While Matt Nagy is shouldering a lot of the blame for the Chicago Bears’ offensive struggles following a disheartening 17-16 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, and rightfully so, there is one thing he did well.
He made good on his promise to run the ball more than seven times.
In fact, the Bears ran the ball 38 times. Twenty-seven of those carries went to rookie running back David Montgomery, who took full advantage of his opportunity.
Montgomery rushed for 135 yards, averaging 5.0 yards per carry, as he recorded his first 100-yard rushing game. He also scored the Bears’ only offensive touchdown of the game on a 4-yard run.
Montgomery was the offense’s lone consistent bright spot, which featured some nice throws by quarterback Mitchell Trubisky that were offset by a couple of critical fourth-quarter turnovers.
Things appear bleak for Chicago’s offense, which seemed to find another problem after solving the run game struggles, at least for a game. The Bears struggled mightily in the redzone, where they scored just one touchdown in five redzone trips.
But perhaps the most frustrating thing about Chicago’s redzone trips was the fact that Montgomery didn’t get the ball enough. Especially when the run game was finally working for Chicago.
Let’s hope that, as the Bears prepare to face the Philadelphia Eagles, Nagy doesn’t forget the success he had with Montgomery and the run game. Keep running the ball, and focus on fixing that atrocious redzone offense.
What’s that phrase general manager Ryan Pace likes to use? Incremental progress.
