How this year's Bears' ground game measures to past seasons

It's time again for one of Chicago's favorite civic pastimes: Agonizing over the Bears' offensive line and its ability to support an old-fashioned Midwestern running game.

But before we resume picking at wounds too popular to form scabs - and pointing spare fingers at the problem areas - let's enjoy a quick multiple-choice quiz, shall we?

Q: As they prepare for Sunday's game at Cincinnati, the Bears find themselves averaging 3.8 yards per carry this season. How many yards did the 2006 Bears average per carry?

A: 3.8

B: 3.8

C: Sensing a pattern here-

D: Get to the point already.

OK, here goes: The Bears did not qualify for Super Bowl XLI in Miami because of the relative brilliance or dreadfulness of their running game.

In that vein, the Bears will neither reach nor fall short of Super Bowl XLIV in Miami based on the strength of their running game.

The fact of the matter is, no matter how many times we dredge up Lovie Smith's assertion that the Bears get off the bus running, it's not the franchise's leading indicator of potential excellence.

This is the fourth year running (some pun intended) where the Bears have ranked among the NFL's bottom third in yards per carry.

Considering the last four years feature one Super Bowl team, one team that lost in Week 17 to avoid the playoffs (2008) and one team with legitimate playoff ambitions (2009), an adequate running game seems sufficient.

Not that anyone at Halas Hall plans to be content with adequate - or any other less-than-glowing adjective.

"People are saying the running game is terrible and all this stuff," said second-year running back Matt Forte, who's 24th in the NFL with 58.8 yards per game. "That's definitely hard to deal with, but you can't focus on what other people say.

"I know the type of talent I have, and I can't get frustrated. I've got to go out there and play like I know how to play."

"We want to get better from where we are now," offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. "We're going to continue to work at it. But we're not going to just say, 'We've got to run the ball' and just be stubborn. We're going to do what we need to do to win games."

Do the Bears have an offensive line good enough to win enough games to make the playoffs?

While Turner declines to point out the line's biggest slackers, he notes 12th-year center Olin Kreutz "consistently is playing at a high level."

Kreutz has been selected for six Pro Bowls, of course, but none since 2006. Turner doesn't stop his praise there.

"You look at what they're doing overall, I think the guys are doing a good job," he said. "We've just got to get it where we're all together on the same page."

This is where the Bears' big offseason philosophy change comes into play - and why incumbent left guard Josh Beekman hasn't seen the field.

General manager Jerry Angelo reiterated on WSCR 670-AM Thursday why tackle Frank Omiyale was signed to a sweet free-agent contract and recast as the starting left guard.

"We changed our prototype on our offensive line," Angelo said on the 'Mully and Hanley' show. "We want to get bigger people at the guard position. He's got long arms. He's big. He's a powerful man. We see that in the running game.

"He could hold off those big two-gapper types from pushing and caving the pocket. That's why we wanted more size."

To date, though, the 6-foot-4, 315-pound Omiyale has not played to his size or contract. On Forte's crucial fumble on the goal line at Atlanta, for example, Falcons defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux blew through Omiyale's block with ease and forced Forte's turnover.

The affable former Carolina Panther says it's not as easy to move from tackle to guard as one might think.

"The biggest adjustment has been just learning how to work with the center and the tackle," Omiyale said. "Whereas tackle you're more on an island by yourself. I think that's just been the biggest adjustment, (that) and staying low in my run game."

Angelo and Turner also note Omiyale and the Bears have faced some good defensive lines in hostile environments. Turner said the Bears opted not to audible out of a few unfavorable run plays last week due to the Georgia Dome noise.

"Are those excuses? Absolutely not excuses," Angelo said on The Score. "Those are reasons why you continue to work with this player, because he's demonstrated the traits we need to be successful at the position. He's, again, a strong player mentally. He's a tough guy. He's what we want intangibly.

"Hey, there is going to be that learning curve. We're going to hit some speed bumps along the way. We understand that. But we've got to hang tough together and we are going to get better upfront."

The wheels on the Bears bus are not so round

Here's how the Bears' running-game productivity has evolved during the Lovie Smith era. Remember, there are 32 NFL teams:

Year 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 Yards per game 89.8 104.6 83.1 119.9 131.2 101.5 NFL rank 27 24 30 15 8 25 Att. per game 23.8 27.1 26.4 31.4 30.5 26.9 NFL rank 27 15 26 5 9 19 Yards per carry 3.8 3.9 3.1 3.8 4.3 3.8 NFL rank 23 27 32 23 7 26

Below the mean

In four of the Bears' first five games, the running game underperformed when compared to their opponent's usual run-defense averages:

Opponent Rank YPC YPG How Bears did Green Bay 16 105.4 3.6 31 carries, 86 yards, 2.8 YPC Pittsburgh 2 74.5 3.8 17 carries, 44 yards, 2.6 YPC Seattle 13 99.3 4.3 28 carries, 85 yards, 3.0 YPC Detroit 19 112.3 4.6 20 carries, 151 yards, 7.6 YPC Atlanta 23 118.2 4.7 23 carries, 83 yards, 3.6 YPC