Bears show grit in 25-20 loss to NFL-best Eagles

CHICAGO — Coming into Sunday, very few football fans outside of Chicago expected much of a fight from the Chicago Bears heading into their matchup Sunday against the team with the NFL’s best record.

While the Bears did inevitably lose to the now 13-1 Philadelphia Eagles, there were a handful of positive takeaways from their 25-20 loss Sunday afternoon.

The defense came to play

While the passing game is far from elite, the Bears defense has been porous all season and led to most of their struggles, but on Sunday — especially in the first half — the defense came to play.

Chicago won the turnover battle, 1-3, against the team with the best turnover differential in the NFL (plus-14 heading into Sunday), while also holding them below their season average in points-per-game (29.7).

The Bears defense also held Philadelphia to 112 rushing yards on 3.4 yards-per carry. Coming into the game, the Bears defense was 27th in the NFL in rush yards allowed (1,902) and rush yards allowed-per-game (146.3), while also giving up 4.7 yards-per-carry.

Justin Fields continues to grow, fuel ground game

On offense, Justin Fields continued to be Justin Fields, showing off why he’s one of the most explosive players in the NFL. Fields finished the day 14-21 for 152 yards and 2 TDs through the air, with 15 carries for another 95 yards on the ground, which pushed him over the 1,000-yard mark on the year.

David Montgomery quietly eclipsed 600 rush yards on the season after carrying the rock 12 times for 53 yards and a TD too.

Next up, the Bears welcome the Buffalo Bills to Soldier Field on Christmas Eve at noon.