Trying to hit a moving target Monday night simply will exacerbate the task of the Bears’ young defensive line.
Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham has run or thrown for 162 touchdowns in 102 career games, and he has a 55-34-1 record as a starter.
His 80.3 quarterback rating ranks 19th best in NFL history. And his interception ratio is seventh best in league history.
Little wonder last year’s Bears were pleased that Cunningham was unable to play against them. The Bears beat up on backup quarterback Bubby Brister and emerged with a 17-6 victory Oct. 10 at Veterans Stadium.
His broken leg healed, Cunningham will be waiting for the Bears this Monday night in Philadelphia.
“He’s the secret to their offense,” Bears coach Dave Wannstedt said. “There’s no question about that. People don’t give him enough credit for his arm strength and his ability to throw the football. He’s a threat as a scrambler every time he touches the ball.
“This will be a whole different look from what we’ve been preparing and what we’ve been seeing the whole preseason. It will be a big, big challenge for us to go up there.”
Cunningham completed 20 of 39 passes for 344 yards and two touchdowns Sunday in the Eagles’ 28-23 loss to the Giants.
The Bears have not fared well on the road on Monday nights, going 3-16. Overall, they’re 12-23 on Monday nights.
“I don’t know what they’ve done in the past, but we have a Monday-night routine,” Wannstedt said. “And it won’t be any different from what we did when we went to Kansas City (on a Monday night in the preseason). We’ll get up there and get a workout at the stadium Sunday night. We’ll adjust things a little bit that way. We’ll have some things for them to do during the day on Monday.”
The Bears defeated the Eagles 12-6 during the preseason, limiting Philadelphia to two Eddie Murray field goals.
“It was a typical first ballgame,” said Eagles coach Rich Kotite. “Our execution wasn’t there, but we did some good things, too.”
The Eagles’ offensive line responsible for protecting Cunningham features improved left tackle Bernard Williams, left guard Antone Davis, center David Alexander, right guard Lester Holmes and right tackle Broderick Thompson.
Bears defensive right end Alonzo Spellman, who struggled at times against Tampa Bay’s Paul Gruber, will match up against Williams.
“Alonzo just needs to get more comfortable with what he does best,” Wannstedt said. “Everybody has one or two techniques that they can really master. As time goes on, he needs to get more comfortable. Our tackles need to get more comfortable. You have to realize how young we are.
“I thought Alonzo played pretty good (Sunday). It was frustrating for him at times. He had one sack. He was going against a Pro Bowl player (Gruber), probably as good a left tackle as he’ll face all year long. He’ll get better. He’ll get better this week.”
Meanwhile, Spellman plans to have X-rays Tuesday on his twisted right ankle.
“It felt kind of sore after the game and (Monday) morning it was real sore,” Spellman said. “I can’t put too much pressure on it. It happened at the end of the first quarter. I had trouble planting and coming off it and holding the guy up and putting pressure on him. I’m going to try my best to be ready for the Eagles.”
Tampa Bay rushed for 123 yards in the 21-9 loss to the Bears, but could not get into the end zone.
“I didn’t feel real good about my performance at all,” Spellman said. “I think overall our defense did pretty good. Up front we were a little soft every now and then. They got a couple of big plays on us. And they ran the ball against us. We just need a little more time on the field. We’ll do better next week.”
Wannstedt is being patient with Spellman, a third-year player who will turn only 23 on Sept. 27.
“There were a lot more good things than things we have to work on,” Wannstedt said. “It’s the first week of the season and we have a lot of work to do between now and Monday night.
“We had three sacks, and one time (Craig Erickson) scrambled and made one yard, or we would have had four. We’ll be real happy if we can get three sacks a game for the rest of the year. We’d be in the top five in the league.
“We had some technique mistakes that we’ll get squared away. We had six missed tackles. That’s about average. But we just weren’t as sharp as we needed to be.”
