The Eagles (12-1) are traveling to Chicago to face the Bears (3-10) at Soldier Field on Sunday afternoon in a matchup of two dynamic quarterbacks.
For Chicago, they’ll look to corral quarterback Jalen Hurts who is a top contender for NFL MVP this season, leading the league in passer rating (108.4), touchdown-to-interception ratio (22-3), and rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (10). Hurts has passed for 3,157 yards and rushed for 686 yards.
With kickoff less than two hours away, here are five matchups to watch when Philadelphia has the football and Chicago is on defense.
Eagles WR A.J. Brown vs. Bears CB Kyler Gordon
Gordon has 55 tackles, two tackles for a loss, one interception, four passes defended, and one forced fumble in 11 games (all starts).
He’ll be tasked with containing Eagles star pass catcher A.J. Brown.
Eagles TE Jack Stoll vs. Bears safety Jaquan Brisker
Brisker has 73 tackles, five tackles for a loss, three sacks, three quarterback hits, one interception, one pass defended, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery in 11 games (all starts).
The former Penn State star is the one high-level performer that the Bears can count on to make game-changing plays.
Eagles QB Jalen Hurts vs. Bears DC Alan Williams
The first-year defensive coordinator came over from Indianapolis with head coach Matt Eberflus and he’ll be tasked with slowing down Jalen Hurts.
The league in passer rating (108.4), touchdown-to-interception ratio (22-3), and rushing TDs by a quarterback (10), Hurts is going to put an extreme amount of pressure on the Chicago defense and he’ll certainly impact the running game as well.
The Bears’ defense has failed to generate a takeaway in four of the last five games and ranks last in the NFL in sacks (16) and third-down efficiency (48.7 percent).
Eagles RB Miles Sanders vs. Bears LBs Nicholas Morrow and Jack Sanborn
The Bears’ linebacking group is extremely thin with starters Nicholas Morrow and Jack Sanborn being the main contributors and Matt Adams being the only healthy member of the unit who plays the SAM position.
They’ll look to limit Eagles star running back Miles Sanders.
Eagles LT Jordan Mailata vs. Bears DE Trevis Gipson-Armon Watts
The Bears are led by Armon Watts on the right side and 2020 fifth-round draft selection Trevis Gipson on the left. Gipson leads Chicago with two sacks this season. As a team, the Bears have a total of 16 sacks from the defense in 2022.
