The Philadelphia Eagles have a championship caliber defense, too
Carson Wentz may very well be the NFL MVP, but the Philadelphia Eagles, who moved to 10-1 with a 31-3 victory against visiting Chicago on Sunday, have quietly become a Super Bowl caliber defense as well.
Facing rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and a Bears offense that has been anything but conventional, Philly held Chicago without a first down for the entire first half (it managed 33 total yards). It was the first time a team has not registered a first down in a half since 2012.
The Bears accumulated a woeful 109 yards of total offense. Trubisky, who was under duress for much of the afternoon, completed just 14 passes.
The dominant defense — which has not allowed a touchdown in each of the past two games — is apparently having a blast, even deploying the electric slide Sunday.
Maybe just as impressive was the Eagles’ suffocating run defense against a prominent ground game featuring Jordan Howard, who entered the game third in rushing, and the explosive Tarik Cohen. Neither found any room to work, as the Bears managed just 1 rushing yard. Yes, just 1.
Of course, none of this comes as a surprise if you’ve followed the Eagles all year.
And yet, with how stellar Wentz has been — his 28 touchdowns lead the league — the defense is certainly easy to forget about. But that would be a mistake. Entering Week 12, Philly ranked first in rushing yards allowed, sixth in total defense and eighth in scoring defense. After forcing three more turnovers, all interceptions, versus Trubisky and company, it will now move ahead of Jacksonville for first in the NFL in the precious turnover margin.
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