Wentz, defense mark another romp for Eagles
Philly draws nearer to NFC East title
PHILADELPHIA — Another strong performance by Carson Wentz. Another dominant effort by the defense. Another lopsided win for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Wentz tossed three touchdown passes and the NFL-leading Eagles beat the Chicago Bears 31-3 Sunday for their ninth straight win.
The Eagles (10-1) reduced their magic number to clinch the NFC East to one with their fourth consecutive win by at least 23 points and third in a row by exactly 28. Philadelphia would secure its first division title since 2013 if the Cowboys (5-6) lose or tie Washington on Thursday night.
“We’re playing with a lot of momentum, a lot of energy, a lot of swagger,” Wentz said.
Wentz had 227 yards passing, LeGarrette Blount ran for 97 yards and Zach Ertz caught 10 passes for 103 yards and one TD.
The defense shut down rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and the inept Bears (3-8), holding them to zero first downs in the first half.
“That’s the best defense I’ve ever played,” Chicago offensive lineman Kyle Long said.
The Bears won the turnover battle (3-2), but couldn’t do anything with excellent field position. They started consecutive drives at midfield and Philadelphia’s 42, but Cairo Santos missed a 54-yard field goal.
“We didn’t play well enough to compete,” Bears coach John Fox said. “We needed to play really, really well in all three phases to beat that team.”
Wentz threw a 17-yard TD pass to Ertz to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead on their second drive. Jay Ajayi ran 2 yards on fourth-and-1 to keep the drive going and Wentz connected with Alshon Jeffery for 14 yards on third-and-8 one play before the TD.
Wentz had a 15-yard TD pass to Nelson Agholor, who flipped over defenders into the end zone to make it 14-0 in the second quarter. Wentz spun away from a blitzer and ran 16 yards on third-and-9 to extend the drive. Then a holding penalty on Bears cornerback Prince Amukamara negated an incomplete pass on third-and-12, and the Eagles scored on the next play.
Another holding penalty on Amukamara gave the Eagles a first down late in the second quarter. Wentz then lofted an 8-yard TD pass to Jeffery to extend the lead to 24-0.
Ajayi ran 30 yards and fumbled at the Bears 5, but Agholor recovered in the end zone for a touchdown and a 31-3 lead.
“We’re very balanced,” Ajayi said. “We can do a lot of different things, so it keeps them on their toes.”
The Bears entered with the fifth-ranked rushing offense and finished with 6 yards on 14 attempts. They had negative yards before Trubisky scrambled for 12 yards late in the fourth.
“It’s really a pride issue when it comes to the run game,” Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins said. “… Knowing your scheme is a big deal, but a lot of the run game comes down to attitude.”