PHILADELPHIA - On a short week, the page had to be turned quickly by the Eagles from a disappointing 24-21 loss at Dallas, where Philadelphia surrendered a 21-point lead and allowed 24 consecutive points to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
The NFL has a way of humbling you, and the 8-3 Eagles can’t play the woe-is-me card with the 8-3 Chicago Bears next on the docket at Lincoln Financial Field for the now-annual "Amazon" Black Friday game.
The Bears enter the contest with the most innovative offensive mind in the game in new head coach Ben Johnson and uber-talented second-year quarterback Caleb Williams running the on-field show.
Chicago has the sixth-ranked offense coming in, No. 2 on the ground and No. 12 through the air.
“It's a great scheme,” Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. “They do a great job calling the game, mixing it up, marrying their run game and their pass game. They're highly ranked in a lot of areas, and I don't think it's any accident.
“They’ve got really good players and it's a great scheme and a great play caller.”
That great play-caller is Johnson, who was the architect of the explosive Detroit Lions offense before defecting for a promotion in what has been the NFC North’s also-ran over the past few seasons.
Johnson has the Bears in first place entering Thanksgiving Weekend.
Offensive Guru
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Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson. | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
“Ben does a good job of mixing it up,” Fangio said. “They package things well together. They play multiple personnel groups and they're under center a good bit, probably more than most teams in this league.
"Kudos to him and his staff for bringing that young quarterback along who I don't think ever played under center in college. He's doing a great job, and they have fought through any of the pitfalls of that and now they’ve got a quarterback that is executing their offense the way they want to.”
The quarterback is Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft out of Southern Cal, who has rare ability as a dual-threat.
After a rocky rookie season under a defensive head coach in Matt Eberflus, Williams is excelling under the tutelage of Johnson with 2,568 passing yards, a 16:4 touchdown to interception ratio, and 293 added yards and three more TDs on the ground.
“It's an added dimension to their offense,” Fangio said of Williams’ mobility. “We've talked about how good their offense is, and now with him, there's going to be plays where you have to defend a second play that he's creating with his scrambling.
“He's a high-level scrambler, he's strong, he's fast, he's got good instincts when he is scrambling. It's tough.”
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