Philadelphia Eagles: Back in familiar underdog role vs. Bears

The Philadelphia Eagles head into their Wild Card matchup as big underdogs vs. the Bears. Fortunately, this is a position they’ve found themselves in before.

The Philadelphia Eagles head into Chicago as six-point underdogs against the NFC North Champion Bears in the Wild Card Round of the 2019 NFL Playoffs. They are the biggest underdog among all four playoff games in the opening weekend. But that just puts the Eagles in a familiar role that they thrived in during last year’s playoff run.

The Eagles made history last season when they were the first No. 1 seed ever to be an underdog in their Divisional Round matchup. In that game, the Eagles were facing the defending NFC Champion Atlanta Falcons, and many people were counting them out since Nick Foles had taken over the reins from Carson Wentz.

We all know how that game ended — with the Eagles winning 15-10 and some of their players donning dog masks to symbolize their status as an underdog. The Eagles were also underdogs in the NFC Championship Game against the Vikings and in the Super Bowl against the Patriots.

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Three times as underdogs and three times victorious. The 2019 Wild Card Round is no different as Nick Foles and the underdog Eagles will try to make it 4-for-4.

It’s easy to see that the Eagles have much more playoff experience than the Bears do. With a first year head coach, Matt Nagy, and a second year quarterback, Mitch Trubisky, the Bears don’t have much experience at all. It is very uncommon for first-year coaches to lead their team to the playoffs, let alone a 12-4 record.

The Bears are one of the hottest teams entering the playoffs. They started the season 3-3 and have won nine of their last 10 games. Furthermore, they have an impressive 7-1 record playing at home. Their lone home loss came in a 38-31 defeat to Tom Brady and the Patriots.

The best aspect of this Bears team is their defense. They are the top scoring defense in the NFL as they allow only 17.7 points per game. They also have 36 takeaways on the season, the most in the NFL by far.

If the Eagles have any chance at winning this game they’ll need Foles and the offense to protect the ball since the Bears defense thrives off of turnovers. If the Eagles can find a way to penetrate the Bears stingy defense and turn this game into a shootout that will give them their best chance to win.

We’ll find out on Sunday if the Eagles brought their underdog masks on the flight to Chicago. If they are able to pull off this upset, just add this game to growing folklore of fan favorite Nick Foles.