Three Eagles Who Shined in Loss to Bears

The Philadelphia Eagles suffered an embarrassing 27-7 loss to the Chicago Bears, falling to 2-1 on the season. While there is plenty to criticize after a performance that saw the Eagles struggle on both sides of the ball, it wasn’t all bad.

A few players stood out despite the lopsided loss, providing some much-needed positives for Philadelphia to build on moving forward. Here are three Eagles who turned in strong performances against the Bears.

Drew Kendall

Kendall made just his second career start in the Eagles’ Week 2 win against the Titans and honestly looked like a player making his second career start. Against the Bears, Kendall was the only Eagles offensive lineman who didn’t give up a single pressure and was the highest-graded offensive player on the Eagles by Pro Football Focus.

Not to put too much stock in PFF’s grading, but Kendall’s performance on Monday Night Football was higher than any game Cam Jurgens (who will be talked about more later) played at center in his NFL career. Kendall has looked like the answer at center and will force some difficult conversations within the Philadelphia organization when/if Landon Dickerson returns from injury.

Jonathan Greenard

Making his debut with the Eagles, Greenard made his impact felt despite being on a designed snap count. He recorded two pressures on just 13 pass-rush snaps, the second-most on the team. He easily looked like the Eagles’ best pass rusher, flashing the dominant player the team believed it was getting when it gave up the new contract and draft capital to acquire him. It was a small sample, but a positive glimpse of what Greenard can bring to the team, especially when he is fully healthy.

Makai Lemon

Box score watchers and fantasy owners can complain about Lemon’s production all they want, but the tape has shown that he has consistently created separation and simply hasn’t gotten the ball. Lemon entered the game with just four catches for nine yards. The rookie more than tripled his previous output against the Bears and should have finished with even more.

Lemon’s production has suffered for a multitude of reasons: Sean Mannion’s insistence on calling screen passes that consistently lose yards and the lack of chemistry and trust between Jalen Hurts and Lemon. It also doesn’t help that on many of the longer-developing routes where Lemon is breaking open, the pocket has already collapsed. As the season progresses and Mannion figures out how to best use Lemon, I expect to see some monster games from the rookie.