Ok, so I’m still out and about so won’t be able to do a proper thorough breakdown, but it’s enough to say that the Bears are no longer “fun frauds’. They physically imposed their will on a team that absolutely demolished the Chiefs in the past SB. If you told a clueless viewer that one team was the champ and the other the underdog, he’d guess that the champs were the Bears and underdogs the Eagles. As Kirk Herbstreit remarked going into the half, “It’s only 10-3 but feels like Bears are winning 21-3,” and that momentum kept rolling basically ’til the final whistle.
All the Grinches, Santas and battery chuckers left early once the Bears went up two scores late.
Technically it could’ve been a measly one score game at the end if not for a truly dumfounding Nick Sirianni decision to go for two instead of kick a PAT.
The Bears looked hungrier, cleaner, cooler, more explosive and confident.
They totally steamrolled a vaunted Eagles’ Dline to the tune of 281 total yards rushing [and it honestly could’ve been more if Ben Johnson cut down on those baffling shotgun plays]!
Eagles’ offense turned it over the least to date, and the Bears still forced TWO TOs including stripping Jalen Hurts on their patented ‘brotherly shove’. That’s like catching Bruce Lee’s one-inch punch and snapping his fingers in half.
Caleb Williams had a rough day [17/36-47%; 1TD, 1 INT, 2 SKs; 56.9 Rating]. So did Jalen Hurts. It’s hard to discern if it was the wind, the drops, or his usually inaccuracy [likely all 3], but he’s still making plays when needed, and none bigger than this one.
If you dissect the play, Caleb could’ve easily dumped it off to Swift. He could’ve also kept it and used Swift as a blocker getting maybe 5-6 yds; however, Caleb didn’t Dalton-it. He went for the jugular – drifting left threw a ball that just floated into Kmet’s hands for a killer TD. Right about then the Boo-Birds started hitting the exits.
In the end, Bears are 9-3, atop the NFCN, gaining a conference win and possible tie-breaker for seeding, but most importantly the ’25 Bounce Back Bears sent a LOUD message to the rest of the league.
We’re REAL. You’re next.