Don’t Overlook The Chicago Bears
If you’ve been listening to The John Kincade Show every morning this week, the fact that I’m feeling this way shouldn’t be news to you. I’ve been heralding this game all week as a perfect storm of a trap game considering the looming Dallas game, Chicago coming off a bye, the Eagles coming off a near-perfect game in New Jersey against the Giants, and the Bears being a sneaky good team for what their record is. Now, say what you want about trap games, I will say that the 2022 Eagles have looked trap game proof through their first 13 games this year. They’re sitting near perfect, and their 1 loss so far this season came in a primetime divisional game, hardly one that was lost due to oversight of their opponent. That being said, though, as you look at the numbers, the Bears become a bit more interesting of an opponent.
There are a couple of things that point towards Chicago being tougher than you would expect, but the number 1 reason is their #1. Justin Fields is a difference maker at the NFL level, and while he’s still a very raw talent, he’s capable of wreaking some havoc over the course of a game. The Eagles had trouble containing Kyler Murray in Arizona, and Ryan Tannehill had a couple big run opportunities in the Tennessee game, which means that the only 2 bona fide running QBs the birds have seen this year have had individual success against Philly. I don’t think Justin Fields is enough on his own to win this game for Chicago, but he’s absolutely not a write off. The reason the Chicago Bears are 3-10 is due more to the fact that the organization is still in the process of giving Fields weapons than Fields’ play himself. He’ll certainly be the top guy to try and take away come Sunday.
Outside of Justin Fields, and perhaps David Montgomery, there isn’t much to laud the Bears about on offense, but as a team, their stats are interesting, if still underwhelming. You’d be hard pressed to find a team statistic in which the Bears are top third or even top half of the league, but you’re also not going to find many in the bottom 5 to 7 of NFL teams. The Bears are currently the 2nd worst team in football by record, but they’re not the 2nd worst team in football statistically, and that, to me, points towards a team that could potentially be overlooked. Take a peek at what happened between the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings this past week. The Lions are better than their record shows, but they’re a young team who is still trying to figure out how to win. Imagine the Bears as Detroit Lions lite. They’re not as good as their divisional counterparts, but it’s a similar type of situation. The bottom line of all of this is the Eagles are better than the Vikings, and the Bears are worse than the Lions, so this should result in a win for Philly. I do think the Eagles ultimately win this game; my only point is that the Bears still have claws. This shouldn’t be a loss, but it will be a tougher game than a lot of people I think are giving Chicago credit for.
