Eagles-Bears Preview- Eagles Offense versus Bears Defense
There are many tangibles that make this game between The Philadelphia Eagles and The Chicago Bears an interesting match-up. Will Eagles RB Brian Westbrook play? Will Eagles QB Donovan McNabb play? Can you imagine the Eagles high flying offense without both of its two key pieces? Which Chicago Bears defense will show up Sunday night? Will it be the Bears defense that went to Indy and squashed the high octane Colts offense? Or will it be the Bears defense that last week gave up huge passing yards last week to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home? We won’t know until Sunday night but let’s take a peak at how the Eagles offense could match-up against the Bears defense:
The Eagles offensive line will have to set the tone for the game. The Bears have talented players who function well in their aggressive scheme. The key offensively for the Eagles will to be to try to neutralize DT Tommie Harris, DE Alex Brown, LB Lance Briggs, and MLB Brian Urlacher. When these four players are in their groove; making plays, being disruptive, and swarming the ball; the rest of the Bears defense feeds off of them and makes plays. If the Eagles can keep these guys off balance more times than not, then they will have opportunities to move the ball down field, keeping the Bears defense and the field, and wearing them down.
Assuming Westbrook does not play but McNabb does, the Eagles will have to rely more on the pass. Backup RB Correll Buckhalter is a solid replacement for Westbrook. He will be able to get his nose in there and run hard for some extra yards after contact, but he doesn’t have the speed and skill-set to be a threat the way Westbrook would be against the Bears. I expect the Eagles to come out trying to mix up the run and pass, keeping the Bears defense honest, and then open up the passing game and try to take advantage of the Bears defense the way Tampa Bay’s passing attack did last week.
With that thought process, the Eagles receivers and tight ends will need to be consistent and not have one of those games where they are looking over their shoulders, dropping key passes and making constant mistakes. The Bears have a very underrated but talented player in CB Charles Tillman. I would expect the Eagles to come to the line of scrimmage, find where Tillman is, and throw to whoever he is not covering. I also expect the Eagles to game plan around the thought process that the Bears will bring the heat with some blitz packages that might make McNabb have to look for the hot read and get rid of the ball quickly. If the Eagles can get the right match-ups and pick up on the Bears’ blitz, it could mean a big play or two for DeSean Jackson or maybe even Tight End L.J. Smith down the middle of the field.
Last week, Tampa was successful passing the ball, taking advantage of open space that was there because the Bears were using blitz packages. Quick hitters and quick slant plays might be the best way for the Eagles to beat the Bears aggressive style of play and help bring our record to 3-1. Tomorrow, we will take a peak at how the Eagles defense matches up against QB Kyle Orton, RB Matt Forte, and the rest of the Bears offense.
With that said, “E-A-G-L-E-S!! EAGLES!!”
