The Philadelphia Eagles are coming off one of their biggest games of the young season and maybe in the history of Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles defeated the New York Giants 27-24 on a walk off 61-yard field goal by rookie kicker Jake Elliott; which was the longest field goal in team history and the seventh longest of all time.
The kick sent the Eagles into a three-way tie for first place in the division and the Giants reeling with an 0-3 start.
Not much time to celebrate, though, as now Philly must make their first west coast trip of the 2017 season with a visit to the new Los Angeles Chargers. Even though the Chargers are 0-3 to start their young season, they have a great amount of firepower on both sides of the ball. Here are the Eagles keys to victory in week four.
Week Four Philadelphia Eagles Keys to Victory
1) Keep the Blount Train Rolling
Running back Darren Sproles sustained a broken arm and torn ACL in last week’s ballgame and is now out for the season. Fortunately, the Eagles took five running backs onto the roster out of training camp and they have three backs left from week one: Wendell Smallwood, Corey Clement and LeGarrette Blount.
The first two weeks, Blount was the starter but his workloads were completely different in each weeks and head coach Doug Pederson drew a lot of criticism. Last week, Blount got back on track with a solid workload and made a huge difference in the Eagles strong run game against New York. Blount ran 12 times for 67 yards and a goal line touchdown.
It’s critical that in week four, Pederson and the Eagles continue to pound the rock with Blount and churn out yards. It will help them own the time of possession and dictate the pace of the game.
2) Dominate the Line of Scrimmage in the Run and Pass Game
The first two weeks of the season, the Eagles front seven recorded eight sacks and heading into the Giants game, it looked like they would feast. The Giants ran an up-tempo, fast paced offense though which prevented the Eagles from subbing out defensive players as much and prevented them from even recording one sack.
The Eagles must get that dominance back on the line and cause havoc in the backfield for quarterback Philip Rivers and star running back Melvin Gordon. It may be tough to accomplish though; the Chargers have only allowed four sacks all season, which is one of the best ranks in the league. On the contrary, they have allowed one of the league’s highest quarterback hits in 19.
Stopping the fast-paced running game in Gordon should be first and foremost and then, hopefully, the sacks will pile up.
3) Break Out Alshon Jeffery
Since the acquisition of Alshon Jeffery in the off season, he has looked good but not great yet. This should be his week to break out.
The Chargers top cornerback Jason Verrett tore his ACL in week three and is out for the season. He most likely would have been shadowing Jeffery so now a number two or three cornerback will be on him.
Jeffery has the size and skills to run, jump and play with any corner in the league. This should be a high scoring affair come Sunday so getting the passing game established with Carson Wentz will be critical; Jeffery should be the man to make it happen.
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