Bears looking encouraging after Sunday's win

The offense used two running backs at the same time Sunday more frequently than it has in the past, and the results were encouraging.

The Bears rushed for 174 yards against a Bucs defense that was ninth in rushing yards allowed and second in average gain allowed per run. Tampa had allowed an average of just 94.4 rushing yards and 3.3 yards per carry.

"It's a personnel (grouping) we call a '21' and we've done it before," Bears coach John Fox said. "Anytime you have two backs in there, there's a little bit of misdirection and uncertainty on which back's getting the ball."

Rookie Jeremy Langford ran for a career-best 83 yards on 19 carries (4.4-yard average), and starter Matt Forte picked up 54 yards on 11 carries (4.9-yard average) before a back injury limited him late in the game. Ka'Deem Carey scored on a 1-yard run and a 1-yard pass.

"We've had a stable of them this season," Fox said. "The names have changed, but all in all, we're pretty comfortable with all three of them. I think Ka'Deem's showed he's worthy."

Forte, who also caught 3 passes for 22 yards, has 822 rushing yards and 355 receiving yards. He's the fifth player in NFL history with eight seasons of 800 rushing yards and 300 receiving yards.

The others are LaDainian Tomlinson and Ricky Watters, who did it nine times, and Hall of Famers Walter Payton and Marshall Faulk, who also did it eight times.

The dead zone:

Ineffectiveness in the red zone has plagued the Bears all season, and that continues to be a problem.

The Bears came into Sunday's game against the Bucs tied for 25th in red-zone offense, having converted just 50 percent of its possessions inside the 20-yard line into touchdowns.

It didn't improve in Tampa, going 2-for-4, although the Bears salvaged chip-shot Robbie Gould field goals on the two red-zone possessions that didn't reach the end zone.

Injury update?

Coach John Fox did not provide an injury update but said he didn't think rookie nose tackle Eddie Goldman's ankle injury was serious.

"I don't think it's surgical," Fox said, "but I don't know all the exact (details), so I think it's really not good to report on it yet until we get all the information."

Trail blazer:

Undrafted rookie safety Harold Jones-Quartey, who had an interception and forced fumble Sunday, is the eighth player from the Division-II University of Findlay (Ohio) to appear in an NFL game, and he's just the fifth non-1987 replacement player to do so.

Jones-Quartey is the first non-replacement player from Findlay to appear in an NFL game since wide receiver Tony King played for the Buffalo Bills in 1967.

Dialing long distance:

Robbie Gould's 50-yard field goal Sunday was his seventh from 50 yards or farther this season, breaking his own single-season team record of 6 set in 2011.

Gould is 7-for-9 (77.8 percent) from 50 yards or farther this season. He is 23-for-31 (74.2 percent) on field goals of 50 yards or longer in his career, the fourth-best percentage in NFL history with at least 10 attempts.

Gould went 4-for-4 vs. the Bucs (26, 27, 50 and 39 yards), the seventh time this season he was perfect on field goals with at least three attempts in a game.

That extended his franchise single-season record and is just one away from the NFL record of eight by Al Del Greco in 1998 with the Tennessee Oilers.