Can David Montgomery bounce back from last week’s performance?
While the Chicago Bears enjoyed a big win, running back David Montgomery had a poor game. That’s not to say that he didn’t contribute to the win, however. He was the only player who had any receiving yards in the first half.
There were only three completions for the Bears in the entire first half. Two of them went to Montgomery for 21 yards. Khalil Herbert had the other catch but it lost two yards.
Additionally, Montgomery was pivotal on the 51-yard touchdown completion that jump-started the offense. as quarterback Justin Fields scrambled, Montgomery was out on the flat. He cut across and the Niners secondary, knowing that he was the only one doing a good job of receiving, collapsed on him. That left Dante Pettis all by himself. The only worry was whether or not he was too open to catch the ball. He did, and he basically skipped to the end zone.
Montgomery’s rushing stats were not as good, however. He had 17 carries for just 26 yards. That is an average of 1.5 yards per carry. He had the most carries in the game but he could not find a groove. It may take a while for Montgomery to find that groove in Luke Getsy’s new offense. Now the Bears utilize a wide-zone scheme. That usually calls for the running back to get out on the edge and outrun the defense, then make a cut to avoid them.
Montgomery is not that type of runner. He doesn’t utilize speed in his repertoire. He is more of a bruising-type back who has excellent balance and bounces off attempted tackles. This offense is better suited for Herbert. It showed as he finished with 45 yards on only 9 carries. That is an average of 5 yards per rush.
As we see, the Bears are trying to give Montgomery the carries. He had nearly double the carries that Herbert had. If Montgomery continues to struggle, we’ll see if the Bears continue that.