Wentz, defense wear out Bears
Eagles earn ninth win in a row, nearing first division title since 2013.
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 NFC East division title since 2013 if the Cowboys (5-6) lose or tie against Washington (5-6) 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 and 140 total yards.
“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.