The Chicago Bears have finally discovered a new star on offense and it didn't come to fruition by their own design.
Running back D'Onta Foreman has been on a tear for the team over the past two weeks, totaling 187 scrimmage yards and three scrimmage touchdowns. Not bad for a player who's been a healthy scratch from Weeks 2-5 despite signing a $2 million contract with the Bears this offseason.
Foreman really shined on Sunday against the Raiders with his three touchdown performance to help secure the team's second win of the season.
"It felt great," Foreman said after the game. "I'm just going to try to continue to be the best that I can be and continue to just grow as a football player and as a person and continue to dominate when I get my opportunities."
Foreman's break out wasn't even an intentional part of the team's game plan. The Bears truthfully backed their way into playing Foreman in Weeks 6-7 because they simply had no other choice.
In Week 5's win over the Washington Commanders, the Bears had three running backs leave the game, and only one has played since (Travis Homer in Week 7, although he only played just 3 offensive snaps).
It's clear, especially after Sunday, that Foreman's lack of usage (and opportunities for that matter) has been inexcusable this season. Foreman averaged 4.5 rush yards per carry in 2022 with the Carolina Panthers and now is averaging 5.0 in the last 2 weeks.
The Bears get some benefit of the doubt with how they've handled Foreman this season. The team clearly wanted to showcase Khalil Herbert as the RB1 of the offense and needed to justify spending a fourth-round pick on Roschon Johnson.
While speaking on Foreman's performance in Week 7's win over the Raiders, head coach Matt Eberflus commended his running back on how he's handled his role throughout the season and the attitude he's had about the situation.
"For him, his ability to stay positive...was pretty cool," Eberflus said after the game. "He was doing show team stuff [in practice] and this guy was a heck of a back. We just, at the time, were heavy at the halfback position. He took it in stride and he knew his opportunity was going to come [in Week 6] and he wanted to perform better [in Week 7]. He did and he knows he's gonna start stacking performances and keeping that positive can do attitude."
While Herbert and Johnson have been a solid tandem during the beginning of the season, the team's rushing attack has reached a new level with Foreman at the forefront. The Bears averaged 130.8 rushing yards per game from Weeks 1-5 and 167.5 over the last two weeks.
The top rushing offense of the NFL in 2022 has again done extremely well this season but clearly have plenty of mouths needing to be fed in the run game. While Foreman continues to carry the load, it'll be interesting to see how the pecking order shakes out once Johnson and Herbert return.
Johnson, is expected to hopefully return on Sunday night against the Los Angeles Chargers and Herbert will be eligible to return from the injured reserve in Week 10.
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