Eagles’ Week of Highlights and Headaches: Brown, Hunt, and Hurts Shine as Bears’ 281 Yards Stall

A.J. Brown, Jalyx Hunt, and Jalen Hurts keep the Eagles’ offense and defense in the spotlight this week, while the Bears’ 281 rushing yards and other setbacks remind fans that the team still has work to do.

Positive Highlights

• A.J. Brown recorded his second straight 100‑yard receiving game and his third this season. Since joining the Eagles in 2022, Brown has 21 games with at least 100 yards. He now trails only Pete Retzlaff, who had 23 in nine years from 1958‑1966. Harold Carmichael, DeSean Jackson, and Mike Quick also have 21.
• Jalen Hurts threw two touchdown passes on Friday, bringing his combined touchdown total in 78 career starts to 166 – 103 passing and 63 rushing. Only five quarterbacks have more combined touchdowns in their first 78 starts: Patrick Mahomes (200–188, 12), Aaron Rodgers (188–170, 18), Dan Marino (182–179, 3), Josh Allen (180–142, 38), and Andrew Luck (169–155, 14).
• Hurts‑Brown duo has linked up for 28 touchdown passes over 3 ½ years, the most by an Eagles quarterback‑wide receiver pair in nearly four decades. The top four are Ron Jaworski/Harold Carmichael (47), Jaws/Mike Quick (33), Sonny Jurgensen/Tommy McDonald (30), and Norm Van Brocklin/McDonald (29). Hurts and DeVonta Smith rank seventh with 26.
• Hurts’ two touchdown passes lifted his career total to 114, moving him past Carson Wentz for fourth on the all‑time Eagles list. Wentz had 113 passing touchdowns in five seasons. The top three are Donovan McNabb (240), Ron Jaworski (184), and Randall Cunningham (153). Wentz still has nine more regular‑season touchdown passes as an Eagle than Hurts, while Hurts has 10 playoff touchdowns and Wentz had none.

Defensive Standouts

• Jalyx Hunt secured his second interception of the year, becoming the first Eagles defensive lineman with two interceptions in a season in 38 years. The last was Jerome Brown in 1987, who picked off Jay Schroeder of Washington and Neil Lomaz of the Cardinals. Only Clyde Simmons and Reggie White have multiple career interceptions as edge rushers or defensive ends for the Eagles. Simmons intercepted Phil Simms in 1989 and Jim Kelly in 1993 (with a third in 1995 vs Stan Humphries). White intercepted Humphries in 1990 and Boomer Esiason in 1991 (with a third in 1996 vs Rick Mirer).
• Hunt is one of four NFL players with at least two sacks and two interceptions, and the first Eagle since Nate Gerry in 2019 to have two of each.

Opponent Performance

• In the Eagles’ last five games, opposing quarterbacks completed only 52.1 % of their passes – the lowest completion percentage against the Eagles in a five‑game span in 14 years, since 2011 when the Eagles held the Buccaneers, Jaguars, Washington, Titans, and Colts to 51.4 %. Over the last eight games, the Eagles allowed just seven passing touchdowns and held quarterbacks to 56.2 % completion, the first time over an eight‑game span since 2007.
• The Eagles stopped Kyle Monangai on 4th‑and‑1 on the Lions’ first drive Friday, marking the team’s 10th consecutive 4th‑down stop back to the Packers game and extending the club record (since 1991). Opposing teams are 7‑for‑23 on fourth down against the Eagles (30.4 %), the second‑best in the NFL behind the Chiefs (27.4 %).

Rushing and Yards

• The Bears rushed for 281 yards – tied for the 10th‑most ever against the Eagles. The 1935 Bears also had 281 rushing yards in a 39‑0 win at the Baker Bowl. It is the sixth‑most rushing yards against the Eagles in Philadelphia and the second‑most since 1962.
• The 281 rushing yards are the Bears’ third‑most since 1984 but second‑most this month. They had 283 earlier in November against the Bengals in Cincinnati. The last team with two games in the same month with 280 rushing yards was the 2013 Eagles (299 vs Lions, 289 vs Bears).
• The Cowboys’ 125 rushing yards plus the Bears’ 281 made this the first time the Eagles have allowed 400 rushing yards in a two‑game span in 19 years, since the Titans (209) and Colts (237) combined for 446 in November 2006.
• The Bears recorded 17 rushing first downs, the most against the Eagles since 1999. The previous high of 15 occurred three times, most recently by the Giants in a 42‑7 win in 2012 at MetLife. The Bears’ 17 rushing first downs are the most by any NFL team this year.
• Only two teams have had more rushing attempts vs. the Eagles in the last 40 years than the Bears’ 47. In 2004 the Steelers had 56 in a 27‑3 win at Heinz Field, and in 2022 the Commanders had 49 in a 32‑21 win at the Linc.
• The Eagles are the first team with a winning percentage over .700 to allow 280 or more rushing yards in a game since the 11‑3 Panthers gave up 301 in a 34‑28 loss to the Giants in 2008. Derrick Ward ran 215 yards for the Giants in that game.
• The Eagles rushed for 87 yards Sunday, and the 194‑yard differential in rushing yards is the third‑largest against the Eagles in the last 40 years. In 2004 the Steelers out‑rushed the Eagles by 229 yards, in 2014 the 49ers out‑ran the Eagles by 196 yards. The last time the Eagles were out‑rushed by this many yards at home was 1983, when the Giants had 215 and the Eagles had 10.

Running‑Back Duos

• D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai became only the eighth duo in NFL history to both rush for at least 125 yards, average at least 5.5 yards per carry and score a touchdown in the same game. They are the first since Frank Gore and Colin Kaepernick of the 49ers in 2014 vs the Chargers and the first RB duo since Chris Johnson and LenDale White of the Titans vs the Chiefs in 2008. The last duo with 125 yards, a 5.5 average and a TD vs the Eagles in the same game was Jim Brown (24‑for‑153‑1) and Bobby Mitchell (14‑for‑156‑2) in the Browns’ 41‑24 win over the Eagles at Franklin Field in the 1960 opener. The Eagles won their next 10 games and beat the Packers in the NFL Championship in December 1960 at Franklin Field.
• The Eagles had only allowed one back to rush for 125 yards with a 6.5 average in 87 games during Nick Sirianni’s tenure before allowing two in the same game. The previous one to do it was Swift, 15‑for‑144 (9.6) with the Lions in a 38‑35 Eagles win at Ford Field in 2022. Swift is the only fourth player with multiple games vs. the Eagles with 125 rushing yards and a 6.5 average or higher, the first since Deuce McAllister of the Saints in 2003 and 2006. Others are Jim Brown (five such games from 1958‑1965) and Emmitt Smith twice in 1993.
• In the first 48 Eagles‑Bears games back to 1933, no Bears player rushed for 125 yards with a 5.9 average or better. Then two did it on Friday.
• Monangai became the first rookie with 130 rushing yards and at least a 5.5 average vs. the Eagles since Saquon Barkley of the Giants in 2018. His 130 yards are the third‑most by a player drafted in the seventh round or later vs. the Eagles in the last 40 years. Darick Holmes of the Packers had 163 in 1998 and Rashad Jennings of the Giants had 170 in 2016.
• Swift’s 125 yards are the most ever by a former Eagle against the Eagles. Clarence Peaks, the seventh pick overall in 1957, had 101 yards against the Eagles for the Steelers in 1964 at Pitt Stadium.
• Swift now has a 6.6 career average vs. the Eagles (actually went down Friday). Among running backs who’ve faced the Eagles at least three times, that is the third‑highest all‑time, behind McAllister (7.5) and Chick Jagade of the Browns in the 1950s (7.5).

Scoring and Pace

• The Eagles scored just 62 points in their last four games, the fewest in a four‑game span since the 2012 season when they scored 59 in losses to the Falcons, Saints, Cowboys, and Washington.
• The Eagles are on pace to allow 4.5 yards per rush and record just 34 sacks. Since sacks became an official stat in 1982, they’ve never allowed 4 ½ yards per run and recorded 34 or fewer sacks in the same season. The closest was 1993, when they allowed 4.5 yards per carry and had 36 sacks. If they finish with 34 sacks, it would be the 6th‑fewest in franchise history, and 4.5 yards per carry would be tied for 4th‑worst during the sack era.
• The Eagles are ranked 24th in the NFL in offense and 23rd in defense. The last time they ranked in the bottom 10 in both offense and defense for a full season was 1999, Andy Reid’s first year and Donovan McNabb’s rookie year. They were 30th in offense and 24th in defense that year.
• The Bears out‑gained the Eagles by 108 yards, and the Eagles have been out‑gained in 10 of their 12 games this year. The last time they were out‑gained more often in their first 12 games was 1999, when it happened 11 times.

Zach Ertz Highlights

• Zach Ertz had 10 catches for 106 yards in the Commanders’ loss to the Broncos. It was his 12th career 10‑catch game, tied for 2nd‑most in NFL history behind Tony Gonzalez’s 15. It was his first 10‑catch regular‑season game in almost exactly six years. He had 12 catches against the Seahawks for the Eagles in 2019.
• Ertz’s 100‑yard game was his 14th, tied for 11th‑most ever. It was his first regular‑season 100‑yard game since 103 yards against the Bears in 2019, and his most yards since 110 against the Texans in 2018. Ertz, 35 years 20 days, had 11‑for‑104 yards in the NFC Championship 2019 at the Linc.
• Only three tight ends older than Ertz have a 100‑yard game (Gonzalez, Kelce, Pete Retzlaff). Only four tight ends older than Ertz have 10 catches in a game (Gonzalez, Kelce, Jason Witten, Wesley Walls).
• Ertz is the oldest player in Washington’s 94‑year history with 10 catches in a game, about six months older than Don Warren when he had 10 catches vs. the Giants in 1990. He is the 2nd‑oldest Washington player with a 100‑yard game. Henry Ellard had three in 1996 at 35 years 84, 91, 154 days.
• Ertz’s first 100‑yard game came for the Eagles against Washington in 2014 with Mark Sanchez. He has 100‑yard games 11 years apart. The only two tight ends to have 100‑yard games farther apart are Gonzalez (13 years) and Witten (12 years).
• Ertz’s 10 receptions gave him 878 career catches, moving him past Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe (877) into fifth place in NFL history among tight ends. Next on the list is Antonio Gates with 1,006.
• The most career catches by players who played for the Eagles at some point are: Cris Carter 1,164, Terrell Owens 1,132, Art Monk 1,009, Julio Jones 991, Jimmy Smith 902, Irving Fryar 881, Ertz 878, James Lofton 805, Golden Tate 730.

Key Takeaways

• A.J. Brown’s 100‑yard streak and Jalyx Hunt’s rare interceptions highlight defensive and offensive resilience.
• Hurts’ touchdown record and the Eagles’ low completion percentage allowed by opponents showcase offensive potency and defensive pressure.
• Bears’ 281 rushing yards, Cowboys’ 125 yards, and the combined 400 yards against the Eagles underline a challenging run defense this week.

The week ends with a mix of individual achievements and collective challenges, reminding fans that the Eagles still have hurdles to clear before the season’s finish.