The Chicago Bears defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 24-15 in the NFL’s ‘Black Friday’ game.
Chicago’s rushing attack, led by D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, dominated the Eagles’ defense.
Philadelphia’s offense continued to struggle, and even their signature ‘tush push’ play resulted in a fumble.
The Bears’ victory improved their playoff chances to nearly 75% and gave them a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Eagles.
PHILADELPHIA — When not even the tush push is working, a lot must be going wrong for the Philadelphia Eagles.
The defending Super Bowl champions fell to the new-and-improved Chicago Bears, 24-15, in the third iteration of the NFL’s ‘Black Friday’ game.
Chicago punished the Eagles on the ground all afternoon and, in continuation of the troubling trend for Philadelphia, the Eagles’ offense looked largely lost, save for a few plays.
Of course, results are never as simple as the final score. Here are the winners and losers from the Nov. 28 showcase.
WINNERS
D’Andre Swift, Kyle Monangai
Swift ran ferociously all game after Monangai set the tone early. Every time it looked like their run would find its natural end, there seemed to always be another cutback, another push available to the Bears’ backs. And take advantage of it they did.
A revenge game for Swift, the former Eagle, he ran 18 times for 125 yards and a touchdown. Monangai, a seventh-round rookie, had 22 carries for 130 yards and a score himself. There was nothing the Eagles could do to stop them, it seemed.
Bears’ offensive line
Of course, Monangai and Swift wouldn’t have gone on their shopping sprees – sorry, rushing sprees, we’re in the Black Friday spirit here – were it not for the Bears’ offensive line dominating the line of scrimmage. Monangai’s big run in the first quarter was an example of this, with the line pushing the Eagles to the left and Monangai pressing the run back the other way. Later in the drive, the big boys pushed Monangai for a first down on third down.
For the Eagles, the 84 rushing yards was the most allowed in the first quarter since 2022. The 142 first-half yards on the ground were the most given up in a half for Philadelphia since 2015.
The offensive line was the first unit head coach Ben Johnson and the front office addressed during the offseason by bringing in a trio of interior linemen. The win over the Eagles was the most significant proof of concept in why that was essential to turn the Bears around from punchline to the playoffs (possibly).
Mother Nature
Twenty-mile-an-hour winds with gusts approaching 40 mph from the open northwest corner of the stadium, creating a left-to-right pattern, massively affected the game, from ball flight to both head coaches’ decision-making. The goalposts visibly shook.
Bears’ defense
Once again without their starting linebackers, the unit that exhibited more of a bend-don’t-break philosophy for most of the season held up against the (albeit struggling) Eagles’ offense. The returns of cornerback Jaylon Johnson and defensive back Kyler Gordon from their respective injuries provided some insurance for the back end. But it was the front that kept the Eagles’ run game at bay and made Eagles QB Jalen Hurts uncomfortable.
Bears’ postseason seeding, chances
Both teams entered with a 8-3 record and tied for first place in their respective divisions. Now the Bears own the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage over the Eagles, which could come into play for postseason seeding. The Bears, according to Next Gen Stats’ playoff probability metrics, now have close to a 75% chance of making the playoffs. Those odds would have been closer to 50% with a loss.
A.J. Brown
Throw him the ball, and good things happen. Backed up on their own 8-yard line, the Eagles had Brown run a slant over the middle for a pickup of 16 to gain some immediate breathing room. Three plays later, Brown beat his defender to the ball after Hurts threw it up near the goal line. He came down with it and scored both of the Eagles’ touchdowns. He finished with a game-high 10 catches for 132 yards, with much of those coming in garbage time.
Eagles fans
The boo birds were out early and often, as the Eagles’ offensive inefficiency once again reared its ugly head. Philadelphia ran 18 plays in the first half; Chicago lined up 48 times on offense.
Dallas Cowboys
Suddenly alive in the NFC East race, the Cowboys are the ascending team within the rivalry at 6-5-1.
LOSERS
Proficient QB play
Understanding that the wind was certainly a factor, neither quarterback played particularly well. In the first half, Hurts was 5-for-10 passing for 57 yards. Williams was not much better at 11-for-24 and 90 yards.
They both found the end zone in the second half – and the hands of the other team, with Williams’ interception coming on an attempted screen pass in the third quarter in a 10-9 game and the Eagles gaining momentum.
The Eagles were on their way to a fourth straight three-and-out when Hurts was intercepted by Kevin Byard – his league-leading sixth of the season for the NFL’s No. 1 unit in takeaways – on a scramble-drill play while trying to lead wide receiver Darius Cooper up the sideline but overthrew him (or perhaps underthrew Brown, who was crossing the field).
Williams finished 17-of-35 with a pretty touchdown throw to Cole Kmet in the fourth quarter to help ice the game. But he also left plenty of throws on the field, including two into the end zone in the first half that could have been touchdowns had he set his feet and accurately delivered the ball.
The tush push
As Hurts had done countless times prior, he crouched under center with less than five minutes left in the third with one yard to go before moving the chains in the red zone. Bears defensive back Nahshon Wright had a different idea. Wright jarred the ball loose from Hurts’ clutches and won the battle at the bottom of the scrum for the ball.
Saquon Barkley
There was more room to run compared to most Eagles games this year, but Barkley went another week without a home-run play and finished with 56 rushing yards on 13 attempts. His involvement in the passing game didn’t go any better (two catches, 0 yards).
Kevin Patullo
The design of the Eagles offensive coordinator’s scheme will be diagnosed further in the coming days and weeks. But upon immediate reflection, the fact is Patullo’s unit couldn’t stay on the field for the second straight game.
Patullo’s experiments and efforts to get the ‘RPO’ game backfired with one particular play serving as the prime example. Lined up in a two-back set, Brown went in motion across the formation. It was exactly the kind of creativity Eagles fans have been clamoring for. But Barkley was not looking for the ball and it whizzed by him for an incompletion.
Jake Elliott
Philadelphia’s kicker is not a kicker immune to extra-point mishaps, and that happened on the potentially game-tying point-after kick in the third quarter as he pulled the kick wide left to keep the game 10-9 in favor of Chicago.
Green Bay Packers
A Bears loss would have given the Packers a half-game lead in the NFC North. Instead, they remain slotted in a wild-card spot for now.
Eagles fans
They don’t actually want to boo, right? Most of them cleared out. Honestly, who could blame them?