Bears eye another victory vs. Eagles

PHILADELPHIA -- The Bears and Eagles might as well be division rivals.

The two teams will meet for the fifth straight year and ninth time in 12 seasons when Chicago (4-3) visits Philadelphia (3-4) tonight.

"We've had an opportunity to play them quite a few times, so they know us, we know them, and it should lead for an exciting, good football game," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "Every time we play each other, each of us adds a new little wrinkle. I'm sure they feel the same way. They have a pretty good grasp on what we do, and likewise with us."

Familiarity has helped the Bears recently. Chicago has won three of the last four meetings after losing five straight to Philadelphia between 1999 and 2004.

The Bears are among the few teams who have had success stopping Michael Vick. He's 0-3 as a starter against them, with 807 yards passing, three touchdowns and three interceptions in five career games. He's run for 187 yards and been sacked 10 times.

"They play a nice, tight, sound, disciplined scheme, and it's something that they've always been good at," Vick said. "And it's a 'bend but don't break' mentality, and they find ways to get it done, and in the past that's happened. So hopefully, I'm definitely confident this time I'll give (us) the best chance to win the football game. And you know it's going to be tough, but we have to put forth our best effort."

Vick figures to have Julius Peppers chasing him around all game. If he can buy enough time with his legs to throw, he'll present a tough challenge for a secondary that includes rookie safety Chris Conte.

The Bears sacked Vick four times in a 31-26 win over the Eagles at Soldier Field last November. They also snapped his streak of 238 passes without an interception.

"He's a great player. I think one thing you have to do is be able to match them a little bit athletic-ability wise, and we do," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "We want 11 athletes on the field. You're going to miss him from time to time. You just need other players there. Our style of defense: gang tackle, everybody get to the ball. You need that for a player like that. We're just going to play our normal defensive game that we believe in. We're not going to change philosophies or anything like that this week."

Jay Cutler tied a career high with four touchdown passes in last year's win against Philadelphia. Cutler will be facing a new-look defense this time around.

The Eagles have added cornerbacks Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, along with defensive end Jason Babin and defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins. They also have a new defensive coordinator, Juan Castillo.

"Personnel is a little different, but they're still doing a lot of things they've done in the past," Cutler said.

The Bears are third in the NFC North behind Green Bay (8-0) and Detroit (6-2). They are coming off a bye and have won two straight games.

The Eagles are in third place in the NFC East behind the New York Giants (6-2). They've won two in a row and are coming off a 34-7 rout of Dallas.

"We know who we're playing. We're playing a good football team," Smith said. "We know what their record says, but we're preparing for that team we saw Sunday night that dominated a good Dallas Cowboys team. We do have a history with them."

The game features two of the top running backs in the NFL. Philadelphia's LeSean McCoy is second in the league in yards rushing (754) and first in yards rushing per game (107.7). Chicago's Matt Forte is sixth in yards rushing (672) and first in yards from scrimmage (1,091).