Bears show emphasis on run game early in Sunday's win over Detroit

The Bears ran early and often in Sunday’s season opening win over Detroit. David Montgomery, Tarik Cohen and Cordarrelle Patterson combined for 24 carries for 124 yards. The run game was clearly an emphasis under new offensive coordinator Bill Lazor.

Quarterback Mitch Trubisky said he thought the offensive line did a great job sparking things for the running backs.

“They love coming off the football and opening up run lanes for our running backs and I think it settle our running backs as well,” Trubisky said. “We just want to keep teams off balance and that's, that comes from us being in balance and then never knowing what's going to come next. So hitting them with the pass, hitting them with the play action and then hitting them with screens and the runs. I think when you're a balanced offense everything just starts to open up.”

There was some question about whether David Montgomery would be fully healthy after injuring his groin two weeks ago. Montgomery didn’t seem fazed. He ran for 64 yards on 13 carries.

Converted receiver Cordarrelle Patterson emerged for a 13-yard run on his first carry. He provided a sizable, speedy back. He ran for 19 yards on four carries.

“I thought [the offensive linemen] did a really, really good job establishing that run, early on especially,” head coach Matt Nagy said. “There were some nice runs, 6-, 7-, 8-yard runs. We stayed patient with that.”

The Bears averaged 5.3 yards per carry in Sunday’s win, and totaled 149 yards on the ground.