The Chicago Bears are facing a big problem.
They brought in exciting offensive mind Ben Johnson as their new head coach after he called the shots for the Detroit Lions' explosive offense. On paper, that's wonderful.
But in practice, the Bears are missing something: Sonic and Knuckles.
Those are the nicknames of Lions RBs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. They were key cogs in everything Johnson did in Detroit.
In Chicago, his running backs aren't Gibbs or Montgomery.
"The Bears had one of the least effective run games in 2024, ranking 31st in both rushing yards per game (79.0) and yards per rush (3.7) on designed run plays (excluding scrambles and kneel downs)," writes ESPN's Courtney Cronin. "Chicago didn't add at running back until the seventh round when it drafted Rutgers' Kyle Monangai, and whether the Bears have enough firepower in the backfield to emulate the success of the Lions' top-6 rushing attack depends on the roles D'Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson carve out."
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Swift is 26 years old and coming off his worst NFL season. He averaged only 3.8 yards per carry. He did overlap with Johnson in his past with the Lions, so maybe that'll help.
Johnson is entering his third NFL season. As a rookie, he put up 4.3 yards per carry. But in his second year, that dropped to an abysmal 2.7 yards per attempt.
The Bears will need bouncebacks, for sure. Johnson won't be able to maximize this offense without the RBs stepping up.
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