The challenge against the Bears is different. While Dallas came early with blitzes and tried to disrupt Michael Vick and Co., the Bears are more likely to stay true to their Tampa 2 scheme, which generally employs the safeties playing halves -- each one responsible for playing over the top in coverage and dividing the width of the field in half -- while relying on zone coverage underneath to produce turnovers and, as we learned last year, plenty of problems when an offense reaches the red zone.
Chicago doesn't win on defense by surprising offenses. The Bears win by winning battles, by having an experienced group that has been together for a long time and by staying sound in the scheme. Led by end Julius Peppers, the Bears get after the quarterback very well. The linebackers are terrific and have been that way for years with Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs leading the charge.
They have good cornerbacks and they play physical defense. They hit hard. They look to strip the football loose from the ballcarrier.
Chicago plays defense the old-fashioned way, which should make for quite a matchup when they look to slow the Eagles' fast-break attack.
The most effective way to knock the offense off its tracks is to change the tempo and reduce the Eagles' advantage in wall-to-wall speed. Most defenses start by trying to take away DeSean Jackson and the deep pass early. You see the Eagles open so many games by taking shots down the field, and they do it for a few reasons. They want to score quickly and shock the defense, one. They also want to probe and send a message to the defense, two.
You can bet that the Eagles are going to be aggressive against Chicago. They are going to look for soft coverage and creases in the defense. They are going to take the short stuff that the Bears give. They are going to try to sneak in a play or two down the field, particularly in the vulnerable seam area where Michael Vick hit tight end Brent Celek for a touchdown in the 2010 loss at Soldier Field.
And they are going to try to establish the running game early. LeSean McCoy -- sick on Thursday with a stomach ailment but expected to be fine for Monday -- has arrived as an elite back, and he needs his touches.
The offensive line isn't going to get a lot of crazy looks from the Bears, unless the bye week prep time altered the coaching staff's usual approach to the game. Instead, the offensive line is going to have to handle Peppers and Israel Idonije on the edges and Henry Melton and a rotating cast of tackles inside.
Will the Bears blitz? Now and again, yes. They did an excellent job of hemming Vick in last year, forcing him to move frantically in the pocket and, ultimately, forcing turnovers borne from frustration.
Vick passed for 333 yards and two touchdowns in that game, but he also threw a costly interception late in the first half and converted just one trip in five opportunities in the red zone. He also had a whopping four fumbles, losing two of those. McCoy had just 10 carries, gaining 53 yards. He added 8 receptions as the Eagles attacked the underbelly of Chicago's defense.
The Eagles left Soldier Field that night a frustrated team knowing it had blown an opportunity for a critical road victory.
Now they get another chance, this time at Lincoln Financial Field.
And to defense Chicago, the Eagles will have to be every bit as precise as they were against Dallas. No turnovers. Sound blocking assignments. Patience. Aggressive confidence in the red zone.
The breakout performance against Dallas was eye opening and an exciting tease for what perhaps could be with this team, with this offense. When the curtain goes up for Monday night's clash, the Eagles are going to have a hungry, talented Chicago team on the other side of the ball that believes in its scheme and in each other.
How do the Eagles play it, then? They do what they do: spread the ball around, get the ball out of Vick's hands and make sure McCoy is involved. The key here, as always, is the turnover number. If the Eagles keep that to a minimum, they have an excellent chance to reach .500 for the first time since Week 2. If not, we're going to scratch our heads and wonder when, and if, this team will ever reach the peak and stay there like all the playoff-bound teams during the course of a season.
