‘It's good on good:' The most intriguing matchup between the Eagles and Bears originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Nobody takes the ball away more than the Bears. Nobody protects the ball better than the Eagles.
What an intriguing matchup.
Fair to say turnovers will go a long way toward deciding the Eagles-Bears game Friday at the Linc.
“You’re going into it, it’s good on good,” Jalen Hurts said. “Great defense, great mentality, great culture, it seems and you see them flying around.
“So it’s more about what you do more about what you do, your fundamentals, your details and really honing in on those things in a short week, so that’s a great challenge for us.”
The Bears are 27th in yards allowed, 28th in run defense and 21st in pass defense. But they’re 8-3 largely because of the takeaways, which have led to 14 of their 30 offensive touchdowns. Almost half.
The Eagles are 24th in total yards, 21st running the ball, 23rd throwing the ball. But they’re 8-3 largely because they rarely turn the ball over.
•The Bears have 24 takeaways, most by any NFL team through 11 games since 2021. They’ve had six games with three or more takeaways. When they’ve had two or more takeaways, they’re 7-0. When they’ve had one or fewer, they’re 1-3.
•The only teams that haven’t turned the ball over against the Bears are the Ravens, who beat the Bears 30-16, and the Lions, who won 52-21.
•With 24 takeaways and just eight turnovers, the Bears lead the NFL with a plus-16 turnover margin, the best by any team through 11 games since the Patriots were plus-19 in 2019 and the best by any NFC team since the Packers were plus-17 in 2009.
•The Bears’ 16 interceptions are the most by any NFC team through 11 games since the 2018 Bears had 20.
•With former Eagle Kevin Byard and Nahshon Wright, who both have five INTs, and Tremaine Edmunds, who has four, the Bears have more players with four INTs than every other team combined (Calen Bullock, Devin Lloyd).
•They are the first team with four players that have at least four INTs through 11 games since the 2011 Packers, with Tramon Williams, Charles Woodson and Charlie Peprah.
“They do a really good job of coming after the ball,” Kevin Patullo said. “Their secondary does a nice job just ball hawking and seeing space. The safeties do a good job keeping vision on the quarterback. They really fly to the ball. It is really impressive what they do at all levels.
“Their front seven plays extremely hard. What you see is that it’s on their mind. When they’re going to tackle you, they’re constantly going after the ball. They’re hustling all over the tape. You’re not going to have a lot of plays where you see one guy rushing and then somebody not coming after it to make a tackle. It’s all a group effort.
“That was one of the things we focused on (Tuesday) in the meeting, just taking care of the ball. It’s going to be a huge part of the game and that’s what we’ve got to do.”
And very few teams in NFL history have ever been as good as the Eagles in taking care of the ball.
•They’ve committed just five turnovers, 4th-fewest in NFL history after 11 games. Only the 2020 Titans and 2024 Chargers and Commanders committed four.
•Jalen Hurts’ interception percentage – one INT in 308 attempts – is 2nd-best in NFL history by a starting quarterback through 11 games. Aaron Rodgers had one INT in 413 attempts with the Packers in 2008.
•The Eagles are 34-2 under Nick Sirianni when they win the turnover margin, including 34-1 in their last 35 games. When they don’t, they’re 12-13.
•The Eagles’ 84 turnovers since Sirianni became head coach in 2021 are 2nd-fewest in the league. The Packers have 79.
“Obviously, we think about (protecting) the ball an awful lot,” Sirianni said. “That’s always on our mind. That’s always our focus. You’d be just as aggressive as you always would be knowing where their playmakers are. They’re doing a really good job of catching the football. So, you’ve got to be really on point.
“I know everyone will be like, ‘Well, then Jalen has to do this.’ No, it’s on everybody. It’s about our receivers being on point with their break points, their route discipline, the protection being clean, the back getting out into the checkdown at an appropriate time after the protection. Jalen reading the coverages, seeing where the guys are.
“But I take my hat off to them. They do a good job catching the football. That’s always hard for a defense because the quarterback’s not throwing it to you. I’ve seen some really good plays that they’ve made on the football, and that’s everybody’s responsibility. Everybody has a hand in this.”
