Lawrence Holmes -

"The Bears don't have an established running back, and need to to figure out which back is going to be their guy."

What ???

I'm sick of the media trying to create a story - Jones got 20 carries, Benson 8.

Jones isn't an established RB ? What ?

Jones is an established running back. Unfortunately, though, he's established himself as mediocre.

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Jones is average, he's had 2 good games and has looked like dead weight in 6 others

It is time for the Bears to flip the script, pop Benson in for 20 carries and let Jones rest his tired 2.5 yard per carry bones for a week.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Nothing better than watching T Jones hang in the air thinking the Defender is going to commit first to going Left or right and then T J will land and cut the other way.

I call that "Air fake"

So anyone ever play footbal know what the defender is watching when Thomas Jones goes Airborne?

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Jones is a good NFL running back.

OK, so what is your theory for the poor running game this year? the O line seems to be doing the job, I think... Is it Jones? Is it the distraction? Is it an overcommittment to the passing game?

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

jones is a better runningback than rex is a quarterback!

The running game has been off and on...but it just hasn't gotten on a consistent rhythm from game to game.

It's probably a combination of things that you mention - sometimes there isn't anywhere to run - there's been quite a few of those where as soon as the RB gets the ball, there are 3 defenders in the backfield.

Other times, Jones dances too much...

Sometimes, they run into a defense designed to stop the run as well...the play fakes that Rex has run have been pretty successful so other teams are still concerned with the run.

At times, also as you mentioned, the Bears have gotten pass happy - see the Cardinals game. In the first quarter, they just came out passing and didn't seem interested in establishing the run.

So, I just think it's probably a combination of things. Sometimes there's nothing there, sometimes Jones needs to hit the hole with some authority, sometimes his patience really pays off (see the TD vs the 49ers), and sometimes the defenses are stacking the run, combined with the Bears looking to move the ball through the air.

Well then lets just see what our 1st round draft pick and 16 million dollar man can really do. Give Benson 20 carries and see if he can hit the 100 yard mark. I'm not saying permanantly, but with Strahan out, and the Giants defense reeling a bit, now might be a good time to run the experiment.
The passing game is clearly suffering without the run.
Jones is a butterfly RB. Too much bouncy-dancy.
I like Bensons style. He may be the Alstot to the Dunn kinda thing.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

This is a really bad comparison.

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"Tubby? Oh yes, Tubby."

I say that because Benson, in the limited plays we've seen him in, is more of a pound the hole kinda back, and Jones is kinda a bounce around the hole kinda back. Maybe a bad comparason, but the fact remains that they have two different styles. Checking the stats below show me the problem is deeper than the Back himself. Something else is going wrong.

ATT YDS AVG LNG TD FUM LST
Thomas Jones 159 612 3.8 29 3 0 0
Cedric Benson 63 208 3.3 19 3 0 0

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Not only does Jones dance around to much, he loves the sideline. Instead of taking someone on or trying to make a move, he just trots out of bounds. I've had enough of that. Time to see what we have in Benson.

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if ya ain't cheatin ya ain't tryin

The biggest game of the year is NOT the time to try to experiment with Benson. They should have been doing that against SF/MIA.

The run game will be fine. The bears have always been a RUN/DEF team and will always be a RUN/DEF team. When the weather gets colder, the run game will come alive.

Is the magic "run fairy" going to wave her wand and suddenly make an outstanding run-game appear?

If they haven't run it consistently well to this point, what makes you think the cold is going to help them?

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If you consider R.Turner the "god of offense" then yes, he will summond "the magic run fairy playbook" when he needs it.