The Chicago Bears’ rushing attack has plenty to prove after their first four games this season.
Under head coach Ben Johnson, the run game is currently ranked 24th in the NFL with 409 total rushing yards. Lead back D’Andre Swift has 187 rushing yards, placing him 32nd among runners, a spot behind Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (190).
When Johnson was the offensive coordinator in Detroit, the Lions finished the regular season with 2,488 rushing yards – the sixth most in the NFL. The Bears’ head coach understands how valuable a run game can be for an offense, and right now, the Bears are not generating that type of impact this season.
A lot of the blame, from the outside, is placed on Swift for his lack of vision and inconsistency running between the tackles.
Johnson dives deeper into the running game struggles for the Bears
On Tuesday, Johnson mentioned that the run game isn’t “firing on all cylinders” right now and referenced that everything has factored into that.
“Sometimes it could be the ball carrier not hitting the right spot,” Johnson said. “Other times it's just our combinations aren't clean yet. It's going to take everybody, its quarterback, its receivers, its O-line, it's tight ends to go along with those runners. It's a very complex question, but the guys are playing hard, they're playing for each other. I think we're doing a good job of getting that squared away. Good things will happen the more time we spend together.”
Time on task should help this unit, which features three new interior offensive linemen playing under Johnson’s scheme for the first time. That makes complete sense from the Bears’ head coach.
A day later, Johnson was again asked about the Bears’ run game and what generally needs to improve.
“I think it's hard to evaluate any of our running backs right now, when you turn on the tape and there's some free runners in the hole where the play is designed to go,” Johnson said. “And so like I said last week, I take it personally, because I actually spend more time on the run game than I do on the passing game. And not only trying to create explosives in the running game but being sound and take a lot of pride in our execution of the fundamentals of … you talk about a deuce block, a deuce combination all looking the same, a triple between the tight end and the tackle all looking the same. And we're not quite there yet.”
Johnson also mentioned that the team needs to learn from all of the tape, good and bad, so the offense can capitalize on the “dynamic players, whether it’s our running backs or receivers,” and give them a better chance to find more green grass.
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The Bears will have an opportunity to showcase if they have learned how to address the run game following some extra time off with the bye week in the Monday night matchup against the Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium.