The Chicago Bears survived an intense back-and-forth game on Sunday afternoon against the Cincinnati Bengals, leaving Ohio with a 47-42 win to move to 5-3 on the year.
Offensively, we witnessed more of the ups and downs that many had predicted at this stage of the season, especially as it pertained to the passing game. As for the Bears' rushing attack? Well, that has firmly solidified itself as the biggest strength of this emerging offence at this moment in time.
While many Bears fans were concerned when the news broke that D'Andre Swift would miss time this week, one man who had full belief in himself to step in and do his job was rookie running back Kyle Monangai.
Monangai ran wild in Ohio this week, racking up 176 rushing yards on his own, averaging a whopping 6.8 yards per carry. Add in his 22 yards receiving, and Monangai was responsible for 34 percent of the Bears' total yardage on Sunday afternoon.
Heading into this week, Monangai had been playing second fiddle to Swift in terms of the number of carries, accumulating just 29 rushing attempts total in his first five games. This week with Swift out of action, Monangai handled the ball on 26 plays, and the seventh-round pick took full advantage of it.
The Bears' rushing game since the bye week has gone through somewhat of a renaissance. The team averaged 102 yards on the ground through weeks 1-4; this increased significantly since the bye, and the team is now averaging 186 rushing yards per game. Not only that, but the Bears have gone over 200 yards rushing in two of the last four games, putting up 222 yards in New Orleans and then earning a combined 283 rushing yards Sunday in Cincinnati.
This vast improvement has been a collaborative effort, of course. Between the coaching adjustments and the significant improvement in execution of the offensive line, the team have done everything they can to put their running backs in position to succeed, and Monangai pointed that out at the post-game presser.
"Guys up front are moving people," Monangai said. "If you watch the film, the line of scrimmage is moving guys well, double-teams, single blocks, they did their job today at a high level."
The Bears rushing game really set the team up well this week by putting them in position to get points on the board in the red zone. The overall redzone efficiency does need to improve, but the Bears should get the chance to do that with the running game getting better each week. Monangai spoke about the plan heading into Cincinnati.
"I think going into it during the week, we kinda said we were going to run the ball," Monangai said. "That's the plan, but you gotta go out there and execute. I think we got down there well and that sets up the redzone opportunities, eating up yards and possession of the ball and all that stuff."
Monangai's hard-nosed running style is the opposite of what we've seen from Swift. He's able to get the hard yards, but not just short yardage; the rookie had 106 yards after contact on Sunday. We may very well have that old thunder and lightning effect that we've seen in other running back duos in Chicago in years gone by.
Of course, the Bears came under a lot of scrutiny in the summer months for failing to properly address the running back room. Fans had been underwhelmed with D'Andre Swift in the previous season, and when Ryan Poles waited until the seventh round of the draft to add to the room, some fans thought the worst.
Interestingly, the seventh-round pick that the Bears used to select Monangai was sent to them by the Bengals this time last year in exchange for Khalil Herbert. Funny how things turn out.
Despite being a late-day three pick, Monangai proved that all he needed was a chance.
"I've high expectations of myself," Monangai said. "I put a lot of pressure on myself so the work I put in, I expect the results I get. It doesn't mean I'm satisfied or anything like that, it means I gotta keep going. It's more just letting myself know I'm on the right track."
As the season progresses, Monangai and the Bears will hope for more of the same, and we may even see more of an even split of carries between him and D'Andre Swift. In reality, from what we have seen from both men thus far, there is an argument that maybe Monangai could stake his claim to be the lead back as time goes on, especially if he is able to produce more performances like this one.
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