2010... That was the last time we made the playoffs. Two Thousand Fucking Ten. 8 years ago. But, we're back. And damn it feels good. I am the first to admit I thought this team was due for a better year than 2017, but not one this good. My thoughts changed moderately when we got Mack - I had us winning 9 games when we picked him up. In 2010, we let a division rival (the Packers) slip into the playoffs by not knocking them out in game 16. That came back to hurt us. Nagy wasn't about to let history repeat itself and took out the Vikes last week. The positive is we don't have to see the Vikes for the 3rd time this year... The negative is instead we get to face the SB champs. The Eagles are the champions until someone knocks them out. It's up to us. The Eagles have a lot of weapons. And the weapons are across the board on both sides of the ball. This team beat the living snot out of us 31-3 last year with largely the same group of talent. This is not going to be an easy game. With that, here are some things to watch: 1) Alshon Jeffery -vs- Kyle Fuller - Fuller and Alshon went head to head in 2017 with Alshon having a fairly pedestrian 50 receptions for 50 yards and a TD. The big difference this year is instead of Carson Wentz throwing, it will be Nick Foles (who did practice today). Foles really likes Alshon and targets him a lot more than Wentz does. Fuller has been playing at a pro-bowl level this year and he'll need to continue to do so this week. Foles will look to Alshon often, especially when under pressure - which he will be often. Advantage: Eagles 2) Fletcher Cox -vs- Cody Whitehair - The Bears faced Aaron Donald - the guy I consider the most prolific interor pass rusher in the league - and pretty much held him in check a few weeks back. They will need to be just as good this week. The Eagles line, overall, is dominant. But they love to line Cox (6'-4", 315 lbs) directly over the center and force him to handle him one-on-one. This has lead to 10.5 sacks this year including 3 last week alone. Whitehair will definitely have some help from both guards on many downs from Long and James Daniels. However, they will also have their hands full with their base assignments. Advantage: Eagles 3) Nelson Agholor -vs- Prince Amukamara - Remember when I said the Eagles have weapons? Well, yea. They do. And I haven't even discussed their Tight End yet... Angholor has not had one of his best seasons in 2018. He's got just 736 yards on the season. But he has played well as of late with Foles behind center. He's a solid receiver with 4.4 speed. I do think Prince has the advantage here. He's both more athletic and more experienced. He also has technique that should be able to lure Foles into a mistake. Advantage: Bears 4) Michael Bennet -vs- Charles Leno Jr. - Leno has not had his best year in 2018. He has allowed 7 sacks and has added on 5 false starts to that negative yeardage. WIth that, he's going to need to bring his A game this week. Bennett (9 sacks), we know, does not like the Bears. He not only is a solid pass-rusher, but he also plays with an attitude. And he loves to cheap shot QB's... On a positive note, Bennett has been nursing a bad ankle over the last few weeks and did not practice today. This is nothing new, they have allowed him to skip practices with the sore ankle for a while now. He's definitely playing. However, since torquing the ankle about a month ago, he has just 1 sack. I think this will be a great match-up to watch. Advantage: Even 5) Matt Nagy -vs- Jim Schwartz - Gotta admit, I dislike Schwartz almost as much as any coach ever. I put him up there with Forrest Greg and Pete Carrol. The guy is just a dick. He coaches his players to take cheap shots, late hit, hit out of bounds, and hope the refs ignore it. There is no two-ways about it, he is looking to take out Trubisky and will not care how he does it. With the game being the late game Sunday, I have no doubt he will leverage the unwritten rule where refs ignore that shit to keep the game moving on National TV. WIth that, I hope Nagy is smarter than he was last year against the Titans. He needs to coach above this, keep his players focused and ignore the cheap shit and take it to them. Unfortunately, I think that little bitch will likely have his team ready to get under our skin. And with a young, and inexpereinced offensive team, I have concerns. But, as I mentioned before, If our Oline can win the battle of the trench, and run the ball hard, keep the defense off balance with creative play-calling and execution, our offensive mind is better than their cheap-shot defense. Edge: Bears 6) Good Mitch -vs- Bad Mitch - The Eagles defensive line, when healthy, is one of the best in the league. And we know Schwartz is going to blitz the living fuck out of Mitch in his first playoff game ever. Mitch is going have to play like the QB we saw last week. He's going to have to play calm, cool, and not look like a deer in headlights. He's going to have open receivers - he's going to need to hit them. He's going to have some solid looks and easy decisions when running the RPO - He'll need to make the right decision. He's going to have an opportunity to use his feet - he'll need to do so knowing he's probably going to get hit late. Mitch is going to need to play up to a new level this week. I think he can. Advantage: Good Mitch 7) Zack Ertz -vs- Leonard Floyd - Ertz, the #3 pass catching Tight end in the NFL with 1165 yards and 8TD's, is the biggest receiving threat this team has and he's going to be a target. Over the last few weeks, we've seen some really good pass-catching Tight Ends. Rudolf and Kittle being the better ones. We have held them both to under 100 yards (with Kittle being targeted 12 times. Now, while Floyd will draw this match up on passing downs when in Man when Ertz lines up on his side, stopping Ertz will be a team effort with ILB's and Safeties also drawing coverage. We need to shut him down to slow down this offense. I think we have the personell to do so. Advantage: Even 8) Bears receivers -vs- Eagles CB's - I wanted to pick these two groups out as a whole manily because these two groups are the most beat-up units on their respective teams. We know Miller dislocated his shoulder again while trying to make a cut (non-contact). We also know Allan Robinson was out last week and is giving it a go in practice this week. On the other side of the ball, Sydney Jones is out and the Eagles secondary is now sporting a starting cast of Craveon LeBlanc, Rasul Douglas and Avante Maddux. While they are not the worst trio in the league, they are damn close giving up 4300 yards passing this year - good for 3rd worst in the NFL. Again, our receivers will be open. It's up to Trubisky to just get the damn ball there. Advantage: Bears 9) Khalil Mack -vs- Jason Peters - The positive here is there is no one in the NFL that can stop Mack when he's healthy, and he's healthy. The other positive is Peters has been banged up with a Quad injury and while he played well last week against Washington, he's going to be at a severe disadvantage this week. He is also very long in the tooth, slower off the snap - especially on the road - and very [rone to false starts. The Eagles generally have not had to give Peters a lot of help over the years as he's one of the top LT's in the NFL. I hope they stick by that this week. It will be a long day for the immobile Foles. Edge: Bears 10) Ref Factor: On a positive note, Clete the Cheat Blakeman was selected as a wild-card head ref - and he was not assigned to us. On another positive note, we get the most experienced head ref in the NFL: Tony Corrente. Since 1999, we've seen Corrente and his crew 18 times. We are 10W and 8L in games he's ref'd. The one time he covered us when we faced the Eagles was in 2009. We lost in a relatively evenly matched and evenly called game. He also ref'd the SB between the Bears and Colts. Again, I don't think ref's calls were a factor in that game, although I still think Kelvin Hayden stepped out of bounds on the Pick 6 that essentially ended the game. In short, I don't see the refs being a factor this week unless they ignore Schwartz's cheap shotting. The Bears are the better team, have given up just 1 TD in the last 3 games and should win at home. I have Bears 28, Eagles 17
Nice write up Mongo but you seem to overlook one thing the wildcard factor 11) tunafat vs. Any team that dares to take the field against the Bears. I was at the game earlier this year when the Bears put up 38 points in the first half against the Buc's and Mitch threw 6 TD's. I'd like to see Good Mitch one up that total and make it 7. As you said these guys will be open and Mitch will find them. These guys seem to be playing with so much more confidence since that Rams game I see them building on it against the Superbowl champs. Bears 55 Eagles 10
Wow Mongo!! That's such a positive post! Are you sure you're not just high? This is really hard on the nerves. I hope that Trubisky finds his inner calm so he can make the right decisions during plays.
Pass to LeBlanc. While all 3 have vastly improved when forced to start, Maddox and Douglas have gone from average to good-great while LeBlanc went from an injury scrub to servicable.
This a probably an accurate description of him from what I remember of him spending two years here, except that the needle can strobe between either of those descriptions at any given time without warning.
Fuck inner calm I want him to find #80 #18 #17 #24 #29 #12 #87 #83, those guys will put points on the board. What number is Inner Calm anyway?
Dayum ... That is ALL kinds of witty tuna!! I have a feeling that Mitch knows exactly how to find inner calm, no matter what number is on his jersey ...
No I'll be at the Superbowl watching Bears and Chargers, where will this Runnerup bowl be held? Hey @gidion72 wtf is going on in the Steelers locker room?
If the Bears win by more than two touchdowns....I will throw in money to send Tuna to the divisional round.
I'm not going to lie, Nick Foles and his voodoo magic scare the ever living shit out of me. This may sound ridiculous but this is probably the only offense in the NFL I would be agraid if playing in Chicago. (Saints/Rams/Chiefs in their stadiums is a different story). I dont know What kind of goat Pederson and Foles sacrificed to the football gods but these two are a match made in heaven. Call me a meatball but they should strongly consider trading wentz for like (2) firsts and just keeping Foles. Anyways. The double edged sword for Foles in this game is that he is not very mobile. Our defense is damn near unstoppable at home and I think Foles is going to be running for his life all day. I'm not afraid of the Eagles' running game at all. The Bears should be favored by a touchdown in this game IMO. I'm scared as hell but on paper we should kick the shit out of this team, in my opinion.
You're a meatball and that's a dumb idea. The only problem with Wentz is health. When he's on the field playing...he's elite.
Awesome, thanks so much for doing this dude. Agree with almost all of it especially Cox worrying me the most. So you were trolling us eh? https://live4sportnetwork.com/forum/threads/2018-season-predictions.16049/page-2 I updated my thinking to 9 wins, and remember arguing in that thread that you were wrong at 6 wins. You even have Mack as a pro-bowler! Your point stands that not even the biggest homers among us had 12 wins and a playoff birth. Eagles are a bit more injured his year but man I hope they remember that game as some bulletin board material. Cant agree here. Jeffrey was running his mouth this week about how he was “just here for work” and philly is the city that he loves. That’s some Horace grant level horseshit right there. Fuller, for all the knocks on him in the past, has been playing at a high level. I don’t care if Jeffrey will be targeted more, Fuller wins this matchup. He may not completely shut him down, he’ll have catches but there’s no way I call this advantage eagles imo.
I wrote a QnA with Tim where I updated my thinking. ↑ Can you give me your prediction for the 2018 Chicago Bears' season? 6-10 assuming Trubisky does not take that next step. 9-7 assuming he does. For the record, I had us at 4 or 5 wins before the Mack trade.
Yep. It pisses me off too when a player talks shit about Chicago. I remember when Mushim Muhamed did and it really pissed me off. I think Alshon was very anti-Cutler and when Marshall was dumped, Alshon made up his mind about this team and the city. I suppose he got some vengeance last year winning the SB. But, I won't be upset if Amos takes Alshon out on a shoulder to helmet hit...
Bears Thursday Injury Report FS Eddie Jackson (ankle) - Limited OLB Aaron Lynch (elbow) - Did Not Participate WR Taylor Gabriel (ribs) - Full Participation OL Kyle Long (ankle) - Did Not Participate WR Anthony Miller (shoulder) - Full Participation WR Allen Robinson (ribs) - Full Participation For the third week in a row, Eddie Jackson remains the biggest name on the injury report for the Bears. The first-time Pro Bowler went down with an ankle injury in Chicago's win over the Green Bay Packers in Week 15. Chicago has remained very cautious with his injury these last few weeks. The good news is he was able to return in a limited fashion on Thursday afternoon. That is great news for the young safety. Friday will be the team's final practice of the week and the team will have to put an injury designation on him for Sunday's game. Aaron Lynch has not practiced since suffering an injury against the Packers in Week 15 and once again did not practice on Thursday. For the second day in a row, Taylor Gabriel, Anthony Miller and Allen Robinson all practiced in full. Miller suffered his shoulder injury early in the win over the Vikings. He stumbled on a play in which he carried the ball out of the backfield and landed awkwardly out of bounds. Miller then immediately went to the locker room. He suffered a shoulder injury earlier in the season and missed one game because of it. The rookie wideout ended the regular season with 33 catches for 423 yards with seven touchdowns. Gabriel also had to leave Chicago's win over the Vikings with an injury. At the time of his injury, the Bears only had three active wideouts on the field in Josh Bellamy, Kevin White and Javon Wims. Gabriel finished the regular season with 67 catches for 688 yards with two touchdowns. Robinson missed the Week 17 game with a ribs injury he suffered against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 16. He missed a total of three games during the regular season. He previously missed two contests with a groin injury. He ended the regular season with 55 catches for 754 yards with four touchdowns.\ Long practiced in full on Wednesday and was held out of practice on Friday. The Bears noted it was just a rest day for the three-time Pro Bowl guard. The Eagles returned to practice on Thursday and released this injury report: Eagles Injury Report LB D.J. Alexander (hamstring) - Did Not Participate DL Michael Bennett (foot) - Did Not Participate QB Carson Wentz (back) - Did Not Participate CB Sidney Jones (back) - Did Not Participate DL Fletcher Cox (knee) - Limited QB Nick Foles (ribs) - Full Participation C Jason Kelce (knee) - Full Participation OT Jason Peters (quad) - Limited OL Isaac Seumalo (chest) - Limited WR Mike Wallace (ankle) - Limited CB Avonte Maddox (oblique) - Limited RB Wendell Smallwood (hand) - Limited https://247sports.com/nfl/chicago-b...ars-Eagles-Wild-Card-injury-report-127225780/
I don't care if he's catching 5 yard quick hitters. Alshon can only kill a defense by catching well-thrown or poorly thrown jump balls 30+ yards downfield. And for that to happen Foles will need time for the play to develop and Alshon to get his ass down there. If Foles doesn't have that time, Alshon is completely neutralized. So I don't see this as a matchup of Fuller vs Alshon, which one on one Fuller cannot win. I see it as Bears D against their best weapon. We all know Alshon faked/milked injuries his last couple years here. By chance, I recently noticed this passage from Leviticus 42:11: if a man shall be a pussy and fake an injury, thou mayst root for him to get injured in later a game. Now that we've settled that moral dilemma, I would love to see Amos light his ass up over the middle and legit knock him out of the game in tears. Nothing serious but make him afraid to ever want to come back on the field against us. This is the one matchup we must win on offense. Cox has such a long wingspan too that he can bat balls down or reach and strip sack a QB quicker than most. Whitehair and the guards will have their hands full no doubt. Nothing seems to faze us. Even if Schwartz and guys like Jenkins and Bennett play dirty I'm not concerned. And I fully expect this if the game gets out of hand in our favor... which I fully expect it to. Bears 31 Eagles 13
