This was an incredibly disappointing defensive performance, not because the Chicago Bears have a bad offense, but because the Philadelphia Eagles looked unprepared. You could sense the emotional and physical fatigue of playing two massive-snap games in six days, including 47 first-half snaps! Chicago ran for 281 yards, and it didn’t feel like fluke production. Watching the Bears’ run game compared to the Eagles’ felt like comparing two different sports.
Defense
The Bears’ run scheme had the Eagles in absolute fits from the first drive. Chicago used shifts and motions masterfully, constantly pulling defenders out of the box. DJ Moore motioned across the formation and pulled Jalyx Hunt completely out of the run fit. Jalen Carter was wiped out of the play by the double team, leaving a huge gap on the backside. Fangio’s spacing between the defensive tackle and edge was wide all game, and Chicago targeted it relentlessly. This wasn’t just losing one-on-ones.
This is so good from the Bears. They use the tight end motion to execute a wham block on the defensive tackle. Carter is again moved with ease, Nakobe Dean’s eyes are a mess, Reed Blankenship runs himself out of the play following window dressing, and Sydney Brown misses a simple open-field tackle. These aren’t isolated losses. This is the byproduct of an offense that used formation shifts, motion, and misdirection to put the Eagles into defensive looks they couldn’t handle. The Bears repeatedly built formations that created better angles and easier assignments for their blockers, and the Eagles’ second-level defenders had no answers for it. It was a battering upfront.
The Bears create a gigantic lane because Cooper DeJean has no idea what he’s seeing, and Nakobe Dean runs with the tight end as if it’s play-action. No one fills the gap. The Bears’ formation shifts and quick motions kept the Eagles reacting instead of playing fast. This is what a run game with actual sequencing looks like. Compared to the Eagles’ own run game, it looked childish in comparison. The Bears’ system is built to stress defenders mentally, while the Eagles’ is constructed to hope someone wins a block. Chicago repeatedly made the Eagles look slow, confused, and out-leveraged. Sorry, I’ll stop moaning about the offense again. But it was hard not to compare the two run games!
Dean actually makes the tackle here, but look how easy this is. Every Eagles linebacker and safety stepped the wrong way at least once per drive. Chicago dominated the line of scrimmage, but more importantly, their staff put them in position to succeed by using creativity, formation diversity, and motion to attack every structural weakness in Fangio’s run fits.
I rarely criticize Fangio, but I do think he can be a bit stubborn with his run fits. He is so wedded to the two-high approach that I think he can at times refuse to change. Fangio sat in light boxes far too often. Here, against 12 personnel with the receiver tightened down, the Eagles stay in two-high with two off-ball linebackers. That is inviting the Bears to run. The Eagles rarely, if ever, play with three true linebackers, but with Jihaad Campbell not playing a single snap, and the defense getting hammered, it’s shocking they didn’t try anything new. Some of the individual performances were genuinely poor (Byron Young was borderline unplayable), but the coaching didn’t help them. The defense had no numbers advantage, no leverage help, and no schematic counterpunch to what the Bears were doing on offense.
The Bears’ motion repeatedly forced the Eagles’ safeties to pass off responsibilities, which created immediate backward movement at the snap. Blankenship runs backwards, which removes him from the run fit entirely. Dean is rooted to the ground, unable to trust anything he is seeing by this point. He’s been excellent since returning, but in this game, his eyes betrayed him. He was lost. And once again, Ojomo is wrecked by a double team. Chicago’s game plan repeatedly removed second-level defenders from the picture, giving the backs free access to the line. I could have posted a lot more clips than I did. The Eagles were in all sorts of trouble against the run.
What exactly was Jalen Carter asked to do here? He had an odd game. Twice in this game, it looked like he was freelancing, or being instructed to get immediately upfield to prevent the bootleg, but the result was even bigger gaps. This gap between the EDGE and DT was huge all game. You cannot leave gaps this large in goal-line situations. Four defensive tackles on the field, and the Bears still ran untouched into the end zone. That’s not a good look.
This is how a dominant run game simplifies everything else. The Bears’ passing game was bad all day, but because the Eagles were terrified of the run, every defensive back flew downhill the second a backfield action happened. Here, someone blows the coverage on the tight end (I imagine it is Sydney Brown, but I can’t be certain), but the run game forced the DBs into panic mode. When linebackers and safeties are this stressed, the passing game becomes easier. This is exactly what the Eagles no longer do to opponents. They don’t stress run fits, they don’t create fear, they don’t build off their own tendencies. Chicago did all of that, and this play shows the ripple effect of what they do on offense. The Eagles’ passing attack would instantly improve if they could run the ball like this.
Let’s end with one bright spot: Jalyx Hunt’s interception. It’s a great play, and it’s becoming a pattern now. Hunt has generated multiple splash plays this season, and none of them feel lucky. He’s explosive, he’s rangy, and he has real ball skills. On a day where everything else looked chaotic, slow, and confused, Hunt was one of the only defenders who consistently seemed pretty good on the day. This could have been a game-changing play if Jalen Hurts hadn’t fumbled after, and maybe we would be having a different conversation about the defense if so.
Final Thoughts
The Eagles’ defense looks exhausted, both mentally and physically. They’ve played enormous snap counts two weeks in a row. They’ve lost some key defenders in the secondary at times. I found the rotation a little bit. Jihaad Campbell didn’t play a single snap in a game where the defense needed fresh legs. Jalen Carter is playing a ton of snaps and getting moved off the ball. This was a bad game. It was a structural mismatch against a run game that was too good for them on the day. I worry a little that the defense will continue to bend and eventually break under the weight of the offense’s struggles. I am glad they have more rest this week. They look like they need it.
Thank you for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to comment below and ask any questions. If you enjoyed this piece, you can find more of my work and podcast here. If you would like to support me further, please check out my Patreon here!
See More:
