It was a tough night for the Eagles in the Black Friday game against the Chicago Bears. With a chance to extend their lead in the NFC East with the stretch run ahead, the Eagles instead were on the short end of a 24-15 score to a very good Bears team that played well on both sides of the ball, performed well in the red zone, and had the advantage in the turnover battle.
Added up, the Eagles lost their second consecutive game and fell to 8-4 for the season.
How did it all go down on Friday afternoon? Here are some observations ...
1. Chicago's running game was off-the-charts good
The Eagles didn't take anything for granted here. They knew Chicago entered the game averaging 142 yards on the ground, best in the NFC and second best in the NFL. The Bears run a terrific scheme, and running backs D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai give them a bit of Lightning and Thunder feeling. Both backs went for more than 100 yards – Swift with 125 and Monangai with 130 – as the Bears rolled up 281 rushing yards. As a result, the defense had trouble getting off the field.
"Great scheme and they executed," defensive tackle Jordan Davis said. "We need to have better fits on defense, everyone playing together. That is what it is about. We aren't playing the kind of defense you need to play to win in this league. We're going to come back from this, but it's going to take all of us."
2. The Bears won the line of scrimmage
Give the Bears credit: They have a veteran group on both sides of the line of scrimmage and they played with confidence and they played with great chemistry. They won it on both sides of the football. The Eagles had trouble getting into a rhythm offensively, leading to just 87 rushing yards on 17 attempts. A big momentum swing in the game came after Chicago forced a fumble on the Eagles lone Tush Push attempt, a key play that is worth exploring later.
The interior of the defensive line had the biggest burden against Chicago's outstanding running game – the players explained that the Bears play such a smart scheme where they get the defensive linemen sideways and do just enough to get the running backs downhill against the defense. It worked. And on the offensive side, the Bears didn't give the Eagles much room in the running game and, of course, rose up on third down and kept the Eagles' offense from staying on the field.
3. Penalties hurt the Eagles again
None of the seven penalties the Eagles committed specifically wiped away big plays, but each contributed to the general choppiness of the performance. The Eagles had two false starts on the first two offensive possessions. Philadelphia committed seven penalties for 44 lost yards. The offensive pass interference penalty against A.J. Brown late in the first half wiped out a 12-yard gain on a third-and-9 play that would have given the Eagles the ball at their 48-yard line may have been a questionable penalty, but it was called and that's that.
4. Missed chances were so, so costly
Two of them immediately come to mind: On a third-and-8 from the Chicago 26-yard line early in the second quarter, quarterback Jalen Hurts was not able to connect with wide receiver DeVonta Smith on a crossing route running left to right. Had the pass connected, Smith might have scored. But it didn't and the Eagles settled for a field goal to cut Chicago's lead to 7-3.
Then, the Eagles cut the deficit to 10-9 on a Hurts touchdown pass to wide receiver A.J. Brown – Jake Elliott missed the PAT – and the defense rose up. Jalyx Hunt intercepted a Caleb Williams screen pass and the offense was in business midway through the third quarter with a first down at the Chicago 36-yard line. Saquon Barkley ripped off 15 yards to the 21-yard line. Two more Barkley runs gained 9 yards and then on third-and-1, Hurts ran a Tush Push and the Bears made the stop and cornerback Nashone Wright ripped the football away from Hurts and recovered the football for the turnover, the second of the game after Hurts threw an interception to safety Kevin Byard.
"We've been able to hang our hats on winning the turnover battle and that didn't happen today," center Cam Jurgens said. "That's something we can't do. We have been really good with our ball security and today it hurt us."
- The Eagles just didn't get the offense going
The Eagles had 83 total net yards and two first downs on just four first-half possessions. They converted 1 of 5 first downs. The search for a full game of offense continues. Philadelphia finished with 14 first downs and 317 yards of offense, but those numbers didn't translate to points and chances to take a lead and put the Bears on their heels.
The offense converted 4 of 12 third downs and held possession of the football for 20 minutes, 42 seconds.
- Next up, a mini-bye weekend to search for answers
There are no givens here the rest of the way. The Eagles have to come back from this mini-bye weekend and have some answers with a long week ahead before the Monday night battle against the Chargers in Los Angeles. Whatever it takes, the Eagles have to find a way to get back on the winning track and again take control of the NFC East and the playoff picture in 2025.
