NFL Week 9 Picks: Predicting the Score for Bears vs Eagles Monday Night

The Chicago Bears travel to Philadelphia to face the Eagles in tonight's Monday Night Football contest, and if Monday night games in general are any indicator, it's going to be a wild, strange night for both teams.

The Bears, at 4-3, are coming off of their bye week, while the Eagles, at 3-4, are on a two-game win streak that straddled their bye.

While the Bears have put together quite the season for themselves thus far, despite all kinds of disadvantages on both sides of the ball, the Eagles carry the momentum heading into this high-profile game in front of their hometown crowd.

Plus, one look at each team's statistics, and it's clear that the Eagles have the upper hand. Philadelphia has scored 179 points and gained a total of 3,145 yards on the season; the Bears, while scoring a similar number of points (170), have 783 fewer yards than Philadelphia, with a total of 2,362.

The quarterbacks, as far as passing yards are concerned, are relatively similar: The Eagles' Michael Vick has passed for a total of 1,852 yards, 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions, while the Bears' Jay Cutler has 1,702 passing yards for nine scores and six interceptions.

Of course, where the two differ greatly is in mobility, with Vick rushing 52 times for an impressive 422 yards, while Cutler (more of a scrambler than anything) has just 27 rushing yards on the year.

Surely the Bears defense will look to contain Vick tonight, but he's not the only offensive weapon they'll have to worry about, and that's where the advantage falls squarely to the Eagles.

Running back LeSean McCoy, wide receivers Jeremy Maclin, DeSean Jackson and Jason Avant and, as of late, tight end Brent Celek have all proven to be reliable, big-play offensive players for the Eagles, and they will pose all sorts of challenges to Chicago's on-again, off-again defense tonight.

In contrast, the Bears are sorely lacking on offense, with running back Matt Forte being their only true threat.

Yes, he's a very significant threat, responsible for nearly half of his team's total offense and leading the league in yards from scrimmage (and it's not even close—the Bills' Fred Jackson has only temporarily supplanted Forte as the league-leader, and it's the Bears' Week 8 bye that's to blame; after tonight, Forte will likely be No. 1 again), but he's just one player, and the Eagles defense will be keyed into Forte all night.

With more consistent play, Cutler's receiving corps could be one of the most dynamic in the league, with a mix of veterans and rookies, speed and size making up the starting lineup. But none are reliable, game after game, and that inconsistency is a weakness the Eagles will exploit tonight.

Not to mention that Bears offensive line that has struggled to keep Cutler upright all season long. With the right amount of pressure, Philadelphia can negate what remains of Chicago's passing game, meaning a long night of Forte on the ground and simple screens and check-downs to him otherwise.

Put it all together, and it appears as though the Eagles are the more dominant, more well-rounded team, though their record might indicate otherwise. In a nationally-broadcasted home game, I don't see the Philadelphia losing.

While the game might be close at moments, it will end decisively, with a 31-20 Eagles victory my prediction.