Bears have a chance to run against Buffalo
There never has been a better time for the Bears' underutilized run game to break out of the slow jog it has been stuck in for most of the season.
Sunday in Toronto's Rogers Centre the Bears will face the Buffalo Bills' NFL-worst run defense, which yielded a whopping 274 yards Sunday to the Kansas City Chiefs while the Bears were enjoying their off weekend.
The Bills allow, on average, a staggering 188.7 rushing yards per game, 30 yards more than the next worst team, the Denver Broncos. The Bears have the fifth-best run defense in the league, permitting just 89.3 yards.
But only the Arizona Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys have run the ball less frequently than the Bears.
The Bears average just 22.3 running plays per game and have fewer than 20 rushing attempts in five of their seven games and in all 3 of their losses, in which they've averaged just 15 runs.
Since he was drafted in the second round in 2008, Matt Forte has been the Bears' workhorse running back in his two previous seasons, carrying the ball 574 times for 2,167 yards.
But he has just 90 carries this year for 352 yards. Chester Taylor, signed in the off-season as a complementary runner to Forte, has only 44 carries for 160 yards.
“We do need to get those guys involved more,” coach Lovie Smith said after Monday's practice. “The more times they touch the football, the more likely something good will happen for the Bears.”
This week, more than any other, it should be an easy decision for the Bears to establish a ground game that has been a formidable presence in just one game all season, the 23-6 victory over Carolina.
The Bears ran 42 times for 218 yards at Carolina, more than double their rushing production in any other game.
Running the ball more effectively and more frequently also should help diminish the sacks that have wreaked havoc with the passing game. The Bears already have been sacked 31 times, eight more than the next worst team (Washington).
“In order to pass it effectively and use the play-action pass, you need to run the ball,” Forte said. “I think it's key. It's essential to our offense.”
In recent weeks the Bears rarely have used Forte and Taylor on the field together, but that could change this week.
“We've done it plenty of times before, (but) not in the last couple of weeks,” Forte said. “It's not anything new to us. I don't see anything wrong with it.”
Taylor is all for anything that gets him more involved in the offense.
“I can't do anything, except when my number is called,” he said. “Of course I want the ball more, but I'm not going to complain about it.”
If the Bears can't get their running backs involved in the offense this week, there will be plenty to complain about.
ŸFollow Bob LeGere's Bears reports via Twitter@BobLeGere. Check out his blog, Bear Essentials, at DailyHerald.com.