Eagles Beat Bears 25-20

Posted: December 19th, 2022 | Author: Tommy Lawlor 

The Eagles didn’t deliver the blowout we expected, but they did find a way to win on a cold day in Chicago. Every time it looked like the Eagles might put the game away, the Bears came up with an answer.

The Eagles didn’t play their best football. They turned the ball over three times. They missed a FG. They failed to recover a fumble that was there for the taking. They blew a key coverage that resulted in a TD. The play-calling left a little to be desired.

More than a few heroes stepped up and helped the Eagles overcome the sloppiness. We’ll start with Jalen Hurts. He wasn’t his usual self, but still threw for 315 yards and ran for a pair of TDs. That’s pretty good for an off-day. Hurts made some huge throws in the 4th quarter that helped the team to put the game away. As usual, he helped set the right tone for his team.

That’s the kind of tough leader you want to play for. That’s the kind of guy that inspires you to go out and make winning plays.

Haason Reddick had a monster game. He had 2 sacks, a PD, FF and FR. He also got regular pressure and was disruptive. Javon Hargrave and Josh Sweat each had a pair of sacks. Several of the sacks came in key situations and really impacted the game.

DeVonta Smith caught 5 passes for 126 yards. He made some critical grabs and came up big for the Eagles. AJ Brown was even better, going 9-181. Brown’s 68-yard catch and run set up the final TD, which proved to be the difference. He then caught a pass on 3rd down that moved the chains and allowed the Eagles to take a knee and run the clock out on the next drive.

Boston Scott had a 58-yard kickoff return to open the second half. The Eagles took advantage of the short field and scored a TD.

K’Von Wallace led the team with 7 solo tackles and played well. He was aggressive and tackled well. That is the best I’ve seen Wallace play in the NFL. Kudos to him for stepping up. Maybe the light is starting to go on for him.

The Eagles can learn from this game. Hurts talked about how the cold weather affected him. Last year he was on the road in Tampa for the playoffs. A home game at The Linc could be a very different story. Hopefully he’ll figure out what he needs to do to keep his hands/fingers from being so affected by the cold.

The defense can talk over the blown coverage. It looked like Darius Slay was at fault, but I could be wrong. Too many guys fixated on the QB and let the receiver get open deep. You can’t let that happen at this time of the year.

Hurts and the offense seemed too fixated on deep balls. There are times when you should just focus on moving the chains. If the cold and wind are affecting you, going deep so much might not be a good idea. Hurts did connect on some good deep balls, but there were more incompletions and they didn’t feel very high percentage.

The Eagles red zone defense has been porous the past two weeks. That’s something Jonathan Gannon needs to figure out. Those will be critical situations in the playoffs.

The coaches forced the ball to Quez Watkins. He finished with 6 touches for 10 yards. Quez is a speedy receiver who can make plays. His speed is best used vertically or on crossing routes. The Eagles kept getting him the ball at or behind the LOS. Quez has to go through traffic and that is not a strength of his. He needs to operate in space. Whoever decided to feed him the ball should be punished. That was beyond frustrating.

The Eagles are now 13-1 and one win away from clinching the NFC East and the #1 seed in the NFC. I hope everyone understands and appreciates what a special season this is. The Eagles won 13 games in 2020 and 2021 combined.

Crazy.

http://igglesblitz.com/2022/12/eagles-beat-bears/

"Beat" Bears?

Hmmmmm...

I'm going with "squeak past" the Bears, but that's just me.

That said, it's on to Dallas.