Wild Card 2019: Eagles @ Bears
- FootballNewsLeague
- Jan 4, 2019
- 4 min read
The Chicago Bears are hosting the Philadelphia Eagles on Soldier Field in what will be Chicago’s first playoff game since winning the NFC North in 2010. The Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles are facing off in the playoffs for the fourth time in each franchise’s history. Overall, the Eagles lead that postseason series with a 2-1 record and most recently in 2002, the Eagles beat down da Bears to the tune of 33-19. Each team has a single Super Bowl-era championship, both over the New England Patriots.
The Eagles are the returning champions of Super Bowl LII last year, their first in franchise history, off the magic of backup Quarterback Nick Foles. He filled in for the leading MVP candidate in 2017, Carson Wentz, and looks to do the same again this year. His teammates and coaches have a ton of faith that they can make another Super Bowl run with him. Foles is 4-1 when starting this season for the Philadelphia Eagles. He began the season as the starter and went 1-1 before the returning Carson Wentz took his place as starter for the majority of the season. Carson Wentz went down, for the second year in a row, against the Dallas Cowboys and Foles had to come in and finish out the season. Foles led the Eagles to three straight wins and into the playoffs as the 6th seed.
The Bears are this season's biggest surprise. Just two seasons ago they were the third overall pick in the draft before trading up to select Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky to be the future of their franchise at quarterback. After another terrible season in 2017 the Bears let go of John Fox as their Head Coach and brought in Matt Nagy. Nagy was seen as the perfect choice to come in and steer both their team and young quarterback in the right direction. Matt Nagy comes from the coaching tree of Chiefs Head Coach, Andy Reid, and spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons as the Offensive Coordinator of the Chiefs.
The most pivotal change made by the Bears was a trade with the Oakland Raiders for Outside Linebacker Khalil Mack. Mack has turned the Bears defense around and made them a top-3 defense across the board. In particular, the volume of (defensive) turnovers has been the turnaround for their defense identity. Last season, the Bears defense accounted for 8 interceptions and 14 fumbles recovered for a total of 22 turnovers on the year. This season, the Bears are number one in the NFL on turnovers forced with 27 interceptions and 9 fumbles recovered for a total of 36 turnovers on the season. This Bears defense also ranks first in points allowed per game at 17.7, making them a very stingy group and a tough match-up for any opponent.
The Bears offense has not been spectacular to this point, but with the dominant defense there has not been a big push for the offense to be anything beyond serviceable at this time. There have been flashes of greatness by Trubisky throughout the season, but overall he has not been called on to put the game on his shoulders yet when it matters.
This Sunday’s match-up between the two teams is unique because this game is the only one this weekend that does not feature a rematch from the regular season. Over the past three weeks we have also seen the resurgence of the Eagles offense. It will be interesting to see how this Eagles offense team stacks up against such an elite Bears defense. The key to this game for the Eagles will be sustained defensive play and keeping turnovers to a minimum. The Bears offense is not particularly intimidating, and the Eagles defense should be able to keep this game close. Nick Foles has thrown an interception in each of the three games he has started in since taking over from Wentz. He cannot afford to continue this trend if he hopes to lead the Eagles to New Orleans next week.
The Eagles Offensive line must also keep Foles from taking hits at all costs. Foles left the game last week early due to injuring his ribs. This Bears defense might be the worst match up for a quarterback nursing this injury. The Eagles are also at a disadvantage because of their long list of players who are on IR or are doubtful for the game. The Bears do not have the injury concerns that the Eagles do. In fact, the Bears’ Eddie Jackson returned to practice on Thursday, giving them their best safety who has the second most interceptions on the team and fourth in the NFL.
Final Verdict
Ryan Baucum: Despite the game being in the Bears favor, I can not help but say that the Eagles will win this game. The Eagles have more experience in this situation and Nick Foles has proven to be one of the best quarterbacks when he is needed the most by his team. Eagles; 24-17
Josh Alvarez: I think the Bears will win because Philly is crippled on both sides of the ball and the bears Defense will tear Foles apart. Bears 35-17
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