Eagles can't bear repeat performance vs. Chicago

THE CHICAGO BEARS really got after Michael Vick and the Eagles last November. Four sacks, and Vick's first interception as the Birds' quarterback, fueled a 31-26 Chicago victory on the shifting sands of Soldier Field.

This Monday night's game at Lincoln Financial Field offers parallels and differences. Then as now, the Eagles came in feeling pretty good about themselves; they were riding a three-game victory streak (this year, it's two, after a 1-4 start) and they went to Chicago expecting to keep rolling. They'd blasted out of the bye upsetting Indianapolis, then put a 59-point hurting on the Redskins' defense, and taken the Giants by 10.

One difference is that back then, the Eagles were surprised the Bears played their safeties really deep, giving up lanes underneath. Since then, that has more or less become the norm against the Birds' high-powered weaponry. In blowing away Dallas Sunday, the Eagles showed they could sustain the kind of grind-it-out drives, converting for touchdowns, such a defensive approach dictates.

A year ago, LeSean McCoy carried only 10 times against Chicago, gaining 53 yards. He caught eight passes for 67 yards. McCoy has 58 carries the past two games, for 311 yards, and only four catches, for 28. Of course, all that was achieved against the 3-4 setups of Washington and Dallas. Who knows whether offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg will want to run as much this week?

The 2010 game might have been a turning point for Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, who seemed to be on the verge of being written off as a costly mistake before throwing four touchdown passes against an Eagles secondary that lacked injured cornerback Asante Samuel. Cutler ultimately led the Bears to the NFC Championship Game, changing his profile. His numbers aren't great this season - 59.1 completion percent, nine touchdowns, six interceptions, 84.0 passer rating - but the focus has been more on an o-line that has allowed 21 sacks than on Cutler's deficiencies.

Also different is the Eagles' offensive line, and how it might approach Julius Peppers and the Chicago D, although this might be news to Bears coach Lovie Smith. He told a conference call with Philadelphia reporters yesterday he expected to see the same offensive scheme and personnel as last season. In fact, only left tackle Jason Peters is scheduled to start Monday at the same spot he played against the Bears last year. Todd Herremans has moved from left guard to right tackle, and left guard Evan Mathis, center Jason Kelce and right guard Danny Watkins have been added.

Up front defensively, the Bears seem to be the kind of dominant, physical bunch that has given the Birds trouble this season in losses to the Giants and 49ers. Remember, when Juan Castillo was asked in the offseason what sort of defense he envisioned building, Castillo referenced the Bears.

"They're a very fundamentally sound defense. You're not going to see a lot of crazy looks or anything out of the ordinary, like you see with a lot of the teams that we've been playing recently," Herremans said yesterday. "They depend on their front four to get pressure on the quarterback. They bring one extra here and there, but they're just very sound. You gotta be on your game when you're playing a fundamentally sound team like that, you can't have any slip-ups . . . The Bears have always been a physical defense."

Both Eagles coach Andy Reid and Smith referenced how well the teams know each other. Through a quirk of NFL scheduling, this is the fifth year in a row they've met, the Bears winning three of four.

"I think they know us and we know them, and every time we play each other, each of us adds a new little wrinkle," Reid said.

"It starts up front with them, and they get off the ball, they're explosive, their linebackers are very disciplined. [Brian] Urlacher kind of leads that. [Lance] Briggs is right there. They've played together a long time, and they're very good," Reid said. He added that the Bears don't always play Cover 2, that they've mixed coverages against the Eagles in the past.

Chicago won't have the advantage of the awful Soldier Field turf this time; Vick seemed to be playing beach volleyball last year on a surface that did not allow for sharp cuts.

Vick said yesterday that being able to put up 34 points on what he felt was a very good Dallas defense that threw a lot at him makes him "very optimistic that I can go out and execute against any defense."

"It's going to be different, but I think I've got the ground rules and know what it takes to make sure I can get us in the right protection calls and make the plays downfield when necessary," he said.

Vick completed 29 of 44 passes against the Bears last season for 333 yards, two touchdowns and a 94.2 passer rating, along with that one interception, which was a game-changer. The Eagles were down, 14-13, at the 2-minute warning, second-and-goal from Chicago's 4. Vick's pass to Jeremy Maclin was picked off, and Chris Harris ran it back to the 37. The Bears then began a touchdown drive that made it 21-13 at halftime.

Somebody mentioned to Vick that he never has beaten Chicago, losing two games to the Bears as Atlanta's starter before last year's loss. (Of course, it's hard to say games played 5 years or more ago for a different team have any more to do with this contest than, say, Vick's 4-1 career Monday night record.)

"They play a nice, tight, sound, disciplined scheme, and it's something that they've always been good at," he said. "It's a 'bend but don't break' mentality, and they find ways to get it done, and in the past that's happened. I'm definitely confident this time we'll give ourselves the best chance to win the football game."

Mathis said he knows the spotlight will be on the o-line this week.

"You've got to pay attention in the film room. The Bears have always built their team around defensive weapons, and they have a lot of those," Mathis said.

ESPN Radio asked Urlacher how the Bears have contained Vick in the past.

"We've never contained him," Urlacher said. "He has big games against us, but somehow, we find a way to win. We'll get a turnover here or there, a takeaway or something like that."