Chicago Bears: 5 X-factor players for Week 4 vs. Colts

5. David Montgomery needs a big game

David Montgomery is having a very good start to the season. He’s averaging 4.4 yards per rush and 10.7 yards per catch. He averaged 3.7 and 7.4 yards, respectively. Last season, he ranked 33rd in yards after contact. This season, he ranks second with 72.3 percent of his yards coming after contact.

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One of the things that happened in last week’s game was the loss of Montgomery’s main backup, Tarik Cohen. He was hit on his leg and ended up tearing his ACL. Now he’s out for the season.

The Bears still have Cordarrelle Patterson to help but he is the Bears’ Swiss Army knife on the offense. He’s needed in other areas. The team did activate Artavis PIerce from their practice squad. He’s had some success in college in a backup role. He averaged 5.8 yards per rush and scored 15 touchdowns despite not being the main part of the running game.

Montgomery needs to step up. Since this is the first game without Cohen, he may need to have more carries until Pierce shows he’s ready to help alleviate the load. If he has a big game, he takes some pressure off of Foles.

With him running well, the Colts have to respect the run. That helps Foles get the deep passes completed. Now, with the running game and the deep passes connecting, the Colts defense will be on its heel, unsure of what to go after from one play to another.

This is the game in which Montgomery makes his mark on this offense.