For almost all of the season's first half, the Chicago Bears owned the ground game. That perch is gone, and the team that took it is coming to Soldier Field on Sunday night.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers now stands and the NFL's top rushing team, averaging 168.6 yards per game. The Bears sit in second, averaging 158.8 yards per game, and that gap only opened following Week 8's events.
Chicago earned the crown on the ground
Chicago got here via head coach Ben Johnson's two-back system, and so far, it's paid off. The Bears entered last week on top of the league, averaging 154.3 rushing yards per game, and they still lead the NFL in rushing touchdowns with 17. D'Andre Swift has 10 of them, the most in the league, and a career high. On top of that, Swift has carried the backfield, with Kyle Monangai still out for the count.
Evin in Seattle, where Chicago's backs managed only 86 rushing yards and an average of 2.7 per carry, Swift still scored three times. The Bears identity under Ben Johnson has certainly been built on the ground, and the crown was earned.
Then Tampa Bay stole it.
Bucky Irving powered the takeover
The Buccaneers simply ran over everyone in their path. Tampa Bay piled up 258 rushing yards over the Carolina Panthers during Week 7, and then followed that up with a franchise record against the Falcons at 324 rushing yards. That's 582 rushing yards in two games.
Running back Bucky Irving is the engine. The Chicago-born back has 728 rushing yards this season, fourth in the NFL, averaging 5.0 yards per carry. To put that into perspective, Swift clocks in at 12th in the league, with 545 total yards, and an average of 3.8 yards per carry.
Behind Irving sits Kenny Gainwell, who added 140 yards of his own against Atlanta to combine with Irving to become the first pair of running backs to both carry for 25 times each, and both exceed 125 yards.
The wildest part is how the Buccaneers won on Sunday. Quarterback Baker Mayfield threw only three passes, completing none of them, and the Buccaneers won in a shutout. The Falcons completed only eight passes, the only in the game.
But now the Buccaneers are coming to the Bears' house, where they can settle things on the field. The league's top rushing team visiting the second ranked team just may be something to behold. Chicago can take its crown back the only way that counts: by outrushing the team that took it.
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