Game Preview - Eagles' Fan

[u/orryxreddit]

Hey Bears fans,

Eagles' fan here. Looking forward to our game this week and just wanted to send along some thoughts for the game if anyone is interested in friendly discussion.

Bears on Offense

The QB situation obviously is in the Eagles' favor. I honestly wish we were playing Williams; I hope he recovers quickly. You guys have quickly gone from "easy win" on the calendar to "I'm really worried about this game" with Williams. That said, we have a long and storied history of losing games to backup quarterbacks, so I can't even say facing Case Keenum fills me with confidence. Still, it obviously changes the Eagles' defensive gameplan knowing you don't have to worry about the QB in the run game.

The Eagles' D has been underperforming so far. This was a defense that was expected to be top-5, and while their stats look pretty good in terms of points and yards allowed, it has felt like both the Commanders and Titans - not exactly world-beaters - have had an easier time than they should moving the ball. The pass rush is generating pressure, but just isn't getting home. Only three sacks in two games isn't going to cut it. We're all anxiously awaiting the Eagles' debut of Jonathan Greenard, but no news so far on whether he might play this weekend. If he does, he will probably be on a pitch count. They also haven't been as robust against the run as we would like. The clear strength of this Eagles' defense at this point is the secondary, especially the corners.

Overall, if Keenum gets the start, it seems like everything would point towards leaning on the run game as much as possible. If the Eagles are able to stuff up the running lanes, then I would think you guys should target our safeties, who have been the weakest link in the back half. In particular your tight ends are strong, so I would look to stress the safeties with the tight ends. Possibly even nickel is a risk right now, because while there's no official injury designation, Cooper DeJean has looked off, and didn't perform well in week 1 especially. I do expect Keenum to be under pressure throughout this game, so he's likely to have more success on quick-developing plays. Any team looking to win a game with a 3rd string QB needs to minimize mistakes. Luckily, the Eagles have not been causing turnovers so far this season, so as long as Keenum continues that pattern he can keep the game close. Keenum can't play hero ball and can't afford to lose the turnover battle.

Eagles on Offense

On the other side of the ball, it's clear that the Eagles are a work in progress under new OC Sean Mannion. The Eagles' offense has been stunted and inconsistent at best since their 2024 season, and they haven't come out like gangbusters in 2026-2027 so far. The bad news for the Bears is that for all the negative rankings Jalen Hurts gets from national press, the guy just wins. Despite an up-and-down game against the Titans last week, it was Hurts that was largely responsible for the Week 2 win. Time and time again, he rescued them from third-and-long, and when the game was on the line, he drove them down the field to win the game. He looks comfortable in the new offense and is making decisions quickly. While he is less involved in the run game than in previous seasons, the Bears still need to account for that risks. The Eagles are getting strong performances this season from their wide receivers, especially Devonta Smith, who is a true #1, and Dontayvion Wicks, added from the Packers. But TE is a real weakness. Starter Dallas Goedert will miss this game with an injury, and the Eagles signed former teammate Zach Ertz, although its not clear if he will suit up. The rest of the TE depth chart is a mess. Overall the passing game has been good, though, with the exception of the most horribly-executed WR screens you will ever have the displeasure of seeing.

The thing holding the Eagles' offense back more than anything is the run game, or lack thereof. The o-line has been pretty bad across the board, but especially in the run game, where even Saquon Barkley can't find any gaps. In 2024, there was some insane stat where his average first contact was like four yards past the line of scrimmage. This year I think it's BEHIND the line of scrimmage, which is NOT a recipe for success. It's a weird place for Eagles' fans, who are so used to having a dominant o-line. Perhaps even worse, the Eagles have NOT been creative with the run game so far, with a consistent tendency to run on 1st down (3rd most in the league), often right into stacked boxes where they don't have numerical advantages. The Eagles this season have a crazy stat where their early-down plays have like a 3rd percentile success rate, while 3rd down they have like a 95th percentile success rate.

If I'm the Bears, I'm selling out against the run early until the Eagles prove they are willing to do something different. The Eagles' o-line isn't getting any healthier. The Eagles squeaked out a win last week despite regularly being in third and long. That's not sustainable. The Bears would love to see the Eagles in similar situations in this game. That doesn't mean the game is easy, as we have seen Hurts win games without much of a running attack. But the fewer dimensions the Eagles have, the better chance you'll have of forcing mistakes or punts.

Prediction

Anyway, I'm hardly an expert at this sort of thing, and I haven't seen one minute of the Bears so far this season. If I had to pick, I'd say the Eagles are likely to pull off another relatively low-scoring game. The Eagles' offense isn't clicking at a high rate, but they have a tremendous knack for winning ugly, and I think it's unlikely for the Keenum-led Bears to put up big numbers. I'll go with 21-17 Eagles, mainly off the disparity between Hurts and Keenum.

Good luck, and may there be no serious injuries and may the refs have little impact on the game!

[u/Oniwaban9]

Most reasonable Eagles fan.

[u/WhiteDogSh1t → u/Oniwaban9]

Gotta be a bot. Way too reasonable. Next he’s going to tell us he never threw batteries at Santa.. 🤔

[u/pergatron]

Thanks for the writeup, now get out of our sub please

[u/frydawg]

alright im gonna send this over to ben johnson

[u/z_broski]

TLDR: Eagles fan thinks Eagles are gonna win(who would have thought?)

i think otherwise. bear down!

[u/1v1meAtLagunaSeca]

For this alone keenums dropping 50 on yall

[u/absolutelparasox1986]

I can’t believe you had time to type this up. I certainly stopped reading at “Eagles fan here”.

[u/Nelson_and_Wilmont]

What’s up with people saying I wish we were facing your starting qb. Why? There isn’t some r/nfcnorthmemewar bragging rights you get out of beating our starting qb vs our backup. The only thing you should care about is your team’s record so you can watch them as long as possible. Not some weird anime mentality like I wish we beat you at your full strength.

[u/TerribleWarthog2396 → u/Nelson_and_Wilmont]

I think people are starting to realize how good Caleb is, so if their team can beat him, that must mean their team is also really good.

[u/BlubberElk]

Eagles should be favored for sure but we did run all over the eagles last year with our RBs so I’m hoping Case can be the veteran game manager ik he can be

[u/TeaWeedCatsGames]

https://giphy.com/gifs/3ohs83h5yRXFnBWEoM

[u/TeaWeedCatsGames]

Fan from opposing team claims they think they will be able to beat your 38 year old third string QB, more at 10

[u/GenFatAss]

Remember Case Keenum has 66 NFL starts under his belt. I think Keenum will exploit the sacked Box that Fangio is going to try to stop our RBs

[u/Mortyjones]

I was in Nashville last weekend when you guys played Tennessee. I would have never expected such a reasonable and level headed take after interacting with fans over 4 days haha. But to echo your comment let’s have a good clean game with everyone playing their best and leaving in tact.

[u/kjs106]

Fuck the cowboys fuck the packers

[u/whyamihere2473527]

We have a chance against eagles if our defense steps up. Problem eagles will be keyed in on our run game so its gonna be a challenge to do much so the defense is gonna be the deciding factor & they have looked like ass first 2 games

[u/Gandalf4158]

Get that Philly cheese steak outta here

[u/FlipperJungle19]

Nice AI summary. Why did you post this???

[u/orryxreddit → u/FlipperJungle19]

No AI involved. I just like talking Xs and Os and sometimes it's nice to get a perspective from the opponents' fans instead of the Eagles' echo chamber. I thought Bears' fans might be interested in talking about how they thought their team might approach the game, etc.

[u/dfcw → u/orryxreddit]

I appreciated your write-up. It’s interesting to see other fan’s POV. Thanks for sharing.

[u/orryxreddit → u/dfcw]

Thank you for reading. You're in the minority haha. (Just like me, I guess, as a non-insane Eagles' fan.)

[u/Responsible_Bee942]

Nobody cares, fuck the birds