Philadelphia Eagles: Wild Card Round preview against Chicago Bears
By Jake Starr
The Wild Card Round matchups are set and the Philadelphia Eagles will head to the midwest to take on the Chicago Bears.
Just like that, and the Philadelphia Eagles are back in the playoffs for the second straight season. It was not easy, but the Eagles found a way to sneak in at 9-7 after winning their last three games and capped it off with a 24-0 win over the Washington Redskins last Sunday.
The Eagles needed help to make the playoffs, and they got that thanks to the Minnesota Vikings falling to the Chicago Bears 24-10. Now after receiving help from the Bears, the Eagles will take on the team that helped them get into the playoffs.
Chicago finished the season 12-4 and won their first NFC North title since 2010. The Bears are the No. 3 seed in the NFC and are led by their third-ranked defense, giving up just 18.2 points per game.
As for their offense, the Bears rank ninth in the league in terms of points scored.
The Eagles were 4-6 at Thanksgiving and seemed dead in the water. They then went on to go 5-1 in their last six games to finish the season 9-7. It was not an easy stretch, with many thinking the season was all but done again when the Eagles dropped to 6-7 after losing to Dallas Cowboys in overtime.
But then Nick Foles happened again. Foles will look to once again lead the Eagles on an unlikely postseason run. This time though, it will all have to come on the road. The odds are stacked against the Eagles, but they were last season and we know how that ended up.
Date and Time: Sunday, January 6, 2018, at 4:40 PM
Network: NBC
Announcers: Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, and Michele Tafoya
Last Matchup: The last time these two teams met was Week 12 of the 2017 season. In that game, the Eagles defeated the Bears 31-3 behind another strong day from Carson Wentz and two interceptions of Mitch Trubisky. Chicago was en route to a 5-11 season and the firing of head coach John Fox.
Last Playoff Matchup: The last times these two teams met in the postseason was way back in January of 2002. Philadelphia traveled to Chicago and walked away with a 33-19 win to move onto the NFC Championship before going on to lose to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
There are plenty of looming storylines surrounding this game, along with many intriguing matchups, and keys for the Eagles to win this game. Taking all of this into consideration, let’s look at what to expect come Sunday between the Eagles and Bears to see which team has the best chance of moving on to the NFC Divisional Round.