10 observations: Eagles-Bears
Here are 10 observations from the Eagles' 31-26 loss to the Bears on Sunday.
10 observations: Eagles-Bears
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Here are 10 observations from the Eagles' 31-26 loss to the Bears on Sunday:
1. The Eagles' offense was just 1-for-5 in the red zone. Michael Vick found Jeremy Maclin from 8 yards out for the team's only red-zone touchdown. The Birds settled for three David Akers field goals, and Vick threw his first interception of the season on the other four chances. After the win over the Redskins, I wrote about how the Eagles were 13-for-17 in terms of converting touchdowns with Vick at QB. Since then, though, they are just 2-for-10 in the last two games.
2. Defensively, the red zone has been an even bigger issue. Entering Sunday, opponents had converted 76.92 percent of red-zone chances into touchdowns against the Eagles. The Bears scored three touchdowns in four red-zone trips today.
3. The opposing quarterback and running back had career games. Jay Cutler's quarterback rating of 146.2 is a career high. Cutler's four touchdown passes ties a career high. And Matt Forte's 8.4 yards per carry is the second-highest average he's ever put up. Forte surpassed 100 yards for just the third time in his last 23 games.
4. There will be plenty of second-guessing of Andy Reid after this one. The one I'll play Monday morning quarterback on is the timeout with 12:23 left in the third quarter. The Eagles faced a 3rd-and-19 from their own 22 with the play clock winding down. Instead of taking the delay of game penalty, Reid called timeout, and then the Birds ran a draw with LeSean McCoy. If they were going to run a draw, why waste a timeout in that spot?
5. DeSean Jackson had just two catches for 26 yards. He was targeted five times and has seven catches for 76 yards in the past two games combined. Four Eagles were targeted more than Jackson against the Bears: Jason Avant, LeSean McCoy, Brent Celek and Jeremy Maclin.
6. Sunday was the first time all season the Eagles failed to create a turnover. The last time that happened was Week 10 of 2009 against the Chargers. They had at leasat one takeaway in 18 straight.
7. LeSean McCoy's 10 carries were his second-fewest of the season. He still totaled 53 yards and is averaging 5.9 yards per carry in his last four games. McCoy had eight catches for 67 yards and has 18 receptions in the last three.
8. The Eagles were just 4-for-13 on third down. They failed to convert a third down in the second half (0-for-5). In the last two weeks, the offense has converted 7 of 27 third downs.
9. The Bears started three of their five scoring drives at their own 41, their own 37 and their own 46. They averaged over 27 yards on six kickoff returns, had one of 44 an one of 46. It's no excuse, but the Bears have been doing this all season. On the year, they're averaging 26.2 yards on kickoff returns, fifth-best in the league.
10. Vick attempted 44 passes, the second-highest total of his career. He threw 46 in 2002. His interception was the first of the season and his second turnover in 2010. This was the first time all season the Eagles lost a game that Vick started and finished.
Earlier I posted on the defense's struggles.
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Oh and Mike Vick fumbled 4 times to give him 7 matching Donovan McNabb's all-time high for a season. In his career Vick has always been hurt by fumbles and tipped passes. So far this year they have almost all been bouncing his way but they still occur with alarming frequency. If they keep bouncing his way, the Eagles might be a playoff contender. If the lucky bounces start evening out you can forget about it and it will be another wasted season for the birds.— jtj06- what about the bears play where the play clock appeared to expire (by about 2 seconds), the bears make a big play, and tack on 15 for the horse collar tackle? thought that was pretty key. is the play clock expiration something Andy can throw the red flag on?— birdfannnj
- Its not really surprising that the Eagles lost. The Bears are on a hot streak. The Eagles have a hard time winning in Chicago. The Bears are the first team in a long while that isn't missing two or three key players. The Eagles always have a hard time playing from behind. And mostly, the Eagles have been very lucky this year so far. Unless they win the division, they won't make the playoffs— angrybear
- This defense has had 1 marginaly good game against the giants. They are very suspect in many areas. Hard to see us making the playoffs unless we sweep the Giants, not seeing that happen
- The Bears played like they had something to prove and did they ever. Bears will now be the NFC 'best team of the week', let's see how they handle it. Eagles should rebound though on thursday, but this loss will be costly regarding any shot at home-field advantage. Also probably makes a wild-card harder if they don't beat Giants for division. If Eagles have another shot against Bears in Soldier Field in January I would take that right now.
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Simply not the end of the world. Did anyone here really expect us to win out? Outside of the ocassional blowout most games finish close like this one. That opens the door to the woulda, coulda's. We lost. Just don't make it a habit!- The Eagles didn't run the ball enough in the red zone. And I haven't seen the defense tackle that poorly in a long time. It was just one of those games. It wasn't all about Vick, even the pick wasn't one of those bad throws he use to toss when in Atlanta. What was up with that field by the way?— PhillyFanSouth
- Why doesn't anybody question Marty Mornhenweg? he is the one calling the plays in the red zone.— Billyfromsphilly
- They are back to the same problems offensively that they have always had not able to score TD in the redzone and Andy not able to manage timeouts. You don't have McNabb to blame anymore.— ex-resident
- Same old Eagles...new personnel, same old problems. Could have kept a lead in the division, but find a way to lose a big game instead. Will it ever change?— syr5fan
- I think it was foolish to think the eagles are going to win every game. They played a good team on the road after some big emotional games the weeks previously. Its going to happen. My favorite stat was that this was only the 4th 300 yd passing game for Vick in his career (2 this year). For the ultimate weapon, this is a pretty crappy statistic but it shows how much talent he wasted in Atlanta.— rvb2321
- Ron Mexico got owned thoroughly. He is good for fantasy owners and that's about it. 1 int, took several bad sacks, fumbled, overthrew open receivers, ineffective in the red zone. 13 garbage points in the fourth quarter after Da Bears had a 3 score adv. and were playing conservative. why are we considering signing this guy?! let him rot next year in Oakland and let senile Al Davis pay him 40 mil in guarentees. the king has spoken.— iamkingdunlap
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