Final Score: Bears 24 Eagles 15
With the whole country watching on Black Friday, the Bears dismantled the defending Super Bowl Champion Eagles in Philadelphia. It was Chicago’s first real test since it got hot, and it performed better than anyone could have imagined. The Bears have now won 5 games in a row, 9 of their last 10. The Eagles were completely disabled on offense, while their defense was manhandled by Chicago’s rushing attack. It was a commanding effort by the Bears that has no doubt put the NFL on notice. Ben Johnson’s bare-chested postgame “Good, better, best” chant sums it up. The city of Chicago will thoroughly enjoy its free hot dogs from The Weiner’s Circle while preparing for Packer week.
Bright Spots
Run Game Was Out of Its Mind
The Bears have arguably the strongest running game in the NFL at this point. After an overturn of nearly the entire offensive line, it was always going to take some time for things to gel-and gel they have. Led by RT Darnell Wright-who has a pancake block go viral on X seemingly every week-and future Hall of Fame LG Joe Thuney, this offensive line is enabling Chicago’s offense to go to places it hasn’t been in a long while. Following the most dominating four quarters of rushing that I have ever seen, the Bears sit at 1st in the NFL in rushing yards and 3rd in EPA (expected points added) per rush.
RBs Kyle Monangai and D’Andre Swift were using the massive holes created by the o-line to cut through Philly’s defense like butter. It was unbelievable to watch. Bears head coach Ben Johnson recognized the strength, and heavily leaned on it as a result. The Bears ran the ball 47 times, compared to only 17 pass attempts. They racked up a phenomenal 281 rushing yards and 2 rushing touchdowns. The fact that the Bears have this in the bag is an encouraging sign for the difficult games ahead.
Return of the Injured Cornerbacks Invigorated Defense
This week marked the long awaited returns of both Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon. Both played limited snaps, sitting at 33 and 36, respectively, out of 54 total defensive snaps. Even with limited play and subpar grades according to PFF, their returns coincided with Chicago’s best defensive performance of the season. I don’t think that was a coincidence. The Bears allowed only 14 first downs (compared to 28 on offense) and got 2 takeaways against an Eagles offense that came into the week with the least turnovers in the NFL (only 6). Out of Philadelphia’s 11 drives, four of them were 3-and-outs and two resulted in turnovers. Regardless of the state of the Eagles offense, this was a terrific performance against the defending Super Bowl champions.
Glaring Issues
Pass Rush Just Isn’t Going to Improve
It’s tough to complain following an outcome like this one, but the Bears just don’t have a pass rush this year and I’ve accepted it. The defense will have to continue to rely on takeaways and good coverage, which admittedly may be reliable following the return of Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon. Chicago was unable to get a sack this week, and only created 10 pressures. The silver lining: the line was elite against the run, allowing only 87 rushing yards.
Standout Performers
Kyle Monangai
Rookie running back Kyle Monangai had a terrific game, accumulating 130 rushing yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. This was the 7th-round draft pick’s fourth straight game with a touchdown and his second game eclipsing 100 yards. This game was yet another entry into his impressive rookie season.
D’Andre Swift
Swift turned in a whopper of a game this Friday, racking up 120 rushing yards on 18 carries. He averaged a very impressive 6.9 yards per carry and added a touchdown to top it off. Although he accounted for less yards, Swift was slightly more efficient and graded out much better on PFF compared to his running mate, Monangai. Swift got a PFF rushing grade of 90.6, which would have been 2nd in the NFL last week (most of the NFL hasn’t played yet this week). Just a great game out of Swift against his former team.
Nahshon Wright
Wright has been a revelation this year. Thrusted into action due to a myriad of secondary injuries to Chicago’s defense, he has steadily improved throughout the season to the point where he has been one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. Wright is tied for 2nd in the league in interceptions (5). This week he graded out insanely high in PFF run defense grade (95.6-the second-best single-game PFF run defense score this season among all defensive players in all 13 weeks). This week, he was responsible for arguably the most important play of the game. On an Eagles tush push attempt in the red zone in the second half, Wright ripped the ball from QB Jalen Hurts’ grasp and created one of Chicago’s most important takeaways of the season. The significance of the play cannot be understated.
Key Drive of the Game
The pivotal drive of this game fell late in the 3rd quarter. Attempting to correct a horrendous first half, Philadelphia had just scored a touchdown to cut Chicago’s lead to 1 point (10-9 score). Following that score, the Eagles defense immediately came up with a huge interception that gave the ball back to Jalen Hurts on Chicago’s 37 yard line. After a run brought Philly into the red zone, a 3rd down led to an inevitable tush push attempt. This is when Bears CB Nahshon Wright somehow ripped the ball from Hurts hands, forcing a fumble on Philadelphia’s unstoppable play. Prior to this elite play, the Eagles had massive amounts of momentum and were about to take their first lead of the game, regardless of the success of the play. After the fumble, the life quickly drained back out of the building, and the Bears stepped on Philly’s throat.