaDainian Tomlinson, a younger Antonio Gates, and Eddie Royal‘s career-best game. How can you possibly expect Philip Rivers to come close to those numbers again? Well, one could make the argument that Rivers has much more to work with now.

Even though the Chargers are 0-3, you can’t count out that offensive roster. So far, while the Bolts haven’t scored more than 21 points in a game, they look fairly solid. Yes, they haven’t won a game, but they’ve been in every game they’ve played this year. That should give them a sense of urgency and a chip on their shoulder.

Make no mistake, Rivers has an arm. On top of that, he has a stud wide receiver in Keenan Allen and a workhorse running back in Melvin Gordon. In addition, you can’t forget about Antonio Gates, one of the NFL’s all-time great tight ends. He and Rivers have been one of the better tight-end-quarterback duos in the league for years now.

Like in most games, the key for the Eagles all depends on if they can get to Rivers. Now, LA made a solid upgrade to their offensive line. They signed veteran tackle Russell Okung this offseason, but he may not be enough to overpower this Eagles’ front seven.

Many will say that Rivers is a gun-slinger in a sense. He likes to throw the ball deep, especially to his boys Keenan Allen and (more recently) Travis Benjamin. Considering the weak spots in the Eagles’ secondary, that could be an issue. At any rate, this game could be a cake walk, or it could be

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At any rate, this game could be a cake walk, or it could be a trap game. Just because the Los Angeles Chargers have not won a game, the Philadelphia Eagles can’t take them lightly. The minute that happens, you end up back at .500.