Bears vs. Eagles: 6 Things We Learned from Chicago's 30-24 Win

In a huge road victory, the Chicago Bears beat the Philadelphia Eagles and now sit at 5-3 on the season and in a good position for a wild card berth.

They now own tiebreakers over the Eagles, Bucs and Falcons. But that stuff is for much later, as there is a lot of football left to go.

Still, it was a terrific, exciting win for the Bears who looked energized. The offensive line did not allow a sack, and the Bears got the win despite a very rare case of "fumble-itus" by Matt Forte.

So the Bears come into hostile territory and come away with the victory. The return of Earl Bennett was big as was Jay Cutler's gritty performance.

But what did we learn? Oh yes, it may not be school, but there is always some learning to do.

It's late so I will keep this relatively brief, but here are six thoughts from the win. Enjoy.  

Time of Possession Matters

The Bears held the ball for 11 minutes, 22 seconds in the first quarter, and they held a 7-0 lead. They led in the time of possession in the first half 16:52 to 12:25, and they led at halftime.

This is probably not a coincidence.

It's important because it does two things—any time you have the ball, you have a chance to score and it keeps the opponent off the field.

This makes your defense fresher and means you are moving the chains. More importantly for the Bears, it usually means we are running the ball, and that's a good thing.

The Eagles owned the time of possession in the third quarter as they took the lead.

For the game, however, Chicago dominated in this area by almost seven minutes. And this led to a Bears win.

Can't Lose the Turnover Battle

It may get tiring, but you can never understate the importance of winning the turnover battle, especially in a Cover 2 defense. This defense bends, but doesn't break, and allows yards but takes the ball away.

At least, that's how it supposed to work.

There was a terrific play by Lance Briggs that resulted in a pick by Major Wright in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, special teams continue to help. Corey Graham with a great strip of the ball off a DeSean Jackson attempted punt return late in the first half.

But there was Matt Forte fumbling the ball for the first time in over a year. So let's recap: Bears win turnover battle in first half and lead 17-10 at the half.

For the game, both teams committed two turnovers, though both of the Bears fumbles led to touchdowns. Tim Jennings and DJ Moore each missed golden pickoff opportunities, but in the end, it didn't matter.

At least the Bears didn't lose the battle. And on a night when Forte couldn't hold onto the ball, the two turnovers the Bears did have were huge.

Key to Beating Eagles Is Stopping Their Run Game

Everyone talks about Michael Vick and with good reason. But I felt that the key to this game was for the Bears to contain the Eagles run game, specifically, LeSean "Shady" McCoy.

Against Dallas, McCoy ran the ball 30 times for 185 yards and two TDs. The previous week, versus Washington, he ran the ball 28 times for 126 yards.

However, in the loss to the Niners, McCoy was a non-factor. And while he averaged a robust 7.3 yards per carry in the loss to Buffalo, he was limited to just 11 carries. 

In the first half, the Bears did a great job on McCoy. But in the third quarter, he had some tough runs on a15-play, 80-yard drive to open the second half, which led to a tie score at 17.

Then, following another Forte turnover, McCoy ran 33 yards for a TD in the third quarter that gave the Eagles the lead. That was the eighth straight game with a TD for McCoy.

For the game, the Eagles did average more than five yards per carry. But they were able to build a lead in the first half by stopping McCoy.

Still, if we would have held him in check during the second half too, this game wouldn't have gone down to the wire.

No Pay for Forte

So much for the "Pay Forte" movement. After not fumbling in over a year, he lost the ball twice on Monday night.

Actually, he otherwise ran the ball well, and I am not giving up on the man because of a bad night holding onto the ball.

Forte touched the ball 347 times prior to his first fumble, then it only took five more carries for him to fumble again. And both led to Eagles touchdowns.

Still, Forte ran the ball awfully well again. For the game, he had 133 yards for a 5.5 yard average.

Following the second fumble, Lovie Smith "benched" Forte for about four plays and then had him share time with Barber.

But in the end, he held onto the ball enough for the Bears to hold the lead late in the game.

Jay Cutler Happy To Have His Buddy Back

Earl Bennett and Cutler are the Vandy duo, and they hooked up for five catches and 95 yards, including a TD on a fade route in the fourth quarter to give the Bears the lead 27-24.

In all, Cutler played well and displayed good mobility and toughness. He outplayed Vick.

He completed 18-of-32 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns. Just as importantly, he threw no interceptions.

Roy Williams had his usual drops but did come up with a few big catches to keep drives going tonight. And hey, a tight end scored.

After Devin Hester got hurt, Johnny Knox came in and while he had only one reception, he did draw a pass interference penalty in the fourth quarter.

Bears O-Line Played Well

The Bears offensive line held their own in this game against a tough defense in a hostile environment. Coming into the game, the Eagles tied for eighth in the league with 22 sacks.

They did a nice job protecting Cutler, as there were no sacks against the Bears QB.

And they opened holes for the running backs too. Despite the fumbles, Forte had 133 yards rushing tonight, while Marion Barber added 31.

Lance Louis did another nice job at right guard replacing the still-injured Gabe Carimi.