The Bears run game has averaged more than 4 yards per carry over the consecutive losses to San Francisco, Washington and Minnesota. But for all of the commitment to running the football under coach John Fox and coordinator Adam Gase, the Bears have failed to establish that part of the game as a signature for the 2015 offense.
Sometimes there’s just no simple logic to it all. The Bears averaged just 3.3 yards per carry in Green Bay, tied for second-lowest average this season, yet won. They piled up 170 yards and averaged 170 against San Francisco, yet lost.
Sometimes it is a matter of imposing your will on an opponent, and the Bears simply have not done that running the football.
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Defensive lineman Mitch Unrein has been used in short-yardage and goal-line situations, but exclusively as a blocker. And the Bears have been generally successful with him as lead blocker for Ka’Deem Carey, Matt Forte or Jeremy Langford, just as they were once successful with defensive lineman William Perry lining him up as a lead blocker.
The Mike Ditka Bears occasionally handed or threw the football to Perry. Would the John Fox Bears consider Unrein catch or run with the football in an offense that doesn’t have a fullback on the roster?
He’d be on the list,” Fox deadpanned, “but I don’t know about how high up the list.”