SORRY, GOTTA RUN
With eye toward ’ 17, woeful Bears need to lean on Howard
A three- letter plea to a two- win team: Run.
Run because rookie Jordan Howard is averaging 5.3 yards per carry, the second- best clip in the NFL.
Run because Alshon Jeffery, who has caught one pass of every five the Bears have completed, is out four games with an embarrassing performance- enhancing- drug suspension.
Run because, after having a passer rating of 108.8 last year on third and fourth downs with less than four yards to go, Jay Cutler’s mark this year is 10.9.
But, most important, don’t run to win this year.
Run to build a mindset for next season.
“You know, we can say we want to run every play,” coach John Fox said. “Well, that’s a little tough to do in the National Football League.”
What’s not hard to do: run more than 29 other teams. Only two — the perennially dreadful Browns and Jaguars — average fewer than the Bears’ 21.6 rushing attempts per game.
The Bears could average 39 rushes the rest of the season and still not match their 469 from last year. And this season, they have the dynamic Howard.
“Nothing really shakes that kid,” Cutler said. “Practice, games, he’s a cool customer. He knows exactly what we expect out of him.”
They should expect more this week.
“If they want to lean on me,” Howard said, “I’ll be ready for it.”
Cutler figures to be gone, but Howard and most of the Bears’ offensive line should return for 2017. Whether offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains does, too, depends on the last seven games. Last week, Howard had 13 carries in the first half for 89 yards — and two for 11 the rest of the way. A minor Achilles tendon injury hampered him late in the game but not enough to cost him a minute of practice this week.
Fox has said the Bears have been behind too often to run, but they’ve been outscored by one point in the first half this season.
There’s a place for balance, but Loggains’ offense still doesn’t have an identity. Worse, it can’t score, averaging a league- worst 14.1 offensive points.
Guard Josh Sitton said increased red- zone success would allow the team to run more often — but the inverse is true, too.
“As an offensive lineman, you want to run the ball every damn play,” Sitton said. “That’s not how this game works, I guess. But when you’re out there grinding and getting four, five yards a pop, yeah, that builds your confidence, and you want to keep that going.”
It will be difficult Sunday. Bears backups Ted Larsen and Mike Adams will start on the line’s right side. Without Jeffery to doubleteam, the Giants — who haven’t allowed a 100- yard rusher — will put eight men in the box to stop Howard. That shouldn’t matter. This isn’t about one game, anyway.
“The more I play, I just keep getting more and more confidence,” Howard said. “It keeps getting kinda easier for me in that sense.”
Follow me on Twitter @ patrickfinley.