The Chicago Bears punted on the opening drive of their 24-18 win over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. But on three run plays, D’Andre Swift gained 12 yards.
That was a monumental achievement.
In Week 2, Swift averaged 1.3 yards per carry. In Week 3, he improved to 1.5 yards per carry. The whole run game was a mess. We saw changes in Week 4 — improved performance, sensible personnel packages, better design and a commitment to run the football.
It started with the first play of the game. The tone was set. The Bears came out with quarterback Caleb Williams under center and two tight ends, Cole Kmet and Marcedes Lewis.
As Swift is about to get the handoff, offensive linemen Matt Pryor and Coleman Shelton have double-teamed Kobie Turner (No. 91). Lewis has the responsibility of Neville Gallimore (No. 92), with help from right tackle Darnell Wright. And Kmet makes a nice block down on Byron Young (No. 0).
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Then wide receiver Keenan Allen has safety Kamren Curl (No. 3) to block. Everyone locks up their guy, creating an opening to Swift’s right. (All screenshots courtesy of NFL+).
Here’s the result as Swift gets the ball and darts outside. There is a Rams defender unblocked, cornerback Cobie Durant, who makes the tackle, but a 6-yard gain on first down to start the game was quite the accomplishment considering how the Bears had been running the ball.
Late in the second quarter, as the Bears are trying to put points on the board before halftime, Swift gets the ball on second down — the Bears were significantly better on second down Sunday than they had been. They entered Week 4 as the worst second-down team in the league, averaging 2.6 yards per play. They averaged 6.7 yards per play on second down against the Rams.
It looked like this run was designed to go up the gut, but when Swift sees Rams nose tackle Bobby Brown (No. 95), who had shoved Pryor aside, he bounces outside.
Wright blocked Young just long enough for Swift to outrun the defensive end to get around the edge and gain 6 yards and a first down.
In the third quarter, on the Bears’ best drive of the season, Swift receives a toss going to his left, and he must have been wide-eyed when he saw the backs of Bears jerseys instead of the front of an opponent’s jersey.
While left tackle Braxton Jones struggled against defensive end Jared Verse in pass protection, he did a nice job on this play sealing Gallimore (No. 92). Kmet’s ability to keep Verse engaged is impressive, and then Allen gets to safety Quentin Lake (No. 37). Lewis helps Jones before getting to linebacker Christian Rozeboom (No. 56).
You can see Allen’s frustration when Lake ultimately makes the tackle after Swift’s 9-yard run. He probably could’ve held his block longer.
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This was Swift’s second-longest run of the afternoon.
Early in the fourth quarter, Swift had a 5-yard run. It’s nothing special, but we’ve got a low bar after the first two games of the season, and this play stood out when rewatching the game because of the push the line got off the snap.
According to TruMedia, Swift averaged 3.94 yards before contact against the Rams. In Weeks 1-3, he averaged 0.14 yards per carry before contact, which ranked 48th out of 51 qualifying running backs.
The touchdown run was really a thing of beauty, from the blocks to Swift’s hurdle and then the way he juked Rams safety Kamren Kinchens as he broke toward the end zone.
Jones and Shelton had the two key blocks, and of course, Kmet came across the formation to get his. Credit Pryor and Nate Davis, as well as Odunze for a block at the second level.
“You see a guy with breakaway speed like that and I make the cut block and he’s able to jump over him a little bit as he’s falling down,” Kmet said. “And then I just saw the seas part and him take off. You knew he was gone. D’Andre has good home run speed there. That was good to see.”
.@DAndreSwift breaks free for a 36 yd TD!
📺: #LARvsCHI on FOX pic.twitter.com/GneMI2LP2i
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) September 29, 2024
The Bears entered foreign territory with 4:14 left in the game — the opportunity to run clock with the lead, something they hadn’t done since Week 1.
On the first play, always a critical one for a four-minute drive, Swift runs for 7 yards.
Williams is under center. Wright helps Davis with a double-team, and the three tight ends all make their blocks. Swift sneaks between Lewis and Kmet.
Now we go back in time to the aforementioned “best drive of the season” in the third quarter to highlight a Roschon Johnson run.
It’s third-and-3 from the Rams’ 33-yard line. The Bears already have two first downs and seem to be rolling but are at risk of stalling and having to settle for a field goal.
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According to Stathead, the Bears have had 22 plays this season when it’s third down with between 3 and 5 yards to go. They’ve converted the first down on only nine of those plays, and only twice by running the ball.
In fact, Williams has attempted a pass on 19 third-and-3 to third-and-5 situations. The Bears haven’t really trusted their ability to run for the first down. But in this spot, they handed it to Johnson, and he gained 8 yards.
I imagine everyone’s sick of hearing “it takes all 11,” but this play is a good example where at least it takes all six. Each offensive lineman wins at the snap, and Kmet comes over once again to get his block in. Jones helps double-team Brown before heading to linebacker Troy Reeder (No. 51). Johnson follows it for the first down.
We shouldn’t be throwing the Bears bouquets, necessarily. Swift’s touchdown run was the only rush that went for more than 10 yards, and the Rams have one of the worst defenses in football. He and Johnson did combine for 119 rushing yards on 23 carries, but there’s still room for the run game to be more effective.
The Bears are last in the NFL in “big plays,” defined as 10-plus run plays and 20-plus pass plays. They have only 12. The Packers have 38.
Most big plays through Week 4: pic.twitter.com/29zY5RGmT9
— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) October 1, 2024
But when you enter Week 4 as the worst rushing team in football, you have to start somewhere, and the Bears definitely did. They showed flexibility in terms of personnel and mixed things up with their run plays, and it worked. The offensive line, tight ends and running backs were dictating things, instead of the defense winning at the snap.
“The runners did a really good job of running downhill,” coach Matt Eberflus said. “The types of runs were a little bit different. They were a little bit more downhill-type runs. The perimeter blocking was good. The reason you make those explosive plays is the perimeter blocking is there as well. It takes all 11 of the guys to get that done. The detail was really good.”
Next up is a Panthers team that is in the bottom third of the league in yards per carry allowed (4.6) and 10-plus runs allowed (16). There’s an opportunity for Swift, Johnson and the Bears’ offensive line to build off the success against the Rams.
Once they make the run game more than a blip, and something they can rely on consistently, that’ll only make things easier for the rookie quarterback.
(Top photo: David Banks / Imagn Images)
