The Bears have more talent than the Browns, and Wentz must introduce a silent snap count to combat the hard road environment he’ll experience at Soldier Field. This year’s bunch, however, is relatively unknown and not almost as accomplished. Fuller didn’t play in the opener. Sure, the Bears have Alshon Jeffery, but Kevin White clearly isn’t up to speed and made a few errors last week against the Texans. Cutler will need his makeshift line to keep him upright against the pass rush. On the defensive side, cornerback Leodis McKelvin is out with a hamstring injury, while defensive lineman Connor Wujciak will miss Week 2 with a shoulder injury.
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The Eagles beat the Cleveland Browns 29-10 in Carson Wentz’s National Football League debut.
Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz and his coaches talked this week about blocking out the noise – not getting caught up in the hoopla surrounding Wentz’s excellent debut last week against the Cleveland Browns. In what will be the Bears’ home opener, Chicago will be going for its first win following a 23-14 season-opening loss to the Texans in Houston. He got his season off to a terrific start last week, catching four passes for 105 yards. The result was 403 total yards and the offense controlled the clock for 39:20.
Carson Wentz can’t possibly start 2-0, can he? And if he does, what will the reaction be like in Philadelphia?
ESPN Cleveland analyst Tony Grossi spoke about the two philosophies that clashed in the Wentz decision while broadcasting Friday on 850 AM WKNR.
Eagles: Pederson and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz both had solid game plans last week. Wentz did show a lot of poise in his debut, not to mention the ability to throw deep and throw while taking a hit.
Wentz is sure to face a tougher task against an aggressive Bears defense.
Now, you should be much more interested in grading Wentz on his regular season performance compared to the preseason, but completely ignoring that wouldn’t be the right move either.
2nd down: The Eagles provided a glimpse of what the offense can look like.
Chicago will take on back to back NFC East opponents, they play on the road at the Dallas Cowboys next Sunday night.
Wentz used Jordan Matthews more than any other receiver.
Trey Burton and Brent Celek will be the tight ends, but Wentz might need to look to other sources to help make up for Ertz’s six catches for 58 yards against the Browns. Ertz and Jordan Matthews are considered Wentz’s safety valve, so that could be a big loss. “But most of the stuff is done on the football field and the more you can do out there, the more you experience things, the more reps you get, the really good ones, they figure it out pretty quickly”. They had 24 snaps with quarterback Jay Cutler under center and ran 19 times. No doubt, Cutler will throw at Mills early and often, while hoping that Mills is matched up on Jeffery.
Chicago will provide a much stiffer test for the young passer, though the Bears aren’t the fierce Midway Monsters of years past. If they can come out on top in that battle, the Eagles will be in good shape on defense. And this is where the Eagles’ defensive line will be vital. Rhe rushing attack of Mathews and Barner will be a key in this matchup.
Zach Ertz is sidelined for this one, and as a result, the Eagles will go with more three-wide sets, putting even more pressure on Chicago’s cornerbacks.
Only two CBS Sports writers pick the Eagles to win. In Week 2 in Chicago, it’s the Bears.
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One of their biggest failings against Houston was the Bears failed to make Brock Osweiler uncomfortable in the pocket.
