Less than a week ago, the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles appeared well on their way to winning the NFC East and having a great chance to defend their NFL title. However, after a shocking Week 12 loss to the Dallas Cowboys and a Black Friday beatdown at home by the Chicago Bears, head coach Nick Sirianni's Eagles are reeling.
The Eagles are still in first place in the NFC East with an 8-4 record, but what was a monstrous 3.5-game lead over the Cowboys is now down to 1.5 games. The Eagles have played back-to-back shoddy games.
The Chicago Bears walked into Lincoln Financial Field with momentum and a powerful game plan. Head coach Ben Johnson decided he wanted to attack the Eagles powerful defense with their running game. It appeared that the Eagles were completely unprepared for the Bears unleashing running backs Kyle Monangai and D'Andre Swift. Both running backs exceeded the 100-yard mark.
Sirianni and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio almost always get the best of their counterparts. But that was not the case against the Bears as head coach Ben Johnson won the coaching battle.
Hurts struggles against Bears
The Eagles needed quarterback Jalen Hurts to jump start the offense, but he was unable to get that unit out of neutral. The Eagles were held to a field goal in the first half and after scoring second-half touchdown to get within one point, Philadelphia had a chance to take the lead after a Chicago turnover. As the Eagles reached the Bears 12 on a 3rd-and-1 play, the Eagles called on Hurts to perform a quarterback sneak.
That play is widely known as the “tush push,” and it has been one of the team's most successful plays. However, against the Bears, Hurts ended up fumbling and the Bears recovered. That led to a Chicago touchdown that extended the lead to 8 points.
Hurts completed 19 of 34 passes for 230 yards with 2 TDs and 1 interception. He only attempted 4 running plays and those gained 31 yards. It was not enough to keep the Eagles in the game against the Bears.
The Eagles needed Hurts to be close to his best and he was merely mediocre. Hurts and Sirianni were most to blame for the loss to the Bears.
