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Kyle Monangai rushed for 130 yards and a touchdown, D’Andre Swift ran for 125 yards and a score, and the Chicago Bears finished with 281 yards on the ground to win their fifth straight game, 24-15 over the reeling Philadelphia Eagles on Friday night.
Led by rookie coach Ben Johnson, the surprising Bears (9-3) are alone in first place in the NFC North heading into a 7 December showdown at Green Bay.
Last season, the Bears’ Thanksgiving loss at Detroit led to the firing of coach Matt Eberflus and was their sixth straight of what ballooned into a 10-game losing streak. A year later, the Bears bullied Philadelphia’s defensive line for a relatively easy win at the home of the Super Bowl champions.
The Eagles (8-4) seemingly had the NFC East wrapped up two weeks ago, only to suffer consecutive defeats that have them looking little like a Super Bowl contender. Perhaps still feeling the sting of turning a 21-0 lead at Dallas on Sunday into a 24-21 loss, the Eagles’ offense showed few signs of snapping out of its funk. Fed-up Philly fans spent the game booing and calling for the team to fire offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo.
The Eagles’ season has taken such a turn that even the beloved tush push doomed them in this one.
With the Eagles trailing 10-9 late in the third quarter, Jalen Hurts fumbled on the tush push deep in Chicago territory and the Bears recovered.
The Bears – who have a knack for winning one-score games – turned the turnover into the drive of the day. Monangai ripped off a 31-yard run on the first play and Caleb Williams – who was 17 of 36 for 154 yards and a touchdown – completed a seven-yard pass to Colston Loveland on fourth down that extended the drive.
Monangai ran for a four-yard TD that made it 17-9 early in the fourth, and Williams added the insurance score with a 28-yard TD pass to Cole Kmet for a 24-9 lead.
Fans who had been chanting “Fire Kevin!” began flocking toward the exits – and the Eagles will face even more questions about the sorry state of their offense.
The Bears don’t care. Even with three linebackers out with injuries, Chicago socked the Eagles from the jump.
Philly’s Jalen Hurts threw for 230 yards and a pair of touchdowns to disgruntled receiver AJ Brown, who had 10 catches for 132 yards. Saquon Barkley couldn’t break free against one of the worst run defenses in the NFL and finished with 56 yards rushing.
The Eagles ran just 17 plays and had two first downs (with 83 total yards and 26 rushing) in the first half. The Bears totaled 142 rushing yards in the half.
Swift, who became the first running back to top 100 yards rushing against the Eagles this season, scored against his former team on a three-yard run a 7-0 lead. The Bears lead 10-3 when Hurts hit Brown in the third quarter for a 33-yard TD that made it 10-9.
Jake Elliott missed the extra point, adding to the list of ugly plays that sunk the Super Bowl champs.
Hurts and Brown connected on late four-yard TD late in the fourth, but the Eagles missed the two-point conversion attempt to keep it a two-score game.
