Can Chicago Bears establish the run in Week 6?
If the Chicago Bears want to walk away from Week Six with a win, the must establish a running game
The Baltimore Ravens have a stellar defense, there is no doubt about it. It dominates rookie quarterbacks and will get another chance to do so against Mitchell Trubisky on Sunday. However, the Ravens do have a weakness currently due to injury, and the Bears must exploit it.
Based on practice reports, it looks as if Brandon Williams is not going to play again in Week Six. Williams has missed the past three weeks with a foot injury and has not practiced in that time span. With Williams in the lineup, the Ravens were giving up just 85 yards per game. Since Williams has left the lineup, the Ravens have given up 149 yards per game.
Obviously, Williams is not the sole reason for this decline in play. Game flow and talent level played a factor, but that is a stark contrast in levels of efficiency.
Jordan Howard has been up and down this season. He averaged 87.5 yards per game last season and is averaging just 65.6 yards per game this season. He is also down from 5.2 yards per carry to 4.0.
However, this has somehow become arguably his best matchup to date. The Bears absolutely need to take the pressure off of Trubisky. The Pittsburgh Steelers ran the ball nine times on the first drive, they scored and they never looked back as they beat Baltimore 26-9. Bell is only averaging 3.6 yards per carry this year, but averaged a season-high 4.1 against Baltimore and put up 144 yards.
This how the Bears must approach this game. Howard should be in for a heavy workload, and he has to touch the ball early to take the pressure off of Trubisky and to put the Ravens in a position of playing from behind. If the Bears can do this, they can compete in what will be a tough road game.