The Eagles spent most of the first half of Friday’s game playing defense and they’re trailing the Bears as a result.
Chicago possessed the ball for 21 minutes and ran 47 offensive plays to just 17 for the Eagles. Running back D’Andre Swift ran for the first half’s only touchdown on one of those plays and the Bears lead 10-3 in Philadelphia.
Swift has 10 carries for 88 yards and rookie Kyle Monangai has chipped in with eight carries for 41 yards as Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s unit has had no answer for the Chicago rushing attack. Caleb Williams has been less effective through the air while going 10-of-23 for 83 yards, but the Eagles will have a hard time coming back if they continue to struggle to stop the Bears from moving the ball on the ground.
The Eagles offense did not score for the final 41 minutes of last Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys and they only mustered one field goal today, so it’s been over 71 minutes without a touchdown for the NFC East leaders. The home crowd serenaded the offense with boos multiple times in the first half, so it has been an unhappy day in Philly thus far.
The Bears have drawn first blood on Black Friday.
Running back D’Andre Swift plowed into the end zone from three yards out to give the Bears a 7-0 lead with 91 seconds left to play in the first quarter in Philadelphia.
Swift’s touchdown capped an 11-play, 78-yard drive for the visitors and the Bears also moved the ball well on the opening possession of the game. They ended that drive with no points after Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni successfully challenged the spot of the ball after a fourth down run by Kyle Monangai.
Monangai kicked off the touchdown drive with a 17-yard drive and has 38 rushing yards. Swift has six carries for 43 yards and the Eagles will try to get something going on their second possession.
The third Black Friday game on Prime Video features a new twist. It will stream globally without an Amazon Prime subscription.
Given that the league stuck the landing when picking the 8-3 Bears at the 8-3 Eagles, the game itself is inherently compelling, and the outcome will be consequential to the NFC playoff picture. Will this reality, coupled with the ability of anyone/everyone to watch it for free, set a new record for streaming?
The current mark was set last Christmas, when 24.3 million watched Ravens-Texans on Netflix. (Earlier that day, 24.1 million viewed Chiefs-Steelers.)
The Netflix game was not free. And, obviously, free matters.
That said, it didn’t matter much for the Week 1 Friday night game from Brazil. Chiefs-Chargers was a disappointment, even after someone put a thumb on the scale and pushed the total viewership from 17.3 million to 19.7 million.
That’s it? A a free, worldwide stream of a game featuring the Chiefs?
We’ll find out early next week whether today’s free game on Prime Video gets to 20 million and, more importantly, whether it gets past 24.3 million.
Are the Bears who we thought they were? We’re about to find out.
After starting 0-2, Chicago has won eight of nine games. They’re the unlikely, for now, first-place team in the NFC North, at 8-3.
Everything changes today.
The Bears had a convincing win against the Cowboys in Week 3, 31-14. After that, the Bears accomplished a pair of 25-24 escapes against the Raiders and Commanders. Both games could have been, and arguably should have been, lost.
They handled the Saints (it felt closer than 26-14) before losing by 14 to the Ravens in their last game without Lamar Jackson. After that, the Bears staged four straight come-from-behind wins against the Bengals, Giants, Vikings, and Steelers, with each game decided by five points or fewer. It wasn’t exactly murderer’s row.
Something much closer to murderer’s row is now here. The Bears play the Eagles in Philly today. Next, a visit to the Packers. Then, the Browns come to town, followed by a three-game test to close things out: Packers, at 49ers, Lions.
A loss today would drop the Bears to 8-4, giving the Packers first place in the division at 8-3-1. Next Sunday’s game at Lambeau Field becomes pivotal.
That’s not to say the Bears can’t handle it. They’ve been winning. But they need to keep winning against collectively better opposition, or they’ll slip into the wild-card morass from which multiple teams with winning records will not emerge.
Yes, we’ll soon learn much about what the 2025 Bears truly are. Kickoff is coming at 3:00 p.m. ET.
The Eagles won’t have to do any shopping to replace wide receiver DeVonta Smith on Black Friday.
Smith was listed as out of practice with shoulder and chest injuries on Tuesday and Wednesday, but he returned to practice on Thursday. Smith, who is also listed with an illness, was a full participant and he has no injury designation for the game against the Bears.
Running back Saquon Barkley also has no designation. He was limited with a groin injury on Tuesday and Wednesday before joining Smith as a full participant Friday.
Wide receiver Xavier Gipson (shoulder), offensive lineman Myles Hinton (back), and right tackle Lane Johnson (foot) have been ruled out.
