The Philadelphia Eagles are 8-3.
They've lost to three teams with a combined record of 16-17-1 through Week 12, have had games where they can't run and/or throw the ball, and have seemingly forgotten how to play football for entire halves of games, many of which they somehow won.
Saquon Barkley looks like a player who wore much of the tread off of his tires in 2024, a side-effect of having the single most productive season in NFL history. And yet, his offensive coordinator, Kevin Patullo, refuses to commit to a true committee to ease the burden on his game, to the point where Jalen Hurts is averaging more attempts per game than AJ Dillon, Tank Bigsby, and Will Shipley combined.
Are the Eagles the most stressful 8-3 team in the NFL right now? Yes, Philly fans will attest to that, and frankly, they have every right to feel that way.
Fortunately, the next time the Eagles take the field, it will be on Black Friday, mere hours removed from a day dedicated to focusing on the good and coming together around what makes everyone alike, not different. Do the Eagles have problems? Yes, more so than seemingly any 8-3 team should, but in the NFL, winning cures all, especially when AJ Brown is getting the ball up to his standards. A victory at home tastes twice as good as a Thanksgiving meal without the pesky tryptophan, and securing said victory over a team like the Chicago Bears, who are also 8-3 and vying for the top seed in the NFC, would be a perfect way to close out November for a team desperately looking for some galvanizing momentum to bring their troops together.
The Eagles get their run game back on track against the Bears
While the Eagles' rushing offense has severely underperformed versus expectations in 2025, with the team having somehow amassed the 21st most rushing yards in the NFL on the eighth most attempts, the Bears' rushing defense has been almost as bad, with all but two of their opponents recording at least 115 rushing yards so far this season.
The Bears' defensive line has been woefully porous, with only Montez Sweat recording an average run defense grade from Pro Football Focus, and while their linebackers have been solid, they just aren't available, with Tremaine Edmunds on IR and old pal TJ Edwards missing practice on Wednesday with multiple injuries.
As the Eagles prepare for a world without DeVonta Smith on Black Friday, as he missed Wednesday's practice with multiple injuries, Barkley and Landon Dickerson are both limited but could still take the field in Week 13. Considering the Bears are likely to activate Jaylon Johnson for Week 13, at least according to other old pal CJ Gardner-Johnson, getting yards through the air against the 21st-ranked passing defense might be harder than initially expected. But running against a defense that has allowed 1519 yards on the season so far, the fifth-worst mark in the NFL, without Edwardas cleaning things up from the second level? Well goodness, that has the makings of a bounce-back performance indeed.
The Eagles give Caleb Williams the Patrick Mahomes treatment
Though Caleb Williams is known as a scrambler, capable of picking up yards and extending plays at an elite level, it may be surprising to learn that he really doesn't get sacked all that often.
Appearing in eleven games with eleven starts, Williams has only been brought down 17 times. His season high thus far came in Week 2, when the Detroit Lions brought him down four times, and twice this season, he's been kept clean for an entire game, first against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3 and again against the New York Giants in Week 9.
Why does this matter? Well, because the Eagles may also find themselves unable to bring down Williams consistently, but frankly, that's not as big an issue as it might seem.
When Williams actually does run the ball, he's not particularly effective, having only picked up 293 yards on 56 attempts so far this season. He has three rushing touchdowns, but has fumbled the ball six times, even if he's only lost one, including two in the past two games.
With his arm, Williams has found more success than during his rookie season, but not by much, completing just 59.2 percent of his passes for 2,568 yards and 16 touchdowns versus four picks. For all of the complaints about Jalen Hurts as a passer, he has one more touchdown, three fewer interceptions, and a completion percentage eight points higher, even if he's 284 yards behind Williams on 52 fewer attempts.
Now granted, this doesn't mean the Eagles shouldn't try to pressure Williams. Pressure is the easiest way to force an opposing quarterback into making a mistake, and Williams has certainly made mistakes in 2025 despite his team's record. So much like in the Super Bowl against Patrick Mahomes, the fewer players Vic Fangio drops into coverage, the easier time Williams will have to find open bodies down the field, especially in Ben Johnson's offense, which has a knack for creating mismatches down the field.
The Eagles seal the deal on Black Friday
At 8-3 all, the Eagles and Bears are similarly talented, with Johnson's offense and Fangio's defense among the best individual units in the NFL.
The Bears, however, aren't coming off a brutal loss that had fans calling for the jobs of their offensive coordinator, head coach, and multiple offensive players. The Eagles know their next game will be under a microscope on national television, and if their offense struggles again, Sirianni's hand may be forced on Patullo.
If the Patullo regime is going to last through Christmas and potentially end in head coaching interviews instead of a mid-season firing, the Eagles will need to turn things around in a hurry, with a Black Friday showing on Prime Video a perfect platform to begin that turnaround.
