The Chargers begin a gauntlet of likely playoff squads throughout the remainder of the season by facing off against the reigning Super Bowl champion Eagles on Monday Night Football.Here are a few reasons to be pessimistic about Los Angeles’ chances of advancing to 9-4.Justin Herbert’s hand injuryHerbert broke his left hand on Sunday after taking a hit from Raiders safety Jeremy Chinn. The Chargers quarterback underwent surgery on Monday to place a plate and screws into his hand to stabilize the fracture and was spotted at practice on Thursday with a bulky glove over his injured hand before practicing in limited fashion. Herbert is expected to play, but the Chargers may be limited to pure shotgun and pistol due to their quarterback’s inability to go under center. That already led to a failed 4th-and-1 run by Kimani Vidal against the Raiders after Herbert returned to the game.Shutdown cornerEagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell has allowed a completion percentage of just 41.9% as the primary coverage defender this season, which ranks second in the NFL behind Tampa Bay’s Jamel Dean. Herbert has been willing to test corners all season and has thrown ten interceptions for the first time since 2022, so Mitchell may have some opportunity to make a few plays on the ball. A potential saving grace for the Chargers: they’ve largely spread the ball around this season, which could limit Mitchell’s impact if he does not have a specific receiver to shadow on Monday night.AJ Brown’s resurgenceBrown had the first game of his career with at least 10 receptions, 100 yards, and two touchdowns last Friday against the Bears, putting up a season-best 132 receiving yards. It’s the second game in a row and third of the last five that Brown has had more than 100 yards, which could present some problems for a Chargers defense that has allowed top receivers to produce against them. That’s especially true against a mobile quarterback like Jalen Hurts, whose ability to extend plays outside the pocket can have potentially catastrophic effects on LA’s zone-match coverages in the secondary.Mini-bye to get rightThe Eagles have three extra days of game prep this week after playing on Black Friday, since this game is Monday Night Football, which could allow Philadelphia to make some more major-than-usual changes to their struggling offense than teams are usually capable of this late into the season. Head coach Nick Sirianni stood by offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo this week. Still, Sirianni could also have a heavier hand in the offensive plan this week and put together a more complete performance than the Eagles have been capable of in recent weeks.UntestedThe Chargers are 1-2 against teams currently in the playoffs – they beat Denver 23-20 on a late touchdown pass from Herbert to Keenan Allen in Week 3, but lost badly to Indianapolis in Week 7 and Jacksonville in Week 11. All five of LA’s remaining opponents could potentially be playoff teams by the time they meet the Chargers: the Eagles are in the bracket as of Week 14, Kansas City looms next week, Dallas and Houston are on the fringes of the playoff picture, and the Chargers close with their second game against Denver in Week 18. Which Chargers team is more real: the one that handed Denver one of their two losses or the one that got blown out by the Colts and Jaguars?This article originally appeared on Chargers Wire: Reasons why the Chargers could lose to the Eagles: Week 14 concerns