David Montgomery Appreciation Thread

[adam]

I just wanted to give a shout out to Monty for his performance over the last few weeks. Lazor has emphasized the run and Monty and the O-Line have not disappointed. With such a turbulent season, revolving O-Line, QB swap, and yet Monty is still putting up top-10 RB numbers across the board. Here is where he stands in some major categories:

7th in Rushing Yards (906)
9th in Rushing Yards per game (69.7)
5th in yards after contact (485)
T-7th in yards after contact per attempt (2.4)
T-2nd broken tackles (24)
T-2nd broken tackles per attempt (8.4)
10th in yards from scrimmage (1255)
T-7th touches (245)
9th in receptions for RB
T-1st with 0 fumbles

He has surpassed the likes of Rashaan Salaam, Cedric Benson, and Curtis Enis on the Bears all-time rushing list and should end the season in the Bears top-20 and has an outside shot to pass James Allen and maybe even break 2K for his career. 

He has back-to-back 100-yard rushing games, and 3 out of the last 4. He had 2 100-yard games last season, and his 146 yards and 32 carries were both career highs. Feed the beast. 

[jason]

Amazing what happens when an play caller emphasizes the running game.

Also, kudos to Lazor for emphasizing play-action over and over and over again. The Bears looked really good on offense because the strategy was predicated on running the ball, then using the run to work play action with Trubisky rolling out. It reminded me of the old Titans offense with McNair, George, and Wychek. It's nice to see someone who understands how to use the weapons on the team instead of shoving the square into the round hole.

[BearFan PHX]

I have always been a David Montgomery fan - I think he remains drastically underrated. He's tough, has great vision, and always finished his runs. That extra yard at the end means everything to keep the chains moving. Theoretically, if you could get exactly 4 yards on every run, you'd never lose a game and be the most feared offense in history, even if you never threw the ball even once. I'm not saying that is possible, but I am saying that a consistent 4yard run is more fearsome than an 80 yard touchdown pass. They both end in a touchdown, but one takes 8 minutes off the clock and fatigues the opposing defense. Montgomery's fight at the end of runs adds an extra yard or more to every carry, and that is everything in football.

I understand why he has been under the radar - he had some of the all time worst run blocking any back has ever seen in front of him. And the play calling did nothing to help either. No one got rhythm, no one got moved and Montgomery had no chance at all. It's nice to see him get a chance, and what he can do with it.

[adam]

2 hours ago, jason said:

Amazing what happens when an play caller emphasizes the running game.

Also, kudos to Lazor for emphasizing play-action over and over and over again. The Bears looked really good on offense because the strategy was predicated on running the ball, then using the run to work play action with Trubisky rolling out. It reminded me of the old Titans offense with McNair, George, and Wychek. It's nice to see someone who understands how to use the weapons on the team instead of shoving the square into the round hole.

It's actually a pretty tough offense to stop because if you commit too many to the box, the boot and flats are easy gains and if the over-under is working, those are easy reads and safe throws for Mitch.

People also forget they are doing this without Cohen.

[Mongo3451]

4 hours ago, jason said:

Also, kudos to Lazor for emphasizing play-action over and over and over again. The Bears looked really good on offense because the strategy was predicated on running the ball, then using the run to work play action with Trubisky rolling out.

Love the over and over again part.  Why reinvent the wheel every play?  If you make multiple variations of every play, then hit them with the bazinga portion of the route tree, bingo.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

17 hours ago, adam said:

It's actually a pretty tough offense to stop because if you commit too many to the box, the boot and flats are easy gains and if the over-under is working, those are easy reads and safe throws for Mitch.

People also forget they are doing this without Cohen.

All it took was a run game.  Olin Kreutz says a lot of it needs to be credited to Mustipher.  He is calling the line and knows what he is doing.  Cohen and Mooney would be a great speed threat, send mooney deep and Cohen into the flat

[adam]

Another cool nugget, Kmet played every offensive snap. Every one of them. So there were no keys to whether it was going to be a run or pass unless they were in empty. That has to be a Lazor thing because I never saw that with Nagy calling the plays. 

Just like you guys said, if you can line up and the defense can't tell whether you are running or passing, you already have an advantage and can play downhill. For most of the season, it looked like defenses were on the offensive and they knew what the play was and just needed to stop it. Now they have no clue and the offense still has room to improve.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

6 hours ago, adam said:

For most of the season, it looked like defenses were on the offensive and they knew what the play was and just needed to stop it.

With Foles back there you don’t have the mobility of Mitch and can pretty much crash the line every time.  It’s crazy to see how a few tweaks, mostly since Lazor started calling the plays, how much improved they’ve gotten. ‘If only’ Nagy had done it sooner...

[BearFan2000]

7 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

With Foles back there you don’t have the mobility of Mitch and can pretty much crash the line every time.  It’s crazy to see how a few tweaks, mostly since Lazor started calling the plays, how much improved they’ve gotten. ‘If only’ Nagy had done it sooner...

Amen,

Had Nagy put his ego aside and done what was best for the team, we don't drop 6 in a row after a shaky at 5-1 start.  We'd probably be in the hunt for the division and have a shot to make some noise.  If indeed Nagy and Pace are gone after the season it's their own faults.  They let the team down.

[Stinger226]

I understood them going to Foles, Nagy hoping that he became the guy, he's not. BUT they should have played MT sooner and shaped the scheme to his strengths. My question is why after Daniels got hurt, they did not identify the upgrade Sam M and A Bars brought to the table instead of playing the Coward card for so long? Clearly our OL has affected the running game and helped with MT.

[adam]

25 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

I understood them going to Foles, Nagy hoping that he became the guy, he's not. BUT they should have played MT sooner and shaped the scheme to his strengths. My question is why after Daniels got hurt, they did not identify the upgrade Sam M and A Bars brought to the table instead of playing the Coward card for so long? Clearly our OL has affected the running game and helped with MT.

Looking back the Bears were 5-2 going into the Saints game that they lost in OT and where our defense couldn't defend Taysom Hill who scored on a TD reception. That was the game where Trubisky got hurt. Foles also had a decent game. So at that point, they were 5-3, but Foles wasn't terrible. However, then they lost to the Titans and Vikings where you could've went to Mitch before the bye, but he was hurt. I think he even went and got a 2nd opinion on his shoulder. Then the bye week hit and Trubisky was back against the Packers.

So there really wasn't a chance for Trubisky to come back earlier than after the bye. The Coward thing boggles my mind. When Daniels went down, how could they not at least try Mustipher at Center at that point? Coward was so bad that he was affecting the entire offense.

[BearFan PHX]

27 minutes ago, adam said:

Looking back the Bears were 5-2 going into the Saints game that they lost in OT and where our defense couldn't defend Taysom Hill who scored on a TD reception. That was the game where Trubisky got hurt. Foles also had a decent game. So at that point, they were 5-3, but Foles wasn't terrible. However, then they lost to the Titans and Vikings where you could've went to Mitch before the bye, but he was hurt. I think he even went and got a 2nd opinion on his shoulder. Then the bye week hit and Trubisky was back against the Packers.

So there really wasn't a chance for Trubisky to come back earlier than after the bye. The Coward thing boggles my mind. When Daniels went down, how could they not at least try Mustipher at Center at that point? Coward was so bad that he was affecting the entire offense.

Agree with all of this. The OL was SOOOOOO bad, and they had zero flexibility. That is coaching. So much of the Bears' problems is coaching. What is the upside to keeping Nagy? What does he do better than average?

[adam]

9 minutes ago, BearFan NYC said:

Agree with all of this. The OL was SOOOOOO bad, and they had zero flexibility. That is coaching. So much of the Bears' problems is coaching. What is the upside to keeping Nagy? What does he do better than average?

Unfortunately, due to all the lost revenue this year, it is going to come down to money. Pace has one year left on his deal (thru 2021) and Nagy has two left, thru 2022. So I could see them being more open to moving on after next season with only one contract to eat, and would be surprised if the organization eats two contracts this offseason considering how much they already lost due to COVID this year.

[McGowan]

@jason Not that I think much of PFF, but.......

 

[adam]

Leno has been visibly better over the last few weeks. This style of running game suits him much better than the other crap they were doing earlier in the year. It also helps to have Whitehair next to him to help him on inside moves. 

Totally off topic, but I completely forgot that Wims and Miller are both 26 and only a year younger than ARob.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

7 hours ago, adam said:

Unfortunately, due to all the lost revenue this year, it is going to come down to money. Pace has one year left on his deal (thru 2021) and Nagy has two left, thru 2022. So I could see them being more open to moving on after next season with only one contract to eat, and would be surprised if the organization eats two contracts this offseason considering how much they already lost due to COVID this year.

I will admit, I was ready to dump them both.  Since Nagy took advice from keyboard gms and handed play calling over, I think he took a step in the right direction and should get credit if this team finishes strong.  We know that a new GM and coach means another 2-4 year rebuild.  Being cash strapped as it is, a strong finish should give them at least one more year.  They can earn an extension if they can make a huge push next year but they need to over take the division.  If Pace would listen and address the lines, the rest can fall in place.  

[Stinger226]

There was a Tribune article about the 30 biggest moments for Pace. As I read it , it came out 15-15 with a few questionable decisions. So he is average. Bad with the first round but good with later round picks. Smith is a stud, so it was hard to screw that one up. For me, if he traded his first and second rounds picks for more in 3-5,  I would be more confident. 50-50 with FAs. I see the biggest problem for him is giving people like Glennon and the Quinns big money but the cheaper FAs have been good. With the lost of money for the team this year, the worst they will be is 8-8 so a 12-4 and 8-8 before that, they aint going anywhere.  To keep changing coaches and GMs that doesnt get you any where to make it a stable winning franchise so I am probably ok with it. Comet-Johnson- Mooney. Gibson and Virdor seems to be make the top 53 type players with upside. The OL may contribute or not , so cant really complain about this year. Leno playing well at the end of the year does not blow my skirt up. I am for still go in a new direction with him. 1st or 2nd may get that done. The QB position is the downfall for Pace, hopefully we find an answer this year.