With five minutes left in the third quarter, Vikings' cornerback Jeff Gladney learned a valuable lesson about tackling David Montgomery. Gladney met Montgomery– running with 10 yards worth of steam – at the Vikings' five, only to be, quite literally, carried on the RB's back and dragged across the goal line. Watching the play, you almost wonder if, secretly, the Bears' offense can relate.
"He’s really, really, hard to bring down with one guy," Matt Nagy said after the Bears' 33-27 win over Minnesota on Sunday afternoon. "He runs with just extreme passion. The guys love that; we’re feeding off him."
"He's a special back," Mitch Trubisky added. "You get David in the open field, he's a special back. He's going to make guys miss. Guys are going to bounce off him."
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Say what you want about Trubisky's return, but it's been the 'special' running of Montgomery that's breathed life back into a season that was DOA three weeks ago. The second-year back has piled up 434 yards on the ground over the last month, going over 100 yards in three of the last four games. On Sunday he set a career high in rushing yards (146) against a Vikings defense that came into the game ranked 12th in DVOA. So after nine lackluster weeks, what's changed?
"Just one word, really," Montgomery said. "It's trust. Me trusting in them, them trusting in me. And the guys around us, the wide receivers, them trusting me, me trusting in them. That's what it all falls down on is just trust. Trusting each other from the first snap to the last snap. That's merely what it is."
And while Montgomery had certainly earned his teammates' trust before the Bears' win in Minnesota, a career-high 32 (!!) rushes against the Vikings signaled that his coaches may finally be coming around too. "You guys need to see the way that he practices every day," Nagy said. "He just finishes every run down near the goal line and comes on back for the next play. And he cares so much.”
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After the game, both Trubisky and Nagy admitted that this offense – the one that's scored at least 30 points in each of the last three games – starts with Montgomery. Sam Mustipher's emergence (and Cody Whitehair's renaissance) certainly helps, but as the team learns to trust Montgomery, especially with a lead, they're starting to see just how high of ceiling he has.
"Yeah, it’s been fun, man," Montgomery said. "Been fun being able to go out there and just let it loose, cut it loose and just have fun with the guys around you. Just being able to get that opportunity to do that has been the best for me. So we're just excited."
He's right, too – it's hard not to be excited about the Bears right now. It's not the offense Matt Nagy ever wanted to run, but it's the one that finally works. The O-line's opened things up for Montgomery, who's opened things up for Trubisky, who's finally giving an exhausted defense some much-needed relief. Montgomery's only 94 yards away from the first 1,000 yard season of his young career – a feat that felt near impossible after his 14-rush, 30-yard performance against the Titans back in early November. The Bears aren't back in the Wild Card driver's seat quite yet, but if Montgomery's runs are any indication, it's looking like it might be hard (and frankly, painful) to stay in their way.
"He runs harder than anyone I've seen in person," Trubisky said. "It's special when he gets the ball in his hands."