Bear Digest

Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles Week 13 who wins and why

A comparison between the positional groups for two 8-3 teams on Black Friday, as Caleb Williams and the Bears try for their fifth straight win against the world champions.
Gene Chamberlain|
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts celebrates his touchdown run against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in the last matchup.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts celebrates his touchdown run against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in the last matchup. | Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

There's a contagion running through Halas Hall.

It's the explanation Caleb Williams gave for the way the Bears have becoming entirely at ease with playing and winning tight ballgames under coach Ben Johnson after years of struggles at crunch time. They're at six victories by one score or less as they've hit eight wins in nine weeks.

"When you have a certain amount of belief between all three phases, from the players and special teams, defense, and offense, that belief becomes contagious," Williams said. "That's something that Ben has provided in us, and the other coaches have provided in us and instilled in us, is that belief, and in the coaches."

Believing and beating good, mediocre or bad teams is one thing.

Doing it against the best is another.

Regardless of what's said or debated, the Bears have earned numerous impressive wins. None came against the NFL's elite teams.

Friday's game represents this step up. Last week's win over Pittsburgh was a victory over a team capable of making the playoffs, a sort of stepping stone to this game against the defending champion Eagles.

Some would call it a measuring stick. Considering how the Eagles were embarrassed by blowing a 21-0 point lead at Dallas, it might become a case of Philadelphia taking that measuring stick and whacking the Bears with it.

It's the Bears and Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on Black Friday, here's who wins and why.

Bears running vs. Eagles run defense

The Philadelphia front, anchored by Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis, can take over games and force teams to go to the air. They started slowly by giving up more than 100 yards rushing in all of their first seven games and 117 per game. They've shut it down recently, giving up only 87 yards a game in the last five. The recent surge says their 18th ranking against the run is outdated. The Bears rank second in rushing even after the ground game struggled against Pittsburgh, and D'Andre Swift had a bad lost fumble. The offensive line could be back intact this week if tackle Theo Benedet starts. It can free up Swift against his old team and also Kyle Monangai, to battle the stout Eagles front. No Edge

Bears passing vs. Eagles pass defense

The 348 net passing yards allowed to Dallas last week was an aberration. At least the Eagles would like to think this. LB Zack Baun's coverage can make it tough on tight ends Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet, but the Eagles are hurt by safety Andrew Mukuba's ankle injury, and their pass rush hasn't been the force it was last year. Edge Jaelan Phillips helps their pressure, but since he arrived their sack average has not risen above a mediocre 2.0 per game. The Eagles are going against a strong Bears pass-blocking group. The big question is if Williams can take his big-moment magic up against a defense as successful over extended time as the Eagles have been. When they do get a pass rush, the pass coverage in back can limit big plays by the Bears. William does not like to check it down, and then bad things happen, like strip-sacks in the end zone. Edge to Eagles

Eagles running vs. Bears run defense

The Bears will be trying to stop Saquon Barkley in a year when he's struggling at 3.7 yards a carry, yet Philadelphia seems to come up with the rushing yards it needs on big downs and in short yardage with the tush push. They're only 25th in yards per carry and 21st in rushing yards. However, they're going against backup Bears linebackers. Stopping the run hasn't been a Bears strength regardless of who plays defense, as being ranked 28th suggests. Edge to Eagles

Eagles passing vs. Bears pass defense

This is the truly unpredictable aspect of this game. While Jalen Hurts has been an effective passer, he could be without injured top target DeVonta Smith, and the Eagles will have to lean on WR A.J. Brown and TE Dallas Goedert. Especially against depleted Bears linebackers, Goedert could be effective. The other unpredictable aspect is how the Bears secondary will look with Jaylon Johnson and possibly Kyler Gordon after being out so long. Then they'd be moving Nahshon Wright and C.J. Gardner-Johnson to new positions. Communucation problems? Edge to Eagles

Special Teams

Eagles return man Xavier Gipson has a shoulder injury and they'll have to rely on possibly Jahan Dotson and/or Tank Bigsby. Bears kick returns have been more effective by almost 3 yards a return. Kicker Jake Elliott has one less miss than Cairo Santos and has long been one of the most accurate kickers. Tory Taylor and Braden Mann have had similar problems punting. They both display strong legs but the coverage isn't always there to back them. No Edge

Coaching

Nick Sirianni and Vic Fangio have the experience/success advantage and a Lombardi Trophy. Don't underrate Ben Johnson's ability to come up with plays to counter Fangio, though. There's a reason he's being talked about as a coach of the year candidate. Dennis Allen keeps countering injuries but how long can the Bears keep this going and can they do it against a really good team? No Edge

Intangibles

The loss last week had to wake up Philadelphia. Then again, the Bears' resilience is a difficult thing to measure. Philly is a rough place. The Eagles like to play bully ball, but they won't find the Bears backing down from this. No Edge

Final Score: Eagles 26, Bears 20

DraftKings line: Eagles by 7 (over/under 44 1/2).

The Bears might find a win tough to achieve, but going punch for punch against a team as accomplished as the Eagles can mean just as much to a young, rising team in the long run.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.