Philadelphia Eagles: Keys to a victory over the Chargers
By Jake Starr
1. Continue to Run the Football
Last week the Philadelphia Eagles had their best game of the young season on the ground. All in all, they combined for 193 yards on 39 carries. By far their best output of the season. This week this trend must continue against the Los Angeles Chargers; a team that is ranked 31st in the NFL in rushing defense.
When you combine the Chargers putrid run defense and their struggles when it comes to tackling; this spells a perfect opportunity to dominate the ground game.
The Philadelphia Eagles are now without Darren Sproles for the remainder of the season and they must adjust. The duo of LeGarrette Blount and Wendell Smallwood will be vital to the Philadelphia Eagles success if they can run like they did last week. My best guess is that we will see Blount a lot on first and second down and Smallwood will step into Sproles` role as the third-down back.
The other key to establishing the run will be to open up passing opportunities for Carson Wentz. Los Angeles still possesses a pretty good secondary led by Jason Verrett. But, if the Philadelphia Eagles can take advantage of that Chargers run defense, then the passing game will open up and the Eagles offense can be in for a very good game offensively.