Bear Digest

The good, bad, and ugly of Bears' win includes Ozzy Trapilo's promotion

The Bears wouldn't call it a statement game because they have nothing to prove to the naysayers, but a 24-15 victory at Philadelphia rocked the NFL anyway.
Gene Chamberlain|
Ben Johnson is congratulated by Eagles coach Nick Sirianni before he gave up his shirt in the locker room.
Ben Johnson is congratulated by Eagles coach Nick Sirianni before he gave up his shirt in the locker room. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

It was not a statement about the franchise or the season but about just one game and one week, the Bears insist.

Beating the Eagles in grand fashion, 24-15, caught a huge chunk of NFL followers by surprise. Caleb Williams claimed afterwards it wasn't a surprise or even a big thing, because they live in the know. They've known they're a 9-3 type of team.

Public perception means nothing to this team, probably because they were written off before Week 3.

"Other than that, the outside noise, everybody's expectations, everybody's thoughts, everybody, we couldn't care less," Williams said.

Safety Kevin Byard, who produced his league-leading sixth interception, couldn't agree more.

"We don't really care about what the national narrative is about this team, man, we just go out there and do what they put in front of us, and our schedule we just try to line them up and knock them down," Byard said. "I think we're doing a really good job of it."

The Bears' victory had its minimum of bad and ugliness. The good was plentiful but you can never get enough of it.

Here's the good, the bad and the ugly from a second win over a winning team in two weeks.

The Good

Double trouble

A 130-yard day by Kyle Monangai and 125-yard game from D'Andre Swift behind a bulldozer line rated only second best for the Bears on the ground this year, 2 yards behind their 283-yard game against the Bengals. But 281 yards rushing in the NFL is like what dominant playoff teams have done in recent years and those two games are the second- and third-best team rushing efforts in the NFL this year. More than any other aspect of this game, this rushing performance against Jalen Carter and Co. rates as a supreme accomplishment for their offensive line.

NFL Next Gen Stats says they had 100 yards before contact and 185 after contact. They've had 100 before and at least 150 after twice now and no one else has done it once. They were manhandling Carter and he kept jawing with them, although he did avoid spitting.

The Bears' running game was so good it enabled them to dominate even while they had only 3.8 yard per pass net to the Eagles' 6.8 yards per pass.

Shonny the ripper

Everyone wondered how Nahshon Wright could contribute now that Jaylon Johnson is back. Tyrique Stevenson's injury provided Wright the opportunity to keep doing it and he found a new way by ripping away the ball from Jalen Hurts as he came off the side on the tush push.

He has five interceptions, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble now. The  play completely changed Sunday's game. Not bad for a guy they signed off the scrap heap after Minnesota didn't want him.

Caleb Williams' good mistake

The Bears QB had the first down if he wanted on a checkdown and the play was designed for him to take that short pass for the first down to D'Andre Swift, but to heck with the design or the game situation, he threw to the end zone and found Cole Kmet open for the 28-yard TD that put it out of the Eagles' reach. 

Daniel Hardy's invisibility

Last time the Bears put the hands team on the field, Daniel Hardy stumbled around on an onside kick and touched the ball before Rome Odunze could get to it, so Cincinnati had a chance to take the lead. On Friday, Hardy was nowhere to be found near the ball when Odunze fell on the onside kick without anyone else getting in his way.

It's Ozzy's job

Tackle Ozzy Trapilo has the job at left tackle now as he had his second start even with Theo Benedet healthy. A sack appeared to be his fault. However, his run blocking wasn't necessarily great the previous week and he was huge in blocking this week for the two 100-yard ball carriers.

The Bad

Big Bill's headache

Andrew Billings was the only reported injury, a concussion. It's rather curious because Billings is built like a tree stump and it's hard to imagine him getting hit hard enough for a concussion. This is a big injury, though, especially going against Green Bay this week with their reliance on the ground game.

Gervon Dexter's excuse me

Dexter's 15-yard penalty for knocking Jalen Hurts to the ground unnecessarily sparked a drive to an Eagles field goal and was reminiscent of early season when the Bears committed far too many stupid penalties. The Bears already came into the game with the most roughing-the-passer penalties and this only added to the pile. Combine this with their lack of a sack Friday and they've got work to do on the defensive front.

The Ugly

Ben Johnson's thrill show

Not that Ben Johnson was to flabby to be doing it, but he peeled off his shirt in the celebration to get a lot of fans free hot dogs next week at a local hot dog stand. It's not really necessary because this is still only the 12th game. What's next in the progression? Just keep the clothes on. It's a G-rated football team.

Nick Sirianni's AI logic

The Eagles went for two after a touchdown cut their deficit in the late fourth quarter to 24-15. When the two-point pass failed, they were done with a two-score deficit so late in the game. The "chart" or computer logic says it's good to do this. This is a case where they need to pull the plug on the computer because that doesn't measure heart and the ability to battle. If they kick the PAT and trail by eight, there is still a chance to tie it and force overtime. If they miss the two-point try there, they can wave good-bye to their fans going out the exists. The move made no sense. whatsoever.

Spoiled Eagles fans

The booing for the world champions after they were getting rings and being feted earlier this season showed how spoiled their fans have become.

The fans were out the door before the game truly was lost. They already ranked among the most obnoxious NFL fans, and now they're spoiled. That's just downright ugly.

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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.