Chicago Bears vs Philadelphia Eagles features league’s best rushing offenses
By Peter Jurich
This Sunday, the NFL’s two best rushing attacks will share the same field as the Chicago Bears host the Philadelphia Eagles.
Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles have elite run games thanks to versatile quarterback play
The Chicago Bears currently have the undisputed number-one offense in terms of rushing this season, with just shy of 2,500 yards through 13 games. That total puts the team on pace to have the third most rushing yards by a team through 16 games, with two of those teams above them being Lamar Jackson-led Baltimore Ravens offenses.
Similar to those Baltimore offenses, the leading contributor for the Bears in the run game is second-year quarterback Justin Fields, who has over 900 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns three-quarters of the way through the season.
Outside of Fields, the Bears have a nice one-two punch at running back with David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert, who both have just over 640 rushing yards and four touchdowns each. Herbert is on the IR, but Darrynton Evans has emerged in his place.
The Bears have 455 total rush attempts as a team, which not only ranks first in the NFL but they average 5.4 yards per attempt, which also leads the NFL.
The Bears rushing stats are a great sign for the future, as the ground game can hopefully become a part of a balanced offense, but it is somewhat surprising when considering the fact that the Bears often trail in their games, and stay committed to the run game even when losing.
Running plays are often called more, at least at the end of the game, when a team is winning and trying to drain the clock to put the game away. This logic makes it less surprising to learn that the Philadelphia Eagles are tied for second in the NFL in total rushing yards, tied with the Baltimore Ravens.
With about 2,100 rushing yards through 13 games, the Eagles rank first in the NFL with 27 rushing touchdowns on the season. Similar to Chicago’s run game, a lot of this success comes from the quarterback position.
Despite having a 1,000-yard rusher in Miles Sanders, who also leads the team with 11 rushing touchdowns, Jalen Hurts has almost eclipsed 700 rushing touchdowns and has 10 touchdowns on the ground through 13 games.
Next. 5 storylines to follow after the bye. dark
As an offense, the Eagles are slightly less efficient than the Bears when it comes to running the ball, as Philadelphia’s 4.9 rush yards per attempt ranks sixth in the league, but the offense has a passing attack that the Bears can’t replicate just yet as elite wide receivers like A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith have helped make Jalen Hurts a frontrunner for the league MVP race due to his production in the air and on the ground.