Dhruv Koul shares his in-game reactions, thoughts and observations from the Bears-Eagles game at Lincoln Financial Field. Follow him on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
PHILADELPHIA — The Chicago Bears’ season essentially ended last week at home against the Los Angeles Chargers. A game that the Bears should’ve won in a blowout, instead, went belly-up when QB Mitch Trubisky imploded with two fourth quarter turnovers and Eddy Pineiro’s final 41-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left. That miss sank the Bears to 3-4 and changed today’s game in Philadelphia from a hot revenge game (we all know what this refers to) into a dud between two disappointing teams.
While the Bears’ season wasn’t technically over coming into today, they were comfortably behind Green Bay and Minnesota in the NFC North (in last place behind Detroit, too), and plenty behind other teams in a stacked NFC Wild Card race. A win today would get them to 4-4 and still lit with hope with a relatively winnable stretch of four games coming up. A loss would turn all Halas Hall employees and fans’ attention to 2020.
In the end, the desperate Bears got dominated in the first half and came back to just get in their own way too many times in a frustrating second half to lose and collapse their season.
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I shared my in-game reactions, thoughts and observations from the game below. Follow me on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
Thoughts and Observations
1. (Pre-Game) Refer to my Twitter Thoughts thread above … the Eagles have a solid advantage in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Their offensive line is a total wall, and their defensive front is stout with Fletcher Cox leading the way. While the Bears saw success on the ground last week against LA, Philadelphia is not a team you want to commit to winning against via the ground. They have a porous secondary, but the Bears have Trubisky at QB, who can’t read a defense or hit open throws with consistency. The game will come down to Mitch doing the following:
2. (Pre-Game) I’m happy for the success Jordan Howard is having in Philadelphia. He’s running hard and even contributing as a receiver out of the backfield. He’ll be motivated as all hell to get his ‘revenge’ on the Bears for trading him in the offseason. Him running hard against that excellent offensive line against a Bears’ front missing Akiem Hicks? Could be a big day for JH. Keep in mind, the Bears have struggled against great offensive lines without Hicks twice already — against Oakland and against New Orleans. Philadelphia’s is just as good.
3. The first possession went about as poorly as possible for the Bears (on both sides). The Bears went three-and-out after Trubisky missed Allen Robinson on an out route, leading to a punt. Philly then drove down the field, having their way with the defense, especially up front. Luckily, they stalled at the Bears’ five, leading to a field goal. But running lanes were everywhere — the defensive front got mauled.
4. On the next set of series’, the Bears went three-and-out again and the Eagles went down the field after another long, sustained, dominant drive. They got a field goal to go up 6-0, but this is about as dominant a 6-0 lead as you’ll see in football. The Bears have been absolutely overmatched in all phases so far. And the defense has been on the field for all but six plays so far today. It’s absurd. The offense needs to sustain a drive.
5. This game has taken a turn for the worse. The referees assisted the Eagles big time on their ensuing drive, bailing them out with the following:
Not to mention, on Zach Ertz’s eventual TD catch, he clearly had an OPI on Kyle Fuller that the refs threw a flag for but then picked up. The Bears are not playing well at all but they have every reason to be furious about what’s going on on the field. Eagles lead 12-0 and it feels insurmountable.
6. The Bears have -10 yards of offense and we’re at the two minute warning. It has been every bit as awful as it seems. Mental mistakes, physical mistakes, just brutal. And now, I have serious questions:
7. That was about as dismal a first half as anyone could’ve imagined. The Bears’ only two first downs came on their final drive of the half. Trubisky looked awful, the offensive line was bad, and receivers couldn’t complete catches when they had their few opportunities. That was absolutely ugly.
8. To start the second half, the Eagles marched right down the field. Easily. Jordan Howard had two big runs on the drive and ended it with a 19-yard touchdown run (untouched) right up the middle. Go back to the pre-game Twitter Thoughts thread. I called this. Eagles up 19-0 and the rout is on in Philadelphia.
9. Not so fast! (For now). After opening the ensuing possession with three straight runs, Trubisky wound up on play-action and found a wide open Taylor Gabriel (and hit him!) for 53 yards to set up goal-to-go. Three plays later, the Bears SCORED A TOUCHDOWN and cut the lead to 19-7. It’s very likely too little and way too late, but good to see a response there. There is (very faint) hope.
10. After getting a big stop, the Bears found the end zone again on the ensuing possession! A couple of nice passes from Trubisky (including a missed opportunity on a deep ball and after a potential pick-six was dropped) eventually got the Bears inside the one-yard line, where David Montgomery plunged in two plays later. It’s 19-14 Eagles now. Good to see some fight in this team after a disastrous start.
11. Man, David Montgomery’s big drop on that screen pass where he had so much room could cost the game. That would’ve set the Bears up well. They had to punt. Tough missed opportunity.
On the ensuing drive, the Eagles are bleeding out the clock by making big play after big play.
12. Guess what? Does Chuck Pagano not know these plays are coming? Simply outcoached there.
13. After a miserable first half, the Bears had all the momentum for a while in the second half and just couldn’t get out of their own way. Again. The Bears are now 3-5 and we can shift our attention to 2020. I’m excited to watch the remaining games as a detached fan knowing the season is over. But this one still hurts.
14. Next week, the Bears host the Detroit Lions at Soldier Field. That is a ballclub playing some very good football. Their record doesn’t indicate how well they’ve played at all. Matthew Stafford is playing at an MVP-level. With the Bears’ season over now, will we see disinterest from the team?
Early prediction: Lions 27, Bears 19.
