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Courtney Cronin, ESPN Staff WriterSep 29, 2024, 07:35 PM ET
- Courtney Cronin joined ESPN in 2017, originally covering the Minnesota Vikings before switching to the Chicago Bears in 2022. Courtney is a frequent panelist on Around the Horn and host of Best Week Ever on ESPN Radio. She also co-hosts The Chicago Bears Podcast on ESPN 1000. She previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News as a multimedia sports journalist.
CHICAGO — After being gifted their best field position of the day when Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford was sacked and fumbled at his own 16-yard line, the Chicago Bears offense went old school.
One week after a disastrous goal-line series in a loss to the Indianapolis Colts featured repeated failures running out of the shotgun, the Bears used their most powerful rusher out of the I-formation to score their first touchdown in a 24-18 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
With three tight ends on the field and backup center Doug Kramer Jr. lined up at fullback, Bears 6-foot, 225-pound running back Roschon Johnson easily powered his way into the end zone on a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
This was more than an ode to the ground-and-pound attack that has defined the Bears franchise for decades. This was the part of the Bears’ offensive identity that has been missing since the start of the season. After boasting the No. 2 rushing offense (141.1 yards per game) in 2023, Chicago was not able to establish an effective rushing attack in its first three games and ranked just ahead of the dead-last Las Vegas Raiders with under 73 rushing yards per game.
The load once carried by ex-Bears quarterback Justin Fields was passed on to Chicago’s stable of backs, headlined by D’Andre Swift, Khalil Herbert and Johnson.
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For three games, the Bears struggled to find which running back they could lean on consistently. Against the Rams, that part of Chicago’s offense experienced a breakthrough and amassed 131 yards and two touchdowns on 28 attempts.
“That’s something that we’ve been really good at the past couple years,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “I’m sure it’s been a little bit of an adjustment for [offensive coordinator] Shane [Waldron] coming in, obviously with the run game that we’ve had the past couple seasons. I think we’re finding our way with it.”
Throughout the week, Bears coaches and players openly discussed issues that played out on offense as the team got off to a 1-2 start. Veterans like tight end Marcedes Lewis implored coaches during a meeting to uphold a higher standard of accountability while Waldron and coach Matt Eberflus discussed how to make sure the right players were being relied on in situations that played best to their strengths.
Johnson’s downhill rushing ability made him the best fit for the Bears to convert at the goal line while Swift, whose slow start to the season has been a sore spot, found his groove when the Bears got him in space.
Swift, who the Bears signed to a three-year, $24 million contract in March, had 114 total yards through three weeks and averaged 1.8 yards per carry. Against the Rams, the Pro Bowler totaled 16 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown while catching all seven targets for 72 yards.
“It means a lot, but I know who I am,” Swift said. “I know who I am, I know what I can do and I know what God instilled in me. If I keep that mentality every time I go to work, I know I’ll be alright.”
AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh
According to ESPN Research, Swift got 74 of his 93 rushing yards before contact (4.6 yards before contact per rush), a significant increase from the 0.78 yards before contact per rush he averaged in Weeks 1-3.
The difference a week made was felt everywhere on offense.
“It opens everybody else up,” wide receiver DJ Moore said. “With him being as dynamic as he is in the run and pass game, when he gets out in the pass game and sneaks out of the backfield and he’s wide open by himself, he can go the distance.”
Swift did that on his game-defining touchdown late in the fourth quarter to put the Bears up 24-15. Upon receiving a handoff from rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, Swift danced around a defender at the line of scrimmage before bursting into the open field and running 36 yards into the end zone untouched.
It was the longest rushing touchdown the Bears had recorded since Week 18 of the 2022 season (42 yards by Velus Jones Jr.).
