It wasn’t magic, but it was close.
The Bears didn’t create something out of nothing Sunday. They created something out of practically nothing – D’Andre Swift had averaged 1.8 yards a carry in the first first three games this season. Somehow, some way, he and his team discovered a running game in Week 4.
(Quick refresher lesson: Running is that thing where a “running back” moves his legs while holding the ball. It supposed to lead to the football redundancy “forward progress.’’)
Swift rushed for 93 yards and a touchdown in a 24-18 victory over the Rams that should give the Bears an injection of confidence. If they had been honest with themselves before kickoff, they would have admitted to dangerously low levels of belief in their run game.
It’s difficult to average a measly 1.8 yards a carry in the NFL. You have to have a struggling or bad offensive line, which the Bears did (do?). You have to have a foggy offensive coordinator. In a loss last week, Bears OC Shane Waldron had called a harebrained option pitch at the Colts’ 1-yard line. You have to have a running back who favors east-west expeditions instead of north-south ones.
The Bears had subsisted on a toxic stew of all that bad stuff. Until Sunday.
Then they found religion, which is to say they found reason.
This time, Waldron brought in 300-pound offensive lineman Doug Kramer to block as a fullback. Twice. One led to a touchdown from the Rams’ 1-yard line. Imagine that. A round mound of pound-the-ball.
This time, Waldron didn’t have rookie quarterback Caleb Williams throw 52 passes, the way he had in a loss to the Colts the week before.
This time, Swift ran straight ahead, with purpose and determination, not side-to-side, with reasonable doubt that he’d gain a yard.
See? It’s really not that hard.
Williams said the positive change had to do with an open line of communication with Waldron. The offensive coordinator listened to his players’ message of keeping the flow going on the field.
“If we get drives going with the pass game, sprinkle in a few runs,’’ Williams said. “If we get the run game going with a few runs, sprinkle in a pass and then keep running the ball. That was the main point of emphasis throughout the week.’’
On the five-play series that ended with Swift’s 36-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, he caught a 5-yard pass and had a 5-yard run. You know, flow.
Let’s not overreact here: Much of this was something the Bears should have been doing in their first three games. What happened Sunday was nice to see, but it made what happened the previous weeks that much more perplexing. Seeing them do it a few weeks in a row going forward might restore some of the public excitement that was rampant before the season began.
If the Bears don’t figure out their penalty problem – they had seven for 70 yards in the first half alone – they’re not going to win many games like this. Or make new fans. Nothing is as mind-numbing and hard to understand as a false start. Viewers received a heaping helping of those Sunday.
But there was progress. That’s not the highest bar in the world, but it’s the important thing for a team that’s 2-2 instead of 1-3. Swift even caught seven passes for 72 yards. The best way for Williams to survive this season in one piece is if the running backs are positively involved. He finished 17 of 23 for 157 yards and a touchdown. Several of his passes were so overthrown they had no chance of being caught by anyone in either uniform. Maybe not even by the Bears’ mascot. That’s been a trend in the first four games.
I still worry that Williams’ future mode of transportation is going to be a stretcher. He was under pressure more often than not in the first half. He didn’t help himself by holding onto the ball on occasion. He was sacked three times.
On Sunday, Waldron tried to atone for calling that option pitch on fourth-and-1 gainst the Colts, which had ended in a 12-yard loss for Swift. This time, he ordered a power formation at the Rams’ 1, using Kramer as an overfed fullback. Kramer bulldozed a path for Roschon Johnson, whose touchdown helped give the Bears a 7-6 lead in the second quarter.
Swift gave credit to the offensive line for its work Sunday. Eberflus had praise for everyone, as is his wont. One compliment stood out.
“My hat’s off to the offensive staff, utilizing the people and using the scheme to do that,’’ he said.
That might be a nice way of saying that the Bears don’t have a good offensive line and that it needs all the help it can get, either from a jumbo-sized fullback or a level-headed play caller. Or both.