Khalil Herbert carries Bears to 23-20 win over Houston Texans

Khalil Herbert was the Bears’ player of the game on offense in what was an otherwise dreadful performance by the offense today.

Khalil Herbert had 20 carries for 157 yards rushing and two touchdowns today after David Montgomery left the game early with an injury to his knee and ankle.  Herbert once again came up big with Montgomery down with an injury, just as he did a year ago.

Only this time Herbert was more clutch with his play.  Herbert got the Bears down into the end zone twice, despite a disastrous day from Justin Fields.

David Montgomery had 15 carries for 122 yards and no touchdowns last week against the Packers.  Montgomery is a very good running back, but he’s not worth the type of money the Bears should pay him.  Montgomery deserves to be extended, he deserves to be paid well, but when you have a running back who will be cheaper and as productive or perhaps even more productive then you can’t justify a contract extension for him.

This is just the unfortunate reality of today’s NFL game.  Decent running back production the next two season could come from Herbert and Trestan Ebner.  Ebner has shown enough flashes that he can be a solid backup to Herbert.

Not extending Montgomery is not a reflection of him as a player, but a reflection of today’s reality in the NFL.  It may be a hard pill to swallow for Bears fans, because Montgomery is a fan favorite.  He  works hard, he plays hard and is a consummate professional teammate, but he is not good enough to invest money in when the Bears need to invest in a QB or receivers moving forward.

#Bears RB Khalil Herbert’s carry chart from Week 3: pic.twitter.com/bYUBr3Xn2C

— Zack Pearson (@Zack_Pearson) September 25, 2022

Khalil Herbert meanwhile shows why he was such a steal in the fifth round of the NFL Draft.  He could easily get over 1,000 yards if he was given the workload.  He has better home run hitting ability and showed up with two touchdowns in the win today.  Herbert is just the more talented running back and as a result should be the starter next year.

Montgomery will be listed as day-to-day according to Matt Eberflus, but it may not matter because with Khalil Herbert as the featured back, the Bears offense won’t miss a beat.

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