Eagles vs. Bears: Score and Twitter Reaction for Monday Night Football

The Philadelphia Eagles have made the playoffs once since the 2010 season, but the future looks bright with an undefeated rookie under center and a defense that has allowed 17 combined points in its first two games.

The Eagles went into Soldier Field on Monday and handled the Chicago Bears, 29-14.

In his first road game at the NFL level, quarterback Carson Wentz appeared comfortable in the pocket, finishing 21-of-34 for 190 yards and a touchdown with no turnovers. He became the fifth rookie signal-caller since the merger to win his first two starts, according to SportsCenter.

While Wentz effectively managed the game, the Philadelphia defense set the tone. It allowed only one touchdown (the other came on an Eddie Royal punt return), and no Bears running back tallied more than 28 yards on the ground. The Eagles also held signal-caller Jay Cutler to 157 passing yards and an interception.

According to Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports, the Bears are now 1-8 at home since head coach John Fox took over the team last season. However, the loss wasn't Chicago's only concern Monday. Chris Emma of 670 The Score noted a number of marquee players went down with injuries, including Cutler:

The game could not have started much better for the visiting Eagles. Their defense forced a quick punt following a Malcolm Jenkins sack, and the offense parlayed the favorable field position into a Caleb Sturgis field goal after Wentz completed eight of his first nine passes.

However, NFL on ESPN noted the Bears had bigger things to worry about than the early deficit:

Chicago answered with an extended drive, but Connor Barth missed a 31-yard field goal. NFL on ESPN noted Bears fans were chanting for former kicker Robbie Gould, whom Chicago released before the season started.

The Bears seized momentum on their next drive when Jeremy Langford ran it in from a yard out to help his team seize a 7-3 lead. Langford's touchdown was set up by a 49-yard completion from Cutler to Alshon Jeffery.

Garry Cobb of Fox 29 in Philadelphia thought the Eagles secondary was going to have its hands full after the Chicago touchdown drive:

The only scoring for the rest of the half came from Sturgis, who drilled 29- and 53-yard field goals on Philadelphia's final two possessions of the second quarter. The Eagles took a 9-7 lead into the locker room, and Trey Wingo of ESPN suggested, "The Bears offense will struggle this season, but their defense will keep them in every game."

The defense took a hit when the Bears announced at halftime that linebacker Lamarr Houston would miss the rest of the game because of a knee injury. 

The Eagles made the first big play of the second half when Destiny Vaeao notched a strip-sack. Jordan Hicks recovered the fumble and set up Philadelphia's offense at its own 47-yard line, but the Bears defense held after Nelson Agholor dropped an underthrown deep ball.

Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post commented on the missed opportunity:

Philadelphia did not miss the opportunity on its next possession, when it marched 68 yards on a critical touchdown drive to move ahead by two scores, 16-7. Ryan Mathews finished the drive with a three-yard touchdown run by shaking off initial contact and finding the goal line on his second effort. 

The NFL shared the replay:

Things got worse for the Bears on the next play from scrimmage, when Cutler threw an interception into the waiting hands of Nigel Bradham. It took the Eagles one play to make Chicago pay for the mistake, as Wentz found Trey Burton for a two-yard touchdown.

Kevin McGuire of NBC Sports reflected on the quarterback play:

Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times shared an image capturing linebacker Pernell McPhee expressing his displeasure with the turnover:

Sturgis missed the extra point, but the Eagles took a 22-7 lead into the final quarter. Compounding Chicago's problems, the Bears announced Cutler would miss the remainder of the game after suffering a throwing-hand injury, with Brian Hoyer taking over under center.

As if things weren't dire enough for Chicago, Langford lost a fumble on the home team's next possession.

Hubbuch summarized the proceedings from the Bears' perspective:

That was the case when the Bears appeared to earn a goal-line stand, only to find out the defense lined up in the neutral zone. Mathews scored on the second chance and helped Philadelphia increase its lead to 29-7.

Chicago trimmed the deficit to 29-14 after Royal's 65-yard punt return, but the Eagles ran out the clock and clinched their second win of the season.

What's Next?

The injury-laden Bears will head to Dallas to take on the Cowboys on Sunday.

Dallas is still without the injured Tony Romo, but the team is off to a 1-1 start with rookie Dak Prescott at QB and is coming off a 27-23 win over defending NFC East champion Washington. Running back Ezekiel Elliott and wide receiver Dez Bryant give Prescott weapons to work with, and he will likely be facing a depleted roster, given all of the injuries Chicago suffered Monday. 

The Eagles will return home for a Keystone State battle against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The 2-0 Steelers beat a Cincinnati Bengals team that reached the playoffs in the last five seasons and also destroyed Washington 38-16 in Week 1. Philadelphia is also 2-0, but the showdown against Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Co. will be its stiffest test after easy victories over the Cleveland Browns and Bears.

Postgame Reaction

Zach Zaidman of the Chicago Bears Radio Network noted Cutler had a cast on his right thumb following the loss. According to Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune, “Cutler referenced 2011, when a broken thumb ended his season, as he talked about his concern [with] this injury.”

Cutler said he was “concerned. As a quarterback, you kind of need your right thumb,” per Adam Hoge of WGN Radio.

Fox had something of a glass-half-full approach when he said, “not as tough as last year. We were 0-3,” when asked if the first two losses were as tough as it gets for his team, per Hoge.

As for Philadelphia, Wentz came back to Chicago, which was the home of the 2016 draft. He said, via the Eagles on Twitter, “Throughout the week I realized I was going back to where my life changed. It was cool to be back here and come out with the win.”

Wentz was also asked if he did anything differently in preparation for the Monday night start on the road and said, per Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ Advance Media, “Not really. The same routine. It was a cool stage, everything was sweet. But then again, it was a football game, and we came out with a win.”

If the rookie maintains that poise throughout the year, the Eagles will come out with a number of wins.