ClutchPoints
While the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Chargers are both 8-4 heading into Week 14’s edition of Monday Night Football, the two teams find themselves with very different playoff positioning.
Despite struggling through a pair of two-game losing streaks, including one they are still in the midst of, the Eagles are still sitting pretty with a 1.5-game lead over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East and could see that rise to 2.5 if they secure a win on MNF. They still have the Buffalo Bills on their schedule in December, which is a tough battle with or without Darius Slay, but their other three games are fairly easy, including a contest against the Las Vegas Raiders and two more against the 3-9 Washington Commanders.
And as for the Chargers? Well, they have one of the toughest schedules left in the NFL, going from hosting the Eagles to the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys on the road, to welcoming the Houston Texans at SoFi before closing out the regular season against their division rival Denver Broncos, who sit pretty with the second-best record in the AFC.
If the Chargers win out, they too are playoff-bound, as they own the first wildcard spot thanks to tiebreakers over the Indianapolis Colts and Bills. But if they lose to the Eagles and drop a game to the Chiefs the following week, there’s a good chance they will no longer control their destiny and have to fight for the playoffs with no guarantee of getting in.
For an Eagles team that has struggled mightily over the past two weeks, this game could be a major springboard for a final month of regular season football, but for the Chargers, this game is borderline must-win, as if they start losing now, they could be eliminated from the playoffs by Christmas.
One of the biggest talking points all week in Eagles land has been the team’s inability to run the ball consistently, specifically when it comes to starting quarterback Jalen Hurts.
One of the most prolific runners in the game when nothing’s available from the pocket, Hurts recorded as many touchdowns in four games as they have in the eight games since, with his attempts per game going from 10.25 in September to just 5.375 since. Without his threat as a runner, the Eagles’ running game has borderline disappeared, with opposing rushers going all-in on Barkley on RPOs, and relatively easy third downs going unconverted because Hurts opted to throw instead of scrambling for an easy first down.
Could the Eagles continue to struggle on the ground in Week 14? History says yes, but with Nick Sirianni spending extra time in the offensive meetings room this week, it sure sounds like Philadelphia might return to their old ways, which included years of consistently pounding the ground, running RPOs, and hitting deep throws down the field when the box gets overly stacked.
Now, in games where...
