Haunting Situation Bears Face Against Mike Davis

It was mid-October a year ago and Matt Nagy was talking about running back Mike Davis.

"He's doing everything right," Nagy said. "Mike Davis has done nothing to not be able to get the ball. It's just, we, we've got to get better in the run game."

Davis was gone a couple weeks later, cut without really getting much of a chance. He had 25 yards rushing on 11 carries and seven receptions for 22 yards.

Davis didn't fit the Bears' running game exactly as David Montgomery did, when they were running a lot out of the shotgun. Also, his absence from the roster would allow them to receiver a compensatory draft pick. It turned out to be pick No. 140, one they traded to acquire Nick Foles.

So now the chickens come home to roost as they say, much like it seemed to when San Francisco made the Super Bowl using Rahim Mostert as a primary ball carrier after the Bears cut him from their practice squad. Perhaps it's more reminiscent of 2009, when they took a 3-2 team to Cincinnati and ran into Cedric Benson. After their 2005 first-round draft pick gained 189 yards rushing against Bob Babich's Bears defense, the season took on a different tone the rest of the way for the 2009 Bears.

The Bears are hoping they can avoid a disaster of this sort but their own defense has been susceptible to big gains right in the middle of the field where Davis flourishes.

Davis has 220 yards rushing as the replacement for injured Christian McCaffrey, who has a high ankle sprain.

The Bears have nothing but nice things to say about Davis and his time here, much like they did when he was here. They just didn't use him.

"Probably the biggest thing I appreciated about Mike was that he was a true pro," running backs coach Charles London said. "He came to work every day as a true pro. Studied. And he really helped bring David along. He did a really good kind of being a mentor to David, kind of showing him the ropes, being David's rookie year and how to do things.

"Yeah, he's having a great season so far. I got a chance to see him play some on Sunday when they were playing the Falcons. You know, he's running well, he's doing really good things out of the backfield in the passing game, he's a good protector, and I'm glad it's all coming together for him."

Davis is averaging 4.8 per attempt. He has one touchdown and also has caught nine passes for 60 yards including a touchdown pass from Teddy Bridgewater last week.

Davis owns the highest Pro Football Focus grade of any player on the Panthers at 83.1.

"Hard runner, fast runner, spins out of things, hard to tackle," Bears defensive line coach Jay Rodgers said. "He's running hard out there. And so, since (McCaffrey) has been down, this guy has been the featured guy. They trust him for a reason.

"So when you see him get the ball in space–that's our job as a front, is to eliminate the space out there and allow us to make tackles in small areas. But he is doing a really good job. He has great balance and body control. And I'm sure there are a lot of things in the pass game that I haven’t watched yet from him. But stopping him in the run will definitely be a challenge."

The Bears haven't exactly been themselves stopping the run, after finishing ninth last year and first in 2018. They occasionally get gashed and had problems tackling Ronald Jones Thursday, as he gained 106 yards.

The Bears are 15th against the run and obviously miss nose tackle Eddie Goldman, who opted out this season.

They've tried to compensate and use ends Bilal Nichols and Brent Urban at the nose. They could be getting injured nose tackle John Jenkins back soon, but defensive end Akiem Hicks thinks he has seen some improvement in the middle of the line.

"And I think throughout this process we've seen a lot of growth, not just from one or two players but from everybody having to step up and take on a bigger role being that Eddie Goldman isn’t with us at the moment," Hicks said during a teleconference Monday with media. "And Eddie, if you’re watching this, I miss you, brother. Love you."

They'll need to prove they miss him a little less this week.

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