Chicago Bears: Khalil Herbert shines in his first start

The Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers continued their historic rivalry this past Sunday. Unfortunately, Bears fans had an ending that has been the norm for far too long. The Packers toppled their rival, winning 24-14.

The game actually started off in the Bears’ favor but went off the rails quickly. A non-call on the Packers for a potential offsides led to a Justin Fields interception, had this offside been called; the Bears would have had a free play. After this interception, the momentum considerably shifted.

In my opinion, the officiating in this game was poor, and there were missed/bad calls for both teams. Despite the subpar officiating, the Bears’ offense just seemed broken. The passing game was not very good, and the offensive line was very inconsistent in this game.

The one area where the Bears’ offense excelled on Sunday was the running game, with rookie Khalil Herbert taking all the carries.

Khalil Herbert is proving to be a steal for the Chicago Bears and may even be the running back of the future.

This past April, Khalil Herbert was drafted in the 6th round (217th overall) of the 2021 draft. After a strong showing in the preseason, excitement was starting to gather around Herbert as a possible contributor to this team.

He earned himself a special teams role as a kick returner to start the year and, due to injury, is now getting significant playing time. Herbert stepped in as the RB2 last week, where he showed what he could do, receiving 18 carries for 72 yards.

After Damien Williams was placed on the COVID reserve ahead of Sunday’s game, Herbert was slotted in to be the every-down back, and that’s precisely what he was. Herbert was the only running back to touch the ball for the Bears.

He had 19 carries, 97 yards, and a touchdown. while also rushing for over five yards a carry against a Packers defense that’s been sneaky good this season. With Williams’s immediate future still unclear and David Montgomery expected to miss a few more weeks, the Bears seem to have something with Herbert.

When Monty is healthy, he will be the clear-cut starter as he should be, but Herbert may be making a case for RB2 if his play continues. While watching Herbert play, I ask myself how he fell to the fifth round because he looks like he can be a legitimate RB in this league, and I’m excited to watch him play in the short-term future.