Chicago Bears embarrassed in 31-3 loss to Eagles

Alshon Jeffery definitely made the right decision in the off-season.

The former Pro Bowl wide receiver left the Chicago Bears' dumpster fire of a franchise to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles, who moved to 10-1 on Sunday with a 31-3 trouncing of the 3-8 Bears.

Had the Eagles not fumbled four times, losing 3 of them, the score would have been even more embarrassing.

The Eagles led 24-0 at halftime, and the game wasn't even as close as the lopsided score would indicate.

The inept-in-every-phase Bears failed to make a single first down in the first half, while the Eagles rolled up 16. In total yardage, the Eagles led 272-33 at halftime en route to their ninth straight victory.

The half ended with Jeffery catching an 8-yard touchdown pass from Carson Wentz. It was Jeffery's seventh score of the season and triggered a $250,000 bonus in his one-year deal.

"We didn't play well enough in any phase for us to compete," Bears coach John Fox said. "The game was not competitive from early on."

The Eagles tripled the Bears in total yardage with a 420-140 advantage.

Any momentum the Bears may have built with back-to-back victories in October that lifted them to 3-4 is completely gone as Fox's crew lost its fourth straight. He is 12-31 as the Bears' coach and has virtually no chance to be back next year.

"You don't come into this job, whether as a player or coach with questions about your job security," Fox said. "Frankly, I don't give a rip. That's not why I do this. Whatever happens as far as things that I control, I'll work to control, and that's to get our football team better."

The first half of the Bears' latest loss brought back nightmarish memories of the 2014 team that finished 5-11 in Marc Trestman's second - and final - season. That year included back-to-back losses of 51-23 to the New England Patriots and 55-14 to the Green Bay Packers.

The Bears finally managed a first down on their opening possession of the second half, and newly signed kicker Cairo Santos ended the drive (and the Bears' scoring) with a 38-yard field goal.

The Bears came into the game with the NFL's No. 5 rushing offense, but the ground game never got moving. They averaged a little more than 1 foot per carry on 14 attempts, picking up a total of 6 yards. Jordan Howard, who came in No. 3 in the NFL with 841 rushing yards, was held to 6 yards on 7 carries.

Meanwhile, the Eagles pounded the Bears for 176 yards on the ground.

"We didn't establish it at any point in the game," Fox said of the ground game. "Again, you have to give the opponent credit."

The Bears' air game wasn't much better. Rookie quarterback Mitch Trubisky posted a 38.3 passer rating, the lowest of his seven starts. He completed 17 of 33 passes for 147 yards with no touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

"I don't like losing, and that's a big motivator for me," Trubisky said. "You just get that sick feeling from it, so hopefully a lot of those guys in the locker room feel the same way and it motivates us to go back to work and get better for this (coming) week.

"You go out there and get embarrassed, and you know you're capable of better. So hopefully we just look within ourselves and get better for next week because I know we're capable of playing better."

After the Eagles jumped ahead 7-0, the Bears gave a preview of what the remainder of the game would look like.

Starting at the 40-yard line after Jake Elliott's kickoff went out of bounds, Trubisky threw an interception on the first play. His errant pass bounced off the outstretched hands of Dontrelle Inman and was intercepted by Malcolm Jenkins.

But during the return, Jenkins was stripped by tight end Dion Sim, and the Bears' Tre McBride recovered. Another three-and-out for the offense ensued.

On the Eagles' next possession, LeGarrette Blount fumbled at the end of a 35-yard run. Unable to pick up even one first down, the Bears attempted a 54-yard field goal by Santos, which was wide right.

The Eagles quickly made it 14-0 on Wentz's 15-yard TD pass to Nelson Agholor.

Bears left guard Josh Sitton left late in the first half with a concussion and did not return. He was replaced by Bradley Sowell. Safety Adrian Amos suffered a hamstring injury on the last play of the third quarter and was replaced by Deon Bush.

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