During the regular season, the Chicago Bears had the league's third-best rushing attack by yards (144.5 yards per game) and yards per carry (4.9). To the surprise of no one who knew Ben Johnson's offenses in Detroit, the core of this season's offense has been the ground game.
But over the last two games, things have not looked the same. After a season-low 65 rushing yards against the Detroit Lions in Week 18, things weren't much better for the Bears on the ground in the Wild Card Round against the Green Bay Packers (28 attempts for 93 yards with a touchdown).
Heading into the Divisional Round against the Los Angeles Rams, and their 12th-ranked run defense from the regular season, Johnson acknowledged the need to get the run game back on track.
"Yeah, it feels like it's dipped a little bit,” Johnson said. “Not something that we certainly want. Certainly, late in the season, we wanted that to pick up, playoffs, weather games like this, you certainly want to be able to lean on your run game. So those are some elements we're looking at. What can we do to help ignite that? It's both efficient runs to stay on track and ahead of the chains, and also explosive runs as well. Where can we find a few of those?”
Bears may be able to get a sneaky run game boost vs. Rams
In ESPN.com's look at Sunday night's game between the Bears and Rams, analyst Ben Solak offered this bold prediction.
"Bears QB Caleb Williams will end the day with 60-plus rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. The Rams have a devastating pass rush, but Williams is the best escape artist they've faced all season -- and Bryce Young showed how successful QBs can be on the move against the Rams."
As Solak made reference to, Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young had 24 yards and a touchdown on three rushing attempts against the Rams in the Wild Card Round. It's also fair to say Williams is a far more dynamic quarterback than his predecessor, the No. 1 overall pick.
For all the ways Williams puts his movement skills on display to throw the ball, he had fewer rushing yards this year than he did as a rookie in 2024. He did have three rushing touchdowns during the regular season, though, after not having any last year.
In terms of the marks Solak laid out, Williams has done that once before this season (64 rushing yards and a touchdown against the New York Giants in Week 10). He did get very close another time, though, with 58 rushing yards and a touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1. Those are also two of the three games in which he has had more than five rushing attempts this season, which is an easy starting point for him to have more rushing yards.
Read more: 1 Rams player (no, not that one) could crush Bears' NFC Championship Game hopes
In general, the Bears need to figure out a way to get their rushing attack back on track, and it won't be easy against a tough Rams' defensive front. So, via designed runs (which can be a slippery slope) or simply taking off more often than he usually does against a good Rams' pass rush, the production Williams is capable of adding with his legs could be a sneaky x-factor on Sunday night.