Biggest Bears Test Against Running QB

The Bears defense has plenty of problems and now it's about to encounter something new.

Actually, it's just been a while, not entirely new.

Jalen Hurts is a quarterback like they were used to seeing in training camp on a daily basis in Justin Fields, except they couldn't tackle him. They haven't seen a highly mobile quarterback in a game though since facing Dak Prescott at Dallas and he was coming off an injury only few weeks earlier.

"I mean he's super athletic and I mean he can improvise kind of on the run and go off script similar to Justin," linebacker Jack Sanborn said. "And so it's definitely going to be a challenge."

It's not that the Bears have faced a flock of statues this year, but there have only been a few truly mobile passers who could run and do damage to their defense.

Hurts has 686 yards on 139 carries through Week 14, and appears headed for more yards than his high achieved last year at 784 yards. It was his running last year that triggered the Eagles' surge forward on offense, and then they began adding parts in the passing game to better complement his arm.

Sound familiar Bears fans? It's almost like the scenario they face with Justin Fields, except the Eagles defense last year wasn't as void of talent as this year's Bears defense and the Philadelphia offensive line was more advanced than this year's Bears offensive line.

Hurts isn't just capable of scrambling to beat the Bears defense.

The Bears only faced two other quarterbacks besides Prescott who exploited their defense on the ground. One was Trey Lance in the opener, but his 54 yards rushing came on 13 attempts. So they did a decent job against him.

The other time was when Daniel Jones carried just six times but gained 68 yards and two touchdowns in the loss to the Giants. Jones had the Bears totally befuddled with his running and that was a better defense personnel-wise than the one they are putting on the field now because it had Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn in it.

The Bears have allowed 240 yards on 68 carries for five touchdowns against rushing quarterbacks this season.

However, facing Hurts is nothing like what they've had to defend to date.

"Definitely, they have a lot of different designed runs to help him get involved in the run game and so it's going to be everybody focused on their keys, knowing their rules and playing good football," Sanborn said.

Whatever happens, they need to hold on to the lessons learned. Next week they face another runner in the Buffalo Bills' Josh Allen.

Bears Defending Running QBs

QB, Team	Attempts-Yards	TDs
Trey Lance, 49ers	13-54	0
Aaron Jones, Packers	5-10	0
Daniel Jones, Giants	6-68	2
Kirk Cousins, Vikings	4-4	1
Carson Wentz, Commanders	2-2	0
Mac Jones/Bailey Zappe Patriots	5-23	0
Dak Prescott, Cowboys	5-34	1
Tua Tagovailoa	5-0	0
Jared Goff, Lions	4-14	0
Marcus Mariota, Falcons	13-25	1
Mike White, Jets	3-2	0
Aaron Rodgers, Packers	3-4	0

*Week 3: Davis Mills did not have a rushing attempt against Bears

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