Chicago Bears fans once clamored to release Mike Davis. Now he may provide payback
Nobody can deny that the Chicago Bears signing Mike Davis did not work for either side. From the first game until they released him, Matt Nagy could not figure out the perfect blend of Davis while mixing in David Montgomery.
The team needed to release Davis to conserve a compensatory pick, and by this time last year, Bears fans were screaming to just get it over with. Now, a year later, it looks as though he has found himself in a better spot.
Sure, it took an injury to Christian McCaffrey, but Davis is proving why the Bears went out and signed him in the first place. Davis has always been talented, he just has not been able to find a backfield to himself.
Finally, he has that role, assuming the same touches as McCaffrey would have. With that, he has excelled. Take a look at how Davis compared to Montgomery this year.
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The first thought is, that would be nice if they were on the same team, right? Ha. It would have been easier to work him in through the passing game now that Tarik Cohen is injured. Remember how the Bears used Cohen when Davis and Montgomery split time? Perhaps Cohen was a logjam, and a Davis-Montgomery duo would have been balanced enough.
Nonetheless, Davis has 17 fewer carries, but only 27 fewer yards. He is averring 0.9 yards more each carry. Beyond that, the passing game usage hurts. The Panthers offensive line is not leaps and bounds better, and both teams have benefited from playing Atlanta.
This is one case where you can probably blame Nagy more than Ryan Pace. Pace brought in a talented player, and between Cohen, Davis, and Montgomery, the coach could not find the right usage.
Davis is going to get a full workload once against Chicago, and that may lead to a revenge game. We know that Chicago has struggled against the run. The likes of Adrian Peterson, Dion Lewis, Brian Hill, and Ronald Jones have ripped off big games against this team. Davis having a big game is almost likely at this point.
All of October 2019 Chicago Bears fans wanted Mike Davis out of their lives. Now, on Sunday, they may once again be sick of Davis.