September 25, 2026
Steve Roberts/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles are running into primetime.
The Eagles are rolling into primetime in Chicago on Monday night, at 2-0 and on the back of Jalen Hurts heroics.
The Bears are 1-1, and looked ready to light up the league after a 59-point opening, but then fell back to earth with a Caleb Williams injury (plus a Tyson Bagent concussion) and a 9-3 stall out of a loss to the Vikings.
Now the two are clashing in what was supposed to be one of the NFC's early marquee matchups, but injury luck has put it on a bit of a different course.
Here are our staff's picks and predictions for Week 3...
| Sportsbook | Spread | Money Line | Total O/U |
| DraftKings | PHI -4.5 | PHI -225 CHI +185 | 41.5 |
| FanDuel | PHI -4.5 | PHI -215 CHI +180 | 42.5 |
| BetRivers | PHI -4.5 | PHI -215 CHI +175 | 42 |
| BetMGM | PHI -4.5 | PHI -220 CHI +180 | 42 |
| Caesars | PHI -4.5 | PHI -218 CHI +180 | 41.5 |
*Lines as of Tuesday, Sep. 22
The Eagles were gifted a pair of bad opponents in the Commanders and Titans to begin their season, and they'll catch another break Week 3, as budding star QB Caleb Williams almost certainly won't play, and QB2 Tyson Bagent might not either. That leaves QB3 Case Keenum, the 38-year-old journeyman who the Eagles wrecked in the NFC Championship Game preceding their first franchise Super Bowl win.
In our Eagles-Bears preview, we cut up all of Keenum's dropbacks in his last two NFL starts, from way back in 2023. And, spoiler, it's ugly.
The Bears' offense looked like a potential juggernaut Week 1 against the Panthers, when they put 59 points on the board. And then hopes that they might be the next great offense fizzled when they were only able to muster 3 points Week 2 against the Vikings.
Still, the Bears' offense is dangerous. They have a physical offensive line, some promising young receivers, and a pair of running backs in D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai who complement each other well. They also have one of the league's top offensive schemers in Ben Johnson.
But ultimately, it's just not going to be the same without Williams, who is an elite scrambler with a big-time NFL arm who makes a ton of off-schedule plays. He and Keenum really couldn't be any more different, as Keenum is not blessed with great arm talent or running ability, and his game is predicated on getting the ball out quickly. His game more resembles a quarterback like Jared Goff, who, of course, Johnson coached in Detroit.
The Bears' defense is clearly the weaker of their two main units. They don't have a scary pass rush, and their corners have not had a good start to the 2026 season. If Jalen Hurts can make some plays like he has the first two weeks of the season, he should be able to outscore a Bears offense that is going to have to change up what they do to some degree to fit Keenum's limited skill set.
MORE: 5 things to watch in Eagles-Bears
People tend to dismiss an opponent that's on its backup quarterback. But the Eagles aren't exactly traveling to Chicago with great health. Their offensive line is discombobulated, their run game is struggling, and a key part of both their run and pass game – Dallas Goedert – is out, and the Eagles don't actually have a replacement who can do what Goedert does.
Jalen Hurts has been fantastic, but the Eagles have been living on the edge with such a horrific first-down offense that they're in third-and-long as frequently as third-and-short and third-and-medium combined. You can eke out wins like that against Washington and Tennessee, but the Bears are a better team than both, even when on their backup QB and with several injuries in the secondary.
This game has the makings of being ugly from start to finish. Hurts will need to be a superhero to overcome all the turmoil around him on the offense, and asking him to do that every single week can be a tall order. The Bears are better at controlling the ball and their vicious run game should take some pressure off their QB, be it Case Keenum or Tyson Bagent.
I'm going to wind up kicking myself for this, I fear, but I'm banking on the Eagles winning simply because they have the better quarterback.
The Eagles scored exactly 24 points in each of their first two games. So obviously that means they'll score that many in Week 3 too.
I don't have a ton of analysis to offer here. If you asked me to pick this game a week ago, I'd have taken Chicago. They scored 59 points in their opener and looked unstoppable. Then the Vikings stopped them last week, in an ugly 9-3 Minnesota victory. And then starting quarterback Caleb Williams got hurt, and then backup quarterback Tyson Bagent entered the concussion protocol.
So… I'm picking the Eagles. The goalposts keep moving on their first true test this season, which will now come at home in Week 4 against the powerhouse Rams.
The Bears with Caleb Williams would've been a tough matchup.
The Bears even with backup Tyson Bagent I could've seen ending up close with a week of prep, too.
But the Bears whittled down to Case Keenum as a third-stringer? I can't imagine this one getting away from the Eagles.
They'll win. Not in an outright blowout, but in a game where you watch and can tell that the Bears aren't in it, save for maybe a few big D'Andre Swift runs.
The Eagles aren't a well-oiled machine right now, but Jalen Hurts is powering them through on offense as a much sharper passer, which I think is going to continue into Monday night, while the defense starts to get back to looking a bit meaner, too.
This was supposed to be the start of a tougher stretch in the Eagles' schedule, but it's looking like they're getting a lucky break here, along with Zach Ertz's return.
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