If the Philadelphia Eagles were looking for any extrinsic motivation headed into their 1st primetime game of the year in Week 3 against the Chicago Bears, well, here it is.
ESPN’s Ben Solak predicts the Eagles won’t beat the Bears with backup quarterback Tyson Bagent presumably taking the place of injured starter Caleb Williams. Which is an insulting take, to say the least.
“I might think … the Bears beat the Eagles on Monday Night Football with Tyson Bagent at quarterback,” Solak wrote on September 22. “Bagent is a pretty good backup. The Bears’ run game is vicious and took Vic Fangio’s defense for a ride last season. The Eagles’ run game is nonexistent right now given their offensive line injuries, and starting tight end Dallas Goedert is on injured reserve. This just feels like a spot for the Bears to rally.”
The Eagles are 2-0 after wins over 2 of the NFL’s worst teams — the Washington Commanders and Tennessee Titans. The Bears are 1-1 after scoring 59 points in a season-opening win and scoring 3 points in a Week 2 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
Bagent has been a longtime backup for the Bears and is 2-2 in 4 career starts — all in 2023 in place of injured starter Justin Fields — and signed a 2-year, $10 million contract extension before the 2025 season.
Williams Considered ‘Week to Week’ After Injury
Everyone who watched Williams go down with an injury against the Vikings assumed the worst — mainly because of Williams’ over-the-top reaction to what turned out to be a Grade 1 hamstring injury.
Still, there is a chance he could play against the Eagles.
“Bears QB Caleb Williams avoided any major injury to his hamstring Sunday, tests confirmed today — and the team isn’t even ruling him out for next Monday’s game against the Eagles,” NFL insider Tom Pelissero wrote on his official X account on Monday. “A massive sigh of relief in Chicago.”
“Bears HC Ben Johnson says QB Caleb Williams is ‘week to week’ with a hamstring injury and likely to miss some time,” the NFL wrote on its official X account on Monday.
Caleb Williams Called Out for Dramatic Moment
The prevailing sentiment following Williams’ dramatic injury moment was that he grossly overreacted to what amounts to a relatively minor injury.
Williams writhed and screamed on the ground in an Oscar-like performance that led many to wonder if he’d torn his Achilles tendon or suffered a similar, much more serious injury.
“Now that we’re on the other side of this news and Caleb Williams is okay … you can’t scream like that and get carted off for a hamstring,” former NFL linebacker and Bussin’ With the Boys podcast host Will Compton wrote on his official X account. “You just can’t.”
Williams was still a trending topic on Monday afternoon — and a viral meme likely not to go away for a long time.
“Utterly embarrassing if it’s only Grade 1 hamstring strain for Caleb Williams,” Vikings fan account The Purple Persuasion wrote on its official X account on Monday.
“I won’t let it go unnoticed this man did the full Kobe Achilles tear tribute for straining his (expletive) hamstring and being gone for a week max,” Book It HQ’s Shady Biev wrote on their official X account.
ESPN’s Ben Solak: Eagles Will Lose to Bears Backup QB in Week 3