Bears vs Eagles: Predicting the Top Performances on Monday Night Football

The problem with the Chicago Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles is that one never knows what incarnation of either team will be on display in any given game. The fact that the two face each other in tonight's Monday night contest means even more unpredictability.

However, the Eagles and Bears do field reliable players, ones who manage to put up big numbers regardless of the way the rest of their team is performing, and regardless of whether their teams win or lose.

One, clearly, is Chicago running back Matt Forte, whose league-leading 1,091 yards from scrimmage account for nearly half of his team's total 2,362 total yards on the year.

Though the Eagles defense has appeared to improve against the run in their last two games (both wins), they still rank 30th according to Football Outsiders, and no matter how much they've ratcheted up their run-stopping ability in the past three weeks, halting a player as dynamic as Forte is easier said than done.

Forte is more than just a running back, he's the most valuable receiver on the Bears offense as well. No matter what, he will have a big game and will make important play after important play even if Chicago doesn't win.

He's averaging a total of 162 yards per game this season, and against that Philadelphia defense, he could easily top 200 total yards and at least one score tonight.

Forte's the very definition of a stud player, his value to his team nearly akin to that of Adrian Peterson's to the Minnesota Vikings.

But the Eagles have a highly-effective running back of their own in LeSean McCoy, who sits in the top 10 in total yardage with 892 yards from scrimmage on the year.

Like Forte, McCoy is useful in both the passing and running game, averaging a total of 127 yards per game both catching and running the ball. The Eagles aren't afraid to run him up to 30 times per game depending on the situation, and tonight that may pass if Philadelphia reaches a comfortable lead early.

The Bears have a stronger run defense than Philadelphia, to be sure, but so have many other teams the Eagles have faced this season. McCoy gets things done despite the opponent, and that makes him primed for yet another 100-plus yardage outing this evening.

One clear advantage the Eagles have over the Bears is in the passing game, with Philadelphia quarterback Michael Vick having significantly more talented, reliable and explosive receiving targets than the Bears' Jay Cutler.

While DeSean Jackson is Vick's big-play receiver, it's Jeremy Maclin who is his most productive. Maclin has had at least three catches in his last six games, with five or more in Weeks 2-6.

Jackson's numbers vary more wildly than Maclin's, which is evident in Maclin's 40 catches to Jackson's 27 and the fact that Maclin has scored more touchdowns than Jackson so far this season.

With the Bears secondary one of the weakest in the league, expect Maclin to be involved heavily in the Eagles' game plan tonight. What McCoy doesn't accomplish will be cleaned up by Maclin.

Though the big, demoralizing plays come more often from Jackson, it's Maclin's work that gets him to that spot.

Maclin averages 77.6 yards per game, but I expect his production tonight to be closer to what he did in Week 5 against the Washington Redskins—101 yards—than last week's 54-yard outing against the Dallas Cowboys.