Courtney Cronin Nov 28, 2025, 10:17 PM ET
PHILADELPHIA — The Chicago Bears are finally ready to think about the postseason.
Friday’s 24-15 victory over the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field went a long way toward validating what the Bears have built in their first 12 games under coach Ben Johnson. Chicago has won nine of its last 10 and vaulted to the No. 2 seed in the NFC, taking that spot from the Eagles.
Both teams entered Week 13 tied atop their divisions and with identical records. Philadelphia had navigated many of the same one-score games that have defined Chicago’s season and owned a 7-6 edge in those tight contests entering the matchup. That made Chicago’s road test in prime time its biggest to date — and a statement win.
“[That] we’re for real,” running back D’Andre Swift said.
When the Bears began their current five-game streak a few weeks ago, neither players nor coaches wanted to look ahead to the playoffs. After a victory like this one, the mindset has shifted.
“We should be confident in ourselves,” safety Jaquan Brisker said. “We shouldn’t shy away from anything like that. We’re on a roll right now, and we could just keep getting better. But that’s what we should be thinking [the playoffs]. I mean, we got a whole bunch of dogs in the locker room and things like that, and that’s the way we’re trending and we’re changing the culture. So yeah, that’s how we should think.”
The celebration in the locker room matched that confidence. During Johnson’s weekly “Good, Better, Best” chant, the 38-year-old coach ripped off his shirt in celebration. The Wieners Circle, a Chicago-area hot dog restaurant, tweeted it would hand out free hot dogs Tuesday — a callback to a previous promotion after Caleb Williams threw four touchdowns against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3.
Chicago leaned on its running game to set the tone. Swift and rookie Kyle Monangai powered a rushing attack that produced the Bears’ second-best rushing day of the season (281 yards), sustained long drives and controlled the clock. Chicago held a near 19-minute advantage in time of possession and ran for 17 of its 28 first downs; the Eagles managed just two rushing first downs.
Both backs scored, and the pair reached a rare milestone for the franchise. It was the first time the Bears had two 100-yard rushers in a game since Walter Payton (107) and Matt Suhey (102) on Nov. 10, 1985. Monangai also extended a personal streak, recording his fourth straight game with a rushing touchdown — he became the third Bears rookie in the Super Bowl era to post a four-game rushing touchdown run, joining Jeremy Langford (2015) and Payton (1975).
“We knew they are an explosive offense, we’re an explosive offense,” Monangai said. “We knew each possession was important and we had to put points on the board with each one, and we wanted to do better on some of those drives where we went three-and-out. But we knew drives was going to be at a premium, so I had to make the most of each opportunity.”
Chicago also brought its turnover-driven identity. The Bears entered the game with a league-high 24 takeaways and 16 interceptions. The Eagles had been stingy with the ball all season — Jalen Hurts had thrown just one interception, on Oct. 9 vs. the New York Giants, entering Friday — and Philadelphia’s famed tush push had been an almost automatic conversion on short-yardage plays.
In the third quarter, the Bears challenged those streaks. Safety Kevin Byard, who entered tied for the league lead in interceptions, now stands alone with six after snagging a deep throw from Hurts. Two possessions later, cornerback Nahshon Wright stripped Hurts on a tush push with the Eagles threatening to score after Williams threw an interception, and Chicago recovered the loose ball.
“Me personally, and the defense, we took that as a challenge,” Byard said. “I looked at the stats before. Jalen only threw one pick this season, so I took it as a challenge to try to go get one. You can even watch the film on mine, I had to really go get it, and [Wright] made a crazy play to strip the ball and recover it on the tush push. We talk about that’s the reason why we’re the best in the league in taking the ball away.”
Chicago’s defense was still missing its top four linebackers Friday, but the secondary got a lift with the returns of cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon. Johnson, who had surgery to repair a core muscle after leaving Week 2 with a groin issue, played 32 of 51 defensive snaps in his first game back. Gordon, limited by multiple soft-tissue injuries this season, logged 34 snaps in his second game back.
Gordon, the first draft pick by GM Ryan Poles in 2022, said the type of late-season wins the Bears are stringing together reinforce the organization’s goal of peaking in December and January.
“I think you see by the way we end every game that we’re not finished,” Gordon said. “I think we’ve got future plans to be somewhere further in February, so that’s what we’re really shooting for.”
