Eagles Record 5 Sacks, but Offense Struggling in First Half vs. Bears

Jalen Hurts threw two interceptions, but also ripped off a 22-yard TD run with 43 seconds left in the second quarter to give the Eagles a 10-6 lead at the break

USA Today

CHICAGO – After throwing just three interceptions in 13 games this season, Jalen Hurts threw a pair of them in just two quarters against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday.

The QB showed his moxie, though, leading the Eagles on a 91-yard drive that took just nine plays and 2 minutes, and 6 seconds to traverse.

Hurts’ 22-yard touchdown run right up the middle untouched as the Bears blitzed, gave the Eagles a 10-6 lead at halftime. The run came on third down.

Until then, the Eagles couldn’t do much right on offense.

Of course, they only had the ball for 8:50 to Chicago’s 21:10.

In addition to Hurts’ two picks, Miles Sanders didn’t get his first carry until just over six minutes were left in the second quarter against a Chicago run defense that was ranked 27th in the league coming into the game.

Hurts completed 8-of-16 throws for 139 yards but had a passer rating of 40.4. He ran for 40 yards on seven carries.

Sanders had just three runs for 12 yards. He entered the game as the league's fifth-leading rusher with 1,068 yards.

DeVonta Smith had three catches for 104 yards.

The Eagles grabbed a 3-0 lead in the second quarter on a 32-yard field goal by Jake Elliott.

The quarterback on the other side, Justin Fields, was electric with his legs, though the Eagles sacked him five times.

Josh Sweat had two and he now has 9.5, a new career high.

Haason Reddick also notched a pair and now has 12, just .5 away from tying his career-high set in 2020.

Javon Hargrave had a sack, which was his ninth as he continues to build on his career high.

Fields’ best play of the half was a 39-yard scamper on second-and-27 when he alluded Reddick, who strip-sacked Reddick on the previous play to put the Bears in that big hole. The long run set the Bears up at Philly’s 9.

From there, David Montgomery ran in untouched to give Chicago a 6-3 lead after the PAT was missed with 6:47 to play in the second quarter.

Fields ran for 81 yards on just 11 carries and is 14 yards away from hitting 1,000 for the season.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.