Chicago Bears beat the Arizona Cardinals: Offensive grades

Running Backs: A-

With Jordan Howard missing the game with a minor eye injury, everyone else had an opportunity to make plays in his absence.

While it wasn’t always pretty, every running back contributed something positive to this Bears effort.

Cohen’s very first carry went for 16 yards, and he proceeded to gash the Cardinals’ defense repeatedly en route to 77 yards on 11 carries total. He gained 72 of those yards in the first half alone. His rookie status didn’t keep him from starting with Howard unavailable, which should tell us a lot about how much the Bears like him.

Interestingly, though neither Ka’Deem Carey nor Benny Cunningham had big rushing totals—Carey had seven yards on six carries (with one big run called back) while Cunningham had just one yard on three carries, they impacted the game in other ways.

Cunningham started off the game for the Bears with a 41-yard kick return and added three catches for 15 yards—and the game-winning touchdown. Carey similarly chipped in 13 yards receiving on two catches, including first down catch-and-run. It wasn’t flashy, but both players kept making cases to break camp with Bears. At this point, it’s hard to see either getting cut with Jeremy Langford’s future looking more and more uncertain.

Even undrafted rookie Josh Rounds flashed better play at times, ripping off a 17-yard run and adding a 13-yard reception.

The Bears needed their running backs to step up without their leader on the field. And while the numbers weren’t always there for them, they still made an impact.