Sportsnaut
A Black Friday matchup between the Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles provided both NFC clubs with an opportunity to send a message to the rest of the league with a statement win. What we got on Friday was Chicago proving it might be the team to beat in the North, while Philadelphia’s downward spiral is continuing.
Let’s dive into our winners and losers from the Bears vs Eagles game.
Read More: Takeaways from Thanksgiving Day Games
You think the Detroit Lions are missing Ben Johnson. The second-year Bears head coach understood the assignment on Black Friday. Beating the Eagles would require attacking their run defense. Mission accomplished. In the first half alone, D’Andre Swift (8.8 yards per carry) and Kyle Monangai (5.1 YPC) combined for 129 rushing yards and a touchdown. It’s especially impressive when you consider that opponents averaged just 92 rushing yards per game against Philadelphia in the last five weeks. Of course, this is becoming par for the course from Chicago. From Weeks 6–12, the Bears averaged 165.1 rushing yards per game with a 5.3 yards-per-carry average, and they ranked second in Success Rate (49.2 percent). Johnson isn’t doing this with a star running back, either. He just keeps proving he’s a maestro at dialing up a great rushing attack.
This is the Brian Johnson situation all over again. After losing offensive coordinator Shane Steichen to a head-coaching gig, Philadelphia promoted Brian Johnson from quarterbacks coach (2021–’22) to offensive coordinator in 2023. Through 11 games that season, the Eagles offense averaged 28.2 PPG, 364.3 total YPG, with a 47.3 percent third-down conversion rate while averaging 5.44 yards per play. He was eventually fired.
Fast forward to 2025, with pass game coordinator Kevin Patullo promoted to take over as offensive coordinator. Entering Week 13, the Eagles offense averaged 23.2 PPG, 303.6 total YPG, with a 34.6 percent third-down conversion rate and a 5.18 yards-per-play average. Patullo’s offense looked even worse at home on Friday. An in-season change is unlikely, but Patullo has left the organization with no choice but to fire him whenever this season ends.
On their third drive of the second half, Philadelphia got the football only trailing 10–3. While it was only a one-score deficit, it felt like so much more because of how much the Eagles offense had struggled the entire night. A. J. Brown gave the team and fan base the proverbial shot in the arm they all needed. It started with a 16-yard reception to get the Eagles away from their 8-yard line. A few plays later, he made a spectacular adjustment for the catch with a defender right by him, and then walked in for the 33-yard touchdown. Unfortunately for Philadelphia, it couldn’t get anything going after that.
If there’s one team Philadelphia should have had a ton of...
