Joe's Gameday Preview: Eagles at Bears

Get ready Chicago, here’s your chance to see what a real team looks like, along with the rest of the nation. This game should honestly scare Bear fans to death. Their 1-2 team is facing a third loss in the face, which could put them behind Minnesota and tied with Detroit, depending on how this weekend’s schedule plays out. That will place them just above the bottom rung of NFL teams.

The last two games for the Chicago Bears turned out to be hard-fought losses. A play here or there would have completely changed the outcomes. I don’t feel as confident going into this Sunday night’s game against Philadelphia. Even if Donovan McNabb is hurt, he’s going to play, and at probably a very high level. McNabb is playing this year to show everyone in Philly that he is the same great quarterback that took them to the Super Bowl. He gets a little help this week in the form of an awfully shaky Bears defensive unit that let Brian Griese pick them apart. Imagine what an actual Pro-Bowl level quarterback will be able to do against Lovie Smith’s cover two scheme. This “bend but don’t break” ideology will be put to the test on Sunday as the Eagles should “break” the Bears defense a few times.

The Eagles are coming off a pretty impressive win against Pittsburgh that put them with the Giants and Cowboys as the best of the NFL. In the toughest division in football, the NFC East, each team needs to win its non-divisional match-ups. It is just too tough to go anything better than 3-3 against teams that all have a shot to get ten wins. Needless to say, this game is important to the Eagles if they intend to keep pace within their division.

The Chicago Bears, on the other hand, have suffered through two fourth quarter collapses in the last two weeks. Their offense was to blame against Carolina, but their defense should feel awful about their inability to stop Tampa Bay’s average offense. If the Bears are under the impression that their defense is anywhere near the top ten in the league, they are sorely mistaken. They miss too many tackles to be effective.  Too often do they tire out in the second half, which has mostly been because the offense can’t sustain drives. From there it’s just a matter of time before they give up big plays in the second half. Last week the defense just couldn’t hold on to a ten point lead in the fourth quarter. They were embarrassed and they know it.  Look for an angry Bears defense to come out and try to hold down a potent offense.

Offensively, the Bears are going to have problems. Jim Johnson, the Eagles defensive coordinator, loves to blitz. He calls them in bunches, and is aggressive in his decision-making. This proved very productive against Pittsburgh, when they registered nine quarterback sacks. The Bears may not have the offensive line issues that the Steelers have, but they don’t pick up blitzes with any amount of certainty either. I expect a lot of two tight end sets and max protection early for Kyle Orton on Sunday, until any type of offensive threat can be mustered. Though against a fantastic secondary that features pick-machine Asante Samuel, disgruntled Lito Sheppard, and hard-hitting Brian Dawkins, don’t expect too much.

There’s some interesting news in the injury and roster departments for Chicago this week. Devin Hester practiced yesterday, seemingly on the mend from his mysterious “rib” problem. It remains to be seen whether or not the return man of the century will be on the field for Sunday’s outing.  Also, the Bears cut Mark Bradley from the team to make room as they claimed CB Marcus Hamilton from the Bucs off waivers. Hamilton made a few plays last Sunday to force Bear punts, so it’s not a bad acquisition. I say one can never have too many good cornerbacks. The real oddity is cutting Mark Bradley, a former second round pick. He only appeared in two games this season, mostly on special teams. This is just another high round offensive pick by GM Jerry Angelo that is a flat-out bust for this team. Too many flops in the draft can kill a team and this front office seems to be on its last legs.

If the Chicago faithful expect a win on Sunday, it’ll be through ball control offense that actually puts up touchdowns. If Lovie sends out Robbie Gould to end too many drives, the Bears simply won’t be able to match points with Philadelphia. And a wise man once said “the team with the most points wins.”