Philip Rivers and his San Diego Chargers are set to meet the Philadelphia Eagles at the Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday. The Chargers will be without Manti Te’o and Sean Lissemore which is a huge loss for the team.
Even though the Chargers were defeated by the Houston Texans in the Monday night game, Rivers quieted any criticism about his arm strength and his leadership abilities. The defense for the Chargers held Arian Foster and Ben Tate to 112 with 27 attempts. This defense will have to be very aggressive with the Eagles. They need to blitz Michael Vick and put some type of pressure on him before he delivers the ball. A spy needs to follow Vick at all times and not let him get to the outside the pocket; that is where he is most dangerous.
On the offensive side of the ball the Chargers have to take some shots down the field. The Eagles secondary looked a little suspect in the Redskins game. They bit way too hard on play action and can be very aggressive with the blitzing, which leaves one on one on the outside. Rivers could have a huge game if they take the right amount of shots down the field.
Michael Vick and the high flying Eagles looked spectacular running the Chip Kelly’s offense. The key factor in the victory over the Washington Redskins was the time Vick had in the pocket. He did not force the ball in tight coverage nor did he throw an interception against the Redskins. This week will be different with the Chargers coming into town; the Chargers have two respectable cornerbacks that are very good with anticipating plays. Derick Cox and Richard Marshall are the heart in soul on the defensive end.
The offensive line needs to protect Vick so that he can find the soft spot in the Zones. DeSean Jackson torched the Redskins with his ability to stay patient with Vick scrambling at times and finding him down the field. The Eagles need to speed up the process of the plays as they did the Redskins, because this will tire out the Charger’s defense. The Charger’s Defense is not keen with an up temp team.
On the defensive side of the ball, they have to challenge the wide receivers. You can not miss a tackle, because that could lead to big plays down the field. The Eagles need to surge Rivers with a pass rush as they did RG3.; containing Rivers is a key factor, because if he gets in rhythm it will be a very long day for the defense.
Key factors
The Eagles need to hurry the pace of the game and protection is the key. Vick needs protect the ball at all times, because the Chargers are known to cause fumbles. The Eagle’s secondary needs to be careful with biting on the play action passes.
Philip Rivers will need his team to gather themselves up from the Texans loss and build up their confidence. The Chargers defense needs to control the course of the game; they need to get the Eagle’s offense off the field on third down and stop making costly mistakes. On the other side of the ball, you have Rivers that could exploit the secondary. Give Philip some time to adjust to the Eagle’s defense and if time prevails, he will get in rhythm and make the secondary tired.
