Eagles Embarrassed For Second Week In A Row, Dominated At Home In Loss To Bears
Hunter Martin / Philadelphia Eagles
People across America enjoyed Thanksgiving this week, and in Philadelphia, Eagles fans were hoping to cap off the weekend with a huge bounce-back win at home in a special Black Friday matchup against the Chicago Bears. Unfortunately, things didn’t go that way.
After blowing a 21-point lead last weekend in Dallas, the Eagles came out flat once again, this time at home, and this time throughout the entire game, losing 24-15. Despite the scoring looking close, the Eagles not only never led, but Chicago dominated all aspects of the game.
On offense, the Bears’ run game destroyed the Eagles’ front line, as D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai both rushed for over 125 yards. It was the first time since 1985 that the Bears had two 100-plus yard rushers in a game. Chicago’s defense swallowed up Jalen Hurts all night, as Hurts committed two turnovers in the loss.
The Bears won the toss and elected to receive, and Chicago’s offense showed just how great it was, going straight down the field into Eagles territory. Caleb Williams and former Eagle Swift led the offense, with Swift picking up multiple huge gains on the ground and Williams through the air. The Eagles brought up fourth down on the 25-yard line, and the Bears decided to go for it.
Bears head coach Ben Johnson dialed up a dive with Monangai and was initially given the first down. However, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni threw the coach’s challenge flag and was successful, resulting in a turnover on downs for Chicago.
Despite the turnover, the Eagles’ offense couldn’t capitalize. They picked up one first down thanks to a 10-yard catch from A.J. Brown, but back-to-back incompletions from Hurts forced the Eagles to punt.
With the ball back in the Bears’ hands, they committed to running for nearly the entire next drive. Whether it was Monangai or Swift, the Bears’ running game destroyed the Eagles’ defense, picking up huge runs after huge runs. Down at the 11, Monangai punched his way forward for eight yards, and Swift finished the drive off, walking in the endzone untouched for the first score of the game.
Trailing 7-0, the Eagles needed points. After starting the drive out slow once again, Hurts found DeVonta Smith open for a huge 30-yard catch and run to set the Eagles up inside the 30. However, on another third down, Hurts dropped back and completely missed Smith on a wide-open slant route, forcing a field goal from Jake Elliott to make it 7-3.
Chicago continued to drive down the field on their next drive, using small gains play after play to extend their drive. After 12 plays and 68 yards, the Bears got back down into the red zone, but three straight incompletions forced Chicago to kick a field goal to once again make it a seven-point game.
The Eagles didn’t do much with the ball back after the field goal, as they instantly went three and out, but Philadelphia’s defense was able to force a punt out of the Bears thanks to a huge sack from Jalen Carter. With just over two minutes until the half, the Eagles were looking for points before the half ended.
While they wanted points, the urgency to move the ball was once again not there, and another three-and-out forced the Eagles to punt it away again. Despite getting the ball back with over a minute until the break, the Bears decided the end the second quarter and go to the break up 10-3.
Out of the half, the Eagles’ offense continued its struggles, going three-and-out once again. Thankfully, their defense stopped the Bears, forcing a punt, but with the ball back in Hurts’ hands, he forced a ball into a tight window, and Kevin Byard picked him off for a turnover.
After picking up the turnover, the Bears didn’t do much with it as they went three-and-out, pinning the Eagles down to the eight-yard line. Despite being pinned deep, the Eagles finally started gaining momentum, with Hurts hitting Brown for a 16-yard catch, and then a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty putting them near midfield.
A small run from Saquon Barkley and a 23-yard run from Hurts continued the drive, and Hurts finished it with a 33-yard dot to Brown for the Eagles’ first touchdown of the game. Unfortunately, a missed extra point from Elliott kept the Bears ahead 10-9.
Trailing by a point, the Bears continued to dominate with the run. Near midfield, the Bears dialed up a screen pass, and Jalyx Hunt sniffed it out, intercepting the throw from Williams and setting up the Eagles at the 36. On the first play after the pick, Barkley broke for a big 15-yard run, and two more runs from him brought up a 3rd and 1. The Eagles elected to use their secret weapon, the tush push, to get the first, but on the play, Bears defensive back Nahshon Wright stripped Hurts, forcing a fumble that gave the Bears the ball back.
With the ball back, Chicago went back to doing what they do best, running the ball. Using Monangai and Swift, the Bears pounded the ball down the field, getting it down to the four, and Monangai punched it in to make it 17-9, Chicago.
Still down one possession, the Eagles’ offense looked ugly again, going three-and-out for the fourth time on the night. The Bears, up eight, kept their foot on the gas, continuing to dominate with the run and wasting clock. On a broken play, Williams threw up a ball to the endzone, and Cole Kmet came down with it for another touchdown to extend the Bears’ lead to 15.
The Eagles, down two scores and with just over six minutes to play, needed a quick touchdown. The Bears’ defense played back and allowed the Eagles to dink and dunk their way down the field. Hurts hit Smith and Brown on multiple receptions, wasting clock but moving the ball.
The big play came on a 17-yard catch from Brown, setting them up for 1st and Goal from the four, and Hurts fired a slant to Brown for the touchdown. Despite being down nine points, the Eagles went for two to make it a seven-point game. On the two-point try, Hurts fired a ball into the turf for a failed attempt.
Philadelphia went onside kick after the touchdown, but failed to grab it. Chicago picked up one first down to drain all three of the Eagles’ timeouts, but wasn’t able to pick up a second one to ice the game. The Eagles got the ball back and managed to get the ball down into their own territory.
Needing a touchdown and a field goal, Philadelphia elected to get the field goal first, but Elliott missed the kick, effectively ending the game. Williams came in and took one knee to end it as the Bears pulled off the upset win, defeating the Eagles 24-15.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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