5 Keys to victory against the Eagles

The Bears visit Philadelphia on Monday night in a showdown of two teams that need wins to stay in the NFC playoff hunt.  Both teams have two game winning streaks after disappointing starts.  The Eagles started 1-4 and the beloved started 2-3.  It appears on the surface that both teams have begun to figure things out.  The Eagles beat two teams that most likely will not be in the playoff picture at years end both wins came against sub .500 teams.  Granted the Cowboys where at .500 when the teams met but found new ways to lose in each of their loses.  While the Bears did beat a good Tampa Bay team in London, they are young and still trying to figure themselves out.  So this game should which team is for real and which one will be watching come playoff time.  The Bears have had great success against Michael Vick led teams never losing when Brian Urlacher is on the field.  The only loss came when Urlacher was out with a broken wrist and in that game he was not the starting Quarterback.  In his career Vick has a passer rating against the Bears of 76.2 he has completed 58.5 percent of his passes for 807 yards with 3 TD's and 3 INT's.He has rushed for 187 yards on 31 attempts with no TD's. The Bears have sacked Vick 15 times. That leads me to the keys:


1. Contain Vick
    Now you notice that I say contain not stop.  This is a key point if you look at the Bears Victory over the Eagles last year Vick's numbers where not that bad he was 29 of 44 for 333 yards with two TD's and one interception. He had 9 carries for 44 yards. He did fumble four times though.  Keep in mind a lot of those numbers where after the Bears where in control and cruising. Now what I mean by contain is Keep him in the pocket and if you do let him leave make sure it is to his right.  Vick has trouble throwing across his body and becomes ordinary when he does.  Keep his rushing numbers pedestrian and you have a good shot at winning.

2. Don't let LeSean McCoy beat you.


  The rushing Defense has been better in recent weeks and will be tested this week with LeSean McCoy.  He has rushed for 754 yards with 8 TD's so far this year.  He has scored in every game and has tied an Eagles record for consecutive games with a TD don't let him break it this week.  If the Bears can stop him outlook is good they win the game.

3. Matt Forte 


  This is simple make sure Forte gets at least 20 rushes the Bears win.  The Eagles have a tough front four that creates pressure and sacks without help from the blitz most of the sacks are from the front four.  Don't let them pin back their ears and come at Cutler all day keep them honest with Forte and success will follow.  Forte's running will open up things for the passing game

4. Keep Cutler clean


  Over the past two games the line has done a better job of protecting Jay with only three sacks allowed.  This trend needs to continue this week.  Cutler is a much better quarterback when he has time to throw.  Don't make him run for his life or rush into bad decision's. The Eagles secondary is stacked and if Cutler is under duress all day they will be licking their chops and could have a big day. Don't let this happen.

5. Keep it simple


  This is where it gets tricky Mike Martz needs to rain it in and not get too complicated and keep things in front of himself.  The Bears need to go to check downs when needed and go with more of a west coast style this week.  Three step drops and short passing will beat the eagles.  When you get into plays that take longer to develop thats when you can get into trouble with the pass rush the Eagles bring.  I am not saying do not take shots downfield but keep it to a minimum.

  If the Bears are able to do these things they will walk out with a victory don't and things could get ugly.  My prediction is Bears 27 Eagles 13.  Let me know what you think! As always BEAR DOWN!