Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Enemy Intel – The Bears

Posted September 25th, 2026 | No Comments »

Heaven and hell. That would be a good way to describe the Bears season so far. They looked great in the opener, beating Carolina 59-37. Then Chicago lost to the Viking 9-3. Even worse, QBs Caleb Williams and Tyson Bagent both were injured. Two weeks and two very different results.

We don’t know the QB situation for sur, but there is a good chance Case Keenum is the starter on Monday. That changes the Bears offense in a big way. Not schematically mind you, but in terms of what they can do. Williams is a gifted athlete who can use his legs as a weapon. He ran for a 29-yard TD in the opener. He can also move around to buy time and let his receivers get open downfield, which can lead to big plays. Keenum is a smart veteran, but he’s not a playmaker. With Keenum, the offense will succeed or fail based on execution.

Chicago still has enough weapons to move the ball and score points. The OL is the foundation, especially RT Darnell Wright.

That OL has five good run blockers. They can open holes and get movement. They ran for 291 yards in Week 1 and you don’t do that unless you dominate the line of scrimmage. The offense struggled vs Minnesota, but still ran for 134 yards. you don’t really stop that run game, you just hope to limit it.

Former Eagle D’Andre Swift is the star RB. He averages 5.0 yards per carry and has run for 3 TDs. Kyle Monangai is a talented backup and averages 7.4 ypc. The k=line gives these guys room to run and they make the most of it.

Rome Odunze and Luther Burden are the key receivers. Burden is very dangerous after the catch. Odunze is averaging 19.0 yards per reception on the year. The Bears have an excellent group of TEs. Colston Loveland is the star. He only has one catch so far this season, but he is a big time talent. Cole Kmet is very good as well and Sam Roush gives them a good #3 TE.

Coach Ben Johnson is going to be pissed off that his team only scored 3 points last week. He will be driven to show the rest of the league that the Bears can win without Williams as the QB. Expect a creative gameplan. Expect the unexpected.

Chicago will need to score points because their defense isn’t great. DE Montez Sweat is the best pass rusher. DT Grady Jarrett can be disruptive, but he’s banged up right now. Devin Bush and TJ Edwards are the LBs. Neither guy is filling up the stat sheet so far this year. They have combined for 15 tackles, 1 TFL and 1 PD.

Rookie safety Dillon Thieneman leads the team with 17 tackles. He has a good combination of size and speed. Jaylon Johnson and Tyrique Stevenson are the corners. Stevenson is second on the team with 14 tackles. He is dealing with a hamstring injury. If Stevenson is out, there could be a shuffle in the secondary.

That wouldn’t be ideal. You hate having multiple guys move spots, but that might be the best use of personnel.

Here is the Bears injury report as of Thursday afternoon. They have some key guys banged up right now.

Kalif Raymond is a good punt returner. The KORs aren’t anything special.

Cairo Santos is 2 for 3 on FGs, but did have one blocked last week.

The Bears are an interesting team. With Williams, they are a Super Bowl contender. I don’t like the defense, but Johnson and Williams have proven to be a dynamic player/coach combination and that makes Chicago tough to beat. They aren’t going to score 59 points on the Eagles. They also aren’t likely to be held to just a field goal. They will be at home and highly motivated. Even down a QB or two, this will be a dangerous team.

*****

The Eagles could have one outside advantage on Monday night.

It will be interesting to see f this trend continues.

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Coming and Going

Posted September 23rd, 2026 | No Comments »

Roster turnover is a fact of life in the NFL. It can be really frustrating when you lose players you like and had hopes for. The flip side is that it can be great to add a player to an area that is hurt by injury or simply needs upgrading. The Eagles made several changes in recent days.

  • Signed TE Zach Ertz to the practice squad
  • Signed NB/S Kenny Moore to the practice squad
  • Released DT Gabe Hall from the practice squad
  • Lost S Maximus Pulley from the practice squad when he signed with the Rams

Moore has spent most of his career playing in the slot. He was with the Colts when Nick Sirianni was there so they have experience together. Vic Fangio was asked about Moore in his PC today and said he knew nothing about him and hadn’t watched Moore. This is a Howie move, not something the defensive coaches pushed for. The addition of Moore could mean Michael Carter will focus on playing safety. He’s been the top backup at slot and safety to this point. We’ll find out more about the plan for Moore and the other DBs in time. We can only speculate for now.

The Eagles had a trio of talented young DBs in Kapena Gushiken, Maximus Pulley and Cole Wisniewski. Gush is now with the Colts and Pulley is a Ram. Ugh. You hate to lose guys that showed promise and gave you potentially cheap, young options in the secondary. Wis is still on the Eagles practice squad. He was slowed by injuries in the spring and summer, but has good NFL potential.

I was surprised Hall didn’t get claimed when the Eagles let him go as part of the roster cuts. He played well this summer. He’s got a good combination of size and athleticism. It will be interesting to see if anyone picks him up.

Let’s go back to the addition of Ertz. I wrote a bit about him previously, but he’s worth discussing some more. Devin Jackson wrote a good piece for the Inquirer and came up with this conclusion.

Expectations should be set low for Ertz, considering his age and return from a significant injury. But if the tight end can look somewhat like he did as a receiver last season, when he contributed a throwback performance against the Broncos one game before his injury (10 catches, 106 yards) the Eagles may get more than a feel-good story.

I think that is a fair summary.

Ertz is a talented pass catcher, even at the age of 35 (almost 36). He has good hands. He is still a good route runner. Ertz is comfortable working the middle of the field and remains a solid red zone threat. He can help this offense. The big X-factor is his return from an ACL injury. Ertz has had enough time to heal and get back to where he needs to be from a generic perspective, but every ACL injury can be different based on the player’s size, injury history, the position they play and the severity of the injury. I’m guessing the Eagles wouldn’t have signed Ertz if they didn’t feel strongly that he could help them.

Dallas Goedert will miss a few weeks. The Eagles will need a combination of Johnny Mundt, EJ Jenkins and Ertz to get them through Goedert’s absence. Ertz is the best receiver. He’s never been a great blocker, but hopefully can be effective. Mundt is more blocker than receiver. Jenkins had a strong summer as a blocker. He’s still a mystery overall since he’s not played that much on offense. This group should be good enough to get the Eagles through 2 to 3 games. It certainly wouldn’t be ideal for an extended period.

It will be interesting to see if the Eagles use 11 personnel even more in DG’s absence. The WRs played well on Sunday and that group has good depth. They have mostly been in 11 personnel so far this season and the number could get even higher.

*****

The team still has an open roster spot. We thought they might use that on Ertz, but put him on the practice squad instead.

We don’t know for sure what Howie is thinking. He could be looking to add a safety or another TE. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. Keeping the spot gives the Eagles options. We know Howie is constantly talking to agents and other teams to see who is available. He always wants to upgrade the roster when the right move is possible.

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