Khalil Herbert usually has trouble sleeping after games. Thursday night, though, was particularly eye-opening.
Around 3 a.m., the Bears running back popped out of bed and picked up his iPad. He wanted to watch the play again and again and again: on fourth-and-inches early in the second quarter, Herbert was stuffed at the goal line.
There wasn’t a hole that he missed when he plowed into the Commanders’ defensive line. Herbert did think about leaping over the pile, a la Walter Payton, but demurred.
“Just trying to figure out what I can do differently if I’m presented that situation again,” he said Tuesday. “How can I get in? What could I have done different? Just so that if I’m in that situation, when I’m in that situation again, we have a different outcome.”
Herbert will be in that situation again. He’s more likely than starter David Montgomery to be on the Bears’ next good team.
Despite being the Bears’ backup, Herbert leads all NFL running backs with 6.4 yards per carry. Herbert has rushes of 64 yards — which set up the Commanders’ goal line stand — and 52 yards, making him one of two running backs with multiple 50-yard-plus runs this year.
Since 1970, only one Bears rusher has been more dynamic through six games: quarterback Bobby Douglas averaged 7.7 yards per carry in 1972.
This season, Herbert has proven he has the skills to start, both when Montgomery missed a game because of an ankle injury and when he split carries with him.
Herbert’s development makes the NFL’s Nov. 1 trade deadline compelling. The Bears could consider moving Montgomery, whose contract expires at the end of the season, though they’d probably get a third-day draft pick in return. If the Bears are going to spend this offseason, they’re unlikely to reap any compensatory picks for losing Montgomery in free agency.
The Bills, Chiefs, Rams and other playoff contenders need help at running back. That creates a market — though the teams being successful without a ball-carrier shows how far the demand has fallen.
Head coach Matt Eberflus bristled when asked about the deadline — particularly the assertion that there might be a conflict of interest between him wanting to win every game and general manager Ryan Poles trying to take the long view of the franchise. Ebeflus said both he and Poles want to win every game.
“I would just make a general statement there that we’re always going to do what’s best for the Chicago Bears and our franchise,” Eberflus said. “Not only now, but for the future.”
The second part of his answer keeps the door open for some deadline movement. The Bears, though, must weigh every decision by asking how it helps quarterback Justin Fields. Trading Montgomery would not help Fields, even though he’s averaging 4 yards per carry — or 2.4 yards less per carry than Herbert.
Eberflus couldn’t explain the disparity.
“I know [Herbert] a good runner,” Eberflus said. “I know he’s slippery. I know he’s got good contact balance. That’s for sure. And I think that happens a lot of times when the first tackler doesn’t get him down.”
As for dividing carries, Eberflus repeated that the Bears would continue to ride the hot hand. That backfired on fourth-and-inches — Montgomery would be the rusher more likely to plunge forward.
“Whoever’s hot right there, we’re going to stay with him and go from there,” Eberflus said.
Two weeks from now, the answer might be different.
“I really just feel like both of our styles, we’re able to make people miss, make plays,” Herbert said. “And that ultimately helps the team get those hard yards when we need it. … Either of us [get] going and we’re able to do something, help the team out.”
