PHILADELPHIA — Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson looked at the box score and had a regret after his team’s 24-15 win over the defending champion Eagles.
“Shoot, I probably called too many pass plays this game, especially with how we’re running it, so … that’s an area that I can be better at, too,” he said.
That’s right. Johnson wished he had called more runs, even though the 47 rushes were the most for the Bears in a non-overtime game in 30 years. And that’s what they leaned on in one of the biggest wins in over a decade.
Running backs D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai became the first Bears duo to each have 100 rushing yards in a game since 1985, when Walter Payton and Matt Suhey did it.
They’ve never had two players log at least 125 rushing yards in the same game, like Swift and Monangai did Friday.
“That’s amazing,” Swift said. “That’s a great stat to have. I didn’t even know the numbers until they told us. But to do something like that, that’s amazing. Hats off to the O-line, I can’t say that enough. The job that we’re doing up front, receivers blocking downfield, they make our jobs so much easier. We’re starting to click at the right time.”
The Bears clinched that winning record and earned themselves a spot in the “Oh, they’re for real” conversation on the backs of an offensive line that created running lanes all afternoon long in Philadelphia. Johnson gave the starting five a game ball.
“Can’t say enough about that running game,” Johnson said. “I don’t think we win that game if we’re not able to run the ball like we were. … You could feel decisiveness, you could feel them hitting it downhill. They turned on the gas and were lowering their shoulders, too.
“That was so good to see, but it doesn’t happen without that offensive line. You can’t say enough about Ozzy (Trapilo) and Joe (Thuney) and Drew Dalman and Jonah (Jackson) and then Darnell (Wright). I mean, those guys were huge for us, and so really proud of them.”
The Bears have invested resources in the offensive line, and it shows. Wright is a top-10 pick, and general manager Ryan Poles acquired three highly paid interior linemen and then a second-round pick in Trapilo. They’re playing like it.
“We couldn’t do (anything) without them,” Swift said. “They were clicking all night.”
Battling the wind, quarterback Caleb Williams completed only 17 of his 36 passes. He had a passer rating of 56.9. It’s the lowest completion percentage and passer rating in a Bears win since the hallmark game in Arizona in the 2006 NFC championship season.
When the receivers and tight ends couldn’t do what they do best, they blocked.
“It’s a frustrating game if you’re a pass catcher because those conditions were challenging for us to get some consistency going there,” Johnson said. “And yet they still were a big part of what we were doing there in the run game, and they knew that going into it.”
It’s the type of selfless play that a winning team like the Bears can show as an example in the film room. Some of Williams’ passes sailed. Receivers lost their footing on routes. But when Swift and Monangai got the ball, their receivers and tight ends held their blocks.
“We have an elite wide receiver group that is willing to go put themselves out there and block for the betterment of the team,” Williams said. “Even on a day where maybe we’re not gonna throw as much, or the conditions are affecting the pass game. … And so their willingness, especially with who they are, the type of receivers they are, where they’ve been drafted and how special they are, their willingness to go out there and block. It’s tremendous, it’s awesome to watch.”
The first touchdown drive was exactly what Johnson loved — smashmouth football. Seven of the 11 plays were run plays, finishing with Swift’s 3-yard touchdown run.
The statement came at the end of the third quarter and into the fourth. After Nahshon Wright’s strip and recovery of Jalen Hurts’ fumble on the “tush push,” Johnson called a run for Monangai, and the rookie took it 31 yards.
“We always talk about getting that first first down and not necessarily thinking it’s gonna be an explosive run like that,” Johnson said, “but that was a huge one in that moment because we were still on our side of the field pretty backed up, and that got it to midfield and really ignited us as a whole team. And so that was great to see. I think he played his tail off. So did Swift.”
That was the first of five consecutive handoffs to Monangai.
“I did?” Monangai asked about the consecutive touches. “I don’t expect anything. I just listen to what Caleb calls in the huddle, and I go execute.”
Monangai finished that drive with a 4-yard touchdown run. The 12-play, 87-yard drive took 6:44 off the clock and gave the Bears a 17-9 lead. Only three of the 12 plays were passes.
“When it’s clicking early on, that’s kind of what you want. That’s demoralizing to the opposing team,” Swift said. “That’s a good thing that we got a chance to do that today.”
No team had run for 280 yards against the Eagles in a decade. The Bears ran for 17 first downs, the most in the league this season. This is the second 280-yard rushing performance for the Bears in 2025. They hadn’t had multiple 280-yard rushing efforts in a season since 1984.
“They were doing a great job. Swift, Kyle, everybody back there toting the ball, they were doing a great job,” Wright said. “All props to them. … They were f—ing balling.”
This was the coldest game the Bears have played in this season, and Johnson wanted a team built for these elements. They have three games left at Soldier Field and one at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. On a windy afternoon in Philadelphia, they ran wild.
“When you’re in this particular division, you know you’re playing outside. You know it’s called the black-and-blue division for a reason,” Johnson said earlier this month. “You know what these opponents are going to look like. Yeah, I think it’s important for us to have a strong running game so that we can win these games potentially in poor weather late in the season.”
The hope is that when the Bears have to rely on Williams to win with his arm, they can — and he finished the game 5-for-7 passing, including a touchdown pass to Cole Kmet, a pair of third-down conversions and a critical fourth-down throw to tight end Colston Loveland. On Black Friday, he enjoyed his point of view when he’d hand the ball off, turn around and watch his teammates roll.
“I don’t know if y’all ever see me back there, but when I see a crease, I start getting really excited,” he said. “I start jumping around like a little kid. I’m excited for those guys, those are my brothers.”
One of the biggest wins in the post-Lovie Smith era would have made the former Bears coach proud with the combo of running the ball and taking it away. A bruising rushing attack, one that wound and weaved its way through Vic Fangio’s defense, hitting creases and wearing down the defending champs, kept the Bears atop the NFC North.
