Die Hard Eagles Fan

The Eagles and Bears fought out a tough, competitive game with the Bears doing a better job of taking opportunity of some turnovers and earning the win.

1^st Quarter

The Eagles received the ball first to open the game. The Eagles went 3 and out and were forced to punt after being sacked on 3^rd down by Bears Safety Daniel Manning. On the Bears’ first offensive possession, they marched right down the field ending the drive with a Touchdown strike to Tight End Greg Olsen, who beat Eagles LB Chris Gocong in the endzone.

On the Eagles next possession, QB Donovan McNabb came out on fire, standing tall in the pocket, hitting rookie WR DeSean Jackson on multiple big plays including a 22 yard TD making the score 7-7. Jackson also had a big run on a reverse, helping set up the Eagles’ first TD.

2^nd Quarter

On a Bears’ possession, they were forced to punt. A Bears’ 38 yard punt was muffed by DeSean Jackson at the Eagles 24 yard line. 2 Plays later, Bears QB Kyle Orton found WR Marty Booker open in the end zone for a 23-yard Touchdown breaking the tie. The Bears led 14-7.

The Eagles offense responded on their next possession by marching down the field. WR Reggie Brown had multiple catches helping to get The Eagles down into The Bears’ Red Zone. RB Correll Buckhalter then took a screen pass from McNabb 19 yards down to the Bears 1 yard line. Buckhalter then took the next carry and plunged into the end-zone making the score 14-14.

On another possession, The Bears capped off a 60 yard drive with a 20 yard TD to KR/WR Devin Hester where The Bears took the lead 21-14 at half-time.

3^rd Quarter

The Bears received the ball to start the 3^rd quarter and were forced to punt after a few plays. The Bears punted the ball down inside the Eagles 10 yard line where McNabb through a costly interception with RB Correll Buckhalter getting hurt during the interception return.

Inside the Eagles 20 yard line, on the 2^nd play after the turnover, Bears QB Kyle Orton forced an ill-advised pass into the end-zone and right into the arms of Eagles Safety Quintin Mikell. The Eagles defense gave the Eagles offense back the ball where the score still remained Bears 21, Eagles 14.

On the next possession, the Eagles went 3 and out and P Sav Rocca sent a booming punt deep into Bears’ territory where KR Devin Hester let it go over his head where he finally scooped up the ball and ran backwards, being downed at his own 4 yard line.

The Eagles defense stuffed the Bears down at the Bears goal-line forcing the Bears 3 and out. On 1^st down, McNabb missed on an attempted pass to WR Greg Lewis. With 3^rd string RB Lorenzo Booker in for injured RB Correll Buckhalter, Booker was creamed for a 3 yard loss on a screen play. The Eagles failed to convert on 3^rd down with a pass to TE Brent Celek. On 4^th down, K David Akers missed by dinking the upright of the goal post, giving the Bears back the ball with decent field position.

On the first play of the Bears’ next possession, Eagles DE Trent Cole sacked and stripped QB Kyle Orton forcing a fumble recovered by LB Omar Gaither who returned it to the Bears 28 yard line.

Almost giving up on the running game, the Eagles moved the ball inside the red zone, sometimes using 4 receivers in the formation. On 2^nd down and 4 from the Bears 10, McNabb and the Eagles tried some trickery with a shovel pass to WR Jason Avant who took the ball down to the Bears’ 2 while picking up the first down. On first down, McNabb rolled right, miss-firing on a pass in the end-zone to WR Hank Baskett. On 2^nd down, McNabb tripped coming out from center and lost 4 yards. With 3^rd and goal, The Eagles threw an incomplete pass in the end zone, bringing out K David Akers for another field goal attempt. The Eagles cut the lead to 21-17 after Akers hit the 24 yard field goal.

The Bears responded with a Devin Hester kick return all the way to mid-field with a 51 yard kick return. The Bears squandered the good field position, ending the 3 and out with a sack by Eagles DE J. Parker.

Upon the next Eagles possession, Eagles RB Correll Buckhalter returned to the Eagles backfield, carrying on first down for no gain. The Eagles were unproductive, going 3 and out on this possession as well. The Eagles were forced to punt and on the Bears very next offensive play, Bears RB Kevin Jones fumbled the ball, with it recovered by Eagles LB Stewart Bradley.

4^th Quarter

The Eagles ended the 3^rd quarter with a nifty reverse run to WR DeSean Jackson, who took the ball down to the Bears 15-yard line. McNabb was sacked on the 1^st play of the 4^th quarter, by Bears LB H. Hillenmeyer. The Eagles failed again to take advantage of the turnover and were forced for a David Akers field goal, cutting the Bears’ lead to 1 point at 21-20.

The Bears responded with finally their 1^st down of the 2^nd half and moved the ball down to the Eagles 24-yard line. They stalled there and settled for a 41-yard field goal by K Robbie Gould. The score was now 24-20, in the Bears’ favor.

The Eagles responded by marching down the field with a nice mix of runs by Buckhalter and pass plays by McNabb. With 3:40 left in the game, the Eagles offense ran out of gas after calling a time out to discuss the next play. On a crucial 4^th and goal from the 1, Buckhalter was stuffed by the Bears and their swarming defense, turning over the ball back to the Bears.

Taking the ball at their own 1-yard line, The Bears successfully moved the ball, gaining 1^st downs and making The Eagles burn up their time-outs. The Eagles were successful in forcing the Bears to punt, but it was too little, too late. The Eagles got the ball back with 17 seconds left after a DeSean Jackson punt return. The Eagles ran one last play to WR Reggie Brown. Brown didn’t get out of bounds and the game ended with the Bears winning 24-20.

Wrap-Up

• Bears QB Kyle Orton threw 3 first-half TD passes for a career high.
• Eagles WR DeSean Jackson caught his first NFL TD in his career.
• Eagles RB Brian Westbrook, TE L.J. Smith, and OG Shawn Andrews did not play.
• The Eagles Defense held RB Brian Forte to just 43 yards rushing, however, Forte also had 42 yards receiving.

The NFL.com Game Center Post Game is attached.

With that said, “E-A-G-L-E-S!! EAGLES!!”

Share This