3 Takeaways from Bears' Week 15 Loss vs. Eagles

With a Week 14 bye, the Chicago Bears had extra time to prepare for a matchup against the NFL's top team. It wouldn't be an easy task to take on the Philadelphia Eagles, though, and that became evident Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field.

The Bears didn't let the Week 15 contest become one-sided, but they still fell 25-20, suffering their seventh consecutive loss. However, it's not too bad to lose by only five points to the Eagles, who improved to 13-1 this season.

Chicago cut Philadelphia's lead to 25-20 on Justin Fields' 35-yard touchdown pass to Byron Pringle with two minutes and 43 seconds to go in the fourth quarter. But the Eagles put the game away by picking up a first down and running out the clock on their ensuing drive.

Here are three takeaways from the Bears' Week 15 loss.

Chicago's defense made several big plays in the first half and gave the team an opportunity to establish early momentum. Philadelphia scored only three points over its first four possessions, two of which ended with Jalen Hurts interceptions (recorded by Kyler Gordon and DeAndre Houston-Carson).

However, the Bears couldn't capitalize on the rare turnovers by Hurts (who had been picked off only three times this season entering the day). Chicago was forced to punt on its offensive possessions immediately following those picks, and it trailed Philadelphia 10-6 at the half.

"When we take the ball into that plus field, inside that 30-, 35-yard line, either through special teams or taking the ball away, which we did, the offense has got to score touchdowns," Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said, per Gabby Hajduk of the team's official website. "That's how you put guys away. You create momentum that way, and I think that's something we have to learn to do as a football team."

There were still encouraging defensive moments for Chicago, which also recovered a Miles Sanders fumble in the third quarter. But Philadelphia racked up 421 total yards and got a trio of rushing touchdowns from Hurts.

So the Bears need to do a better job of having complete performances, which includes counting on their offense to back up strong defensive play with big moments of their own.

One of the bright spots throughout Chicago's down season has been the play of Fields, who has made huge strides in his second NFL campaign. The 23-year-old quarterback even made some history with his legs on Sunday.

Fields, who ran for a team-high 95 yards, has now rushed for 1,000 yards this year. He became only the third quarterback in league history to reach that mark in a season, joining Lamar Jackson and Michael Vick.

"That's pretty impressive when you can rush like that, and a lot of it's coming from ad lib and whatnot, so pretty special stuff," Bears tight end Cole Kmet said, per Larry Mayer of the team's official website. "The way he's able to run through arm tackles and all those things down the field is pretty cool."

However, Fields has also shown improvement with his arm in 2022, which continued this week. He went 14-for-21 for 152 yards and two touchdowns against an Eagles pass defense that has talented players across the secondary.

It will be exciting to see how Fields continues to progress as he keeps gaining experience and when Chicago adds more talented playmakers around him.

Will the Bears win another game this season? Potentially not, as they have more challenging matchups over the next three weeks. So there could be more growing pains to close out the year, with this young team continuing to face more experienced, stronger opponents.

Chicago's final three regular-season games will be against the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings. The Bills and Vikings have already clinched spots in the playoffs, while the Lions have won six of their past seven games to become a legitimate contender in the NFC wild-card race.

But the Bears will play two of those three contests at home. And if they're able to pull off at least one upset against a strong competitor, perhaps that will allow them to take some momentum into the offseason.

For Chicago, the 2022 season was mostly about getting young players experience and helping them learn a new system in their first year under Eberflus. So even if the Bears end up 3-14, they could be in a position to take steps forward in 2023.