The Chicago Bears gave a good fight against the juggernaut that is the Philadelphia Eagles. In their Week 15 matchup at Soldier Fields, the Bears fell to the Eagles 25-20. It was a competitive game with a lot of back and forth. Unfortunately, the Eagles were able to execute when they needed to in order to keep the Bears at bay. The difference in talent between the Eagles and Bears was on exhibit today and was ultimately the deciding factor in this game.
The Chicago Bears were not able to protect Justin Fields at all against the Eagles
Chicago Bears Week 15 Dud No. 1: Offensive line (pass protection)
Justin Fields was sacked six times today. He already is banged up, and he was put on the ground six times by an Eagles defensive front that absolutely dominated the line of scrimmage. The Bears are still solid in blocking for the run, but they regressed a lot this week in pass protection.
Everyone knew that Justin Fields would be under pressure in this game, but the inability to protect the quarterback was probably the biggest factor that led to the loss today. It felt like on almost every third down Fields would either be sacked or have to pull a rabbit out of a hat to avoid being taken down. The Eagles were walking through the Bears’ offensive line at will all game.
The Bears are banged up on the front line, but there is no excuse for how they looked today. Cody Whitehair, Sam Mustipher, and Michael Schoefield all failed to keep pressure to a minimum on the inside. Alex Leatherwood did not show what most fans were hoping to see, and the Bears opted to sub in Riley Reiff later in the game in order to better protect Fields. Without Teven Jenkins for most of this game, it was a failure from the players up front.
I will make an exception for Braxton Jones, who is easily the second-best lineman on this team outside of Jenkins. He holds his own for the most part on the outside, and I think he is in real consideration for being the future of the left tackle position for the Bears. They have a nice foundation with Jones and Jenkins. Some money or draft capital spent on other areas of the line, especially center and right tackle will be crucial to the offensive success of next year’s Bears, which was even more obvious after today.