PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (9-7) AT CHICAGO BEARS (12-4)
IN A NUTSHELL
The defending champs face their closest cousins and
imitators: a team that took the NFL by storm with an Andy Reid coaching
disciple, innovative offense, surprising second-year quarterback and stifling
defense.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Nick Foles worked his usual late-season relief sorcery,
capping a three-game winning streak by helping the Eagles pummel Josh Johnson
and the eager-to-quit Redskins 24-0 in the season finale.
The Bears helped the Eagles cause by holding walking money
incinerator Kirk Cousins to just 132 passing yards in a 24-10 win.
The Bears grew from an up-and-down young team early in the
season into a legitimate Super Bowl contender that no longer sabotages itself
with critical mistakes. The Eagles are playing their best football right now
since last January.
(Foles left Sunday's game late in the fourth quarter with a
chest injury. It was believed to merely be a deep bruise at press time.)
Stopping Foles Magic means stopping Alshon Jeffery (16
catches and 301 yards in the three games since Foles took over), Zach Ertz (116
catches this season, the most for a tight end in a single season) and Nelson
Agholor (10 catches, 156 yards and three touchdowns in the final two games
after an early season spent catching mostly three-yard passes).
The Bears had the top-ranked defense in the NFL at stopping
No. 1 receivers, third-ranked against tight ends and sixth-ranked against slot
guys entering Week 16, per
Football Outsiders—and none of those numbers will go down after what they
did to Cousins and Friends. If the Bears defense plays to its capacity, it can
turn Big Game Foles back into dreary-old Regular Game Foles.
KEY FOR THE EAGLES
Defensive tackle Fletcher Cox had three sacks on Sunday and
took over the Rams game for long stretches. The Eagles need him to help shut
down the Jordan Howard-Tarik Cohen running game and pressure Mitchell Trubisky
into a mistake or two to take pressure off the Eagles secondary, which is still
a patchwork of backups and youngsters.
RANDOM FACT
The Eagles have won their last three matchups with the
Bears, dating back to 2013, by a combined 114-28 score. That probably won't
matter this weekend.
BOTTOM LINE
The Bears are more talented, playing at home and have
overcome their early-season case of the yips against tough opponents. It was a
heck of a ride for Eagles fans, but it ends in Chicago.
And yes, we said almost the same thing this time last
year.
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