The Chicago Bears (12-4) host the Philadelphia Eagles (9-7) in a wild-card-round NFL playoff matchup at Soldier Field on Sunday afternoon (4:40 p.m. ET).
The No. 3 seed Bears, winners of the NFC North, are in the playoffs for the first time in eight years. The No. 6 seed Eagles, who eked into the postseason on the final day of the regular season, are the defending Super Bowl champions. The Bears are six-point betting favorites.
The Bears are led by superstar linebacker Khalil Mack and their fearsome defense, which forced a league-leading 36 turnovers.
The Eagles offense came alive down the stretch with Nick Foles at quarterback. The Eagles topped 30 points twice in their last three games after doing it just once in their first 13 games. Foles, in going 3-0 as the starter in the final three weeks, completed 77 percent of his passes and averaged 320 passing yards.
"If there's a chance that he can throw a deep ball and he sees, it he will throw it," Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. "That's his mentality. That's (Eagles head coach Doug Pederson's) mentality. So, they will do it. And a big part of this game will be how we defend the deep balls."
Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky completed 66.7 percent of his passes for 3,223 yards, 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in his second NFL season and first working with head coach Matt Nagy. The 24-year-old will be making his postseason debut.
That's part of a trend. The Eagles, after last season's title run, hold the edge in playoff experience: Their players have played upwards of 100 more combined playoff games than the players on the Bears' roster.
"This year I think it's a little bit different for us because we've had to grind," Pederson said. "We've had to really play the last month and a half of the season as playoff-type games, which is a little different for us than a year ago.
There are some connections. Alshon Jeffery, formerly with the Bears, is now a top receiving target for the Eagles. And there will be a brother-vs.-brother matchup across the line of scrimmage: Bears guard Kyle Long against Eagles defensive lineman Chris Long.
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