The Bears are heading into Monday Night Football with a tough assignment, and the matchup gets even trickier when you dig into what Philadelphia is bringing to the table.
Chicago is coming off a 9-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, while the Eagles survived Tennessee with a 24-20 win on a Jalen Hurts touchdown pass with nine seconds left. Ahead of Week 3, Bear Goggles On’s Ryan Heckman sat down with an Eagles perspective from FanSided’s Inside the Iggles, and the conversation made one thing clear: there are plenty of reasons this game could get messy.
The first place to start is on the ground. Last year, the Bears piled up nearly 300 rushing yards against Philadelphia, and even without Caleb Williams in this one, the run game figures to be central again.
But the Eagles’ run defense remains vulnerable, sitting 23rd in the NFL and giving up 127 yards per game. As the Eagles expert put it, “This doesn't feel like a favorable matchup for a front seven that is filled with stars, but still struggles to stop the run.”
He added that while he doesn’t expect another 281-yard outburst, “the Eagles are still going to surrender a lot of rushing yards.”
Philadelphia’s own ground game comes with its own complications. The Eagles ran it only 17 times against Chicago last season, and this time the backfield is banged up enough that the team will lean on a running back committee.
That’s only part of the problem. Landon Dickerson is on IR with a knee injury, Cam Jurgens is shifting to replace him, and Drew Kendall is now at center.
The verdict from the Eagles side was blunt: “Philly is a mess on the offensive line right now,” and the expectation is that the Eagles won’t get to 100 rushing yards and will “most likely average less than four yards per carry.”
If there’s a defensive area that stands out as Philadelphia’s weakest link, it’s the safeties. Andrew Mukuba is still not 100% because of a knee injury, and Marcus Epps took heat for a rough game against Tennessee, including a missed tackle on a third-and-22 that nearly flipped the result.
The Eagles did bring in Kenny Moore, but the concern there stretches beyond one game. “It may not solve the issues this team has had there for the last few seasons,” was the assessment.
The other side of the ball has its own trouble spots, and the offensive line is the one Chicago has every reason to attack. Jurgens is out of position at left guard, Kendall is about to make his third career NFL start, and that opens the door for the Bears to create pressure on Jalen Hurts. In the view of the Eagles analyst, that’s the path for Chicago: “Many might think the Eagles should win this game, but exploiting that Eagles offensive line is the key to a Bears upset.”
Hurts himself drew a strong defense, too. He was described as “criminally underrated,” even with flaws in his game.
The criticism is familiar - reads aren’t always clean - but the belief remains that when he starts, Philadelphia always has a shot. His deep ball accuracy was singled out as underappreciated, and his mobility and willingness to run this season were credited as a big reason for the Eagles’ success.
The bottom line: he “really should be in the conversation for being a top-10 quarterback in the NFL.”
There’s also a different feel to the offense this year. Sean Mannion is being credited with a more varied approach than Kevin Patullo, with more pre-snap motion and a wider playbook.
That doesn’t mean everything is smooth. The screen game with Makai Lemon is “not working at the moment,” and the Eagles still want Hurts working the middle of the field and moving pieces around.
Even so, the offense is expected to look different than the version Chicago saw a year ago.
What should worry the Bears most, beyond the line play, is Philadelphia’s pass rush. Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith Jr. have been getting pressure, but the sacks haven’t followed at the rate the Eagles want. Smith did get home last week, and if Jonathan Greenard misses a third straight game, the expectation is that Hunt and Smith need to finish plays - especially against Braxton Jones or Theo Benedet at left tackle.
As for Makai Lemon, the lack of noise around the first-round pick isn’t exactly a mystery. The issue is how he’s being used.
The offense has been fixated on getting him touches in the backfield, and those plays have gone nowhere. The belief is that he can be a good receiver “if Mannion lets him go vertical down the field.”
For now, though, the passing game is centered more on DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks, and the note was simple: Lemon’s time is coming, just not against Chicago.
The prediction at the end was straightforward: the Eagles were picked to win 27-17 no matter who starts at quarterback for the Bears. And the biggest storyline, according to the Eagles perspective, might not even be the score - it could be Chicago’s secondary, which was described as being in such disarray that someone may need to be benched, whether that is Jaylon Johnson or Tyrique Stevenson.
In Other News...
Bears Head Into Eagles Showdown With One Huge Question To Answer
Monday night gives Chicago a chance to measure itself against one of the NFCs early barometers, and the matchup carries plenty of intrigue beyond the marquee setting. The Bears are headed into Philadelphia with Case Keenum set to start at quarterback, a wrinkle that naturally changes the conversation around how theyll attack the Eagles and how much they can lean on the run game and defense to keep things manageable.
Philadelphia brings its usual mix of pressure and playmaking, which means Chicagos protection issues and injury concerns figure to be a major part of the story once the lights come on. The Bears will need a clean plan on offense and a disruptive night from their front to have a real shot, but the bigger question is whether the group around Keenum can hold up long enough to turn a tough road assignment into something more competitive. [Read more 🡒]
Bears Suddenly Have A Real Monday Night QB Decision
Tyson Bagent was back on the practice field Saturday after moving forward in the NFL concussion protocol, and that alone gave the Bears a little more clarity in an already unsettled quarterback picture. With Caleb Williams sidelined by a hamstring injury, Chicago has been left sorting through a short-term answer for Monday Night Football against the Eagles, and Bagents return at least keeps the young quarterback in the mix.
The catch is that Bagent still needs final medical clearance before he can be counted on for the game, which leaves the Bears weighing one more layer of uncertainty before kickoff. If he is not ready, veteran Case Keenum stands as the other option, giving Chicago a decision that now feels much closer to game-time than the team probably wanted. [Read more 🡒]
Malik Muhammads Bears Rise Could Get Tested In A Hurry
Through two weeks of the 2026 season, Malik Muhammad has looked every bit like a rookie who belongs in the Bears defensive plans. With Kyler Gordon sidelined, Muhammad stepped into the starting nickel cornerback job and has already shown why the staff has trusted him there, allowing just five catches on 11 targets while also picking off a pass and adding a sack.
Dennis Allen has seen enough to keep pushing the kid beyond one role, too, with Muhammad being trained to handle both nickel and outside corner duties. That kind of versatility can make a young defensive back invaluable, but it also means the Bears may be asking a lot of him sooner rather than later, especially if the matchups keep coming fast and the depth chart keeps shifting around him. [Read more 🡒]