Turnover battle takes center stage between Bears and Eagles, but there’s another way Chicago can exploit the Philly offense
Friday night will be a big matchup for Chicago.
The Chicago Bears have been living off takeaways on defense this season and it’s been a winning formula for defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and the entire team.
Last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bears improved to 7-0 on the season when the defense forces 2+ takeaways. Overall, the Bears led the NFL with 24 takeaways and 16 of those are interceptions. Chicago actually has two players tied for the NFL-lead in INTs with safety Kevin Byard and cornerback Nahshon Wright.
“It’s a good thing,” Allen said last week. “Our guys have done a really good job of taking advantage of their opportunities. When their opportunities present themselves, they’ve been making the play. I think it’s a testament to our assistant coaches in terms of getting these guys prepared and understanding where these opportunities are going to present themselves. It’s a testament to our players in terms of their study habits and watching film, understanding how the offense is trying to attack us.”
Some may think these plays are fluky or lucky, but that’s simply not the case. Look at last week for example. The Steelers knew they had an advantage with DK Metcalf on a cornerback like Wright and tested him with a jump ball. Wright turned that opportunity into a tremendous interception using his length to make a play on the football.
The same thing goes for Montez Sweat’s strip sack. He knew he was eventually going to get put in a one-on-one opportunity against tight end Darnell Washington and he took advantage of that.
Looking at the upcoming film and preparation for Friday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Bears aren’t going to see many of those takeaway opportunities on the screen, but there’s another way the Bears can look to attack and exploit this offense.
Bears’ defense is going to have to rely on another way to win against the Eagles’ offense
Going into this matchup, the Eagles have surrendered the fewest offensive turnovers (6) in the NFL and quarterback Jalen Hurts has only thrown one interception this season, the fewest of any team in the league. Relying on taking the ball away might not be the best strategy against this offense.
Fortunately, the defending Super Bowl champs have a few kinks their armor on offense that has clearly held the unit back, and it’s something the Bears should look to take advantage of as well.
“When it comes to slowing down the Philly offense, the thought goes to preventing big plays in the run game. That was the recipe for Dallas in the second half last week, and the Eagles have consistently struggled to convert third and medium or longer situations. Placing as much pressure on the passing game is the key to Chicago’s defense getting stops without forcing turnovers. Rather than letting the unit get in a groove with Saquon Barkley’s talent, the Bears need to force Jalen Hurts to be on the same page with his targets.
Kevin Patullo, the play caller for Philadelphia, is already feeling plenty of heat from fans. Chicago needs to commit to filling the box and force the issue over the top against the Eagles.” – Adam Holt, A to Z Sports Philadelphia
This line of thought lines up with what Byard told reporters on Tuesday. The veteran safety said the key to stopping this Eagles’ offense starts with limiting Barkley and then winning on third down. Dallas implemented a lot of five-man fronts to slow down the Eagles run game, something Philadelphia wasn’t prepared for in the second-half.
Leaning into the five-man front might be something Allen and the defense explore on Friday to try and slow down this run game and force Hurts to beat them, or finally make a costly mistake.