The Eagles escape in Chicago

       It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great. The Eagles didn't destroy the Bears-they escaped the Bears. The Eagles had a scare, and luckily came out on top. 

    If NFL wins were cash, then Philly would be rich, wealthy, loaded, whatever you want to call it. The Eagles would have to be pretty high up on the totem pole if they were coming into the game with 12 wins. They were facing a team with three wins. Chicago was poor and beggarly. 

    Well class didn't matter in this game, as the Eagles and the Bears played mediocre football, and the Eagles barely hung on for the W. 

    Jalen Hurts came into the game flexing a MVP worthy year resume, with 22 touchdowns to counter only three interceptions. He could not generate an offensive attack in the first half, however, throwing for two picks and and scoring only 10 points. Justin Fields however could not be stopped during the game. He tossed a pair of touchdowns, ran for some ridiculous runs, and ended the game with 95 yards on the ground. 

        It was during the second half, when Hurts started to get going. He started to hurl passes downfield. DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown finished with 126 and 181 yards respectively. Hurts finished with 315 yards and has 3,472 on the year. Hurts' legs gashed Chicago's defense, and he ran for three touchdowns. 

Jalen Hurts rushed for three touchdowns and 61 yards

Photo Credit: The Philadelphia Inquirer 

      Hurts was sacked once, which continues his streak all year of having at least one sack per game, but is a lot better than the four sacks he received last week. On the flip side, the Eagles defensive line while giving Justin Fields huge chunks of yardage, also wreaked havoc on him. Javon Hargrave, Josh Sweat, and Haason Reddick all had two sacks, and the secondary, although they allowed two touchdowns, held down the Bears well. No Chicago receiver had over 40 yards, and no Chicago receiver had over four receptions. Boston Scott also had a monstrous 58 yard kick return, which followed a nice returning game last week. 

    Miles Sanders didn't have a great game, with only 42 yards and a bare 3.8 yards per carry. Even Jalen Hurts only got 3.6 yards per carry. 

    Here's the thing: the NFC boasts six teams with winning records. Four of those six are in the NFC East. In other words, every single NFC East team has a winning record, the worst being a 7-6-1. Wow. To put it simply, the NFC East is the most competitive division in the NFL. The Eagles haven't clinched the division yet, and still have the 8-5-1 Giants and the 10-4 Cowboys left on their schedule. The Eagles cannot expect much better against a high powered Cowboys defense if they play like they did against Chicago. 

    But that news isn't that bad, because while the Cowboys defense is crazy good, the Dallas's offense sputtered last week. Dak Prescott threw a pick-six in overtime and their defense allowed four Trevor Lawrence touchdowns. The Eagles haven't folded yet, but their upcoming game against New Orleans could easily be a trap game. 

        Jalen Hurts is injured with a shoulder sprain, which sounds like terrible news, but Gardner Minshew is fully capable to command an Eagles' team, and the upcoming game vs Dallas is really unimportant towards Philly's first round bye hopes. Furthermore, Hurts is day to day, which means he may recover quickly enough to play on Saturday. The Eagles have only one loss, so another wouldn't be detrimental towards winning the division. Although it would be nice to destroy a fierce rival, it is okay if the Eagles take on another loss. Not only that, but Dallas Goedert is due back in the lineup against the Cowboys, and two of the four receiving touchdowns Goedert caught last year were from his 105 yard game against the Jets. And guess who the quarterback was...Minshew. That situation doesn't really mean much, but the Eagles are going to need as much chemistry as possible against a stingy Cowboys defense. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above photo was taken from a Philadelphia Inquirer article. Photo taken byYong Kim/Staff Photographer. Article written by Bridget Reilly. Image used for commentary.