Khalil Herbert had a big game for the Chicago Bears in Week 3.
The backup to David Montgomery got 20 carries on Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field as Montgomery left the game in the first quarter with an ankle and knee injury. Herbert made the most of his opportunities with 157 rushing yards and two touchdowns along with two catches for 12 yards.
Houston Texans coach Lovie Smith is willing to give credit to Herbert, who had a spectacular game in Houston’s 23-20 loss to Chicago.
“I think most teams though play two guys,” Smith told reporters Monday. “They feel pretty good about two guys. And, so, yeah, he was listed as a second-team running back, but he hasn’t played. He’s a good football player. I think most, in the NFL, there’s a lot of backups like that just waiting for the opportunity, they haven’t gotten it.”
The easy way out would be for Smith to give the entire credit to Herbert as to why Houston gave up 281 yards rushing and 7.0 yards per carry. However, the Texans pay their players, too, and Smith knows Houston’s run defense has to improve, especially as the club slipped to 0-2-1 on the year.
“But those plays yesterday, they had a lot — I’m going to that one big run that he had had a lot to do with us,” said Smith of Herbert’s 52-yard run on first-and-10 from the Bears’ 25-yard line with 11:25 to go in the third quarter. “We had someone out of a gap and we missed a big tackle. That leads to maybe guys, backup running backs coming in and really having big games based on what the other side did. It’s definitely the case on that play.”
The Texans will have to fix their run defense quickly as the Los Angeles Chargers come to NRG Stadium Oct. 2 for a noontime showdown in Week 4.
