Bears and Eagles to play at Soldier Field for NFL Wild Card playoff game
CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Chicago Bears will host their first playoff game since 2011 as they take on the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field at 3:40 p.m. on Sunday.
The Eagles won their last three games to finish 9-7 and clinch a Wild Card spot while the Bears went 12-4 and won the NFC North.
JB Pritzker, who will be sworn in as Illinois' governor on Jan. 14, made a friendly food wager with Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf via Twitter.
As of Sunday morning, tickets were still available for the Wild Card showdown at Soldier Field.
EAGLES OFFENSE:
The Eagles' offense ranked 14th overall for the 2018 season, with the seventh-best passing offense and 28th-best rushing offense.
Quarterback Nick Foles is back under center for the Eagles to fill in for an injured Carson Wentz.
Last season, Foles led the Eagles to the Super Bowl after Wentz went down with a late-season injury. In Super Bowl LII against the New England Patriots, Foles threw for 373 yards, three touchdowns and an interception as well as catching a touchdown from tight end Trey Burton, who is now a Bear.
Pro Bowler Zach Ertz set a single-season record for receptions by a tight end with 116 catches to go with 1,163 yards and eight touchdowns. Former Bear Alshon Jeffery led all Eagles wide receivers with 65 catches, 843 receiving yards and six touchdowns.
Running back Josh Adams led all Eagles rushers this season with 511 yards and three touchdowns on 120 carries.
BEARS DEFENSE
The Eagles offense will be going up against a formidable Bears defense that gave up the fewest points in the NFL last season at 17.7 points-per-game and features four Pro Bowlers: Defensive lineman Akiem Hicks, linebacker Khalil Mack, cornerback Kyle Fuller and safety Eddie Jackson.
The Bears had the leading rushing defense in the league last season and set a franchise record for fewest rushing yards surrendered in a 16 game season at 1,280. Rookie linebacker Roquan Smith led the Bears with 122 total tackles.
The Bears' pass defense ranked 7th in the NFL and is led by cornerback Kyle Fuller and safety Eddie Jackson, who have both been named to the Pro Bowl. The Bears will be without cornerback Bryce Callahan, who injured his foot against the St. Louis Rams.
The Bears' defense led the NFL in turnovers last season at 36, including 27 interceptions. Fuller tied for the league-lead with eight interceptions and linebacker Mack had six forced fumbles.
Mack led Bears' pass rushers with 12.5 sacks, the third highest in the league. As a team, the Bears sacked the opposing quarterback 50 times, third most in the NFL.
BEARS OFFENSE:
The Bears' offense ranked 21st overall in the NFL last season and scored 26.3 points-per-game.
Second-year quarterback Mitch Trubisky threw for 3,223 yards to go with 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions as the Bears ranked 21st in the NFL in passing offense.
Free agent wide receiver Allen Robinson led Bears' receivers with 754 receiving yards to go with 55 catches and four touchdowns. Rookie wideout Anthony Miller led the Bears in touchdown receptions with seven and running back Tarik Cohen had the most catches with 71 to go with 725 yards and five receiving touchdowns.
The Bears rushing attack ranked 11th best in the NFL, led by running back Jordan Howard, who ran for 935 yards on 250 carries and scored 9 rushing touchdowns. Cohen ran for 444 yards on 99 attempts and three rushing touchdowns.
EAGLES DEFENSE
The Eagles defense ranked 23rd overall in the NFL last season and gave up 21.8 points-per-game. Safety Malcolm Jenkins and linebacker Nigel Bradham each had 97 total tackles to lead the team.
Pro Bowl defensive lineman Fletcher Cox led the Eagles with 10.5 sacks and defensive end Michael Bennett had nine sacks. As a team, the Eagles recorded 44 sacks, tied for the eighth best in the NFL.
The Eagles' rushing defense ranked seventh-best in the NFL, giving up 96.9 yards-per-game. The Eagles' passing defense ranked 30th overall in the NFL, giving up 269 passing yards per-game.
The Eagles tied for 22nd in the league with 17 total takeaways. Cornerback Rasul Douglas led the Eagles with three interceptions and Jenkins led the team with three forced fumbles.
SPECIAL TEAMS:
Western Springs-native Jake Elliott kicks for the Eagles and converted 26 field goals on 31 attempts. Bears kicker Cody Parkey made 23 field goals on 30 attempts last season.
