The day after Thanksgiving typically includes either going out shopping for the best deals on Black Friday or, diving into the refrigerator to make some leftover plates with Turkey, Stuffing, and some Pie, continuing the food coma you were in the day prior.
This Black Friday, the Philadelphia Eagles (8-3) play in the NFL’s third Black Friday game since its introduction to the league schedule in 2023 when they welcome the red-hot Chicago Bears (8-3) who entered Week 13 leading the NFC North.
A game that in the preseason perhaps wasn’t circled by many to be a crucial game for both teams, is certainly that as the Eagles look to remain the two seed in the NFC while the Bears look to keep their lead over the Packers in the NFC North.
Philadelphia is a touchdown favorite at home, but the Bears have had success on the road posting a 4-2 record.
Here are five key matchups to watch in this one:
The struggles of Philadelphia’s offense has been a constant talking point all season long, so no point in beating a dead horse. But, what that unit has done well overall this season is protecting the football. However, the Bears could present some challenges although being ranked 27th in the league in points and yards allowed.
Despite giving up 362.8 yards per game and 26.5 points to opposing offenses, the Bears have a knack for producing takeaways. Chicago leads the NFL with 24 takeaways this season. The good news for the Eagles, they pace the NFL in giveaways, turning the ball over just six times this season with two of them coming in the loss last week to Dallas.
Jalen Hurts, who has been very good in terms of protecting the football, will look to continue that trend not throwing an interception since Week 6. However, he will be going against a strong secondary that features cornerback Nashon Wright who has five interceptions along with former Eagle, Kevin Byard, who has bounced back nicely with the Bears with five picks of his own. C.J. Garnder-Johnson also will make his return to Lincoln Financial Field, who was a ballhawk during his time with the Eagles.
Chicago also expects to get defensive backs Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon back as well to help a secondary that paces the NFL with 16 interceptions.
To add insult to injury in the Dallas loss, the Eagles saw multiple members of the secondary go down with injuries losing Adoree’ Jackson (concussion), Reed Blankenship (thigh) and Andrew Mukuba, who had the most serious injury with a fractured ankle. The rookie safety took to social media announcing his surgery went well, but the time frame for Mukuba’s return is in question.
With a short week, the secondary for Philadelphia seemed destined to be an act of musical chairs. However, the Eagles do expect to have Blankenship back at safety but will now have Sydney Brown playing alongside him. It appears Jackson is also good to go clearing concussion protocol and would be expected to be CB2 alongside Quinyon Mitchell.
The Bears historically have not been known for a high-scoring offense with success through the air. However, this season under first-year Head Coach Ben Johnson, that has changed. Chicago boasts a top-15 passing offense in terms of yards per game (227.4) with Caleb Williams ranking 10th in the league with his 2,568 passing yards to go along with a respectable 16:4 touchdown to interception ratio.
Williams has solid weapons in receivers Rome Odunze and D.J. Moore. Odunze, in his second season, has 42 catches for 653 yards and six touchdowns while Moore has 36 receptions for 485 yards and three scores. It certainly is not the same caliber dup the Eagles faced in George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb, but still Odunze and Moore deserve respect in their ability.
Supporting the duo are rookie tight end Colston Loveland who is starting to become more of a weapon in the passing game over the last few weeks while it will be a homecoming for Olamide Zaccheaus.
What has helped the Bears enjoy the success they have had this season is their ability to mix the run and pass. Chicago owns the second-best rushing attack in the NFL, averaging 142.3 yards per game, trailing only Buffalo (147.2) in that category.
The Bears have a solid duo in the backfield with D’Andre Swift, another former Eagle, leading the way with 649 yards and four touchdowns while averaging 4.6 yards per carry. Rookie Kyle Monangai has flashed at times this season and averages 4.7 yards per carry and has racked up 461 yards and three touchdowns.
Williams, a dual-threat quarterback, could be the X-factor in this game when it comes to his ability to extend plays and elude pass rush to turn a potential sack into positive gains. The quarterback has 293 yards rushing on the season, good for eighth-most by a QB this season, only five yards behind Hurts.
The Eagles have struggled against running quarterbacks this season and will need to stay disciplined to contain Williams. This season, the Eagles allowed Patrick Mahomes to rush for 66 yards in Week 2 and Jaxson Dart had 58 yards and a touchdown in the Week 6 loss.
“He just probably does it better than most,” Vic Fangio said of Williams’ ability to scramble.
On the season, Philadelphia is ranked 18th in stopping the run, allowing 115.1 yards per game through 11 contests.
It seems like it’s been a weekly question. “Will this be the week Saquon Barkley and the running game get going?”
The offensive line struggles have been well documented this season, especially after the Dallas loss, which in turn has made it tough sledding for Barkley. Now, some could argue that history does not favor running backs and offensive lines who rushed for 2,000 yards a season prior and that trend is proving to continue, however, Barkley says that he needs to be better.
“I’m a big believer that the run game starts and ends with me,”Barkley said postgame. “I’m in a little funk right now. I’ve had funks like this before. Just gotta break it. The only way I know how is flushing this, work my butt off and get ready for the next opportunity.”
Well, that opportunity could be Friday. The Bears have given up the fifth-most rushing yards this season (138.1) and allowed Kenneth Gainwell to rush for 92 yards on 10 carries and Jaylen Warren to go for 68 yards on 18 touches and a touchdown in their 31-28 win over the Steelers.
Barkley has only had one of his “signature” games this season in Week 8 against the Giants when he ran for 150 yards and two touchdowns.
Can the running back feast the day after Thanksgiving against this Bears rush defense?
The inconsistent play and injuries certainly has not helped the Eagles’ cause to hit their stride on a consistent basis this season. They have a chance to right the ship against a Bears’ defensive front that struggles to generate pressure.
Per NextGen Stats, Chicago has generated a pressure rate at 35% when blitzing, the fourth-lowest in the NFL and just a 27.1% rate when not sending blitzers, the fifth-lowest pressure rate.
Montez Sweat leads the Bears with 7.5 sacks while Gervon Dexter Sr. has generated the sixth-highest pass rush at 11.5% from a defensive tackle. Yet, he has not been as much of a factor over the last two games
If the Eagles’ offensive line can give Hurts enough time in the pocket, the offense could have plenty of opportunities for some big plays downfield.
The Eagles have won the last six meetings against the Bears and will look to make it seven straight on Friday. Kickoff is 3PM EST at Lincoln Financial Field.
