Bears Rain On Philadelphia's Black Friday Parade With 24-15 Win

GOOD MORNING, CHICAGO FANS

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoyed the holiday with loved ones. What are you grateful for this year?

In Chicago, we have a lot to be grateful for: Ben Johnson, Connor Bedard’s ascension, Cade Horton’s development, Ayo Dosunmu’s field goal percentage, CJ Gardner-Johnson, Jeff Blashill’s skating drills, the Cubs’ middle infield, and Josh Giddey’s contract extension.

This should be us at Thanksgiving:

CHICAGO BEARS

W - BEARS 24 EAGLES 15

CHOMPING ON THE CHAMPS

The NFC’s #1 seed Chicago Bears punished the defending Super Bowl champions.

How about that for a statement victory?

This was the Black Friday performance we dreamed about. One year removed from the Thanksgiving timeout debacle in Detroit that led to a locker room explosion and midseason head coach firing, the 2025 Bears moved from fraud to contender.

On a windy day in Philadelphia, the Bears offensive line dominated the trenches in a way we haven’t witnessed in decades. Every rushing attempt felt like an automatic 10 yards through a massive hole in the defense. It’s like the Eagles didn’t even have 11 men on the field. The Bears had 28 first downs (to the Eagles 14), rushed for 281 yards, and monopolized time of possession (39:18).

Their typical mid-game struggle shifted into the 3rd quarter with a 92-yard Eagles TD drive and Caleb Williams interception on a screen pass. The game would have swung completely in the Eagles’ favor if not for Nahshon Wright’s clutch strip and fumble recovery on a tush push attempt.

12-play and 8-play TD drives sent the Eagles packing in the 4th. The Bears were too physical, too demoralizing, and too determined for the defending champs.

Standouts:

• D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai became the first Bears teammates to each rush for 100+ yards in a game since Walter Payton and Matt Suhey in 1985 😯 Monangai has also scored a rushing TD in 4 straight games

• Bears were 10/17 on 3rd downs! They kept those long drives alive with a special thanks to Caleb Williams’ scrambling speed and Colston Loveland’s sure hands.

• Kevin Byard sprinted across the field for his NFL-leading 6th interception

• Jaylon Johnson made his season debut and was lockdown in coverage

• Austin Booker showed off his motor against the run and pass

• Shoutout to the defense! The Eagles’ offense has struggled this season, BUT the Bears defense deserves a lot of credit for getting off the field. The Eagles only went 4-for-12 on 3rd downs and accumulated 317 total yards.

• Ozzy Trapilo started again at left tackle and held his own!

Quick Hits:

• Bears ran 85 plays on offense, which is their most in a non-overtime game since 1999

• In the wind, Caleb Williams was 17-for-36 with 154 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, and distributed the ball to 7 different pass-catchers

• AJ Brown was the lone standout for the Eagles with 10 receptions, 132 yards, and 2 TDs. He schooled Wright on an impressive 33-yard TD catch.

• Jake Elliott missed an extra point and a last-minute 52-yard field goal attempt

• Ben Johnson went shirtless in the locker room after the game to give Chicagoans free hot dogs at The Wieners Circle!

• Cole Kmet caught the lone TD pass on a cross-body play action pass from Caleb

• Even with Kyler Gordon playing, CJ Gardner-Johnson played every snap on defense. Is he the starting slot corner for the time being??

STAR(S) OF THE WEEK ⭐ D’Andre Swift & Kyle Monangai

Swift: 18 carries, 125 yards, 1 TD (6.9 yards/carry)

Monangai: 22 carries, 130 yards, 1 TD (5.9 yards/carry)

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Nahshon Wright forced fumble

Placed TE Nikola Kalinic on the Practice Squad/Injured List

Signed LB Dominique Hampton, TE Qadir Ismail, and DL Jeremiah Martin to the practice squad

Drew Dalman is the Bears’ nominee for the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award

#1 seed heading into December for the 1st time since 2006

Clinched a winning season with only 5 games remaining. This will be the first since 2018 and only the 2nd since 2012!

NFC North

9-3 Bears

8-3-1 Packers

7-5 Lions

4-8 Vikings

SCHEDULE 📅 SUNDAY @ Packers

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

L - WILD 4 BLACKHAWKS 3 (OT)

ARTY PARTY FOUL

• Artyom Levshunov scored his first NHL goal on a slick move by the net

• Ilya Mikheyev was wrongly called for interference in overtime, which led to the game-winning goal by Kirill Kaprizov

• Blackhawks had 20 shots on goal in the 1st period and had a 2nd period goal overturned just to see the Wild come back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits

L - PREDATORS 4 BLACKHAWKS 3

2ND PERIOD PREY

• Blackhawks’ 2nd period woes returned as they allowed 3 goals

• Hawks wasted a 4-minute power play in the 1st and finished 1/4 with the man advantage

• The Ryans had quite the game! (Donato, Greene, O’Reilly all scored a goal)

W - BLACKHAWKS 5 DUCKS 3

BEDARD STOPS THE BLEEDING

• Connor Bedard’s 4-point night (2g/2a) ended the Hawks’ 5-game losing streak and willed them back from an early 3-0 deficit

• Ducks scored 2 goals in the first 47 seconds

• Old friend Petr Mrazek allowed 3 goals in 16 shots before leaving with an injury, Ville Husso allowed a goal on the only shot he saw

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Connor Bedard

3 goals and 3 assists (6 points) on 13 shots

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Team passing clinic & Connor Bedard goal

Artyom Levshunov is up to 13 points (1 goal and 12 assists) in 24 games played this season

Sam Rinzel picked up 2 assists this week as he tries to climb out of a slump. His ice time was lowered over the past few weeks (15:01 per game in November) after carrying the #1 defenseman load to start the season.

SCHEDULE 📅 T/TH/SAT/SUN

CHICAGO BULLS

L - PELICANS 143 BULLS 130

PELS IN THE PAINT

• Patrick Williams started at the 5-spot with Nikola Vucevic sitting out due to injury. The Pelicans scored 78 points in the paint, outrebounded the Bulls 55-33, and scored 30 second chance points.

• Zion Williamson scored 29 points to help snap the Pelicans’ 9-game losing streak

• Ayo, Coby, and Giddey combined for 73 points

L - HORNETS 123 BULLS 116 (NBA CUP)

CHARLOTTE’S NET

• Bulls allowed 67 1st half points and couldn’t buy a stop despite winning the turnover, fast break points, and points in the paint battles

• Bulls only shot 8/36 (22%) from 3PT

• Coby White (in his homecoming game) and Josh Giddey led the team with 25 points each

L - PACERS 103 BULLS 101

THE SIAKAM SILENCER

• Pascal Siakam hit a game-winning jumper after a 4th quarter full of bricks (21-17 Bulls in the 4th)

• Bulls shot 9/16 (56%) from the free throw line

• Ugly, interestingly even game from both teams: 45%-46% FG, 45-44 rebounds, 24-24 assists, 13-13 turnovers

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Josh Giddey

21p/9.6r/7.3a per game, 2 double-doubles

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Matas Buzelis poster dunk

Bulls allowed 120+ points in 11 straight games, which is their longest streak in 35 years. That’s probably not the streak they imagined when they emphasized physicality and defense this offseason…

Bulls just lost to a 2, 3, and 4-win team all in one week 😰 They’re 3-9 in their last 12 games after starting the season 6-1!

Coby White made his 1,000th career 3-pointer. He joins Zach LaVine (sweet life of Zach & Coby reigns!) and Kirk Hinrich as the only players to reach that number in Bulls history.

Bulls have been decimated by injuries. 2nd round pick Lachlan Olbrich made his debut on Saturday and played 11 minutes. Emanuel Miller also cracked the rotation in that game.

Officially eliminated from the NBA Cup after going 1-3 in group play

Josh Giddey leads the Bulls in the major statistical categories (if you exclude Coby White and his 5 games played): 20.5p/10.0r/9.3a. What a season so far! I’m not sure he SHOULD lead the roster in rebounding, though. It’s almost like the frontcourt needed an overhaul in the offseason.

SCHEDULE 📅 M/W/F/SUN

CHICAGO CUBS

OFFSEASON

Phil Maton’s contract: 2 years, $14.5M with a club option for 2028

Dylan Cease, former Cubs farmhand and potential free agency target this offseason, is off the market. He signed a 7-year, $210M contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. I’m still not convinced the Cubs want to spend more than $20M/year on a new starter…

Minor League Player of the Year: Jonathon Long

Minor League Pitcher of the Year: Jostin Florentino

SAY WHAT?

A CITYWIDE SALUTE

Connor Murphy

Murphy continues to support first responders in Chicago! Read about his latest efforts here:

MILD TAKE

The Bears offensive line construction was a Ryan Poles masterclass.

This offseason, there was not much hope surrounding the Bears’ offensive line.

Caleb Williams was sacked 68 times in 2024, tying him for 3rd on the all-time list. Yes, a lot of those should be attributed to Caleb alone, but the line was a mess. Matt Pryor, Coleman Shelton, and Braxton Jones started a combined 44 games.

After a few big swings, the line looked significantly different heading into this season, but not everyone believed it would be better.

Ozzy Trapilo was a wasted 2nd round pick who only played on the right side.

Joe Thuney was too old and not worth a 4th round pick.

Drew Dalman was overrated and too pricey in free agency.

Jonah Jackson was declining and only played on the left side.

Darnell Wright was average and not living up to his status as the 10th overall pick.

How about now?

It turns out Ben Johnson and Ryan Poles knew what they were doing. The Bears are 2nd in the NFL in rushing yards per game (155.7), and Caleb Williams has only taken 19 sacks in their 12 games. This line is elite. We’ve been desperate for this in Chicago!

HITTING THE LINKS

Julia Poe - Is Nikola Vučević underrated — or overhated — with Chicago Bulls? ‘Whatever. Who cares? He’s super important.’ (Chicago Tribune)

Ben Pope - Why the Blackhawks are amazed by Spencer Knight's off-ice habits: Red-light mats, intermission meals and more (Chicago Sun-Times)

Brad Biggs - Dan Roushar, lured out of retirement by Chicago Bears, is the architect of one of NFL’s best O-lines (Chicago Tribune)

Ben Pope - Blackhawks prospect Mason West describes storybook football championship: 'It still doesn't feel real' (Chicago Sun-Times)

TWO MINUTE WARNING

Thanks for reading! It’s officially December! It’s Christmas season AND we get 2 Bears/Packers matchups. Tis’ the season!