Bears running back Khalil Herbert had a dominant performance in Sunday’s win over the Texans, and he was a big reason why the offense was able to move the ball despite struggles in the passing game.
Herbert replaced an injured David Montgomery in the first quarter, and he carried Chicago’s offense on his back to the tune of 157 yards on 20 carries for a 7.9 average and two touchdowns.
Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar was impressed with what he saw from Herbert following his career outing against the Texans. Farrar named Herbert one of his “Secret Superstars” from Week 3:
The Bears selected Herbert in the sixth round of the 2021 draft out of Virginia Tech, and it surprised me that he went that low — I ranked him as the 10th-best running back in his class, and noted that he had a ton of potential.
I wrote of Herbert that “While he is an excellent tackle-breaker, Herbert’s size comes into play in a negative sense as a run-after-run power back. When he takes a body shot, no matter how hard he tries to get past it, it’s 50-50 whether he’ll go down.”
Against the Texans in a 23-20 win last Sunday, Herbert did everything he could to make me look like an idiot. Not that I need help. In any event, Herbert had a career game against Houston’s defense, running 20 times for 157 yards, two touchdowns, seven forced missed tackles, six runs of 10 or more yards, and eight first downs.
Assuming Montgomery, who is day-to-day with an ankle injury, can’t go this week, Herbert will get the start against the New York Giants. He’ll have a chance to build off his career outing against a Giants defense allowing 138.3 rushing yards per game.
Herbert was nominated for FedEx Ground Player of the Week following his performance.
