FOUR FIELD GOALS NOT ENOUGH AS EAGLES BEAT BEARS 24-20

The Bears fading playoff hopes took another hit Sunday evening when a team that rarely wins here,did so.Mt.Carmel alum Donovan McNabb tossed a pair of TD passes and the Bears had to settle for too many field goals rather than score needed touchdowns and the Philadelphia Eagles left with a 24-20 win.
The Eagles marched 68 yards to start the game on 9 plays, and Michael Vick,who had done little this season,and who had bitched that he wanted to play more, busted the biggest play of the drive with a 34 yard run out of the “wildcat formation” down to the Bear 32. LeSean McCoy,playing for the injured Brian Westbrook, then had runs of 14 and 5 yards to get the ball down to the 6 but the drive halted and David Akers kicked a 25 yard field goal. After the Bears went three and out, The Eagles started at their own 34 and thanks to a pair of penalties,one a face mask,and the other an offside,the Eagles(6-4) took it the distance, McNabb connecting with Jason Avant,who caught a pass at the 5 and broke free for a 13 yard touchdown.The first quarter ended 10-0 Philadelphia. As the second quarter began,the Bears(4-6) had a 2nd and three from the Eagles 27 and Jay Cutler overthrew a wide open Greg Olsen and Devin Hester on consecutive plays,forcing a 45 yard Robbie Gould field goal. Later,the Bears took over at their own 18 and Kahlil Bell,on his first carry as a Bear, broke free up the middle for 72 yards to the Bears 10. But two stuffed running plays and another incompletion later, Gould kicked a 28 yard field goal to trim the Eagles advantage to 10-6.The Bears got the ball back and drove to the Eagles 11,but Gould had to kick another 28 yarder to trim the Philly lead to 10-9 at halftime.
Gould continued to be on target as the Bears took advantage of a bad punt by Sav Rocca which led to a 49 yard field goal which gave the Bears their first lead 12-10 just 4:34 into the third quarter. That did not last long as the Eagles needed just two plays to score. First on a 16 yard screen pass from McNabb to Jeremy Maclin,and then a 49 yard bomb from McNabb to a wide open DeSean Jackson to make it 17-12. But Johnny Knox returned the kickoff 41 yards to his own 45 and the Bears marched through the Eagles with ease.They needed just 6 plays to travel the 55 yards as Cutler avoided a sack and hit Kellen Davis in stride in the end zone for a 15 yard score,then Cutler found Matt Forte on a two point conversion,giving the Bears a 20-17 lead after three quarters.After an exchange of punts,the Eagles started at their 37 LeSean.McCoy went off right guard for 17 yards, but Charles Tillman stripped the ball which was recovered by Mark Anderson at the Eagle 36. The Bears did nothing and Gould tried for his 5th field goal of the night,but his 48 yard try was blocked by Antonio Dixon giving the Eagles the ball at their own 38. That led to an Eagles scoring drive of 62 yards in 11 plays with McCoy atoning for his fumble with a 10 yard scoring run with 5:31 remaining.The Bears had a couple more chances but they ended with a punt and Cutlers only intercepted pass(by Sean Jones)with :45 left in the game.

NOTES—Attendance figures were; 62,421 tickets issued, 59,203 in the house,and 3,218 no shows…..The Eagles had never won a Sunday night game until now….The Bears lifetime home record against the Eagles(including a 2002 game in Champaign and a 1970 contest in Evanston)fell to 16-5….Cutler was 24-43 for 171 yards, 1 TD and 1 Interception.His passer rating was 63.2……McNabb was 23-32 for 244 yards,2 TD,and 1 Int. He was sacked three times for losses totaling 24 yards.His passer rating was 101.6……Next up is a game Sunday at Minnesota. Kickoff is 3:15pm.

LES