PHILADELPHIA — The turkey leftovers hadn’t even gone cold before the Lincoln Financial Field crowd turned icy.
On a Black Friday afternoon that was supposed to be a get-right game for the Philadelphia Eagles, the Birds instead served up a second consecutive turkey, falling 24-15 to the Chicago Bears. What started as a defensive slugfest unraveled into a nightmare of missed tackles, a failed “Tush Push,” and a cascade of boos raining down on an offense that looked disjointed for the second week in a row.
The loss drops the Eagles to 8-4, and after blowing a lead to Dallas last week, the panic meter in Philadelphia is officially ticking upward.
The “Tush Push” Betrayal
If there is one play that symbolized the day, it came late in the third quarter. Trailing 10-9 and looking to seize momentum, the Eagles faced a critical short-yardage situation deep in Chicago territory. It was time for the unstoppable play. The Brotherly Shove. The Tush Push.
But for the first time in recent memory, the automatic became catastrophic.
Jalen Hurts coughed up the football on the push, a rare fumble that the Bears recovered. Instead of taking the lead, the Eagles handed the ball back to a Chicago team that was just waiting to land a knockout blow. The Bears promptly marched 87 yards—fueled by a 31-yard rip from Kyle Monangai—to score a touchdown that essentially broke the Eagles’ back.
Gashed on the Ground
Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio’s unit had no answers for Chicago’s ground game. The Bears didn’t just run the ball; they mauled the Eagles’ front, racking up a staggering 281 rushing yards.
It was a two-headed monster that doomed Philadelphia. Former Eagle D’Andre Swift returned to the Linc with a vengeance, rushing for 125 yards and a touchdown. He was matched by rookie sensation Kyle Monangai, who bruised his way to 130 yards and a score.
”We knew they were a running team,” said defensive tackle Jordan Davis after the game. “We just didn’t fit the run. That’s on us. It’s unacceptable.”
While the run defense was porous, the pass rush did manage to harass Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, who finished just 17-of-36 for 154 yards. But Williams made the one throw that mattered most—a dagger 28-yard touchdown to Cole Kmet in the fourth quarter that silenced the few fans remaining in the stands.
“Fire Kevin!”
The atmosphere at the Linc turned toxic as the offense sputtered. despite Jalen Hurts throwing for 230 yards and two touchdowns to A.J. Brown (who was the lone bright spot with 10 catches for 132 yards), the unit lacked rhythm.
By the fourth quarter, chants of “Fire Kevin!” echoed through the stadium, directed squarely at Offensive Coordinator Kevin Patullo. The play-calling felt stale, and the inability to sustain drives left the gassed defense on the field for nearly 40 minutes.
What’s Next?
The Eagles now head into a “mini-bye” with more questions than answers. They have lost two straight, their grip on the NFC East is slipping, and the identity of a team that bullied opponents in the trenches for years seems to have vanished overnight.
Head Coach Nick Sirianni will have a long weekend to figure out how a team that looked like a Super Bowl contender two weeks ago has suddenly lost its way.
”We have to look in the mirror,” Sirianni said. “We got beat physically today. That’s the hard truth.”
Key Stats:
- Jalen Hurts: 19/34, 230 Yds, 2 TD, 1 INT, 1 Fumble lost
- A.J. Brown: 10 Rec, 132 Yds, 2 TD
- D’Andre Swift (CHI): 125 Rush Yds, 1 TD
- Total Rushing Yards: Bears 281, Eagles 87
