When the Bears suddenly went from one of the NFL’s best running teams the last two seasons to one of the worst at the start of this season, there was more than enough blame to go around.
New offensive coordinator Shane Waldron’s sometimes perplexing play calls and personnel choices were at the top of the list, but questionable decisions by new lead running back D’Andre Swift and unreliable play by the offensive line were on the table as well.
Nearly all of that turned around for the Bears on Sunday, when they beat the Rams 24-18 while averaging 4.7 yards per carry. That was a sharp uptick after opening the season by running for 3.8 in the opener, 3.2 the next week and a disastrous 2.3 against the Colts.
Throughout that struggle, it was obvious frustration mounted for Swift, who ran for 1,000 yards and made the Pro Bowl for the Eagles last season before signing a three-year, $24 million contract with the Bears. But at every turn, he resisted pointing fingers publicly and, apparently, privately.
According to coach Matt Eberflus, Swift went throughout Halas Hall soliciting advice on how he could improve after rushing for 68 yards on 37 carries over the first three games.
“He asked several people that same question and he really took to heart what people were saying to him — his running back coach, the offensive coordinator, he asked me about it,” Eberflus said Monday.
Eberflus told him to hit the hole quicker and emphasize moving forward for tough yards then making a cut rather than shifting laterally behind the line as he searched for big gains, “and he did that.” Eberflus described it as “Doing the ordinary extraordinarily.”
Swift ran for 93 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, and even setting aside his 36-yard run to the end zone in the fourth quarter, he averaged an improved 3.8 yards per carry.
Here’s what the film showed on the refurbished ground game in the Bears’ win over the Rams:
Power move
The change in Swift’s mindset was obvious from the Bears’ first snap. He took the handoff and darted right behind right tackle Darnell Wright for six yards, and on the next Bears first down, he followed tight end Gerald Everett (playing fullback) to the right side for a two-yard gain.
Stacking those up put the Bears in more ideal second- and third-down scenarios, and Swift didn’t have a carry for negative yardage until midway through the fourth quarter.
“Some things we need to clean up, but definitely a step in the right direction,” Swift said.
Waldron goes conventional
It’s great to think outside the box, but some ideas are conventional because they work. Waldron seemed to ditch a lot of his more “creative” plays, like the doomed read-option against the Colts on fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line in favor of an old-school running game with Swift and Roschon Johnson.
When the Bears got first-and-goal at the Rams’ 1-yard line late in the second quarter, he went with Johnson in the I-formation and backup offensive lineman Doug Kramer as the fullback because Khari Blasingame was out. Kramer gave Johnson a strong lead block, and Johnson followed it precisely for the touchdown.
It was a great call by Waldron and smart personnel moves to utilize Kramer as a fullback and use Johnson on that play rather than Swift.
“They put [Swift] in good spots and asked him to do what he’s really good at and put Roschon in situations that he’s really good at,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “You saw the downhill running with Roschon, and when you get D’Andre in space, he can do a lot of really dynamic things.”
Offensive line flexes
The Bears’ offensive line was far from perfect, and it’s noteworthy that the Rams have allowed an NFL-high 165.5 yards rushing per game, but there were glimpses of progress—even after left guard Teven Jenkins went down with a rib injury.
The longest play of the game for either team, Swift’s 36-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to give the Bears a nine-point lead, exemplified everything the Bears want to see from their star running back, the line and Waldron.
Waldron had Swift deep in the backfield on first-and-10, when the Rams had every reason to expect a run, but got great execution blocking-wise. Left tackle Braxton Jones and center Coleman Shelton got two or more yards upfield to take out linebackers Troy Reeder and Christian Rozeboom, respectively, and clear a path on the left side of the line.
Kmet handled what would’ve been Jones’ responsibility by taking out pass rusher Michael Hoecht, and left guard Matt Pryor went right to defensive lineman Tyler Davis.
All of that added up to a wide hole on the left side of the line for Swift, who zipped right to it. Once he got through the line, Jones, Shelton and several other Bears already had blocks established for him and he was in the end zone in a blink for Swift, who had the top running speed in the game at 19.02 miles per hour.
That’s a snapshot of what this rushing attack can be. The question is whether all three components — Waldron, Swift and the offensive line — can maintain it, because it’s hard to imagine the Bears winning many games without that.