When the Bears run, they win.
They have won five of six games in which they have had someone rush for 100 yards.
This season the Bears ran the ball 30 or more times in 11 regular-season games. They were 10-1 in those games, losing only to the New England Patriots. They ran 34 times in beating the Seattle Seahawks and 46 in thumping the New Orleans Saints.
Over the last 24 seasons the Bears are 60-2 when they run the ball at least 40 times, including the domination of the Saints last Sunday.
This season, when they were forced to or chose to run fewer than 30 times, they struggled.
The Bears are 2-0 in games against the Indianapolis Colts when they rush for 100 yards. That is not a recent success key; they were 3-1 against the Baltimore Colts with a 100-yard rusher.
If both Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson have epic games against the Colts, the outcome is sealed. The Bears never have lost in four games with two 100-yard rushers, three times with Walter Payton and Matt Suhey and one with Rick Casares and Bobby Watkins.
BEARS
THE PRINCIPALS
RB Thomas Jones
RB Cedric Benson
LG Ruben Brown
RG Roberto Garza
Few teams bring the backfield tandem that the Bears do with Jones and Benson, and over the second half of the season the impact of their platooning has become a factor for both. Jones posted his second straight 1,200-yard season, averaging 4.1 yards per carry and scoring six touchdowns. In two playoff games, he has averaged 4.7 yards per rush and scored four touchdowns.
The biggest reason is Benson, who gradually has assumed the heavier workload over the latter part of the season. Benson carried more times than Jones in three of the last four regular-season games and Jones’ average jumped to 4.8 yards per carry. Jones started against the Saints, but with the more physical, 230-pound Benson carrying 24 times, Jones had his biggest game of the season (123 yards) on only 19 carries.
Breaking that down: The more Benson carries, the better Jones carries.
The core of the run game is Brown and Garza. The Bears’ signature running play, “Power-O,” involves one guard joining with center Olin Kreutz to get backward movement on one defensive tackle while the other guard pulls and drive-blocks the next target of opportunity. It is basic, high-percentage and with fullback Jason McKie coming immediately behind that wedge, at times unstoppable without over- committing a safety to run-support.
Coordinator Ron Turner is a proponent of the so-called West Coast offense, but the key to his offense is attitude.
“When I came [to the Bears in 2004], the offense that we were in with [former coordinator] Terry Shea was a little different,” Jones said. “It was designed a little more for me to get in the open field and catch more balls. The offense [now] is more a power running game.”
COLTS
THE PRINCIPALS
FS Bob Sanders
DT Anthony McFarland
DT Raheem Brock
MLB Gary Brackett
The Colts’ run defense has evolved into one of the leading stories of the postseason. The Colts had the NFL’s worst run defense, giving up 173 rushing yards per game through the regular season. In the playoffs they have allowed only 73 yards per game. The Bears, the “defensive” team in this Super Bowl, allowed 127 to the Seahawks and 56 to the Saints, an average of 92 yards on the ground per game.
“They’ve been playing really fast, their linebackers really move around, their defensive line has done some good things with the `games’ that they do and their secondary guys fill the holes,” Jones said. “What I’ve seen, too, is that teams have kind of given up on the run in the second half. They have some great athletes on defense.”
The difference has been Sanders, who missed 12 games after knee surgery. At 5 feet 8 inches he may be hard to find among the giants inside, but he has had little trouble finding ballcarriers. When Turner was asked what the difference in the Colts’ run defense was from regular to postseason, his answer was simple: “Twenty-one [Sanders’ number].”
The Bears are not a big offensive line, but they are power-based and that could be a problem for the Colts. They traded a second-round draft pick in October to Tampa Bay for “Booger” McFarland in an effort to muscle up their run defense. McFarland is 300 pounds, but Brock is 274 and the Colts’ other two tackles, Dan Klecko and Darrell Reid, are 275 and 288 pounds, respectively. Brackett is 235 pounds in the middle.
THE ANALYSIS
The Bears will run the ball and typically have not cared this season who knows it. The question will come if Peyton Manning puts points up early and the Bears feel pressured to open up the offense. If that happens, the Bears are in serious trouble.
The Bears broke the Saints with Benson and Jones running for fourth-quarter scores and their drive for the tying field goal against the Seahawks was six runs, six passes. If they stay with the run, the question will be whether the Colts can stay with them.
