Chicago Bears Focused On Running More

Nov 27, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte (22) runs the ball during the first quarter against the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

While speaking with reporters on Monday, Chicago Bears head coach Marc Trestman admitted that it was a mistake last week to abandon the run against the Detroit Lions. Moving forward, Trestman plans on emphasizing the run more than he has previously this season.

Chicago Bears head coach Marc Trestman admitted that it was a mistake for the Bears to abandon the running game last week against the Detroit Lions and the plan going forward is to emphasize the run more.

“We’re just trying to get some balance in our offense. We’ve got to take the mistakes we made last week and turn them into a positive this week,” Bears coach Marc Trestman said. “One of the things we know we have to do is we have to attempt to run the ball more. As I said to our team, ‘We don’t have to run the ball for 7 yards a carry.’ Running the football has a residual effect on a lot of different things. It helps your movement game. It helps your play-action game. We all know these things. We didn’t get it done last week. We admit to that, and we have to move forward.”

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The issue to take with Trestman is that he has said all this stuff before. Trestman along with Bears’ general manager Phil Emery said after the Bears’ loss to the New England Patriots that the team needed to be more balanced on offense and run the ball more. Though, after running back Matt Forte only had five carries last week, balance is the last word that would be used to describe the team’s offense.

Bears’ offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer, quarterback Jay Cutler, and running back Matt Forte also took issue with the lack of running plays last week.

Kromer admitted that sometimes individual games alter what the Bears plan to do on offense.

“But then the game didn’t present itself the way we hoped at that point where we got down by two touchdowns, and then we had to try to throw it to get back in it, we felt,” Kromer said. “A (part) of it is individual game plans. So you’re playing Detroit and they’re giving up very limited amount of run yards and so you say to yourself, ‘Well, but they’re not doing a great job on the perimeter versus the quick screens,’ and so like I said, we’re trying to establish that at first, and then start to run it more often as the game went on. But what’s not happening is we’re not in the game when we’re going to start running it more, and then it becomes a passing game.”

Cutler confessed that not running the ball complicates the offense.

“It’s hard, it makes things hard,” Cutler said. “If you’re running the ball efficiently and giving the illusion you’re going to run the ball, it definitely helps. You want to throw the ball. You want to throw touchdowns. You want to throw for big yards. But you definitely want to win football games, and I think anyone who has been doing this for a while realizes you’ve got to have the best of both worlds. You’ve got to be able to run the ball. You’ve got to be able to do some play-action. There’s no one out there who can drop back 40 to 50 times consistently and win football games. It’s really hard.”

Forte, who has probably been the most upset with Trestman’s play-calling, believes that running the ball is the most important thing an offense can do.

“It’s of the utmost importance, especially if we’re playing outside with the weather and stuff,” Forte said. “You can’t just sit back there and throw 50 passes a game and expect to win. [Against Detroit], the front four were pinning their ears back. They didn’t have anything to do but pass rush. They’re not respecting the run, and then if you play fake, they’re not going to take the play fake because you haven’t been running the ball. It’s a big part of the play-action game, to keep the defense off of keying on exactly what to do, whether it’s pass rush or trying to stop the run.”