CHICAGO — Jalen Hurts easily played his worst first half of the season, and the Eagles struggled offensively.
Still, they were up 10-6 at halftime after Hurts threw 2 interceptions, the most he’s thrown in any game this season, and one shy of his total in the first 13 games.
But Hurts’ 22-yard TD run with 43 seconds left in the first half, when he ran untouched on a QB draw, put the Eagles ahead.
Still, he was just 8 for 16 for 139 yards and both INTs in the first half. Three of those completed passes, for 104 yards, went to DeVonta Smith, including a 38-yard pass on that scoring drive.
Maybe the cold weather had something to do with it. The game time temperature was 18 degrees with 16 mph winds making it feel like 4 degrees.
The Eagles had a chance to take the lead mainly thanks to strong defensive play from Haason Reddick and Josh Sweat, who each had 2 of the Eagles’ 5 sacks. Reddick, however, missed two more.
One of those misfires came one play after he fired quarterback Justin Fields, forcing a fumble that the Bears recovered. On the next play, Reddick nearly finished Fields off, but Fields got away, broke some tackles, and gained 39 yards to the Eagles 9.
David Montgomery ran the ball on the next play, but the extra point missed.
Reddick has 11 sacks on the season, Sweat has a career-high 9.5, and Javon Hargrave also had a sack. Still, Fields who had 81 yards throwing and 81 rushing yards in the first half. That brought Fields to within 14 rushing yards of 1,000 for the season.
Hurts, meanwhile, struggled except when throwing to Smith. He was intercepted by Kyle Gordon at the Bears’ 17 in the Eagles’ first practice. He threw another INT trying to hit Quez Watkins in the middle near midfield through DeAndre Houston Carson, who returned the ball to the Eagles 25.
But Reddick’s sack on the Eagles’ 3rd and 16th of 20 forced a Bears punt. This set up the Eagles’ final practice in the first half. This time, Hurts took advantage.
Where is Miles Sanders?
Miles Sanders entered Game 5 in the NFL with 1,068 yards. Still, he didn’t touch the ball in the first half until 6 minutes remained.
Sanders had 3 carries for 12 yards in the first half. Hurts led the Eagles with 7 carries for 40 yards.
Why the Eagles kept Goedert on IR
Two weeks ago, Dallas Goedert said he expected to be activated on injured reserve this Sunday, the first game he is eligible to play.
Still, the Eagles missed Saturday’s deadline without activating Goedert for their game against the Chicago Bears, even though Goedert returned to practice last week. It’s entirely possible the Eagles have given Goedert an extra week to rebuild his shoulder strength so he’s ready for the Eagles’ showdown next Saturday against the Dallas Cowboys.
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There will be a lot more at stake next week anyway. The Eagles have already landed a game against Berth. But if the Eagles beat the Bears on Sunday, or the Cowboys lose to Jacksonville, then the Eagles can clinch the NFC East and the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs with a victory next Saturday against the Cowboys.
Goedert did not necessarily believe in this strategy.
“Even though the Bears only got 3 wins, they lost a lot of close games,” he said. “Not a bad team, that’s for sure… I absolutely want to play in Dallas.”
The game starts at 1 p.m. and will air on FOX with Joe Davis, Daryl Johnston and Pam Oliver providing coverage.
Bad start for Eagles, Hurts
The Eagles played one of their toughest first quarters of the season on Sunday, but at least they weren’t losing because the defense did a good job containing Justin Fields.
The Eagles only had the ball for 2 minutes and 10 seconds in the quarter. Jalen Hurts went 1 for 5 passing for 21 yards with an interception. The completion was a nice pass as Hurts rolled to his left and threw it onto the sideline where Smith dived and caught it while keeping his feet in bounds.
But on the next play, Hurts rolled to his right and was intercepted on the Bears’ 17.
The Eagles sacked Fields twice in the first quarter. The first, from Josh Sweat, gave him a career-high 8.5 for the season. In total, the Eagles have 51 sacks on the season, the most in the NFL.
Inactive Eagles, Bears miss 3 best WRs
The Eagles were without safety Reed Blankenship, who had started the previous two games in place of Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, who is on the injured list. Blankenship suffered a knee injury last week against the Giants.
But the Eagles didn’t replace Blankenship on the roster because safety Anthony Harris, signed to the practice squad on Thursday, didn’t get the practice squad elevation. K’Von Wallace started in place of Blankenship, but Avonte Maddox also acted as a safety.
Other Eagles inactives were QB Ian Book, RB Trey Sermon, DE Janarius Robinson, G Josh Sills and G Sua Opeta.
The Bears, meanwhile, won’t have two of their wide receivers in Chase Claypool and N’Keal Harry. The Bears traded for Claypool before the October deadline. He has 12 receptions in 5 games. Harry has 5 catches this season.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow @Mfranknfl on Twitter.
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