Bears had the perfect plan to counter the NFL’s most dominant play, and it sparked a game-changing moment in Week 13
Dennis Allen knew exactly what was coming.
Despite a dominating run game that came alive from the start against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Chicago Bears found themselves locked in the ring for a heavy-weight fight on Friday night.
Both teams were squandering opportunities on offense an it seemed to be heading toward another tight finish when the Eagles finally reached the end zone and then forced a takeaway against quarterback Caleb Williams to halt the Bears’ offense in its tracks in the third quarter.
It was the turning point Philadelphia needed, making it a 10-9 score, and the home crowd started to come alive for the first time all game. Yet faced with a third-and-one to keep the offensive drive alive, everyone knew what was coming and the Bears had the perfect plan in place.
Bears takeaway on the Tush Push proved to be the biggest moment of the night for Chicago
As expected, quarterback Jalen Hurts lined up under center with Dallas Goedert, Cameron Latu, Saquon Barkley behind him ready to push the pile on the QB sneak. The play, infamously known as the Tush Push, has caused quite the stir around the league and no one executes it better than Hurts and the Eagles offense.
“It’s a tough play to stop,” Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said during the week. “I think [Philadelphia] runs it better than anybody else in the league. The best way to defend it is not get in those situations and trying to create more third-and-longer and fourth-and-longer situations. Keeps them out of those types of situations, but certainly, yes, it’s a difficult play to stop.
We do have a plan in place. And we feel like it’s a good, solid plan in terms of not only trying to stop that play, but all the plays that come off of it, and that’s what makes it even more difficult to stop.”
That plan involved having veteran safety Kevin Byard deep behind the pile in case any trick plays tried to pop free. In the meantime, cornerback Nahshon Wright played to the outside of the tight end on the left side of the offense and waited for his opportunity to execute the plan.
Right when Hurts hit the pile, Wright shot in from Hurts’ left and went straight for the football. The team’s highlight story of 2025 managed to rip the ball free from Hurts’ hands, resulting in a second takeaway for the defense.
Last week, against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bears faced a modified version of the Tush Push and its variant plays with mixed results. The first time Pittsburgh showed they were going for it, the Bears managed to hold strong at the line of scrimmage. The next time, the Steelers faked the Tush Push bouncing a run to the outside away from the scrum, turning a fourth-and-one into a 56-yard gain.
It was ideal practice tape to have going into the matchup with the Eagles and the Bears had plenty of Philly footage to go over when game planning how to stop the league’s most dominant play if it were to eventually show up during the game.
The Bears’ offense went on to have a 12-play drive that ended with a touchdown by running back Kyle Monangai to give Chicago an eight-point lead in the final quarter of play. A game-deciding play that the Bears spent all week preparing for. Credit to the coaching staff because that one play absolutely changed the game for the Bears.
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