Game Preview – PHI at CHI

Posted: January 6th, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Comments Off on Game Preview – PHI at CHI

Playoff football.

There is nothing like it. You win or go home. There is no best of seven. One game decides your fate.

Today the Eagles go to Chicago to take on the Bears, winners of the NFC North. On paper, the Bears should win. They had the better season. The best individual unit in the game is their defense and it’s not even close. They’re the home team and the healthier team.

But…things are not always as they appear. In my game preview for PE.com, I talked about how you have to focus on recent weeks. The Eagles are getting healthier and playing their best football of the year. Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky has been struggling with a shoulder injury.

Over the past six weeks, these teams are pretty even.

The Eagles can absolutely win this game. The key for them is to avoid turnovers and win the line of scrimmage. If the Bears front four isn’t blocked, game over. Nick Foles isn’t going to make enough plays with his legs to overcome the pass rush. If the Eagles OL blocks well and Foles has time, he’ll get his receivers the football.

On D, the Eagles want to stuff the run and force Trubisky to beat them. He is mobile and will make some plays, but will that be enough?

The X-factor could be the weather. It is supposed to be about 37 degrees, with winds in the 15 to 25 mph range. Foles usually doesn’t excel in bad weather. The Eagles didn’t play any real cold weather games this year. Chicago played one, beating the Rams 15-6. That was some terrific defense, but not exactly a lot of offense.

Doug Pederson could turn to more of a short passing game if the wind is gusting. That means Golden Tate, Nelson Agholor, Zach Ertz and Darren Sproles would need to be at their best. They would need to make plays after the catch.

Maybe Dallas Goedert will turn out to be a key player. If the Eagles go with two TEs a lot, Goedert would have plenty of chances to make plays. You know the Bears would focus on Ertz.

I’m excited to see what Pederson comes up with and how the players execute the plan.

I’m really interested to see the defense. You can’t make too much of the Skins game because that offense was so awful, but 89 yards? That’s crazy good. The Eagles defense could be hitting their stride at the perfect time. Bennett and Cox are going to be a handful to deal with.

I’m expecting a tough defensive struggle. I think the Eagles will make more key plays and find a way to win.

*****

I thought this was pretty funny.

https://twitter.com/shamus_clancy/status/1081927688221265920

William Perry, Jim McMahon, Mike Ditka and Richard Dent were star players for the Bears. But more importantly, they were also Eagles.

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