Bears have to fix the old school core tenets of winning during the bye week

The Chicago Bears are riding the high of a two-game winning streak as they enjoy their early (and somehow very well-timed) bye week this week. However, coaches would say that there are always things to improve, regardless of winning games, and we know Ben Johnson's staff is looking at ways to refine stuff during the time the players will be off.

Johnson's prolific offenses in Detroit were centered around an effective ground game. Whatever the flaws may be, in terms of players or scheme, the Bears' ground game is not yet at that level. Johnson has said he thinks things are close to coming together there, though, while putting the ultimate onus for getting the run game on the right track on him and his staff. Four games of struggles do not mean things can't get good, and get good quickly, there.

Injuries to some key pieces have been a big factor for the Bears' defense through the first four games, and the bye week stands to be very helpful there with linebacker T.J. Edwards and cornerback Kyler Gordon in line to return. Dennis Allen is a top-notch defensive coordinator, so he'll surely get the issues the Bears have had stopping the run fixed in short order.

Core tenets of winning are also the core things Bears must improve in after the bye

It's an old school idea to some degree, and it's hardly a fool-proof certainty if a team otherwise lacks talent. But if you can run the ball effectively and stop the run, your chances to win games go up.

Deeper metrics (EPA, Pro Football Focus grade, DVOA) are a bit kinder to them, but the Bears are allowing a league-high 164.5 rushing yards per game through Week 4. Some big runs have skewed things, but the 6.1 yards per carry they're allowing is tied for the highest in the league.

As Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times noted, there hasn't been a singular reason for the Bears' struggles stopping the run in a given week.

"The Bears aren’t tackling well —(Ashton) Jeanty gained 124 yards after contact Sunday (Week 4), the most of any running back in any game this year. Other times, they’re simply being pushed around at the line of scrimmage —(Jahmyr) Gibbs had 80 yards before contact in Week 2 against the Bears, the fourth-most in the league this year."

On the other side, the Bears have the 24th-ranked rushing attack in the league (102.3 yards per game) through Week 4. If you remove what quarterback Caleb Williams has done as a runner, it looks worse. D'Andre Swift is currently averaging a career-low 3.3 yards per carry, despite the Bears sitting third in ESPN's run block win rate metric thus far (76 percent).

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The Bears won the two games going into their bye despite struggling to stop the run and struggling to get their own run game going. Those opposing performances will not suffice moving forward, so a non-game week for the coaching staff to focus on finding solutions is coming at an ideal time.