Hub Arkush: Bears ground game appears dramatically improved, but is that helping the offense or stifling it?

LAKE FOREST – Is it a small irony or actually a fitting tribute that the Chicago Bears’ long dormant running game finally appears to be reemerging full force at exactly the same time as Bears fans mourn the loss of Gale Sayers?

After taking a pounding from analysts and fans alike over the question of whether he actually wanted to run the ball or knew how, head coach Matt Nagy has put a spotlight on his ground game through the first two games of the season — and the results have been promising.

Heading into their toughest test of the season Sunday in Atlanta, the Bears are averaging 142 yards a game on the ground, ninth best in the NFL, and an outstanding 4.73 yards a carry, even though they are just 23rd in the league in total offense with 333.5 yards a game.

The automatic default in Chicago for struggles in the passing game seems forever to have been to lay it on the quarterback, and pinning the blame on Mitch Trubisky is particularly popular these days.

But at this very early stage of the season, these Bears are a team of small ironies, and if you dive deep into the numbers and some of the knowledge Nagy occasionally drops on us, you may find yourself wondering, as I am, if the success on the ground may not be stifling the offense a bit too.

As so many have questioned Nagy’s affection for the run over his first two seasons, I’ve deferred a bit more to the question of whether or not he had a scheme to make it work. Or perhaps I should say make it fit along with his predilection for having the biggest playbook in the league loaded with fancy pass options.

Consider this thought from Nagy Monday following the win over the Giants:

“But ultimately our run game got better. And there’s just some plays that I think we left out there, myself included, too, with calling plays, where we could’ve been better.”

Nagy built on that a few minutes later telling us, “Yeah, so what happens is we’re trying to create an identity right now, you can see that running the ball is important to us.

“And so what gets difficult is when the teams know that you’re gonna run it, that’s been the No. 1 challenge to us.”

So now we know Nagy wants to back the defense up with his passing game.

But does he have the people on the field to do it?

One point the head coach has made repeatedly is how happy he is with his tight ends in spite of the fact that they’re not catching many passes yet, but because of how instrumental they’ve been blocking the run.

That’s fine, but there is a bigger point.

Nagy has spent far more time in 12 and 13 personnel, two- and three-tight end sets, to benefit the run.

The dilemma that creates is with two tight ends you can only have three other pass catchers available, and with three tight ends you’re down to two.

Rarely is Allen Robinson, Anthony Miller and, say, David Montgomery, Tarik Cohen or Darnell Mooney going to be on the field together, severely limiting receiving options.

Miller had a bad game Sunday, but when asked why he was on the field for less than half the offense’s snaps and significantly fewer than Javon Wims, Nagy explained, “I’m not sure when you have Wims and Anthony Miller, and Wims has a few more snaps than Anthony, that’s not by necessity.

“Some of that is just dictated by what you’re in personnel-wise.

“You can see the last couple games we’ve been a little bit more than what you are used to in terms of 12 personnel and 13 personnel, so there’s less wide receivers at times.”

Yep, that’s what I said.

As I see it, Nagy struggled to run the ball his first two seasons not because he didn’t want to, but because he was so focused on throwing it he couldn’t figure out how.

Now is he struggling to throw it for the same reason?

The mission of course is to figure out how to blend the two, and if Nagy and his new offensive staff get that sorted out they could become really dangerous and awfully exciting.

If not, expect a lot more struggles like the Lions and Giants.