When the Bears and Eagles collide this Sunday, the Eagles' Brian Westbrook will be playing hurt, so the Eagles will be relying more on the arm of QB Donovan McNabb.
This is both good and bad for the Bears. Anytime you come into an important game like this if a team is not coming in full strength or are missing one of their legs it is a good thing. However, if the the team they are coming in against is the Bears who just gave up a 0 sack and 400+ performance to Brian Griese that might not be a good thing.
The Bears are playing well against the run and might prefer that Westbrook was healthy and the Eagles kept it on the ground. There is a big difference between Brian Griese and Michael Clayton than Donovan McNabb and DeSean Jackson.
The Bears, who have one of the league's better run defenses after three weeks, have been daring opponents to drop back that often. Their strategy to walk up linebackers Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher to the line of scrimmage has closed gaps and invited teams to throw.
This is all well and good. I'm glad to see the Bears getting a little creative and trying to cause some confusion, but to go along with it the Bears have to be able to back it up. The Bears need to create pressure with their front four. If they can't and have to consistently bring cornerbacks and linebackers in to create the pressure and with the ability of McNabb to get the ball down field it will leave the Bears with space in the secondary.
Other Bears News and Notes:
Cedric Benson has been cleared of all chareges following two arrests during the off season.
Mike Brown, Lance Briggs, Marty Booker and Brian Urlacher all returned to practice on Thursday. Nathan Vasher, Chris Williams, Devin Hester and Alex Brown all had limited participation in practice.
The Bears offense is more than aware of what they are up against with the Philly D.