The NFL playoffs begin on Saturday, and there are some intriguing matchups on tap for Wild Card Weekend. One of those contests will pit the NFC's No. 6 seed, the Philadelphia Eagles, against the third-seeded Chicago Bears.

Both teams enter Sunday's game on winning streaks, with the Bears having won four straight and the Eagles having snuck into the playoffs after winning their final three games of the regular season. Obviously, one of those streaks will come to an end, but which one?

ESPN recently ranked the Eagles as the worst team in the 12-team playoff field. That makes sense, given that Philadelphia's 9-7 record is the worst among this year's playoff squads. As a result, the Eagles will remain on the road for the duration of the postseason.

Nick Foles
ClutchPoints

But let's not forget that Philadelphia won last year's Super Bowl. The defending champions — backup-quarterback-turned-starting-QB-once-again Nick Foles included — won't go down without a fight.

Neither will the Bears, who boast the league's top defense and a litany of offensive weapons led by second-year QB Mitchell Trubisky. Chicago is surely out to prove it's for real and what better way to do that than by knocking off the reigning champs?

The Bears are in the playoffs for the first time since 2010 after winning the NFC North for the fourth time since the division was established in 2002. They finished the regular season at 12-4, reaching double digits in wins for the first time since going 10-6 in 2012.

Mitchell Trubisky, Bears

Whatever the outcome, Sunday's contest should be fun to watch. Here are three bold predictions for the Eagles vs. Bears NFC Wild Card matchup.

3. The Bears Will Force at Least Two Turnovers

As was previously mentioned, the Bears boast the top defensive unit in the NFL. According to Football Outsiders, they are the top-ranked pass defense and the second-ranked rush defense.

Not only that, but Chicago enters the playoffs with more takeaways (36) than any other squad. The Bears have a league-leading 27 interceptions to go with nine fumble recoveries.

Defensive backs Kyle Fuller and Eddie Jackson lead the way with seven and six interceptions, respectively. Nine other players also have picks for the Bears, who have forced 19 fumbles as well.

In addition to a ball-hawking secondary, Chicago also possesses one of the premier linebacking corps in the NFL. Khalil Mack, Roquan Smith and Danny Trevathan are all having stellar seasons and could give Philadelphia's offensive line fits.

Khalil Mack

On Sunday, the Bears will force at least two turnovers. They will be in Foles' face all day and will finally bring him back down to earth after a spectacular playoff run last year and solid play down the stretch again this season. Chicago simply has too many playmakers on defense for the Eagles to contend with.

2. The Game Will Be the Lowest-Scoring Contest of the Weekend

Chicago's defense will make it hard for the Eagles to score, but Philadelphia's defensive unit will also come to play. The Eagles' defense has been much improved in recent weeks, tallying 10 takeaways over the past six weeks after having just seven through the first 10 games. As a result, they were able to earn one-score wins over the Los Angeles Rams and Houston Texans — both playoff teams — before a 24-0 victory over the hapless Washington Redskins in Week 17.

Like the Bears, the Eagles finished the regular season in the top 10 in the NFL in sacks. Chicago recorded 50 sacks to tie the Minnesota Vikings for third in the league, while Philadelphia had 44 to tie the Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers for eighth.

With the way the NFL is these days, don't expect either team to hold the other to single digits. However, I do predict that the combined total of points will be below 50 and at least one team will be held under 20 (neither squad will reach the 30-point plateau).

A low-scoring game probably favors the Bears. After all, they were 9-3 during the regular season when being held under 30 points. Furthermore, they haven't scored more than 24 points during their current four-game winning streak.

Khalil Mack, Bears

As for Philadelphia, it was 6-7 during the regular season when scoring less than 30 points. So it would likely be in the Eagles' favor if the game turned into a shootout.

That's not likely to happen, though. Neither team is going to run away from the other on Sunday and both teams are going to enter the final quarter with a legitimate chance to win the game.

1. The Bears Will Win by Two Scores

Chicago and Philadelphia will enter the fourth quarter locked in a close battle, but the Bears will make a huge defensive play late to turn the game in their favor. It could be a sack that knocks the Eagles out of field-goal range. It could be a takeaway in the red zone. Whatever the case may be, the play will lead to a score on the other end that will give the Bears a lead of at least nine points.

The NFL has become a league where many teams simply try to outscore the other. One of the best games of the year came on Nov. 19, when the Rams defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 54-51 in a video game-like contest.

Simply put, this won't be one of those games. The Bears are capable of putting up a lot of points, but it's not how they usually win games. They are much more comfortable grabbing the lead and controlling the clock as they grind out victories. In fact, according to Football Outsiders, they were third in the league in average time of possession during the regular season, holding the ball for an average of 31:59 per game.

Matt Nagy

The Eagles also like to control the clock, as evidenced by the fact that they finished the regular season second in average time of possession (32:25). That furthers the point that this is likely to be a lower-scoring game than people have become accustomed to.

On Sunday, both teams will look to maintain possession as much as possible. But something has to give, and it will be the Bears' league-leading defense that ultimately proves to be the difference. Chicago will move on by a final score of something in the range of 23-14 to 28-19.