Bears’ Former Strength Now Glaring Weakness as Stagnant Ground Game Dooms Season
Published by Zach Kruse on December 5, 2014
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
Add a completely nonexistent running game to the long list of things that have gone horribly wrong for the Chicago Bears during the 2014 season.
One week after admitting defeat on the ground in a must-win game against the Detroit Lions, the Bears offense called 13 designed run plays for running back Matt Forte as he gained just 26 yards during a 41-28 Thursday night loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Head coach Marc Trestman has preached all season about the importance of run-pass balance to his offense. But over the course of the last two games, the Bears have called only 20 designed runs and gained just 40 yards. Add in two quarterback scrambles from Jay Cutler and one kneel-down, and Chicago has just 48 yards rushing on 23 attempts over the last 120 minutes of football.
The Bears could be given somewhat of a pass for struggling on the ground in Detroit, where the Lions rank No. 1 in the NFL against the run. Chicago formulated a game plan around the short passing game—similar to how the New England Patriots successfully attacked the Lions a week earlier—and ran the ball just seven times.
In theory, it was a rational idea. Instead of banging their head against a brick wall, the Bears tried substituting out the run for a screen-heavy scheme based on getting the football out of Cutler’s hands quickly.
The theory just didn’t work. Chicago scored only 17 points, including just three after the first quarter.
There were no excuses Thursday night at Soldier Field.
Over the course of the last week, every important member of the Bears offense spoke at length about how important the running game would be against the Cowboys. They stressed the value in the play-action passing game, in slowing down the pass rush, in combating the winter elements and in keeping the defense off balance. The overwhelming consensus was that the Bears failed miserably in Detroit and needed to do much better against Dallas.
Then Thursday night’s game started, and all the talk this week became nothing more than empty promises. Even after the game, Trestman was quick to lean on excuses for Chicago’s stagnant rushing attack, per John Mullin of CSNChicago.com.
“We only had 20 plays in the first half,” Trestman said. “We tried to run the football. They were certainly making every effort to stop the run.”
The Bears ran the football just six times in the first half. Four of the rushes came on the offense’s first series. Over the next 53 plays, the Bears called just 10 more runs—all to Forte. Overall, Chicago had 11 drives, and only one—the first of the game—saw the Bears run the ball more than two times.
Regardless of how many plays the Bears actually ran in the first half, there’s no excuse for what happened in the final two quarters.
When Chicago did run, the results weren’t there. Forte had one carry for five yards and another for seven. The Cowboys managed to limit all 11 of his other carries to four yards or less.
The opposition made Chicago’s ineffectiveness even more surprising. The Cowboys came into the contest allowing almost 120 rushing yards per game (22nd in the NFL) and 4.5 yards per carry (27th). On Thanksgiving, the Philadelphia Eagles ran for 256 yards against the overmatched Dallas defense.
The lowest rushing total the Cowboys had given up prior to Week 13 was 71 to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Bears finished with 35 yards, or less than half of that total, and an embarrassing 2.3-yard average.
The struggles on the ground aren’t a new phenomenon in Chicago. The Bears have rushed for over 100 yards as a team just four times this season. A 235-yard rushing effort in a 21-point loss to the Green Bay Packers stands out as an obvious outlier for an offense that ranks in the bottom third of the NFL in rushing attempts, yards, touchdowns and average.
A season ago, the Bears averaged 4.5 yards per carry and went 7-4 when rushing for over 100 yards in a game. Chicago was 3-0 when rushing for 149 or more.
Forte had arguably his best season ever rushing the football. He carried 289 times for 1,339 yards and nine scores, finishing second in the NFL in yards, 20-yard carries (nine) and first-down runs (74), sixth in touchdowns and ninth in yards per carry (4.6). He was the most impressive back in the league not named LeSean McCoy.
This season, Forte is averaging 3.99 yards per carry. He is on pace to rush for just 1,051 yards, and he has just one carry over 20 yards. Meanwhile, Forte has hauled in 86 passes as a receiver—putting him on pace for almost 106 receptions—as the Chicago offense has become increasingly pass-heavy.
Even at 5-8, the Bears are still not mathematically eliminated from the postseason. But that reality is nothing more than a tease, as Chicago currently finds itself at No. 12 in the NFC—a conference with four teams at nine wins, two at eight and one at seven. Throw in an automatic bid for the lowly NFC South winner and Chicago’s bordering on a zero percent chance of qualifying for extra football in 2014.
A number of reasons can help explain why the Bears have just five wins in 13 tries this season. The running game might not be in the top five. But in back-to-back losses, a failure to establish much of anything on the ground likely ranks near the top.
The idea of run-pass balance will surely be a focal point over the final three games of this season. When anyone with any influence on the Bears offense mentions a need to establish said balance, just laugh. It’s a comical line from a club that has delivered nothing but empty promises all season.
Zach Kruse covers the NFC North for Bleacher Report.
Read more Chicago Bears news on BleacherReport.com
