Bears seek to rev up their scuffling running game: 'We just got to be better at the details'

(670 The Score) An effective running game is the best friend of a rookie quarterback, and that’s what the Bears envisioned for their Caleb Williams-led offense in his first NFL season.

But the Bears have failed to establish their running game in the first two games of the season. It’s a key part of why the offense has struggled as a whole in the team's 1-1 start.

Williams is the Bears’ leading rusher on the season, carrying 10 times for 59 yards. Most of his running production has come on scrambles, including a 24-yard carry in the Bears' 19-13 loss to the Texans on Sunday that marked the team’s longest rush of the season.

Veteran running back D’Andre Swift, whom the Bears signed to a $24-million deal in March, has carried 24 times for just 48 yards. Khalil Herbert has four rushes for seven yards, and Roschon Johnson hasn’t touched the football yet. The Bears are averaging 77.5 rushing yards per game, which ranks 28th in the NFL. Their 3.5 yards per carry ranks 29th.

The Bears led the NFL in rushing in 2022, running for a franchise-record 3,012 yards. They were second in the NFL with 2,399 rushing yards in 2023, but they haven't been efficient this season.

“Run game comes down to the basics,” Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said. “It comes down to your combo blocks, it comes down to guys working their helmet in the right spot, staying square, working to the second level, spotting up to the second level, sticking and staying on the second level. The perimeter blocking needs to improve with our push cracks, our crack blocking, blocking on the perimeter for perimeter screens. All those things. It just comes down to detail, and it comes down to us being consistent as a group to be able to get that done.

“We got the guys, we got the coaches, we got the players. We just got to be better at the details and be better at the fundamentals of running the ball.”

The Bears' vision was for their offensive identity to be built around the running game, even with the arrival of Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. Four of the Bears’ current five starting offensive linemen returned from 2023, when the ground attack was a weapon.

The Bears have a golden opportunity Sunday to get their running game going, as they'll face a Colts team that has the NFL's worst rushing defense through two weeks.

The Colts have surrendered a league-worst 474 rushing yards this season, including 261 in a 16-10 loss to the Packers this past Sunday.

The Bears (1-1) and Colts (0-2) will kick off at noon CT this coming Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670 .