Don’t watch it now, but the Dallas Cowboys are the hottest team in the NFL
The Dallas Cowboys may be one of the hottest teams in the NFL, but can they make the playoffs? USA TODAY Sports’ Jarrett Bell explains.
sports pulse
- In the NFL’s “Black Friday” game, the Chicago Bears defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 24-15.
- Chicago’s rushing attack, led by D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, overwhelmed the Eagles’ defense.
- Philadelphia’s offense continued to struggle, and even their signature “push-push” plays resulted in fumbles.
- The Bears’ victory improves their chances of making the playoffs to nearly 75%, allowing them a head-to-head tiebreaker with the Eagles.
PHILADELPHIA — When push-push doesn’t even work, there must be a lot of trouble going on for the Philadelphia Eagles.
In the third of the NFL’s “Black Friday” games, the defending Super Bowl champions lost 24-15 to the upstart Chicago Bears.
Chicago punished the Eagles on the ground all afternoon, and the Eagles’ offense appeared to be all but lost except for a few plays, as a troubling trend for Philadelphia continued.
Of course, the results are not as simple as the final score. Here are the winners and losers of the November 28th showcase.
winner
D’Andrian Swift, Kyle Monaney
After Monangai got things going early, Swift ran hard throughout the match. Every time it looked like their run was coming to a natural end, there always seemed to be another cut, another push available on the Bears’ backs. And they took advantage of it.
In a revenge game for former Eagle Swift, he rushed 18 times for 125 yards and one touchdown. Monangai, a seventh-round rookie, had 22 carries for 130 yards and a score of his own. It looked like the Eagles couldn’t stop them.
Bears offensive line
Of course, Monangai and Swift wouldn’t have gone shopping if the Bears’ offensive line hadn’t dominated the line of scrimmage — sorry for the rush, but I’m in the Black Friday spirit here — if the Bears’ offensive line hadn’t dominated the line of scrimmage. Monangai’s big run in the first quarter was an example of this, with the line pushing the Eagles to the left and Monangai pushing the run back in the opposite direction. On the ensuing drive, the big boys forced Monangai to first and third downs.
The 84 rushing yards were the most yards allowed in the first quarter for the Eagles since 2022. The 142 yards on the ground in the first half were Philadelphia’s most given up in a half since 2015.
The offensive line will be handled by first-unit head coach Ben Johnson, and the front office responded by bringing in three interior linemen during the offseason. The win over the Eagles was (arguably) the most important proof of concept of why it was essential to flipping the Bears from a punch line to the playoffs.
mother nature
Wind gusts of 20 mph and approaching 40 mph blew from the open northwest corner of the stadium, creating a left-to-right pattern that greatly influenced the game, from ball flight to the decision-making of both head coaches. The goalposts were visibly shaking.
bears defense
Once again without a starting linebacker, the team relied more on its “don’t bend, don’t break” philosophy to hold up against the (albeit struggling) Eagles offense for most of the season. The return of cornerback Jaylon Johnson and defensive back Kyler Gordon from their respective injuries provides some insurance on the back end. But it was the front that kept the Eagles’ run game at bay and made Eagles QB Jalen Hurts uncomfortable.
Bears’ postseason seeding, chances
Both teams entered with records of 8 wins and 3 losses, tied for first place in their respective divisions. The Bears currently hold a head-to-head advantage in the tiebreaker over the Eagles, which could determine postseason seeding. According to Next Gen Stats’ playoff probability metric, the Bears have a near 75% chance of making the playoffs. If he had lost, his odds would have been closer to 50%.
AJ Brown
Throw him the ball and good things will happen. Retreating to their own 8-yard line, the Eagles quickly gained some breathing room by having Brown run diagonally up the middle for 16 points. Three plays later, Brown beat a defender after Hurts tossed the ball up near the goal line. He made it and scored two touchdowns for the Eagles. He had a game-high 10 catches for 132 yards, much of which ended up in garbage time.
eagles fans
The boo birds were out early and often as the Eagles’ offensive inefficiency reared its ugly head again. Philadelphia ran 18 plays in the first half. Chicago was tied on offense 48 times.
dallas cowboys
Suddenly resurgent in the NFC East race, the Cowboys are a team on the rise within the rivalry at 6-5-1.
loser
Skilled QB play
Neither quarterback played particularly well, understanding that the wind was certainly a factor. In the first half, Hurts completed 5 of 10 passes for 57 yards. Williams wasn’t that great, going 11-for-24 for 90 yards.
Both teams found the end zone in the second half, and the Eagles gained momentum in the third quarter when Williams’ screen pass attempt resulted in an interception with the Eagles up 10-9.
The Eagles were heading for their fourth consecutive 3-and-out, but on a scramble drill play in which Hurts tried to lead wide receiver Darius Cooper to the sideline, Hurts was intercepted by Kevin Beard (who had a league-leading 6 points this season for the No. 1 unit in the NFL), who beat him (or possibly underthrew Brown as he was running across the field).
Williams made a spectacular touchdown throw to Cole Kmet in the fourth quarter, going 17-of-35 and helping bring the game to a close. But he left plenty of throws on the field, including two into the end zone in the first half that could have resulted in touchdowns had he planted his feet properly and sent the ball accurately.
tash push
As Hurts has done so many times before, with less than five minutes left in the third and one yard left, he crouched under center before moving the chains in the red zone. Bears defensive back Nashon Wright had a different idea. Wright swung the ball loose from Hearts’ clutches and won the battle for the ball at the bottom of the scrum.
Saquon Barkley
Although there was more room to run than in most Eagles games this year, Barkley continued another week without a home run play, finishing with 56 rushing yards on 13 attempts. His involvement in the passing game did not improve (2 catches, 0 yards).
kevin patullo
The Eagles’ offensive coordinator’s scheme design will be further diagnosed in the coming days and weeks. However, if you think about it right away, the fact is that Patullo’s troops could not remain on the field for two consecutive games.
Pattullo’s experimentation and efforts to bring his “RPO” game to life backfired, with one particular play being a prime example. Brown lined up in a two-back set and began moving across the formation. It was exactly the kind of creativity Eagles fans were looking for. But Barkley wasn’t aiming for the ball, and the ball skimmed past him incompletely.
jake elliott
Philadelphia’s kicker is no stranger to extra-point mishaps, and it happened when he took a potential game-tying kick to the left in the third quarter to keep the game 10-9 in Chicago’s favor.
green bay packers
A Bears loss would give the Packers a half-game lead in the NFC North. Instead, it remains in the wildcard slot for now.
eagles fans
They don’t really want to boo, do they? Most of them have been eliminated. Honestly, who could blame them?
