Chicago Bears: Standout players from Week 17 vs. Vikings
David Montgomery, Running Back
This was a tough season for Montgomery. Many experts, especially outside of Chicago, expected great things from him. He was a favorite pick for Offensive Rookie of the Year at the beginning of the season.
Things were tough for him right from the beginning. For some reason, head coach Matt Nagy went away from using him and had Trubisky throw over 50 times in a couple of games. That lack of balanced play-calling hurt Montgomery’s numbers and his place in the offense.
Even so, Montgomery finished the season with 1,074 total yards from scrimmage (889 rushing yards, 185 receiving yards). Just like Robinson, doing that on a struggling offense is an accomplishment.
Montgomery got to show the abilities that made him so attractive to the Chicago Bears brass. The offensive line opened up holes for him (if only they did that against starting level defensive lines) and he did the rest. His strength, balance, and elusiveness were on full display in this game.
The Montgomery that the Bears coaching staff and the fans expected to see was there to start the third quarter. On the opening drive of that quarter, the Bears drove 75 yards on 9 plays. All but one ( a 10-yard pass to Ridley) were runs. Of those 8 runs, Montgomery ran 6 (5 in a row) of them for 57 yards and a touchdown. For the game, Montgomery finished with his second 100+ rushing yard performance.
Montgomery showed what kind of back he can be when he has a hole open for him. It doesn’t even have to be a big hole. His mantra should be the same as what Chicago Bears legendary running back Gayle Sayers said, “Just give me 18 inches of daylight. That’s all I need.”
Montgomery blew through holes and gained chunks of yards. He used his spin move and his incredible balanced that helped him lead college football in broken tackles in his last two seasons.
This game left everyone waiting for him to break out in 2020. Hopefully, the offensive line improves and gives him more than 18 inches to work with next season.