Top Eagles takeaways following their gritty win over Bears

The Philadelphia Eagles left the Windy City with a 25-20 victory over the Chicago Bears in Week 15. They are now the owners of a league-best 13 wins on the season. It wasn’t an easy victory by any means, but it moves them closer to their goal of securing the number one seed in the NFC for the coming NFL postseason.

Three games remain, and the Birds need just one more win or a Dallas Cowboys loss to clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Their most recent performance demonstrated that they still have work to do, but several positives stood out as well. One of the negatives was, without question, their decision to ignore the running game (except for a few designed runs that almost got their quarterback killed).

Perhaps you’ve heard? Jalen Hurts is injured and expected to miss a couple of games.

Why didn’t the Eagles attack the Bears’ run defense more often?

The Chicago Bears entered the game with the NFL’s 29th-ranked rushing defense. The Eagles had an obvious strength versus weakness matchup, but for whatever reason, they decided not to take advantage of it for long stretches of the game.

Philly’s running backs were only given 14 attempts. Miles Sanders carried the ball 11 times for 42 yards. Kenneth Gainwell rushed for five yards on three carries. That was the extent of their workload. Jalen Hurts was Philly’s leading rusher (17 carries for 61 yards with three rushing touchdowns).

It was surprising to see the Eagles largely abandon the run, especially when the weather was a factor. Their quarterback also took some violent shots when he was the ball carrier, so a heavier workload from Philly’s tailbacks could have led to better offensive results.

That’s one of the major takeaways stemming from Week 15’s win in frigid Chicago. Here are three more.