Chicago Bears vs. Philadelphia Eagles: Three Things To Watch
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Bears may be struggling, but this one has plenty of juice. Here are three things to watch for as the Bears take on the Eagles in a rematch of last year's double-doink debacle.
Burton's Burst Out Game?
While a missed last second kick always gets a lot of the blame, as we found out again this week in Chicago, there were plenty of other things that went wrong in last season's playoff loss to the Eagles, including missing Trey Burton. Burton technically hasn't been missing most of this season, but he has just 84 yards receiving total this year. Maybe he can finally get it going this week against his former team. The Eagles pass defense ranks near the bottom of the league and they're just middle of the pack defending tight ends. Burton says he isn't expecting much of a welcome back from the Philly fans who, as he pointed out, did boo Santa Claus.
Down And Out
We've got a "something's gotta give" situation in this one. Philly is second in the league converting nearly 50 percent of their 3rd downs. The Bears defense is fifth in stopping those conversions. I actually say advantage Eagles either running or passing it for first down. Pro Football Focus ranks their offensive line second in the league even without tackle Jason Peters, so it may be a long day for Khalil Mack and the Bears pass rush.
Eagles Better Than You Think
Finally, last week felt like a must win game for the Bears and they lost. This week it just looks like they're going to have a hard time winning. The Eagles are getting healthy and they're coming off a blowout win over the Bills and they're probably a little underrated at 4-4. they've only played three home games and their last three road games were at Minnesota, Dallas, and Buffalo. Those are three good teams.
I'll leave you with a not so fun Mitchell Trubisky fact. In 19 of 21 quarters, he's played this season, he's not thrown a touchdown pass. Three of his five touchdowns came in the second quarter in Washington and the other two in the fourth quarter in garbage time against the Saints.
