Which Chicago Bears laid duds in Week 9 vs. Dolphins?

Player three: David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert

The Chicago Bears were once again able to run for over 200 yards as a team. Still, 178 yards of that came from Justin Fields running from the quarterback position. Khalil Herbert and David Montgomery have been one of the best one-two punches in the league this year in the backfield, but they were very quiet against the Dolphins.

The Dolphins have a solid run defense, but not elite. The Bears offensive line failed to create room for the backs to run through, so not all of this is on Montgomery and Herbert. Still, though, we did not see the explosiveness from Herbert in his limited snaps and Montgomery just could not get anything going on the ground.

We have been spoiled with great play from the backfield this year, but today that was not the case. Both backs did not have an impact on the game and the lack of success on the ground from everyone not named Justin Fields allowed the Dolphins to sit back in coverage on the last drive. While the Bears did catch some tough breaks, they were able to get pressure on Fields on the final drive more than they did all game. A lot of that was because the team did not respect a handoff to the running backs.

The Bears should still continue to pound the rock against a Lions defense that struggles to stop the run. The run game is their core competency, and they should utilize it even if it is not working. The offensive line has shown the ability to consistently run block, so hopefully, it shows up again next week.

The Chicago Bears played a shootout against the Miami Dolphins as we all expected. The Dolphins’ defense edged out the Bears and was able to do enough to hold the Bears from taking the lead late. The Bears’ defense was again porous, which will most likely be a theme going forward. The bad defense and a lack of a running game outside of Fields held the team back in this game.