Joe the Bartender previews Chargers at Eagles…

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Why hello Mr. Dennehy !!! How's the family?….

 I understand this Chip Kelly fella is stirring things up for Iggles fans?

Good for him and for Irish-Americans everywhere… He's welcome to come here anytime and there will be a Guinness on the house…

What's that? You tell me the Chargers are coming to town? What, are we back in in 2009 again?

I read the sports pages…just not with the same passion since they let Brian Dawkins go…

I got kids who keep me up on the new stuff. So based on what they tell me, here's how I see the game on Sunday at the Linc—

I figure your mentality on defense is we got to be faster than they are— we want to be an aggressive, attacking defense flying around to the ball—- and when your defensive coordinator calls an aggressive game plan it allows the players to fly around and make plays, the way we did Monday night…

Now with the Chargers, you realize that San Diego unveiled its new head coach in Mike McCoy on Monday night against the Houston Texans. McCoy's debut started off nicely with a 28-7 lead until both sides of the football imploded.

I think we are already inside their heads, Mr. Dennehy…

Listen to this quote—- "There's no time to stay down right now. We've got to focus on the positives of this game and not worry," Chargers center Nick Hardwick said. "We've got to move forward, get ready for Philadelphia and get our first win under our belt. There's no time to dwell on it."

Haha, seems to me they are already dwelling on it.

I will give you this, Mr. Dennehy, Rivers shined for 3 1/2 quarters and finished with 195 yards passing with four TD passes and one interception. He spread the ball around to seven different receivers and not one of them had more than 49 yards receiving. But the Chargers' anemic ground attack was led by Ryan Mathews' 33 yards on 13 carries.

The Chargers should have defeated the Texans Monday night, Mr. Dennehy,  but gave up 449 total yards (329 through the air). They run a 3-4 scheme under defensive coordinator John Pagano and let's face it, the unit has to apply more pressure up front after recording just two sacks on Texans quarterback Matt Schaub.

It didn't help the defense that the offense had four three-and-outs and one interception returned for a touchdown in the final five offensive drives.

"We've got to learn from it, not forget about it, but move on in a hurry," Rivers said of the offense in the second half. "This is the first game of the year. We have 15 more to go, and we've got one in Philly that's going to be here quickly, so we have to move on quick."

Well, that's why I like that Rivers fellow. He's very honest and will tell you exactly what's on his mind…

I can tell you this, Mr. Dennehy, 'cause I watched the game…Linebackers Bront Bird (14 tackles) and Donald Butler (13 tackles) carried the load for the Chargers Monday… and it won't get any easier for the duo this weekend. Perhaps rookie linebacker Manti Te'o will be healthy enough to play …and he missed the season opener with a foot injury.

If I were a Chargers fan, I would certainly be telling the boys: One of the keys to stopping the Eagles is pressing at the line of scrimmage; don't give the wide receivers too much cushion because every man needs to be accounted for in Kelly's offense. Pressure up front on Vick is key. Vick is not a typical pocket passer and tends to rush throws under pressure. Some corner blitzes could help in keeping Vick under control. In order to stop McCoy, the Chargers have to stack the box.

Haha… but nobody listens to me, Mr. Dennehy! You of all people should know that by now!

If Monday's Eagles game has any bearing on this weekend, San Diego's secondary will be in for a treat….or maybe I shoud say, a trick. Talented safety Eric Weddle must not let anyone behind him or the Chargers will be down early and often. Hydration and stamina are two areas San Diego's defense should be concerned with this weekend. Texans wideout Andre Johnson burned the Chargers for 146 yards on 12 catches, but running back Arian Foster managed only 57 yards on 18 touches.

I tell you, Dennehy, Philadelphia put on an offensive show and proved plenty of doubters wrong that Kelly's scheme wouldn't work in the NFL. Top level conditioning for this break-neck tempo was asked of the players in OTAs because it would tire defenses and cause a build up in lactic acid. That's when defenders may go down with a mysterious cramp or strain. As a bartender, I am trained in these areas…

One area of concern for the Eagles is the durability of the players. The ball will be spread around to a lot of different players and snaps have to be doled out accordingly. McCoy running 31 times in a game won't happen every time, so Bryce Brown or Chris Polk will see some time. Also, Vick must keep his body out of harm's way if he plans on playing an entire season. He was seen tugging at his groin after a long run at Washington.

I was seen tugging at my groin not long after I found out Burt Reynolds got paid more than I was paid for in "Smokey and the Bandits"…

Well Mr. Dennehy,  at least thee Chargers will try not to make the same mistakes the Redskins did, but then again all Washington had to work with was Philadelphia's film from the preseason and perhaps some footage of Kelly's days with Oregon. At least now the Chargers have somewhat of an idea what's coming and that's why the game will be closer than most think. Plus, Pagano's defense doesn't want to climb out of a hole from the jump.

You have to realize, Mr. Dennehy, San Diego and Philadelphia did break down in their respective second half's on Monday night, while the Eagles had good reason with a sizable advantage. The Eagles created a buzz leading up to Sunday's home opener after what they did to the Redskins and Kelly feels there's still room for improvement.

"I felt like it was slow to be honest with you," Kelly said. "I'm not joking. We have to do a better job. We left the ball on the ground too much. We didn't get the ball to the officials. We could have sped things up from a process in between plays, and that's something we need to continue to work on…"

Well there you have it, Mr. Dennehy… this guy Kelly is a greedy sumbich.  And I like it!

 

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