Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia) – The Chicago Bears proved to everyone on Friday that they are a real contender this season in the NFC. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Eagles proved something, too: they’re in a lot of trouble.
Both things were clear when the upstart Bears pounded the defending Super Bowl champs 24-15 at Lincoln Financial Field. Chicago did it by using the Eagles’ once-successful formula – a dominant rushing attack that gained 281 yards, and a suffocating defense that gave up only 317 yards, 121 of which came in the final 6 minutes of the game.
Here are my takeaways:
1. The Bears’ offense looks like the Lions’ offense used to
Yeah, that’s obvious since the new Bears coach is the former Lions offensive coordinator, but it’s almost hard to believe that Ben Johnson got his offense working so well, so quickly. Chicago has the two-pronged ground attack that made the Lions so dangerous in his tenure, which is particularly impressive because it wasn’t clear whether Johnson had the running backs to make it work.
But he does. D’Andre Swift, the former Philly back, was particularly effective against his old team, rushing 22 times for 130 yards. And rookie running back Kyle Monangai, a seventh-rounder out of Rutgers, is countering Swift’s shiftiness with pure power that’s hard to believe out of his 5-foot-8, 208-pound frame (18-125). He had several runs right up the middle on the Eagles, carrying several defenders more than five yards down the field.
Together, they had 129 yards in the first half alone against a defense giving up just 115.1 yards per game on the ground. That’s just the way the Lions used to do it, with two running backs with two completely different styles behind a strong offensive line with an array of very creative running plays.
2. The Eagles have an offensive coordinator problem … again
It feels like this has become an every-other-year thing, and maybe it’s unavoidable since Nick Sirianni has lost two offensive coordinators to head coaching jobs in the last three cycles. But his current offensive coordinator, Kevin Patullo, isn’t getting the job done.
This really feels like two years ago, when Brian Johnson took over at OC for the departed Shane Steichen and never could figure out how to get his star players comfortable. Patullo is having the same problem taking over for the departed Kellen Moore. Never mind the startling lack of production in the running game (more on that in a minute), it’s more about how dysfunctional the passing game looks.
To be fair, it was really windy on Friday when quarterback Jalen Hurts was just 19 of 34 for 230 yards. But it’s not like he had a lot of open receivers to throw to, which is startling considering he’s got targets like wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and tight end Dallas Goedert. Patullo needs to find more creative ways to get them open downfield and find ways to get Hurts more comfortable early in a game.
There was only one drive all game where the Eagles looked like themselves – a third-quarter scoring drive when they went 92 yards on five plays in just 1:54. Almost every other drive was a mess.
Blame the players if you want. But this team, this offense, is way too talented to look as dysfunctional and low-powered as the Eagles currently look.
3. The disappearance of Saquon Barkley is alarming and bizarre
History suggested that coming off a 2,000-yard rushing season, and one in which he had a remarkable 482 touches in a 20-game span, Barkley was going to regress.
But this much? It’s almost hard to believe.
Barkley ran for just 56 yards against the Bears on Friday. That gives him 740 for the season, which puts him on pace to finish with just 1,048 yards. Worse, he’s had just one game with more than 100 yards this season. And if you take away that 150-yard performance against the New York Giants, he’s averaging just 53.6 yards in his other 11 games.
A big problem is the offensive line. Barkley came into this game averaging just 2.3 yards before contact this season, which is down 1.5 yards from last year and much closer to his miserable Giants days. But that doesn’t excuse everything. Barkley looks far less explosive and shifty than he did last season.
And it certainly doesn’t help that the Eagles just don’t lean on him the way they used to. Despite a close game the entire way, they handed the ball to Barkley on just 13 of their 51 plays. It’s a tough call because he wasn’t effective, but he’s talented enough that letting him run his way into a groove would seem to be a decent strategy that they are just refusing to employ.
4. Caleb Williams will be a star when he tames his erratic arm
There is no doubt that Ben Johnson has gotten a lot more out of his starting quarterback than the previous coaching staff did in his rookie season. He looks a lot more comfortable in the pocket and seems to be making much better reads.
His one problem remains his accuracy. He’s got a strong enough arm to make any throw, even in the kind of winds he battled in Philadelphia on Friday. But he has a tendency to overthrow, as if he doesn’t know his own strength. That’s part of the reason why he completed only 17 of his 36 passes against the Eagles. It’s also why he’s only completed 60% of his passes once in his last nine starts.
When he’s on, though, he throws daggers—like his 28-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cole Kmet that put Philly away in the fourth quarter. If he threw a few more of them, the Bears would be really dangerous, considering how powerful their rushing attack has become. Williams will get there. He’s still only 24 and just in his second NFL season. But when he does finally put it together, the Bears are going to be a very tough team to beat in this league.
4 ½. What’s next?
It’s getting real now in Chicago, where the Bears (9-3) not only lead the NFC North but are also just one-half game back of the Rams in the race for the top seed in the NFC. The Bears will face a huge test, though, with games against the Packers (8-3-1) twice in the next three weeks. First, it’s next Sunday in Green Bay (“America’s Game of the Week” on FOX, 4:25 p.m. ET) and then in Chicago on Dec. 20. There’s a home game against the Browns (3-8) sandwiched in between.
Meanwhile, the Eagles, who have lost two straight, have a long week until their Monday night battle against the Chargers in L.A. on Dec. 8. They’re also only one game up in the loss column on the hard-charging Cowboys in the NFC East.
The good news, though, is that Philadelphia’s schedule the rest of the way is pretty soft, with a home game against the Raiders (2-9), a home-and-home with the hobbled Commanders (3-8) and one always dangerous late-December trip to Buffalo (Dec. 28 vs. the 7-4 Bills). The Eagles still have time to get right.
Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.
Read the full article here
