Semi-satisfying win shows Birds’ split personality
PHILADELPHIA >> In a few days the Eagles will review their unpleasant victory over the Chicago Bears, much like the fans who saw it live at the Linc and the millions who watched it on TV Sunday.
It will leave players questioning how in the world they gave an amateur like Mitch Trubisky a chance to beat them, how they could leave so many plays on the field and above all, why they felt compelled to put all of the warts on film for Bill Belichick and Tom Brady to peruse during the Birds’ bye week.
The score doesn’t tell the true story of how the Eagles defeated the Bears, 2214. It’s much too flattering. The Eagles almost blew a
19-0 lead in the second half. They let Trubisky, who led the Bears to two first downs and nine total yards in the first half, connect with Taylor Gabriel for 53 yards and David Montgomery for 30 yards on lengthy touchdown drives, getting the visitors within 19-14 with 12:43 remaining.
That was enough pain for Carson Wentz, who with 8:39 left led the Eagles on a 16-play, 69-yard field goal march consuming all but the final 25 seconds to defeat the Bears. Nothing like winning a game twice. Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson could relate to that,
“It seemed like it, yeah,” Johnson said. “We never really took them out of the game. They were always in the game. We need to finish a little better than what we did. A win’s a win. It wasn’t pretty but it is what it is. Now we get some rest and try to get healthy for the second part of the season.”
That was the messaging in the post-game locker room. The Eagles are 5-4. They’re mere percentage points behind the NFC East leading Dallas Cowboys (43), who likely will defeat the New York Giants Monday night at MetLife Stadium. They have a week to rest.
Obviously, a winning record beats 4-5. But who are these Eagles? The guys who built the commanding lead behind a sound running game turbocharged by Jordan Howard, who rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown? Or the dudes who couldn’t keep Montgomery out of the end zone twice in the second half?
The team that exposed Trubisky for the ordinary guy he is, or the outfit that had to rely on punter Cam Johnston to make a touchdown-saving tackle on Tarik Cohen, who gave the Bears solid field position in the second half?
“We’re 5-4, still in this thing,” said Brandon Graham, who registered his team-leading sixth sack. “We’re sitting really good in our division. We’ve just got to make sure that we keep on staying consistent and don’t look too far ahead. We’ve got the Patriots coming up. We’ve got to clean up some things. Against a good team, we can’t let them come back like that.
It’s just one of those things where I’m glad how we finished but we can always get better.”
The game Sunday was a struggle, much like the season, and the pre-game flyover. The jets flew too high over the Linc. The place is supposed to shake, and it didn’t.
The Eagles welcomed DeSean Jackson back, threw him two passes on the first series, one of which he caught for a five-yard gain. Hopefully that isn’t the last time he plays this season. The receiver aggravated the abdominal injury that’s sidelined him for almost two months.
Let’s just the say the Eagles
are used to their Plan B, and on this day Wentz found Zach Ertz early and often, the tight end finishing with nine receptions for a gamehigh 103 yards, including a touchdown.
Wentz threw for 239 yards and a touchdown as the Eagles won their second straight game. He extended his streak of games with at least one touchdown pass to
12. His finest work came on third down during the last possession, connecting with Alshon Jeffery (13 yards), who’d had a couple of drops, on third-and-short, Miles Sanders (15 yards) on thirdand-12, Ertz (four yards) on third-and-three and Dallas Goedert (16 yards) on thirdand-nine. That was it for the Bears.
“There’s throws I left out there early in the game, late in the game, plays we left out there as an offense,” Wentz said. “At the end of the day, being able to sustain that drive, that’s what we have to do. That’s what good football teams, good offenses have to do.”
Defense kept the Bears in the game. That said, the offensive ineptitude wore them out, just as it has in a small handful of games. The defense was on the field for
78 plays. The Eagles played defense for 42 plays.
The Eagles aren’t out of the woods. They entertain the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks after the bye, then take on the lightweights, a list that includes Miami, the New York Giants twice and Washington. The Cowboys, on the other hand, have four playoff-worthy teams on their schedule, the list including the Minnesota Vikings, the Patriots, the Bills and the Los Angeles Rams.
Eagles veteran Malcolm Jenkins, who was part of the coverage allowing the
53-yard reception to Taylor Gabriel, the longest play of the game, said the Eagles “for the most part, had a handle on it.
“It’s the NFL,” Jenkins said. “Nobody is going to roll over for you. And that’s a good defense over there. They started to get stops. They got a big play on their offense. A couple things here or there and then field position ended up being a thing late. But that’s just how it goes.
We can’t expect teams to quit.”
That goes for both of those Eagles teams – the guys that dominated the first half and the cavalry who rode in at the end.