Chicago Bears @ Philadelphia Eagles
Final Score: Bears 24, Eagles 15
Writer: Chris Helle (@ChrisHelleQBL on Twitter/X, Reddit)
It was a windy day in Philadelphia, with two of the teams near the top of the NFC battling for their 9th win of the season. Chicago’s run schemes diced up Philly, with both D’Andre Swift having a revenge game against his former team and Kyle Monangai finding his groove. Both RBs went for over 100 yards, the first time Chicago has done so since 1985, and they both found the endzone as well. The wind affected both QBs, but also resulted in a missed XP from Philly’s Jake Elliott. This was right after A.J. Brown hauled in an impressive touchdown catch and left the game at a 10-9 advantage to Chicago. Swift had scored the first for the Bears, and Monangai scored the second to take a 17-9 lead. The Eagles’ offensive struggles continued, particularly with Saquon Barkley failing to get any open space for explosive runs or even catch any of his targets. Caleb Williams was a true pro in this one and made the play of the game on his only passing TD to Cole Kmet. Jalen Hurts would find Brown for another score later, but the game was out of reach by that point. Philadelphia drops their second straight game, while Chicago surges to the top of the NFC standings.
Two Up
- Bears RBs — Both players ran all over Philly’s defense. Those blocking schemes and sequencing were poetry in motion.
- A.J. Brown — His highest receiving yards of the season with a pair of TDs.
One Down
- Saquon Barkley — The full workload is hardly high volume, and the predictability of the calls smothers his ability to create explosive runs.
Chicago Bears
Quarterback
Caleb Williams: 17/36, 154 Yards, 1 TD, 1 INT | 5 Carries, 13 Yards
While the stats don’t look great nor feel good for fantasy, Caleb Williams played a very strong game. Sure, he had a couple of throws off the mark, but so did Jalen Hurts because of the wind. The one Caleb would love to have back was early in the game, underthrowing a would-be TD to a wide-open Rome Odunze. The INT was a good play by the DE to back off a block and get in the way of a screen pass. Several incompletions were throwaways, or spikes when a prepared Eagles defense blew up screens. He had some nice tight window throws and crucial scrambles to extend drives. Despite the completion rate and INT, I would feel very confident with him after this game as a true confidence builder for the second-year QB.
Running Back
D’Andre Swift: 18 Carries, 125 Yards, 1 TD | 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 13 Yards
This was an awesome game from the former Eagle. D’Andre Swift was truly dicing up defenders and making multiple tacklers miss on nearly every carry. He was patient on zone scheme runs to allow them to develop, showed great explosiveness, and made some shifty open-field cuts to break off a couple of explosive plays. His TD came on the goal line, a relatively fortunate circumstance that could have easily gone to Kyle Monangai. Even though Monangai also produced well, there were areas of the game that Swift showed to be the veteran and was better at. I’d expect the workload to continue to be split, with a slight favor to Swift.
Kyle Monangai: 22 Carries, 130 Yards, 1 TD | 1 Target, 0 Receptions
The rookie got his second chance of the year with over 20 carries and put up close to the same numbers. Monangai might not be as twitchy as Swift, but he has a strong plant foot when he decides to change directions and run through arm tackles. He very well could have had the first TD of the game, as he got the carry down to the 3-yard line before being subbed out. He still has some experience to gain in zone scheme running, but is has a great balance between explosiveness and strength that will continue to be a resource for Ben Johnson.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Cole Kmet: 3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 36 Yards, 1 TD
It’s usually not a good sign with the leading receiver of a team had only 36 yards, but the ground game was extremely productive, and there are many mouths to feed through the air. Almost all of Cole Kmet’s production came on his TD late in the game to go up by two scores – a play-action boot that Caleb Williams threw across his body 28 yards.
Luther Burden III: 6 Targets, 4 Receptions, 33 Yards | 1 Carry, 3 Yards
Another rookie and key piece of this offense had a decent first half but a concerning second half. He was involved early, getting his number called on a play-action boot, a zone-beating spacer, and a jet-sweep reverse. The second half went off the rails as he missed a ball over the middle while stumbling and falling down. The ball didn’t see his way again until Chicago tried to ice the game on a 4th-and-4 late. Caleb threw Burden’s slant, but he gave up early on it and let the ball fly by incomplete.
DJ Moore: 5 Targets, 2 Receptions, 17 Yards | 1 Carry, 10 Yards
This was an extremely frustrating game for DJ Moore. He had an intermediate pass thrown way behind him early, then a ball deflected at the line of scrimmage, and he lost his footing on a curl route. Johnson got him involved by giving him a sweep, with both receptions on quick and easy in-breakers. One was a slant he caught and was tackled immediately, 5 yards from the endzone.
Rome Odunze: 6 Targets, 2 Receptions, 8 Yards
It’s a similar story between Moore and Rome Odunze. The first ball thrown Rome’s way went over his head. He waxed the DB on a comeback and was open for a 20ish yard TD, but the ball landed short of his feet. Rome had another ball go over his head, and a fake target from a throwaway as Caleb was avoiding a sack. Caleb looked his way under pressure again later, but Rome was held by Nakobe Dean and drew a penalty.
Colston Loveland: 6 Targets, 3 Receptions, 28 Yards
The first-rounder made no mistakes on his limited opportunities. He worked the seams as well as the sidelines throughout the game. Caleb missed him on a wheel route, throwing it way behind him. While his longest reception was up the seam, there’s an encouraging sign: they went his way on a 4th-and-5, and he brought it in for the 1st down. This conversion led to a TD 4 plays later.
Olamide Zaccheaus: 3 Targets, 2 Receptions, 19 Yards
Philadelphia Eagles
Quarterback
Jalen Hurts: 19/34, 230 Yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT | 4 Carries, 31 Yards, 1 Fumble (Lost)
I am a Hurts defender, but I cannot stand by him in this game. His best area of the game was using his legs in either scrambles or designed runs. He had some horrendous misses, blown opportunities on misreads, and his INT was a boneheaded throw into double coverage he could have easily thrown away. His fumble occurred on a brotherly shove, which would have converted and put the Eagles in a decent scoring position. It’s a good sign he’s rebuilding chemistry with A.J. Brown, because this game could have been a dumpster fire without him.
Running Back
Saquon Barkley: 13 Carries, 56 Yards | 2 Targets, 0 Receptions
Saquon Barkley is getting fully fledged bell-cow usage, but there are a couple of major problems. Pace of play and Philly’s 3rd-down efficiency cripple the number of plays they run. There are some injuries to the O-Line, but the play calling is so predictable that the D-Line gets their first steps to beat the blockers to their spot. Even with Chicago down to their bare bones at LB, Saquon never had much space when he could get through the line of scrimmage. It doesn’t help that Hurts rifled both of his targets at him from only a few yards away.
Will Shipley: 0 Carries | 1 Target, 1 Reception, 11 Yards
Wide Receiver/Tight End
A.J. Brown: 12 Targets, 10 Receptions, 132 Yards, 2 TDs
A.J. Brown fantasy owners must be glad the squeaky wheel is spinning at 100 MPH. This was A.J.’s highest receiving yardage this season, with a pair of touchdowns to boot. The first one was a beautiful adjustment on a contested catch to snag the ball from behind the defender. The second was a vintage slant that there’s really no way to defend with man coverage. Brown could have had the ensuing 2-point conversion, but Hurts didn’t trust the window.
DeVonta Smith: 8 Targets, 5 Receptions, 48 Yards
Unfortunately for his fantasy owners, DeVonta Smith took a backseat to A.J. Brown in this game. There was nearly a chance at a big play on an out-and-up, but Hurts underthrew him, similar to the first throw to Smith to start the game. Four of his five receptions were short yardage: hitches, a quickout, and a quick-to-flat. His best reception came on a bench route off an RPO for 30 yards. Hurts trusted A.J. more on the deep balls in this one and struggled to find a rhythm with Smith in the intermediate areas.
Dallas Goedert: 4 Targets, 2 Receptions, 27 Yards
Jahan Dotson: 3 Targets, 1 Reception, 12 Yards