Wild Card Round Comparisons: Wide Receivers and Tight Ends

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By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

Leading up to the Eagles matchup with the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Sports Talk Philly and Eagledelphia will compare the personnel of the two teams each day until gameday is here.

In this edition of our week-long comparison we will look at the wide receivers and tight ends that the Bears and Eagles will field on Sunday.

Chicago WR/TEs | Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Kevin White, Anthony Miller, Trey Burton, Adam Shaheen

The Bears approached free agency this offseason with the same approach that the Eagles had last offseason. They went out and spent top dollar on players that Trubisky could get it to in order to make plays.

While Alshon Jeffery was the prized receiver last season, Allen Robinson was the top free agent this offseason and he signed with the Bears. They didn’t stop there and also added Super Bowl LII Champion Trey Burton and wideout Taylor Gabriel to the fold.

The moves have worked out well for the Bears. Robinson made 55 catches for 754 yards and Burton made 54 for 569 yards. Gabriel has been the most consistent of the bunch with 69 catches for 688 yards. Robinson is often employed to stretch the field while Gabriel and Burton act as mid-close range options.

They round out a Bears passing attack with Kevin White and Anthony Miller. Adam Shaheen is an average blocking tight end, but hardly contributed to the passing game. His blocking does contribute to the Bears consistently effective run attack.

Miller was selected in the second round and has been fairly effective as a red zone target with 33 catches for 423 yards and seven touchdowns.

Kevin White rarely sees the field and has only four receptions on the season.

Philadelphia WR/TEs | Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor, Golden Tate, Mike Wallace, Jordan Matthews, Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert

The Eagles top receiver is the aforementioned Alshon Jeffery who missed a few games this season due to injury and has not gotten a whole lot of targets this season. Despite what seems like a disappointing season for Jeffery, the receiver managed 65 receptions for 843 yards and six touchdowns. Not bad for a player who missed the first three games of the season and had no training camp to get ready.

He is backed up by Nelson Agholor. The former first-round pick is not having as great a season as he had in 2018, but despite being the only real threat at the position for a few weeks at the beginning of the season, the fourth-year man has managed a similarly productive season with 64 receptions for 736 yards.

The receiver group is rounded by Golden Tate, Jordan Matthews and Mick Wallace. Wallace has yet to register a catch with the team since he landed on IR at the beginning of week two, but there is a chance he plays this weekend and provides a deep threat to stretch the field.

Matthews was brought in to alleviate Agholor early in the season. Despite very minor playing time, Matthews has manage 20 catches for 300 yards and seems to make big plays to move the chains every time he gets the ball.

Tate is a mystery. Despite being one of the best players at earning yards after the catch over the past several seasons, Tate has underwhelmed in Philadelphia. The Eagles traded a third-round pick for him, but he has received limited playing time. In that limited time, he has managed 30 catches for a minor 278 yards. He has also had quite a few drops and has fumbled the ball twice since joining the team.

The Eagles tight end group boasts the NFL single season record holder for catches in a season by a tight end and a second-round draft selection. Ertz, the former, is a Pro Bowl selection who has an astounding 116 catches for 1,163 yards and eight touchdowns. He is arguably the best receiving tight end in the game. Goedert has managed 334 yards and four touchdowns on 33 receptions. It cannot go unmentioned that both have significantly improved in their blocking abilities.

Edge

It is hard to argue that any team has a better duo at tight end than the Eagles. While Trey Burton is a great tight end, he is not in the same league as Ertz and Goedert is young and developing quickly.

Despite a down season, Alshon has managed more yards than any receiver on the Bears roster. Agholor managed more than all but Robinson. While Wallace has not been much of a factor so far, he could make a huge impact stretching the field. Beyond those three, Matthews and Tate are easily better receivers than White and Miller.

It cannot go without mentioning that Allen Robinson missed the last game of the season with an injury and Anthony Miller and Taylor Gabriel were both injured in that game. While all three may play, there is a chance none of them are able to. In that case, the Bears will be in essentially the same position the Eagles were in early this season.

With Jeffery and Agholor providing a better pair than Robinson and Gabriel, Ertz being better than Burton and better depth at each position along with Chicago suffering injuries at wideout, Philadelphia has a clear advantage and takes their first edge.