Windy City Gridiron
If you told me that the Chicago Bears would go into Lincoln Financial Field and defeat the Philadelphia Eagles on Black Friday, I would have thought it was plausible.
The Bears have been playing very good, and we just saw the Eagles blow a big lead against another team the Bears have defeated this year (the Dallas Cowboys).
But if you told me the Bears would go into Philadelphia and thoroughly dominate the Super Bowl Champion Eagles for pretty much the entire 60 minutes of the game, I’d have thought you had dipped into some spiked Egg Nog a little early.
But that’s exactly what happened. The stat sheet speaks for itself. Bears on the left, Eagles on the right.
The first downs and time of possession differences really leap off the page. I mean…damn. Sure, the Eagles had an advantage in the passing department (the sod at Lincoln Financial Field didn’t help, taking away at least two big completions for the Bears), but it turns out you don’t need a lot of yards passing when your running backs and O-line are completely dominant.
I don’t think that even the most optimistic Bears fan could have expected what we saw on Black Friday. It’s time the nation starts taking this team seriously; it should be scary to the rest of the league that the Bears are winning right now without even hitting their peak in so many phases of the game. There are many things to improve upon, yet the team is 9-3 and have totally bought in to what they’re building at Halas Hall.
That being said, this is a team on the ascension and they’re starting to play their best ball of the year at the perfect time. January could be a lot of fun.
Let’s get to the game balls.
I don’t see any way to pick one over the other. Both Bears running backs were so dominant on Friday that they each deserve a game ball. This was the first time two Bears have rushed for over 100 yards in the same game since Walter Payton and Matt Suhey did it against the Detroit Lions on November 10, 1985.
Monangai finished the game with 22 carries for 130 yards rushing and one touchdown (5.9 YPC). Swift added 18 carries for 125 yards rushing and one touchdown (6.9 YPC).
Looking at the stats, they’re pretty darn close to equal. Swift had a higher YPC average, but Monangai had a key 31 yard rush from the team’s own 13 yard line on a drive early in the fourth quarter that put the Bears up 17-9, a huge moment in the game. Again, there’s just no way I could choose one over the other
Of course, this kind of rushing attack doesn’t happen without the Bears ‘offensive line. That unit has really gelled this year and tons of credit goes to OL coach Dan Roushar. Plus, of course, some great...
