The Chicago Bears opened the 2021 season with a 34-14 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on a prime-time stage, where Chicago’s offense showed glimmers of hope, starting with one shining star in particular.
Our Bears player of the game is running back David Montgomery, who proved he was made for Sundays with a dominant outing to kick off the 2021 season. Montgomery recorded his first (of hopefully many) 100-yard games against a top-Rams defense from a season ago. Montgomery rushed for 108 yards on 16 carries, including 79 yards in the first half, and a touchdown. He also added one reception for 10 yards.
“David ran really hard, and it’s fun to see because you’ve seen it all camp,” said quarterback Andy Dalton. “You know what all he can do, and now you get him in a game atmosphere and for him to run the way he did, I love to see the way he played.”
DAVID MONTGOMERY IS LOOSE 💨 pic.twitter.com/hCQIRSV98G
— PFF Fantasy Football (@PFF_Fantasy) September 13, 2021
Montgomery was impressive on Chicago’s first two possessions, where he had 57 rushing yards on three carries. Naturally, Matt Nagy didn’t go to Montgomery once on the Bears’ ensuing possession.
Nagy promised Montgomery would get 20-plus touches a game, but he fell short of that mark by four, which had a lot to do with Chicago’s growing deficit in the closing quarter.
Still, the Bears offense managed to establish a balanced attack behind Montgomery, where they were able to keep things close into the third quarter against a Rams defense that was the best in the NFL last season. Let’s hope Nagy remembers to continue to feed Montgomery this season.
