Eagles Bounce Bears, 22-14, Head into Bye Week
After racing to a 19-point lead, the Eagles made their fans sweat in the second half as the Bears crept to within five.
The defense never let them Bears get any closer and the offense put together a magnificent drive in the fourth quarter and escaped with a 22-14 win over Chicago at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday.
The win was the Eagles’ second straight and they will now head into their bye week with a 5-4 record. After the bye, the Eagles will be challenged at home in back-to-back weeks by the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks.
Meanwhile, the Bears’ struggles continue. This was their fourth straight loss to fall to 3-5. Last year, they won the NFC North at 12-4. This year, it looks like they won’t even make the playoffs.
Chicago can thank the Eagles’ defense for continuing the Bears’ woes.
The Eagles defense was a force in the first half, holding the Bears to a single first down, and that didn’t come until there were 48 seconds left until halftime. Chicago had just nine total yards in the opening half.
For the game, Chicago had just 164 total yards, 10 first downs and was just two-for-10 on third down.
“I think everybody just did their job and not try to do too much,” said Derek Barnett. “We still have some things to clean up. We did some good things, but still a lot of work to do. We got the W and that’s the most important part.”
Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson played for the first time since Week 2, but he lasted only a series before departing when his injured abdomen wouldn’t let him continue. He had one catch for five yards.
WHAT HAPPENED
After running the ball for 218 yards on their win over Buffalo, the Eagles had 147 yards on the ground against the Bears’ stingy defense.
Playing against the team that drafted him, running back Jordan Howard had 19 carries for 82 yards and a 13-yard touchdown run that gave the Eagles a 19-0 lead with 10:37 to play in the third quarter.
It was Howard’s seventh touchdown overall this season, six of which have come on the ground.
“I did a little more talking than I usually do,” said Howard, who played his first three years in the league in Chicago. “There was a little back-and-forth with the guys. Everything was else normal. It was definitely a little strange because I didn’t really go against them that much in practice. They never really tackled me.”
Miles Sanders added 42 yards on 10 carries to go along with three catches for 31 yards.
The Eagles never let the Bears have the ball much, winning time of possession with 40 minutes, 18 seconds to Chicago’s 19:42.
Chicago made it a game when rookie David Montgomery ran for his second 1-yard touchdown of the day with 12:43 left in the fourth quarter to pull the Bears to within 19-14. But the Eagles defense forced a punt on Chicago’s next possession with 8:48 to play.
The Bears never got the ball back after that, though.
TURNING POINT
The reason the Bears didn’t get the ball back was because the Eagles mounted a magnificent drive after getting the ball back with 8:39 to go in the game at their own 11. The Eagles converted four third conversions that went like this:
Third-and-3: Completion to Alshon Jeffery (four catches, 36 yards) for 13 yards. Jeffery struggled with drops throughout the game, but made amends with this catch.
“I should’ve made the play before that,” said Jeffery. “I was trying to catch and run, took my eyes off the ball … we’re human at the end of the day, just like anybody else. We’re going to drop balls, you’re not going to make every throw, you’re not going to make every tackle. We’re human. We just got to flush it and keep moving.”
After the catch, though Jeffery went to the bench with an ankle injury and did not return.
Third-and-12 after a false start penalty: Completion to Miles Sanders. The rookie running back was supposed to block on the play, but he saw everything was blocked up, so he leaked into the flat and said he turned to quarterback Carson Wentz (26-for-39, 239 yards, one touchdown, 91.7 passer rating).
“I was hoping he would see me and he did,” said Sanders, who was wide open and scooted 15 yards.
Third-and-3: Completion to Zach Ertz for four yards to the Chicago 45.
Third-and-9: Completion to Dallas Goedert (four catches, 39 yards) on a tight end middle screen. Wentz double-pumped but eventually hit Goedert, who gained 16 yards to the Bears’ 28 with 2:15 to play.
The drive ended with a 38-yard field goal by Jake Elliott. With just 28 seconds to play and the Bears out of timeouts, the game was all but over.
Still, the Bears fumbled away the kickoff and the ball was recovered by Eagles linebacker Duke Riley.
“That was a helluva drive for us,” said Goedert. “The O-line was moving the pile, the running backs were doing great and we converted when we needed to. It was a well-executed drive from bottom to top.”
Yes, it was. The drive lasted 16 plays, used up 8:14 of clock and traveled 69 yards.
