Bears have the perfect opportunity to unleash D’Andre Swift against the Patriots, and it’s time for him to take over
The Chicago Bears have been cautious with D’Andre Swift’s usage over the last few weeks and Thursday night’s game against the New England Patriots is the perfect opportunity to unleash him.
The Chicago Bears have taken a interesting approach to the team’s backfield this season, mainly when it comes to the usage of starting running back D’Andre Swift.
Prior to the season, the Bears extended Swift’s contract following a really strong training camp, a sign that he was going to be a top focal point of this offense – even more than he already was last year. Instead, we haven’t really seen a monster game from Swift since the season opener when he totaled 124 yards and three touchdowns, but even then that production only came from 19 touches.
Swift has only had one game this season with 20+ carries (Week 3 against the Philadelphia Eagles) and the Bears are being overly cautious about not overworking him.
That’s even after Kyle Monangai went down with a turf toe injury. In the last two games combined without Monangai, Swift has had only 25 carries while Roschon Johnson has carried the ball 18 times. The reasoning behind Swift’s usage makes sense, but the Bears are also limiting one of their most dangerous weapons in the process.
“I think there’s a mindfulness to preserve him a little bit,” Bears offensive coordinator Press Taylor explained. “It’s a long season. Just being aware of D’Andre and how he’s been throughout the course and how invaluable he is for us throughout the course of the season. We felt like Roschon was really contributing pretty well for us in a number of aspects… We felt comfortable rolling with him in there as well. And Swifty was ready to go if we needed it. So no, there was nothing really too much beyond that.”
Week 7 is the game to fully unleash D’Andre Swift
Again, that reasoning makes sense. You don’t want to overwork Swift early in the season and have him banged up late in the year as we’ve previously seen the last two years. At the same time, there’s certain games where you can justify letting Swift take over.
Thursday’s game against the New England Patriots is one of those games. Not only is it a good matchup for Swift, it also comes at the perfect time. After Thursday’s game, the Bears won’t play again until Nov. 2 against the Seattle Seahawks. That would give Swift plenty of rest after a heavy workload, and there’s a strong possibility Monangai will be back for that game in Seattle.
Needless to say, I’m expecting a season-high game for Swift in terms of touches and not just when it comes to carries. This is a perfect matchup to get Swift more involved out of the backfield. New England has allowed 6.8 receiving yards per attempt against running backs this season (6th-highest in the NFL). The Patriots have been solid against the run, so that’s going to be the best way to get Swift more involved.
I understand the coaching staff has been confident in Roschon Johnson and he’s coming off one of his best games of his career, but it’s nothing compared to what Swift can bring to this offense if he’s let off the leash.
There’s no better time to do it than tonight. I’m ready to see Swift take over.
