Joniak's Journal: With Rain In Forecast, Bears' Running Game Will Be Big
By Jeff Joniak-
(CBS) The Bears (4-6) host the Bucs (2-8) on Sunday at noon at Soldier Field. Here's what's on my mind heading into the matchup.
First impression
With 100 percent chance of rain expected for Sunday's game with Tampa Bay, running the ball sounds like a great first step for the Chicago offense. That rain is expected to last all day. Matt Forte is coming off a season-high 26 carries in the win over the Vikings, only his second game with more than 19 attempts.
"When you get 20-plus, that's how you really start establishing and wearing a defense down," Forte said. "If I have a game where I run the ball 36 times, it doesn't make a difference to me."
Tampa Bay permitted 155 yards on the ground in its win against Washington last week, but when the Bucs played the Steelers in Week 4 in Pittsburgh, they limited Le'Veon Bell to 3.3 yards per carry on 19 attempts.
Seven teams have rushed for more than 100 yards against Tampa, and nine times teams have carried the ball at least 27 times against the Bucs. The Saints -- who run an offense similar to that of the Bears -- ran the ball 29 times for 140 yards, netting 4.8 yards per carry, with two touchdowns and 12 rushing first downs, the most given up this season by the Bucs.
Second thought
Twice in five days the Bears will face fierce interior defensive line play. First up: Gerald McCoy and Clinton McDonald of Tampa Bay, followed by Detroit's Ndamukong Suh. Entering Week 12, the Lions defense has made plays resulting in 313 negative yards, second-most in the league. Tampa Bay is sixth in causing the chaos of 265 negative yards. Since 2012, McCoy has 19.5 sacks. Suh has 4.5 sacks this season and 18 since 2012, and his teammate C.J. Mosley has 2.5 sacks.
Third degree
We have heard many times from Bears coach Marc Trestman that no receiver is featured in the scheme. A lot depends on how the Bears are defended and what defenses are willing to give the Bears snap to snap. An ideal example is tight end Martellus Bennett, who has a matchup advantage for the Bears nearly every week. However, in the last three games, he has been targeted only 17 times, catching 12 passes, one for a touchdown.
"He'll definitely get his opportunities," Bears offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer said. "It's an ebb and flow in football by coverage or just the way the game goes sometimes. Our big goal is to keep balanced and try to get it to as many guys as we can."
In six of the first seven weeks, Bennett was thrown to at least eight times in games. He caught four touchdowns in the first three games on 20 receptions. His desire to get yards after the catch is proving to be valuable with 315 such yards, which ranks 19th in the league, regardless of position. Bennett and New England's Rob Gronkowski each have 53 catches, with Gronkowski just a few yards behind Bennett in after-the-catch production.
A year ago, Bennett was targeted in double digits only once and on average about 5.8 times per game. This season, Bennett is being targeted 7.5 times per game and is on pace to break career highs in every category.
Fourth-and-short
With size at receiver staring at the Bears' secondary twice in five days against Tampa Bay and Detroit, the absence of cornerback Charles Tillman is accentuated. Few corners do a better job with size than Tillman.
The domino effect of his season-ending injury moved Tim Jennings out of the inside nickel and to a permanent home at outside cornerback, shoved Kyle Fuller into a starting role and (after using multiple options) Demontre Hurst as the slot defender. Hurst played against Tampa's Mike Evans in the Cotton Bowl following the 2012 college season, so he knows what Evans is capable of doing.
Hurst is only 5-foot-9 but is a leaper with a 37-inch vertical jump, a 32-inch arm length and a wingspan of 75 inches, which adds a few inches of horizontal and vertical range to poke passes away if he is matched up size in the slot the next two games.
Jeff Joniak is the play-by-play announcer for the Bears broadcasts on WBBM Newsradio 780. Follow him on Twitter @JeffJoniak.