Sizing up the Eagles' Week 2 meeting in Chicago on Monday Night Football:
When the Eagles have the ball
Doug Pederson maintained a nice balance in Week 1 with 37 pass attempts and 34 runs. The Eagles controlled the game and controlled the ball, possessing it for 39:20 to the Browns' 20:40.
The ground game didn't pop, averaging just 3.9 yards per carry, but it kept the offense on schedule, drained clock, helped protect Carson Wentz and boosted the play action game. Expect to see more of that in Week 2.
Without Zach Ertz and with the Bears' defense expected to key on Jordan Matthews after he was targeted 14 times last Sunday, other Eagles will need to emerge in Chicago. That could mean more Ryan Mathews on the ground, more check-downs to Darren Sproles and more involvement of Nelson Agholor and Dorial Green-Beckham. The Eagles dressed four wide receivers in Week 1 and only Josh Huff failed to pull in a reception.
The Bears last week allowed 129 yards on 35 carries (3.7 average) to the Texans, a run-oriented team with Lamar Miller. Brock Osweiler passed for 231 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. The Bears hit him eight times and sacked him twice.
This Chicago defense bottomed out in 2014 but has gotten better. The Bears signed linebacker Danny Trevathan away from the Broncos, drafted pass rusher Leonard Floyd ninth overall and added former Colts tackling machine Jerrell Freeman to shore up the front seven. Trevathan and Floyd each got consistent pressure on Osweiler, and Freeman was sound against the run.
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In the secondary, the Bears will likely start veteran Tracy Porter and third-year cornerback Kyle Fuller, the 14th overall pick in 2014. Fuller missed Week 1 with a knee injury but practiced on a limited basis this week and is listed as questionable.
Bryce Callahan is the slot corner. He allowed just one catch last week and had a decent year in 2015, allowing 20 receptions on 33 targets for 209 yards and no TDs. Matthews will likely be lined up opposite him most of the night.
From a height standpoint, the Bears might match their tallest corner, 6-foot-2 Deiondre' Hall, on Green-Beckham. DGB would have a six-inch advantage on Chicago's other corners.
The Bears will likely give Wentz looks he didn't see last week in an attempt to confuse him. But it's worth mentioning that Wentz was 11 for 12 for 129 yards when the Browns blitzed.
On the offensive line, it's important for center Jason Kelce to have a better game than he did in Week 1. Wentz and Kelce had some communication issues, which is understandable in a quarterback's NFL debut, but communication will be even tougher in a loud road stadium on a Monday night. The Eagles worked on a silent count all summer and will put it to use at Soldier Field.
When the Bears have the ball
The first team the Eagles' defense faced this season might end up being the worst offense in football. The Browns will compete with the Rams for that dubious distinction. These Bears are better, but they're not an offensive juggernaut.
Jay Cutler is what he is at this point — there's no potential left to be unlocked. He's a mid-tier quarterback who can dazzle with strong throws into tight windows, but his arm and decision-making often get him into trouble and lead to turnovers.
Cutler was 16 for 29 for 216 yards with a TD and an interception in Week 1. He's actually coming off one of his strongest seasons, with 11 interceptions (a career-low for him in a full season) and a career-best 92.3 QB rating.
Cutler has big weapons on the outside in Alshon Jeffery and Kevin White. Jeffery is the key to this game for the Eagles defensively. At 6-foot-3, 218 pounds, Jeffery is a huge target who is strong off the line of scrimmage. Cutler often just chucks it up to him for jump-ball situations.
It would be unwise for the Eagles to man-up on Jeffery at any time because Cutler is going to throw it deep to him and hope for either a penalty or for Jeffery's size to win out. In Week 1 at Houston, Jeffery was targeted six times and caught four passes for 105 yards, including a 54-yarder.
White, the seventh overall pick in the 2015 draft out of West Virginia, had an inauspicious NFL debut last week after missing all of last year with a stress fracture in his shin. White (6-3/216) was targeted seven times and caught three passes for 34 yards in Houston. He also ran a poor route on Cutler's interception.
Bears running back Jeremy Langford is not Matt Forte, but he's a dual threat in his own right. Langford had a strong training camp and preseason after getting a lot of reps late last season when Forte was injured. In Week 1, he rushed 17 times for 57 yards and a touchdown. And he's a threat in the receiving game, evidenced by back-to-back performances last year with 70 and 109 receiving yards.
Slot receiver Eddie Royal is another solid receiver for Cutler, a chain-mover who dealt with injuries last season but had a knack for scoring the previous two years, catching a total of 15 touchdowns in San Diego.
Tight end Zach Miller has been a steady pass-catcher throughout his career. He wasn't a factor in Week 1, but last season he was reliable for Cutler, catching 34 passes on 46 targets, scoring five touchdowns and converting half of his receptions into first downs. The Eagles held Browns TE Gary Barnidge without a catch last week, but the tight end should play more of a role against them this week.
With cornerback Leodis McKelvin out, the Eagles' plan is to start Nolan Carroll and Ron Brooks on the outside and move Brooks to the slot in three-receiver sets with rookie Jalen Mills playing on the island. You could also see Malcolm Jenkins help out in the nickel, a role he played often last season.
The interior of the Bears' offensive line is solid with guards Kyle Long and Josh Sitton and center Cody Whitehair, Chicago's 2016 second-round pick. But tackles Bobby Massie and Charles Leno are nothing special, so it wouldn't be a shock if Connor Barwin, Brandon Graham and Vinny Curry make their presence felt. Curry didn't make much of an impact against the Browns.
Jenkins said earlier this week that when you hit Cutler early, you can rattle him (see story). Expect to see the Eagles' aggressive, Jim Schwartz-led defense try to do exactly that Monday.
For what it's worth, Schwartz's defenses with the Lions tended to struggle against Cutler. But those were better Bears teams that had Forte, Brandon Marshall and Greg Olsen.
Special teams
What a weapon Sproles is. Everyone in every stadium holds their breath whenever the ball is punted to him. Every special teams coach drills into his unit to keep the ball away from him or to sky the punt to allow for the coverage team to get in position. And yet Sproles still consistently gives the Eagles that hidden yardage on punt returns.
Sproles averaged 12.4 yards per punt return the last two seasons and took four back to the house. In Week 1, he had a 40-yard punt return that drastically flipped field position. He, Donnie Jones, Chris Maragos and Bryan Braman are four major reasons the Eagles have such a special teams advantage most weeks.
It's still weird to see someone other than Devin Hester return kicks for the Bears. Wide receiver Deonte Thompson is Chicago's kick returner and Royal returns the punts. Royal had a 31-yard punt return last week in Houston.
Soldier Field can be a tough place to kick field goals, and neither kicker in this game is super reliable. Caleb Sturgis missed one last week, and Bears kicker Connor Barth was just 6 for 11 from 40-plus yards last season.
Longtime Bears kicker and former Penn Stater Robbie Gould was a surprising cut on Sept. 5. He's Chicago's all-time leading scorer and was coming off a decent year in which he went 33 for 39 and made a career-high seven field goals from 50-plus yards.
Prediction
Many have cautioned this week that the Bears aren't the Browns, that they're a new challenge for Wentz. They are, no doubt. But they're also not some fearsome team expected to contend for the playoffs.
The Eagles have the kind of defense that can force mistakes from Cutler and a quarterback who showed last week that he understands complex defensive schemes both pre- and post-snap.
I expect both teams to move the ball in this one, with Wentz taking several more steps forward and Cutler hitting his huge targets on a few deep passes. But it could also be a night where both teams pick up a lot of yardage but stall out in the red zone.
Ultimately, I'm going with the Eagles because I see few positions other than wide receiver where the Bears have an actual advantage.
Eagles 27, Bears 23
