Windy City Gridiron
The Chicago Bears sit at 8-3 and everything seems to be pointed in the right direction. The Philadelphia Eagles sit at 8-3 and everything seems to be heading in the wrong direction. Two teams with very different vibes, but also two teams with very different goals at the start of the 2025 season.
This is, without question, the Bears toughest test of the year. How will they handle the Eagles? To get the Philly perspective, we sat down with Brandon Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation to get the latest. Here’s that Q&A.
1. It’s wild to say that the Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles are tied in the NFC at 8-3, but here we are. What’s interesting is that for two teams tied, it feels like their vibes are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Why do the defending Super Bowl champions just seem to be off in the locker room? How is the confidence in Nick Sirianni?
Expectation is the thief of joy!
The Eagles’ season isn’t really a success if they don’t repeat. I noticed a recent article on WCG talking about how it feels like the Bears are playing with house money at this point.
The vibes in Philly definitely don’t seem to be great. Especially on offense, where the most expensive unit in the league is well underperforming that kind of elevated status. Fans share a similar frustration that a very talented offense is just so often inept. Like, look at this stat:
It’s unconscionable.
I’m pretty harsh on Sirianni. Some would say too harsh since he’s been to two Super Bowls, won one of them, and owns the fourth-highest winning percentage of any head coach in NFL history. But I would contend that Sirianni is not one of the main drivers of that success. Howie Roseman is an elite general manager. Vic Fangio is an elite defensive coordinator. It’s hard to pin down exactly what value Sirianni provides. His biggest defenders will point to some of the more nebulous aspects, such as culture, which doesn’t even seem to be great right now with the questionable vibes going on. And it’s not like he brings offensive prowess to the table; the offense is always worse when he’s more involved in it. Game management? He regularly refuses to even try to get points in end-of-half scenarios. His inconsistent fourth-down strategy often seems to be based on select anecdotes instead of hard data.
So, I don’t think I have a lot of confidence in Sirianni right now. But that much might be moot if the talent is good enough, which it often has been since he’s been head coach of the Eagles.
2. I don’t think I need a preamble here: what is wrong with Saquon Barkley?
The Eagles’ offensive line is not good at run blocking this season. It seems like they are, more than him, wearing the brunt of last year’s massive rushing workload.
Barkley’s average yards before contact are the worst of his career....
