Bears' offense running on empty

No one on the Bears can pinpoint the reason.

Why haven't the defending NFC champions been able to run the ball effectively while losing three of their first four games?

Everyone, however, agrees they have to do a better job of it starting Sunday night against the Packers (4-0) in Green Bay, where another loss will leave their playoff chances on life support.

The running game has slowed to a crawl, ranking No. 27 in yards per game (82.8) and average gain per attempt (3.3 yards).

Despite constantly touting the importance of establishing a viable ground game, the Bears ran the ball just 22 times in Sunday's 37-27 loss at Detroit. Instead, they called 58 pass plays, 6 of which resulted in sacks.

"It's not a good sign when the Bears are throwing 52 times," offensive right tackle Fred Miller said. "In order for us to be successful, we have to run the ball well. That gives our defense a chance to rest up and stay fresh. When they're doing that, they definitely cause a lot of havoc and come up with some big turnovers, and that's our recipe for winning."

So why haven't the Bears run more frequently?

"I don't know," Miller said. "That's what we're all scratching our heads over around here. We're not doing the same things that we've done (in the past).

"I don't think we're getting enough running calls. (And) in the pass game, we're turning too many guys free and just making mistakes that we normally don't make, especially as an offensive line.

"It's a little bit of everyone, and I think everyone is taking responsibility for it, and we're all going to be accountable for it and turn it around."

The lack of success on the ground is especially puzzling to those involved.

"That's hard for us to figure out," Miller said. "At times we've had fits where we ran the ball into bad looks, and at times we haven't blocked it as well as we can, and sometimes the running back just made a bad read. It's a little bit of everything.

"No one group or one person can (get) all the blame. Now it's time for us to fix it and get back to the things that we know how to do, and that's run the ball well."

The running game has been poor all season, but Sunday's 69 yards were a season low; the average gain of 3.1 yards tied for the Bears' worst effort.

Running back Cedric Benson has looked slow and uninspired while averaging 3.2 yards per carry, and the offensive line has done an unacceptable job of creating running room for all Bears runners. Out of 38 NFL running backs with more than 30 carries, Benson ranked 34th after Sunday's games.

"When you're not very productive with the running game, you could say that up front we need to open up some more holes and the running back has to do a better job of running it," Bears coach Lovie Smith said.

"When I say we're a running team, (that) we get off the bus running, we need to run the ball more. That's what I'm going to say right now. We got away from it a little bit, and now, when you're 1-3, the first thing you do is look to get back to what you believe in. We have to run the football.

"We'll work on it to try to improve. We won't change our philosophy in what we believe in, and that's running the football. We'll continue to run the ball. We had 22 carries … that's not enough. We need to rush the ball more times and then, hopefully, we'll be able to crack a few."

That could be even more difficult with offensive left tackle John Tait expected to miss the Packers game with a high ankle sprain that knocked him out of Sunday's game.

The Packers have not allowed a rushing touchdown all season, and they're permitting an average of 106.2 rushing yards per game, 15th in the NFL.

Offensively, the Bears often have found themselves in a no-win situation, since the passing game has been as bad as the run game, if not worse.

The Bears have the lowest team passer rating (53.3) in the NFL, and they're No. 26 in passing yards and No. 30 in average gain per pass play. They also have an NFL-high 9 interceptions and are tied for 29th with 15 sacks allowed.

One of the reasons the Bears didn't work harder Sunday to establish a strong identity in the run game was because they believed there were opportunities in the air.

But Brian Griese was picked off three times by the Lions.

"There were passes to be made (Sunday)," Smith said. "We didn't execute."

That sounds a lot like the Bears' running game.