Lovie Smith surprised by the Bears' strong running game

TAMPA - Former Bears coach Lovie Smith's Buccaneers came in as the NFL's No. 2 defense in average gain allowed per run and No. 9 in rushing yards allowed. So he didn't expect the Bears to run for 174 yards.

It was the most rushing yards the Bears have accumulated since Week One, and a major reason for their 26-21 victory, in which they possessed the ball for 37:03.

"They shouldn't be able to (do that)," Smith said. "We should play the run a lot better than that."

The Bears ran it 39 times, their second-highest total of the season, and averaged 4.5 yards a carry, their third-best mark this year. Rookie Jeremy Langford led the way with 83 yards on 19 attempts (4.4-yard average) and Matt Forte picked up 54 yards on 11 carries before a back injury made him unavailable late.

Ka'Deem Carey had 16 yards on 7 carries but scored on a 1-yard run and a 1-yard pass. Jay Cutler contributed 21 yards on 2 runs.

The Bucs had the NFL's No. 4 rushing attack, and Doug Martin was just 9 yards behind the Vikings' Adrian Peterson, the league's leading rusher. But Martin managed just 49 yards on 17 carries and lost 2 fumbles.

"Whatever the reason, we were unable to get it done," Smith said. "I'm just going to say that it was good play on (the Bears) part. We would have done something about it out there if we knew why."

Carey, whose touchdowns were his second and third of the season, said it was a strength-in-numbers thing.

"We definitely showed that three backs are better than one," Carey said. "Everybody did their job, and the line did their thing."

Going short:

Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery (hamstring) missed his sixth game, wide receiver Marquess Wilson (foot) and tight end Martellus Bennett (ribs) are on injured reserve and wide receiver Eddie Royal was in and out Sunday with an illness.

So the passing game went short. Cutler completed 20 of 27 passes for just 156 yards, but he finished with a 100.2 passer rating.

"It's difficult," Cutler said, "especially against a defense like this, where they're going to be a lot of Cover 2, keep things in front of them. So we knew it was going to be kind of dink and dunk."

Get outta here:

For linebacker Pernell McPhee, who is from nearby Pahokee, Florida, Sunday's game was a good show for roughly 30 friends and family members.

McPhee had the Bears' only sack, his sixth of the season, an additional tackle for negative yardage and 2 quarterback hits. He liked the way his defensive teammates played, too.

"I saw some crazy, wild, cut-loose pit bulls out there," he said. "I like that. Of course we have to go get the one next week, but that's just going to be something to build on, some momentum."

And then McPhee was finished.

"My grandma is waiting on me outside," he said, "so I gotta leave."

Lineup shuffle:

Vlad Ducasse started at right guard in place of Patrick Omameh, and Harold Jones-Quartey replaced Chris Prosinski at safety.

Ducasse started the first six games but was replaced by Omameh, who made eight straight starts before relinquishing the spot.

Prosinski had started the previous five games in place of injured Antrel Rolle (knee), but he had 4 missed tackles a week earlier.

With Bryce Callahan out with a quad injury, Demontre Hurst was the Bears' nickel cornerback.

Sitting it out:

Rookie nose tackle Eddie Goldman suffered an ankle injury in the third quarter and did not return.

WR Alshon Jeffery (hamstring) missed his sixth game of the season. He also missed four games (2-5) with an earlier hamstring injury and sat out Game 10 with groin and shoulder injuries.

Josh Bellamy started in place of Jeffery, his second start of the season.

LB Shea McClellin (concussion) missed his fourth game of the season. He missed three games (6-8) earlier with a knee injury. Christian Jones, who was benched last week in favor of undrafted rookie John Timu, started for McClellin.

The other inactives were cornerbacks Bryce Callahan (quad) and Jacoby Glenn, offensive linemen Nick Becton and Tayo Fabuluje and defensive lineman Bruce Gaston.

Former Vernon Hills High School star Evan Spencer, who was promoted from the Bucs' practice squad to the 53-man roster last Tuesday, was inactive. Spencer's father, Tim, the Bears' running back coach under Lovie Smith, is the Bucs' running backs coach.

Bucs starting safety and former Bear Chris Conte was out with a knee injury.