The view is nice, if not slippery from the top of the National Football Conference.
Thanks to a Rams loss and a Bears win in Philadelphia, the Bears rule the NFC. They're 9-3 and the current number-one over all seed, a tie-breaker above L-A.
And they're prepping now for a Sunday showdown for first place, at Green Bay next Sunday at 3:25 pm.
The Bears rumbled through the defending champion Eagles with ease, getting 130 yards from rookie Kyle Monangai and 125 yards from D'Andre Swift. They're the first Bears duo to each rush for 100 yards or more since Walter Payton and Matt Suhey in the Super Bowl season 40 years ago.
"Yeah, 1985." Quarterback Caleb Williams acknowledges, "That's a cool stat, right?"
"Having that (running game), I know, provides a lot of confidence within the coaching. I know it provides a lot of confidence in the offensive line, and running backs especially, that they can put the game on their back, they can do everything that we need to win for us. And when it comes time for us to pass we can do it."
Monangai and Swift both scored. The Bears out-scored the Eagles 14-6 in the fourth quarter and sealed a 24-15 win with a down-field strike from Caleb Williams to his secondary read on the play, tight end Cole Kmet.
"That's one that just presented itself." Head coach Ben Johnson admits.
"Swifty (D'Andre Swift) is actually the number-one read on that (play). As (QB) Caleb (Williams) is pulling on out you can feel the safety is dipping down low and I think he (Williams) felt that, he saw it and delivered a good ball and made them (the Eagles) pay, so it was good."
Williams was a shaky 17-of-36 passing for just 154 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, sacked twice. But his poise and ability to keep plays alive helped keep the Bears offense churning. And on the touchdown toss to Kmet, Williams went through his reads to find just the right receiver.
"Cole ran a great route." Williams says.
"They (Eagles defenders) ended up dropping him. I just kind of saw him (Kmet) flash. It's a play we haven't really practiced too much, especially on the short week. It was something we trusted, something we believed in ourselves, as a team, as an offense and as players. I saw a defender trying to catch up to him and I just wanted to lay it (the pass) out there and let the wind kind of push it back to him and Cole made a great catch."
And it sure helped getting two of their better defenders, Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon back from injuries, Tyrique Stevenson too. to help clog up the Eagles passing game.
"I thought it was huge." Johnson says.
"Third down was when they were all out there together for sure, and then other times we were kind of platooning those guys. It was just great to see them get their feet wet. I'll be curious to see what that tape looks like. There's a couple of good receivers (A.J. Brown and Davonta Smith) for 'Philly' out there on the field, so I can't wait to see how tight that coverage was. I think it'll be a good stepping stone for us to build upon going forward here."
Ben Johnson's Bears regroup at Halas Hall Monday, go back to practice Tuesday.
If the Bears don't beat the Packers, they'll slip to second place in the NFC North, and farther down the seven-team playoff ladder with four games left, including their second of two contests with the Packers at Soldier Field, Saturday, December 20.