Tarik Cohen more wide receiver than running back in Bears Week 1 loss to Packers

One of the questions heading into the Chicago Bears first game was how Matt Nagy would handle his trio of talented running backs.

He found ways to use all three, by taking one of them out of the backfield almost completely.

Tarik Cohen was the on the field for the majority of the Bears offensive snaps, but he was used almost exclusively as a wide receiver.

He lined up in the backfield on only two snaps, according to NFL’s Next Gen Stats, with most of his plays coming from the slot.

Tarik Cohen may be listed as a running back, but his role tonight suggests otherwise. Snaps by alignment:

Slot – 36
Wide – 8
Backfield – 2

All three Bears RBs played 35%+ of snaps with Mike Davis (38 snaps) playing more snaps than David Montgomery (23).#GBvsCHI | #Bears100 pic.twitter.com/IFDPsisq8E

— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 6, 2019

Mike Davis was the lead running back in terms of snaps played with 38 to David Montgomery’s 23, but the rookie third-round pick did have one more carry than the veteran.

The bigger issue was Matt Nagy abandoning the running game. Trubisky handed it off to running backs only 11 times while attempting 45 passes. The Bears never trailed by more than seven points.