The Bears’ ground game has been one of the least effective in the NFL, which is especially problematic when trying to develop Mitch Trubisky, but coach Matt Nagy saw progress in the win over the Lions.
Led by David Montgomery, they ran for 88 yards at a rate of 3.8 per attempt. Montgomery picked up 4.7 per carry, his third-best average of the season, totaled 75 yards and didn’t have a negative-yardage play.
“It makes it a lot easier, because it’s open to what the next play call’s gonna be based off of second-and-3, second-and-4, second-and-5,” Nagy said. “It’s way easier.”
While Montgomery roughed up the Lions, the Cowboys are sure to be more challenging Thursday.
They have a top-10 defense, but are better against the pass than the run. In losses to the Patriots and Bills the last two weeks, they allowed 225 rushing yards at 3.7 per carry.
Nonetheless, the Cowboys are sturdy up front with linebackers Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch (in question with a neck injury) and defensive end Robert Quinn. They’ve struggled lately, but they sure aren’t the Lions.
“Every week is different... You can’t just put on Tecmo Bowl and all the sudden be playing this front on arcades,” Nagy said. “It’s different every week, so we’ve gotta try to scheme things up as much as we can. But last week felt good.”
The Bears have broken 100 yards rushing twice in 12 games. Only the Dolphins and Jets have fewer.
Whitehair’s wildness
The Bears are continuing to ride out inconsistent shotgun snaps from center Cody Whitehair, an ongoing problem from last season. He had multiple inaccurate snaps against the Lions, which doesn’t help an offense that’s still trying to find some rhythm.
“We’re always working on it, and we know there have been some of those,” Nagy said. “It can affect timing at times. But Mitch has done a good job when they are high.”
It could be a product of all the position changes. Whitehair played guard his first two seasons at Kansas State and tackle the last two.
He began his pro career at left guard before the Bears moved him to center just before the start of his rookie season. After making the Pro Bowl at center last season, Nagy moved him back to left guard, swapping spots with James Daniels. That didn’t work out, and the Bears reversed it in Week 10.
Nagy likened Whitehair’s bad snaps to a golfer having the yips and doesn’t think there’s anything the coaching staff can do besides ride it out.
“You just keep rolling,” Nagy said. “We’ve been OK with it. We feel fine with where he’s at.”
Miller time?
This is a big week for Bears wide receiver Anthony Miller after putting up nice games against the Giants and Lions. He has struggled with consistency throughout his two seasons in the NFL and can be a game-changer for the offense if he keeps this going.
“He’s working his tail off,” Trubisky said. “Last week with the short week, he was locked in mentally. We put a lot on his plate and he absolutely delivered.”
Miller set career highs at Detroit with nine catches for 140 yards and played a season-high 86 percent of the snaps, partly a result of Taylor Gabriel’s absence.
