WHENTHE BEARS HAVE THE BALL
ON THE GROUND
The only sure thing is that the Bears will continue to try to establish the run, no matter who plays where on the offensive line. Under coordinator Adam Gase, they have had 27 or more rushing attempts in each of their first four games. They exceeded that figure only three times all season under Marc Trestman in 2014. Matt Forte (84 carries, 367 yards, one TD) is second in the NFL in rushing yards. The Chiefs are 14th in rush defense and allowed 124 yards (4.8 yards per carry) and four TDs last week against the Bengals. But that’s when they had Andy Dalton, A.J. Green and a red-hot passing attack to deal with. It remains to be seen if the Bears can present that kind of threat.
PLAYERS TOWATCH
Charles Leno held his own in his first NFL start at left tackle against the Raiders’ Aldon Smith. ‘‘Absolutely, it’ll give me a lot of confidence,’’ Leno said. ‘‘My job was to come in and step up, and I feel like I did that. And I’m going to continue to do it.’’ This week, he’ll face four-time Pro Bowler Tamba Hali, who has 80.5 career sacks but only two in his last 14 games.
IN THE AIR
Jay Cutler figures to be a little more mobile and a little better in his second game back from a hamstring injury. ‘‘Even when I stepped up a few times and threw it [against the Raiders], my mindset was just to get rid of the ball and let these guys do it,’’ Cutler said. ‘‘This week, I think I’ll be able to move around a little bit more.’’ But the Bears are beat up all around him. They not only have question marks at center and left guard, but receivers Alshon Jeffery (hamstring) and Eddie Royal (ankle) were limited in practice (Jeffery hasn’t played since Week 1). The Chiefs are 28th in pass defense, but they’ve faced Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers and Dalton the last three weeks.