Eagles-Chargers preview: 5 things to watch

The 8-4 Philadelphia Eagles will face the talented-but-flawed 8-4 Los Angeles Chargers in what I think is an interesting matchup. Here are our five things to watch.

1) Where might the Eagles go #Feastin'™️?🍗

We don't normally start off with the #FeastinMeter™️, but I believe that the Eagles' ability (or potential lack thereof) to get pressure on Justin Herbert against a makeshift Chargers offensive line is the key to the game. Herbert has a broken left hand, and the more the Eagles can hit him, the more they can make him worried about, you know, getting hit some more.

When training camp began, it looked as though the Chargers would have a good offensive line in 2025, however, they lost their two best linemen to injuries, and they have gotten disappointing performances from some of their other starters. If everyone were healthy, the offensive line would look like this:

Slater is the Chargers' best offensive lineman, and a two-time Pro Bowl player who is only in his fifth NFL season. He suffered a torn patellar tendon during training camp, and his season was over before it began.

Alt was the fifth overall pick in the 2024 draft, and he quickly developed into a good starter at RT as a rookie. After Slater went down, Alt flipped to LT, and Trey Pipkins filled in at RT. Alt suffered an ankle injury in Tennessee Week 9 and had season-ending surgery.

The Chargers replaced Alt in-game with Jamaree Salyer.

In Week 10, the Chargers started Austin Deculus at LT against the Steelers.

That didn't take, so Week 11 against the Jaguars they tried starting Trevor Penning, who they dealt for at the trade deadline.

Penning stunk, so after their bye Week 12 they went back to Salyer against the Raiders Week 13. Salyer was at least better than Deculus and Penning, for one game.

Salyer now seems to be locked in as the starting LT, and the Chargers' O-line now looks like this:

• Salyer is a versatile backup who has played four of the OL spots with the Chargers, and was actually the starting LT as a rookie in 2022. But, as shown above, after Alt went down the Chargers gave opportunities to two other stiffs to start before going back to Salyer.

• Pipkins started at RT in 2022 and 2023, and he started at RG after the team drafted Alt in 2024. The Chargers replaced him in in two consecutive offseasons, with Alt in the draft 2024, and with Becton in free agency at RG in 2025.

Here's an idea of what the Chargers' passing game has looked like since Alt was lost for the season:

The Chargers passing offense has been completely non-functional without their two stud tackles.
Weeks 6-9 (with Alt): 9th in EPA/dropback
Weeks 10-13 (no Alt): 28th in EPA/dropback

— Evan Ringler (@EvanRinglerFF) December 3, 2025

So, you know, not great.

• At RG, Becton has not played well this season for the Chargers when healthy, and was benched by Jim Harbaugh to start the second half against the Jaguars Week 11.

• Grain of salt as always, but PFF has Bozeman ranked 37th out of 37 centers.

• Johnson is an average starter.

This is the worst offensive line the Eagles will have faced this season, to date. Jalen Carter is out, but that's no excuse. If the Eagles can't get consistent pressure on Justin Herbert, they probably aren't going to win this game. It is the one major advantage they should have in this matchup.

#FeastinMeter™️: 8/10 turkey legs: 🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗

2) The Eagles D will try to peel themselves off the turf after getting steamrolled by the Bears

Before the Eagles get after Herbert, they'll first have to stop the run, something they didn't do Week 13 against the Bears, who had 281 rushing yards. Kyle Monangai ran for 130 yards and D'Andre Swift ran for 125. The defensive line got owned up front, while the linebackers were often caught out of position, and the safeties were missing tackles. Team effort!

It wasn't the first time the Eagles defense has been bullied this season. Their Week 6 loss to the Giants was pretty ugly as well. To the defense's credit, it did bounce back from that performance, and had four straight very good performances against the run thereafter.

Spoiler: Given their struggles along their offensive line and the fact that the Eagles got run over last week, the Chargers are going to want to run the ball in this matchup.

The Chargers are 12th in rushing this season, despite being without their RB1 for seven games and their RB2 for nine games.

Omarion Hampton is the RB1, and he is currently on IR, but the Chargers opened up his 21-day practice window last week, and there is optimism that he will play in this game. He was the Chargers' first-round pick this year, at 22nd overall, and was the starter to open the season. He had 66 carries for 314 yards (4.8 YPC) and 2 TDs in five games.

Hampton is 6'0, 221, and he does not go down willingly, via @Nate_Tice:

But in addition to his power, Hampton is an explosive athlete:

Here he is outracing Giants defenders to the end zone, again via @Nate_Tice:

Hampton was also involved in the passing game before he got hurt, making 20 catches for 136 yards.

The Chargers' RB2 is Najee Harris, who had 15 carries for 61 yards before tearing his Achilles Week 3 against the Broncos. His season is over. When Hampton and Harris were out, Kimani Vidal filled in, and was effective. In 9 games (7 starts), he has 121 carries for 543 yards (4.5 YPC) and 3 TDs.

Vidal is a 5'8, 215-pound bowling ball. He too does not go down easily.

The Eagles' defense needs a total team effort to contain the Chargers' rushing attack, or it could be another long day.

3) The Chargers have a bunch of receivers who contribute in the passing game

The Eagles faced a Bears offense last week that didn't have any one superstar receiver, but rather had a lot of guys who make significant contributions.

Similarly, the Chargers have four guys who all have over 500 receiving yards this season.

Here are those four receivers:

On the one hand, you're not likely to get destroyed over and over by the same guy all game, like the Eagles were by George Pickens Week 12 in Dallas. On the other hand, the Chargers are capable of finding weaknesses on opposing defenses and attacking them, because they have receivers in bulk who are capable of making plays.

This could be a game in which CB2 Adoree' Jackson is a factor, good or bad.

4) Opponents have found success on the ground against the Chargers this season

Last week, Daniel Popper of The Athletic published a lot of Chargers run defense stats. I pulled a few of the more relevant ones, below. (To note, those stats will be improved some after the Chargers beat up on the impotent Raiders Week 13.)

The Chargers are 23rd in defensive EPA per rush and 27th in defensive rushing success rate…

The primary issue is how the Chargers are defending the run when they have fewer resources allocated to the line of scrimmage. DC Jesse Minter likes to live in two-high-safety shells. He likes to live in sub-packages with defensive backs on the field in place of interior defensive linemen and inside linebackers. That often means fewer players in the box. Opposing offenses have been consistently moving the ball against the Chargers in these looks…

When the Chargers have been in nickel packages this season, meaning five defensive backs, they rank 26th in defensive EPA per rush.

The Chargers have played 58.3 percent of their defensive snaps with six or fewer defenders in the box this season, the second-highest rate in the league through 11 weeks. This is the structure of the defensive system. But the Chargers cannot continue to play this way. They do not have the interior defenders to stop the run in light boxes. They let Poona Ford walk in free agency, and they are paying the price for it…

When the Chargers have been in their base defense this year — four defensive backs and three interior defensive linemen — they rank fifth in defensive EPA per rush. However, they have only played their base package on 20.7 percent of snaps.

Oh, so the Chargers are bad at stopping the run when they're in nickel, but good when they're in base?

I fully expect the Eagles to invite more base defense and more Chargers defenders into the box by playing Grant Calcaterra 20+ snaps for no good reason.

5) The Chargers have one of the best pass defenses in the NFL

The Eagles' offense has struggled in a whole lot of ways this season, including the passing game. It will be difficult reversing that trend against this very good Chargers pass defense.

Egg sales in Moorestown could be on the rise on Tuesday. (I kid, I kid.)

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