December 19, 2022
Winning ugly is still winning, and it's what the Eagles had to do Sunday against a rebuilding Bears team within the frigid confines of Soldier Field.
The game was sloppy, fans, media, and even the players and coaches will tell you that. Yet the Eagles still put up big numbers and some big performances on both sides of the ball.
They're after greater though, and with the NFC's No. 1 seed and the division title on the line when the Eagles face Dallas this Saturday, there's a lot of work to do.
A lot to talk about too.
Here's what they're saying about the Eagles the day after the 25-20 win over the Bears....
The A.J. Brown trade only looks better with each passing day.
After an uncharacteristically disorganized start Sunday in Chicago, Jalen Hurts and the offense eventually found some rhythm.
Hurts hit Brown on a couple of huge passes and a new career-high of 181 yards on nine receptions, and DeVonta Smith hauled in five catches for 126 yards in the second-best performance of his career.
For a team that has long struggled to find good receivers, the Eagles may have found two of their best by far.
NBC Sports Philadelphia's Reuben Frank on the duo's record-setting day and mention of Kevin Curtis:
Their 307 yards are most by any Eagles duo since Kevin Curtis (221) and Brian Westbrook (111) combined for 332 yards in the Eagles’ 56-21 win over the Lions at the Linc in 2007 and the most by two Eagles wide receivers since Tommy McDonald (187) and Bobby Walston (127) combined for 314 in the Eagles’ 30-27 loss to the Cards at Franklin Field in 1961. And Walston wasn’t exactly a wide receiver, he was an end before the term “wide receiver” was used.
Either way, this was a massive performance by the Eagles' two-headed wide receiver monster.
Even if Brown was more interested in talking about what the Eagles didn’t do on a cold, windy, sloppy, ugly day at Soldier Field.
“We have to clean up the (turnovers), most importantly,” he said. “Regardless of (how many yards) we threw for, whatever, we can't do that. We've got to clean our stuff up because when it matters, it's going to be hard (to win like that). Stuff like that can't happen. Sometimes there ain't no coming back from that.”
The Eagles were able to record their club-record-tying 13th win despite three turnovers largely because of Brown and Smith and their uncanny relationship with Hurts. Smith was brilliant early, with three catches for 104 yards before halftime, and Brown was brilliant late, with 7-for-157 after halftime.
Good luck stopping either of these guys, much less both of them. [NBCSP]
Soldier Field was brutally cold on Sunday to the point where Jalen Hurts even admitted he couldn't feel his hands or see all that well downfield.
It led to a first half that saw him throw two interceptions for the first time all year, but he recovered, and like with every other game save for one this season, the Eagles found a way.
Hurts finished the day throwing for 315 yards and rushing for 61 and three touchdowns on the ground, but man, did he take some hard shots while doing it, a couple of which left him slow to get up in the blistering cold.
His mobility has been a huge part of why the Eagles' offense has been so good, but as the weeks go on, the toll it takes may be of more and more concern. He'll battle through it though.
Wrote The Inquirer's Jeff McLane:
And he continued to convert sneaks — two for scores. He needs only one more rushing touchdown to match Cam Newton’s quarterback NFL record of 14 in one season.
But Sunday clearly took its toll. After the second sneak into the end zone, Hurts’ number was called again on the two-point conversion. He faked the plunge and bounced around the edge over the goal line, but took another blow.
He slowly rose, with the help again of his offensive linemen, tossed the ball to the side, and ambled to the sideline before — seemingly noticing his slower-than-usual stride — picking up the pace into his patented jog.
“He’s resilient,” [LG Landon Dickerson] said. “He comes back. He fixes his mistakes. He battles through things. I really admire him for doing that. It doesn’t matter the situation he’s put in, he’s going to move on to the next play.” [The Inquirer]
"Ugly" has been the common way to describe the Eagles' win over the struggling Bears Sunday.
Watching it, you could see it. There were big plays, for sure, but there were just as many stunted drives or strange play-calling decisions. Three turnovers too, which was strange for a team that has been so good at protecting the ball all season.
The players felt it too, and even though the Eagles generated more than 400 yards of total offense, they knew they could do better. The bar's just that high right now.
Wrote The Athletic's Zach Berman:
“It was just a sloppy-ass game,” Lane Johnson said.
Listen to these descriptions and you might worry. Then look at the stat sheet and see the Eagles totaled 421 yards of offense. They converted 56 percent of their third downs. Two receivers went for over 100 yards, including Brown, who set a career high with 181 receiving yards. There are other teams in the NFL who would start a season highlight film with that type of performance.
The yardage was the byproduct of a pass-happy approach against the Bears, who entered Sunday allowing an average of 33.5 points over their last six games. The Eagles’ 14 carries by running backs were tied for the fewest of the season, and it came one week after Sanders set a career high in rushing yards.
There’s not much Eagles fans enjoy debating more than the run-pass ratio, so it’s likely the offense’s pass-happy approach will be a topic in Philadelphia this week. It’s a reasonable argument, considering the Bears entered the game ranked No. 27 against the run and there were 16 mph winds and a wind chill of 3 degrees. Then again, look at the results. [The Athletic]
A win is a win, but with Dallas coming up and a one-seed and division title at stake, the Eagles are after better and looking for more.
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