Chicago Bears strong run game up against tough Eagles defense
What the Bears do best offensively, running the ball, is what the Eagles do best defensively.
The Bears are No. 5 in rushing yards and No. 6 in average gain per rush led by the NFL's No. 3 ground gainer Jordan Howard, who has run for 841 yards. Howard has exceeded 100 yards in three of his last five games and is averaging 4.4 yards per carry.
But the Eagles allow an NFL-best 71 yards per game on the ground.
"Any time you play a really good football team, they've fed off getting ahead, getting people in a one-dimensional game as far as (having to go to) the pass game," Bears coach John Fox said. "So you have to stay patient with the run."
The Chiefs are the only team that's had much success on the ground against the Eagles, running 19 times for 112 yards in a 27-20 Week Two victory in K.C. The Eagles have won eight straight since then.
"You have to be good with the football and not give it away," Fox said. "And part of that is being able to run the ball and staying patient with it."
The right stuff:
Rookie quarterback Trubisky's 19-yard scramble on fourth-and-13 last week with 28 seconds remaining showed his ability to turn a potentially negative play into a positive.
"He's a stud," guard Josh Sitton said. "I've had confidence in him from the beginning. He's been growing, and you see it each week. He probably took his first big leap in the passing game (in Week 10 against the Packers), you saw that continue (vs. the Lions). He just keeps learning the nuances of the game. He gives you all the confidence in the world, as a guy in the locker room and on the field in the huddle. He has that look in his eyes where you're thinking 'All right, he's going to get the job done.'"
Former Bear Thierry dies:
Former Chicago Bears defensive end John Thierry has died at 46, the team announced Saturday.
"The Chicago Bears offer their deepest condolences on the passing of former linebacker John Thierry," the team said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to John and his family."
The team did not provide a cause of death.
Thierry played the first five years of his nine-year career with the Bears, He was drafted 11th overall in 1994.
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