Ben Johnson has a chance to get the Bears rushing attack to eerily similar heights that has been terrorizing the NFL
D’Andre Swift’s potential return in Week 10 could give Ben Johnson a familiar approach to the backfield.
The emergence of rookie running back Kyle Monangai in Week 9 was a welcome sign for head coach Ben Johnson and the entire Chicago Bears offense has a whole.
The team’s seventh-round pick has been earning more and more trust from the coaching staff and delivered in a massive way with 176 yards on 26 carries in his first game as the lead back with starting running back D’Andre Swift sitting out due to a groin injury.
After that performance from Monangai, a lot of questions started brewing about the implications for the team’s backfield share. But, those reactions were overblown when looking at the impact Swift had in the run game since the bye week (92.3 rushing yards per game).
What Monangai’s game did show is that the Bears have two dangerous backs for Ben Johnson to deploy, when fully healthy, and it’s something that should sound eerily familiar.
Ben Johnson discusses how the backfield share could look when D’Andre Swift returns
Based on the final injury report, the team listed Swift as questionable for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants after missing practice due to a personal reason. Swift returned to practice from the groin injury on Thursday and was officially a limited participant.
If Swift is unable to go, Monangai would be in line for a big role for the second game in a row. If Swift does play, Johnson explained his process for how the share could go between the two.
“My experience has usually been each guy, there might be a couple plays on the plan run game or pass game that you put their number down for going into the week,” Johnson told reporters on Friday. “Other than that, I think normally it’s been by series. This guy’s going to start us off this series and we’ll see, the longer the drive, we might have to sub someone else in. . .
“I think we’ll get that right balance as we go through it. [Eric Bieniemy’s] got a really good feel for guys as they’re rolling. I do believe in a guy having a hot hand. So, if one guy he’s feeling it and giving you a spark, we might lean on that a little big longer.”
Sounds familiar? It’s a similar approach Johnson used with his two-back offense as the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator working with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, where he rode the hot hand but still managed to keep both backs involved on a weekly basis.
From 2023-2024, that two-back offense led by Gibbs and Montgomery averaged 146.4 rushing yards per game, which ranked seventh in the NFL and second in the league with 29 rushing touchdowns.
With Swift and now Monangai, Johnson has two efficient backs each with a different skill set. Swift is more of the big-play threat with Monangai proving he can be the hard-nosed physical runner. There’s honestly no better play-caller fit to handle the strengths of both players and keep both involved.
Since returning from the Week 5 bye week, the Bears have averaged a league-high 186.5 rushing yards per game with six rushing touchdowns in that span. And that’s without fully being able to unleash Swift and Monangai as a true two-back system like Johnson called in Detroit.
Swift’s status going into Sunday will obviously play a big role in this when it comes to being able to do so in Week 10 and will be something to monitor. But, eventually, Johnson’s two-back offense that used to terrorize the NFL is going to make a comeback with his new pieces in Chicago.
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