Chicago Bears vs Philadelphia Eagles: Top 5 Things Bears Must Do to Win

I recently wrote about how the Bears need to stop Michael Vick, and while that's certainly true, I actually believe there are other important angles to the Monday night matchup besides Vick.

With that said, I will not be including Vick in this article, as I have already been there and done that.

But if you examine Monday night's game against the Eagles, you see two teams whose stock seem to be pointing up.

The Bears and Eagles have each won consecutive games, though this Monday may mean more for the Eagles due to their record, which stands at just 3-4 on the season.

But the game obviously means a lot to the Bears as well. Looking up at both Detroit and Green Bay means that the Bears will probably need to be a wild card if they are going to make the playoffs.

So beating another NFC opponent would be huge, as would improving their record to 5-3 heading into a showdown with the Lions the following week.

Apart from stopping Vick, what else are the keys to this game? I'll give you a quick five.

Stop the Run

With all the talk about Vick, people forget that the Eagles success has come on the ground. In fact, Eagles back LeSean McCoy may be the biggest obstacle to a Bears victory on Monday night.

McCoy leads the NFL in average rushing yardage per game, and the Eagles are the top running team in the league.

They ran over the Cowboys for 239 yards rushing last week. This is a concern because the Bears have been inconsistent stopping the run this season.

They did a good job against Adrian Peterson, but against Tampa they got lucky due to the Bucs' injuries. Meanwhile, Jahvid Best ran for 163 yards on just 12 carries against the Bears in Week 5.

Carolina averaged 6.5 yards per carry the previous week. Green Bay's Ryan Grant averaged 5.4 yards and Atlanta's Michael Turner averaged 10 yards per carry vs. the Bears this season. 

Plus, McCoy has scored at least one TD in each game this season.  

The Bears have allowed the second highest average per carry this season of all NFL teams, and they will have their hands full with McCoy.

Win the Special Teams Battle

This would appear to be quite a battle between the two best return men in the NFL. If the Bears can put the brakes on DeSean Jackson and Devin Hester can break one, the Bears will win this game.

The latter part would seem to be very possible, as Hester has scored five TDs in his seven Monday night games.

Stopping Jackson, however, won't be easy, as Dave Toub knows.

"He's very dangerous," Toub said after Friday's practice. "We showed the Giants return again, the one [where] he dropped it, picked it up and ran it for a touchdown to win the game. He's so dangerous; he's so explosive. He's the most explosive returner we'll face this year. Our guys are very aware of that."

Jackson hasn't been great this season, but you can't forget about him.  

Henry Melton Needs to Respond

Melton was challenged by Lovie Smith this past week, and he knows he needs to step it up if he's going to continue starting on this team.

“We just talked,” Melton said. “There were high expectations of me coming into the season. I started off—a great start—and I’ve just been close the last few weeks. I haven’t made the plays I made at the start, and I’ve just got to make the plays. Sometimes I get double teamed a little bit more, but there’s still no excuse. [The conversation] shows that [Smith] believes that I can do it, and that everyone wants me to do it.”

The Bears will need to get an inside rush from their front four if they hope to contain Vick. More importantly, they need Melton to be a factor.

Look, he did it early, so it's a mystery why he has slowed down so much.

Melton had three tackles in his debut as a starter against Atlanta to go with two sacks and six QB pressures. Two weeks later, he had another sack and a pair of QB pressures.

Since then, he's been nonexistent. Melton had better contribute on Monday night or he's riding the bench.

Offensive Line Needs to Contain Eagles Pass Rush

Keeping Jay Cutler upright would seem to be a high priority on Monday. J'Marcus Webb, in particular, has had his worse games on the road this season, so his improvement will be key.

Webb's been called five times for a false start, twice for holding and once for illegal formation, and he ranks fourth in the NFL with eight penalties this season.

The Eagles signed Jason Babin before the season to team up with Pro Bowl end Trent Cole, and they have formed a terrific duo.

Through seven games, Babin leads the team and is third in the NFL with nine sacks, while also topping his defense with 22 hurries.

Cole and Babin combined to sack Tony Romo three times in Philadelphia's 34-7 victory over Dallas last Sunday night.

Meanwhile, it doesn't appear that Gabe Carimi will be ready to play, so Chris Spencer will again start at guard, and Lance Louis will be at right tackle for at least one more game.

Mike Martz is going to have to continue helping with tight end blocking and max protect.

Reduce Mistakes on the Road

Technically, the Tampa game in London was a home game for the Bucs, but in reality the game was played at a neutral site.

But in real road games this year, the Bears have been awful so far. That will need to improve for the Bears to have a chance in a tough place like Philly on Monday night.

The Saints beat the Bears in the Superdome in Week 2, and Detroit outlasted them in Week 5 at home.

The Bears have committed 11 false start penalties on the road, and while Lincoln Financial field may not be as loud as the Superdome or Ford Field, it's a hostile environment.

Heck, the fans once booed Santa Claus there, so you know they treat you rudely.

Hopefully, consistency on the offensive line will help reduce the mistakes, and the return of Earl Bennett should help Cutler and the offense.

But they also need to avoid burning needless timeouts due to communication glitches in relaying plays to Cutler. That also happens too much on the road.

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