What happened to the Bears’ run game? Here are some thoughts

This week in Bears Film Study, let's try to tackle an early season mystery: Why have the Bears gone from No. 2 in the NFL in rushing offense to No. 31?

We all know the offensive line has issues, but it's most of the same guys as last year. And before firing off a snarky e-mail about how last year's run game was all Justin Fields, remember Kahlil Herbert averaged 4.6 yards per carry, D'Onta Foreman 3.9 and Roschon Johnson 4.3, while those three combined for 1,400 yards.

So far this fall, D'Andre Swift is averaging 1.8 yards per carry and Herbert 2.0. Not sure why Johnson didn't see action the first two weeks, but he delivered the best running back performance of 2024 with 30 yards on 8 carries in Indianapolis.

Going back to the David Montgomery era, the feeling here at Film Study was the Bears' best offensive strategy was to load up with blockers and turn on the power run game.

A common request here is increased usage of fullback Khari Blasingame. Good runs tend to happen when he's on the field, so not having him the last two games is an obvious issue, but there are others. Here are some thoughts:

They miss Darnell Mooney

Besides posting a 1,000-yard receiving season in 2021, the now-Falcons receiver was an excellent blocker, despite being undersized at 5-11, 177 pounds. Equanimeous St. Brown, much bigger at 6-5, was also a good.

They don't seem to have a standout blocker in this group. D.J. Moore and Rome Odunze are star receivers who haven't been in a position of needing to show coaches they can block to stay on the field. We haven't seen much of Keenan Allen, who also missed the past two games.

Not enough tight ends

One trait of the Ryan Pace-Matt Nagy era was they loved to load up on blocking tight ends. Remember J.P. Holtz? When he was on the field, you knew at least one defensive player would end up on the ground.

Now they have Cole Kmet, who has improved as a blocker immensely since his rookie season. He is easily the best on the current roster. Then there's Gerald Everett, who is basically someone who can catch passes if Kmet gets hurt, and 40-year-old Marcedes Lewis.

Downgrade at center

The Bears offensive line is a little strange in that there is no best player of the group. There seemed to be a different standout (if any) every week in 2023. And sometimes, the best blocker was center Lucas Patrick, now starting at guard for the Saints.

So far, new center Coleman Shelton hasn't been a disaster or anything, but he's not an improvement. Matt Pryor started at right guard in place of Nate Davis against the Colts. During preseason, we talked about Pryor being the world's largest guard at 6-7, 332. In this game, he did well when tasked with blocking a player lined up across from him and wasn't very successful when required to take a few steps before blocking anyone. This is one reason the outside runs didn't go great in Indy.

Health issues?

Right tackle Darnell Wright missed Wednesday's practice with a sore back. When Caleb Williams took a sack on the Bears' third drive Sunday, left tackle Braxton Jones was pushed into Williams' lap, then grabbed his right knee when he hit the ground. Maybe the tackles playing at less than 100% is a reason the O-line has struggled.

Play calling

The defining moment in Sunday's game was the Bears failing to score on five plays from the 5-yard line. The sequence started with fourth-and-one at the five, the Bears had all three receivers out wide and ended up running into a light box because one of the linebackers spied Williams for a potential keep. Johnson carry, first down.

The next play was Herbert in the wildcat formation, with all three receivers in tight. He followed Pryor for a 2-yard pickup. On second down, the Bears tried to run a read-option off the defensive end. Kwity Paye wasn't blocked, didn't follow Williams and threw Herbert down for minimal gain.

On third down, everyone was in tight, so the Bears were basically running into an 11-man box. Colts lineman Tyquan Lewis (267 pounds) blew up receiver DeAndre Carter (190 pounds) and dropped Herbert for no gain. Why use undersized receivers where an extra tight end should be? Good question. At least spread the field by keeping the receivers wide.

Everyone's probably seen the fourth-down play multiple times. First of all, when the run game's not working, take the points and kick a field goal. But Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron called a weird speed option that had the offensive line slant-blocking in the same direction as the play. Shelton had no one in front of him and just fell to the ground. Pryor whiffed on his man.

The only thing that could have saved the Bears on this play was if Everett stopped trying to block in the end zone, turned around and waved his arms for Swift to throw him a pass. They can't call illegal man downfield when all five linemen are laying on the turf.

Obviously, the Waldron offense hasn't looked great. For every nice throw from Williams, there have been one or two where he's not processing where to throw it quickly enough or has no time because the pocket is collapsing.

Quick hitters

Colts receiver Alec Pierce from Glenbard West had just one catch, but it was a nice one. He ran past Bears Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson for a 44-yard gain. A little later, Pierce's block of Johnson sprung Jonathan Taylor for the game's first touchdown. …

Maybe they're good, maybe they're living dangerously, but that's two weeks in a row with a turnover inside their own 5-yard line for the Bears defense. After Pierce's long gain put the ball at the 4, Jaquon Brisker and Jack Sanborn had great tackles for no gain, then Sanborn got in the face of Anthony Richardson to force the end zone interception by Tremaine Edmunds.

If you missed it, Sanborn, Edmunds and the rest of the Bears linebackers were on the sideline for Friday's Lake Zurich-Libertyville game to watch Sanborn's alma mater.