Bears exploit Eagles' defense
Philadelphia didn't have the NFL's leading interceptor for its Sunday showdown against the Bears.
The Eagles were missing something else, too.
“We're a great defense,” defensive end Trent Cole said. “When we're all clicking, it's like magic.”
Playing without injured cornerback Asante Samuel and his league-best 7 interceptions, Philadelphia's defense didn't pull any rabbit out of a hat Sunday.
The Eagles didn't pull out a win, either.
Instead, Bears quarterback Jay Cutler had a magical day. He threw for 247 yards and 4 touchdowns without an interception in the Bears' 31-26 win, while compiling a near-perfect passer efficiency rating of 146.2.
While Cole had half of his team's 4 sacks, giving him 9 for the season, the Eagles allowed 7 plays of 20 or more yards.
Cutler made the most out of his 14 completions (21 attempts). He had throws of 39 and 34 yards to Devin Hester, 20 and 34 yards to Johnny Knox, and 30 yards to Earl Bennett. The 20-yarder to Knox went for a touchdown.
Bears running back Matt Forte (14 carries, 117 yards) busted off runs of 61 and 28 yards.
“It's just fundamentals,” Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham, who notched a sack, said of the Bears' big gains. “You got to wrap up. You got to make sure you tackle. I believe the effort was there.”
Cutler started taking shorter drops after being sacked four times in the first half. The Eagles didn't sack him again.
“When we game-planned, he was taking nine(-step) drops every time almost,” Graham said. “He didn't want to play that game with us, I guess. Their game plan was good because they know our D-line gets after it. He started shortening up his steps and getting the ball out a little quicker.”
The Eagles had enough faith in their defense that twice in the fourth quarter they settled for short field goals from kicker David Akers, despite trailing 31-13 after three.
“We were just trying to get points and put it on our defense,” offensive left tackle Jason Peters said. “Our defense started playing well at the end. We were just getting stopped.”