The Chicago Bears welcome the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football for the first of several Chicago Bears primetime games in 2026. The Bears will almost certainly be without star quarterback Caleb Williams, and there isn’t even certainty whether it will be Tyson Bagent (concussion) or Case Keenum starting for the Bears on Monday.
The Bears have several things in flux, but what situation are the 2-0 Philadelphia Eagles in? To find out more about their opponent, we sat down with Brandon Gowton
from Bleeding Green Nation, SB Nation’s Eagles site, to find out a little bit more about what the Bears are going up against on Monday. Here’s that conversation:
1. The Eagles definitely didn’t feel like the Eagles as the season concluded last year, and while they are 2-0 this year, it’s by a combined 6 points by 2 of the worst teams in the league. Are the Eagles back, or is this still a team that’s not quite firing on all cylinders?
It’s weird because, while you’re right to point out that the overall results haven’t been overly impressive, Jalen Hurts is playing some of the best football of his career. And it’s always easier to feel optimistic about your favorite team’s outlook when the quarterback is looking good.
The offense as a whole has been uneven. They’ve been really bad on early downs, which is a reflection of their struggles to run the ball efficiently. The offensive line isn’t what it used to be when Saquon Barkley ran all over the NFL in 2024. Despite these struggles, the Eagles have thus far insisted on running into a brick wall over and over, which has created long third downs. Fortunately, Hurts has been able to bail the offense out in these situations. He’s really hard to carry the offense. But that’s obviously not a sustainable approach over the course of the season.
Vic Fangio’s defense hasn’t been quite as good as expected yet. It’s a high bar to clear based on the success we’ve seen over the past two seasons. Perhaps it’ll take a little more time for them to fully click. I’m still bullish about their outlook.
All told, they’ve looked like an average team so far. But, given their sustained success over an extended period of time, they deserve more benefit of the doubt than some other teams. It’s reasonable to believe that they can play better.
2. I’m going to go back to last year because they are my questions, and you have to answer them. The Black Friday game last year, Bears fans felt like that was the Bears coming-out party where they officially announced to the league that they are for real. But the commentary on that game, at least nationally, was a lot of “The Eagles stink.” It certainly felt like that was the game where the Eagles weren’t the same anymore at that point. Do you feel that was the Bears doing or an Eagles implosion?
I’m a big “more than one thing can be true” guy.
The Bears deserve a lot of credit for coming into Philly and bullying the Birds. They pushed this defense around and ran all over them to a tune of 281 yards on the ground.
It wasn’t just a matter of the Eagles falling off. Fangio’s defense allowed just 107.2 rushing yards per game over the next six weeks after facing Chicago.
I do think it’s fair to point out that Jalen Carter was shut down for a three-game stint due to a shoulder procedure after having an uncharacteristically bad game against the Bears. But he could very well be less than 100% for this week’s game since he’s now playing with a cast on his hand.
Last year’s loss to the Bears is something I definitely expect Eagles coaches and players to have on their minds ahead of Monday night’s game. I find it hard to believe Fangio isn’t showing this year’s team film from that game and calling out their toughness. I think the Eagles are going to want to wash the bad taste out of their mouth and put forth a stronger effort this time around.
3. Where are Eagles fans with Jalen Hurts? This is a Super Bowl-winning quarterback, but from afar, it doesn’t seem like he’s winning any popularity contests in Philadelphia. What’s the confidence level in Hurts leading this team moving forward?
Hard not to feel really encouraged about Hurts’ outlook after the first two weeks of this season. He’s been their best player so far. As noted above, he’s really had to bail out an offense that’s been running the ball way too often for how bad they are at it.
It’s not fair for the Eagles to continue to expect Hurts to do the heavy lifting in this regard. They need to set up better for success. But it’s been nice to see that he’s been able to carry the team while they’ve needed him to do it.
If Hurts continues on his current trajectory, he’ll easily earn a new contract extension after this season (if not sooner).
4. I have to ask about the Chicago Bears fan-favorite defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio. How has the Eagles defense looked so far this year? Who is a player or two that you think could be a thorn in Ben Johnson’s side on Monday?
The Eagles’ defense hasn’t lived up to lofty expectations thus far. Entering the season, we were talking about this being one of the very best units in the NFL, if not THE best.
This isn’t to suggest the defense has been bad. The Eagles have allowed fewer than 300 yards in each of their first two games for the first time since 1995.
But they’ve yet to come up with a takeaway, and they haven’t been quite as dominant as expected. The defensive line in particular needs to play better. Jalen Carter has made some important plays through two games, but he hasn’t been the total game wrecker the Eagles paid him to be. It doesn’t help that he has to play with a cast on his hand after getting injured in Week 1.
The edge rushers also really need to come alive. Through two games, the Eagles are the NFL’s slowest team when it comes to generating pressure on a given play. Jalen Hurts showed a lot of promise this summer, but the hype hasn’t fully translated over to the regular season games yet. Nolan Smith has done some nice things but hasn’t popped in a major way. The Eagles might get Jonathan Greenard, who I imagine Bears fans are familiar with from his time with the Vikings, back for Monday’s game. That would be big. But Fangio said he’s nowhere near ready to play the number of snaps the Eagles would normally rely on him for.
I do think there’s hope for his pass rush. Perhaps I’m too forgiving, but I do think there have been some unusual circumstances for them through two games. They were forced to do more of a mush rush in Week 1 to keep Jayden Daniels contained, which they accomplished. Then they played in extremely hot conditions in Week 2, with the heat index on the Titans’ turf field reaching temperatures of over 150 degrees! Assuming Case Keenum is starting for the Bears on Monday, I think the pass rush will be able to get after him more than they got after Daniels and Cam Ward.
Oh, I wrote all of this and didn’t even directly answer the second part of your question. I’d keep an eye out for Riq Woolen. He’s off to a really good start this season, and he has the ability to make plays. I could see him coming up with a pick, especially as the Bears probably look to avoid throwing Quinyon Mitchell’s way.
5. The Eagles currently sit as a 4.5-point favorite. How do you see this one playing out on Monday night?
The Eagles are 0-2 against the spread so far this season. I could see them failing to cover again as the Bears’ rushing attack keeps Chicago in it. But ultimately I think Keenum, who hasn’t even played since 2023, will have some struggles as a passer, assuming he gets the start. I expect Fangio’s defense to play well enough to get the job done. And I’m not going to bet against Hurts right now since he looks pretty good. I don’t know that the Bears have the defensive line to fully exploit the Eagles’ weakened interior offensive line right now.
Eagles 23, Bears 19.
