The Chicago Bears offense relied heavily on the run game last season, but that hasn’t been the case through these first two games of the 2023 season.
It’s not as if they don’t have guys that can get it done. While David Montgomery is now with the Detroit Lions, they have some capable backs in Khalil Herbert, rookie Roschon Johnson and D’Onta Foreman.
Buy Bears TicketsWith Foreman inactive, Herbert and Foreman combined for just 11 carries — in the entire game. And it wasn’t as if the run game wasn’t working or the Bears were losing to the point where they needed to throw the ball.
The run was there for Chicago the entire game, where they found success with the duo of Herbert and Johnson. Herbert had seven carries for 35 yards (5.0 average) while Johnson had four carries for 32 yards (8.0 average).
The handling of the run game is another indictment on offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, who doesn’t seem to have any feel for calling a balanced offense. The Bears had four runs by Herbert and Johnson in the first half, as well as seven runs in the second half.
The expectation is we’d see more of the rookie Johnson with Foreman a healthy scratch in this game, especially after Johnson’s impressive 29-yard run that led to a first-half field goal. But they only went to him once more, which came in the fourth quarter.
With the offense struggling, maybe Getsy should go back to last year’s playbook where running the ball was a focal point, as well as something that helps a young quarterback.
