Led by defensive tackles Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley and their talented young linebacker trio - Stewart Bradley, Omar Gaither and Chris Gocong - the 2-1 Eagles head into Sunday night's game in Chicago against the Bears with the No. 1-ranked run defense in the league.

The Eagles have allowed just 45.7 rushing yards per game and 2.4 yards per carry the first three weeks. Thirty-nine of the 58 rushing attempts against them thus far have resulted in three or fewer yards, including 15 that went for zero or minus yards.

During most of his 10 seasons as the Eagles' defensive coordinator, Jim Johnson has been much more concerned with how his unit defends the pass than how it defends the run. That's still the case, as evidenced by the amount of money the Eagles spent in the offseason to sign cornerback Asante Samuel and pass-rushing specialist Chris Clemons.

Since Johnson was hired as Andy Reid's defensive lieutenant in 1999, the Eagles have been ranked as high as 15th against the run just twice - in '02 and '07. During that same period, they've been ranked in the top 10 in yards allowed per carry only once. Six times in the last eight years, the Eagles have allowed more than 4.0 yards per carry.

"To be honest, I'm a little surprised (at how well they're defending the run)," said cornerback Sheldon Brown. "When you've got young players, especially at linebacker, you may have some guys not in the right gap in Jim's defensive scheme. But so far, everybody's been mentally sound. If you watch the films, you've got guys in the correct gaps doing what they're supposed to be doing."

Bradley, Gaither and Gocong have a combined five years of NFL experience, but you'd never know it to watch them play. Bradley, the team's middle linebacker, had just one start as a rookie last year.

At 6-4 and 255 pounds, Bradley gives the Eagles the kind of size in the middle they had when Jeremiah Trotter was playing the MIKE position.

"He runs like a small guy in the middle of the field because he covers so much ground," Brown said of Bradley, a third-round pick in the '07 draft. "One guy can make a difference. When you plug a guy like him in who runs to the ball like he does, it changes your whole game plan."

While Bradley is similar in size to Trotter, he's more athletic.

"Trot was an intimidator," Brown said. "You knew you had to block Trotter. He was basically a d-lineman standing up. He had that kind of physical presence.

"Stew is more of an athletic safety. He's just a bigger dog. If you watch him on the field, he moves fast. But if he needs to, he can get enough push and pressure. I think Stew might be the most athletic guy we've had in the middle since I've been here, as far as doing more than one thing."

The Eagles' ability to stop the run will be tested once again Sunday night against the Bears and their talented rookie running back, Matt Forte. Forte is second in the NFL in yards from scrimmage.

SERIES HISTORY: 40th meeting. Bears lead the series 27-11-1. Eagles have won five of the last six meetings. The Bears' lone victory in the last six games came last season when they beat the Eagles in Philadelphia, 19-16. The Bears drove 97 yards on 11 plays to win the game with no time left when quarterback Brian Griese hit Muhsin Muhammad for a 15-yard touchdown.