The offense went three-and-out, however, and the Eagles followed with a 5-play, 92-yard drive that was capped by Hurts’ 33-yard TD pass to A.J. Brown midway through the third quarter. But Elliott missed the extra point attempt wide left, preserving the Bears’ 10-9 lead.
On the Bears’ next drive, Williams’ short pass intended for Monangai was intercepted by leaping outside linebacker Jalyx Hunt, who returned it 13 yards to the Chicago 36. But that’s when Wright swung the momentum by forcing and recovering the Hurts fumble on the Eagles’ signature tush push play.
“We certainly wanted to be sound in how we were defending that play and the complements off that play,” Johnson said, “and we were hopeful to have opportunities to get the ball out of there.”
The Eagles eventually cut the deficit to 24-15 on Hurts’ 4-yard TD pass to Brown with 3:10 to play. But an incomplete pass on the subsequent two-minute conversion attempt preserved the Bears’ two-score lead and Rome Odunze recovered the ensuing onside kick.
After the game, the Bears coach was asked what message his team had delivered with such a complete victory over the defending Super Bowl champions.
“It’s the same message we’ve been sending every week—that we’re just going to compete our tails off for 60 minutes,” he said. “That’s what I know about our group. They’ve got a lot of belief in what we’re doing. They’ve got a lot of belief in themselves. They’ve got a lot of belief, I think, in this coaching staff. And so that confidence just starts to develop and continue to bubble over. We’ve got a really confident group right now and we’re excited for these next five games.
“These guys should feel pretty good about what they just did. It’s hard to go on the road and beat a good team like that.”
The Bears’ secondary was bolstered Friday by the return of cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon, both of whom were activated off injured reserve Thursday.
The two defensive backs had combined to play in just three games prior to Friday. Two different groin injuries had limited Johnson to only a Week 2 contest in Detroit, while Gordon had faced just the Commanders and Saints in Weeks 6-7.
The Bears played the Eagles without four of their top linebackers due to injuries: Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards, Noah Sewell and Ruben Hyppolite II.
Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson and defensive end Dominique Robinson also sat out Friday’s game with injuries. Other inactives were third quarterback Case Keenum and receiver Jahdae Walker.