Chicago Bears: Mitchell Trubisky leads Week 1 hot takes

Hot Take Number 5: The Bears are a run-first team

All offseason, we heard Matt Nagy talk about how he wanted to do a better job at establishing the run. Sunday, he backed those words up. Prior to the fourth quarter comeback, the Bears were just about even in terms of run/pass ratio.

The team ended up running the ball 28 times versus 36 passes — 10 passes which came in the fourth quarter.

At times, it still felt as though Nagy was getting cute. David Montgomery’s groin injury could have come into play, which is a benefit of the doubt I’m willing to give Nagy. But, there were a couple of times Montgomery had some strong runs and Nagy took him out the very next play.

Going forward, if Montgomery is healthy, Nagy should be able to leave him in there and continue getting his lead back into a rhythm. In total, Montgomery ran for 64 yards on 13 carries; good for an average of 4.9 yards per carry.

The Bears, as a team, actually ran the ball very efficiently. Chicago went for 149 yards on 28 carries, averaging a strong 5.3 yards per tote. Trubisky took off on three occasions, going for 26 yards of his own.

This offense is better when committing to the run, especially if Trubisky takes it himself a couple of times. If the offensive line can continue to operate well in the run game, this offense will only improve.