After trading away bell cow Jordan Howard to the Philadelphia Eagles in the offseason, the Chicago Bears pieced together a running back committee to provide the yin to Mitchell Trubisky's yang. The trio of Mike Davis, David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen even sprung a trendy nickname: "Run DMC."
The backs were MIA in Chicago's 10-3 loss to the Packers to kick off the 2019 season. Davis gained 19 yards on five carries; Montgomery, 18 on six; and Cohen zero on ... zero. All-purpose receiver Cordarrelle Patterson got one, but it went for a loss of two.
Montgomery's night started out promising as he gained 10 yards on the first two touches of his career. But he carried the ball just four more times. Cohen was used strictly as a receiver, often lining up in the slot and catching eight passes. He also took the Bears' first offensive snap of the game out of the wildcat and fumbled. The down was replayed because of a Packers penalty but it served as a microcosm for Chicago's rushing output.
Meanwhile, Trubisky attempted 45 passes. The Bears quarterback duly noted afterward that it wasn't a formula for success.
"I think when this offense is at its best it's a balanced attack with the run game and the pass game," Trubisky said, via Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Week 1 was supposed to be a demonstration of the offensive growth under second-year coach Matt Nagy. The group instead was met with a chorus of boos in the second, third and fourth quarters. Nagy himself labeled the performance "terrible" and "unacceptable."
"To our fans, they have every right to boo -- every right to boo," Nagy said. "We get it. ... They deserve better, and that's what we need to do."
What the Bears will need to do is run the ball more than 15 times in what was a one-possession game throughout. They were 6-2 last year when they topped 30 rushing attempts, with both of those losses coming in overtime. Moreover, Trubisky has yet to prove he can carry an offense as he enters just his third season. Nagy insisted after a forgettable first game that it doesn't define Chicago's season.
"We didn't lose the Super Bowl," Nagy said. "We just lost the first game of the regular season."
