On a Monday night when the Chicago Bears couldn’t establish anything that looked remotely close to an NFL running attack, David Montgomery emerged from the team’s 24-10 loss as the club’s highest-graded player on offense, via Pro Football Focus.
In fact, Montgomery’s 78.3 grade was his best score of the 2020 season despite finishing the game with 14 carries for 48 yards (3.4 yards per carry).
A closer look at PFF’s numbers helps explain why Montgomery graded so well. All of his production was self-made; the Bears’ offensive line — especially the interior line — was downright terrible. Cody Whitehair, Germain Ifedi, and Rashaad Coward were the team’s three lowest-graded players on offense.
Sam Mustipher, who played 26 snaps in relief of an injured Whitehair, was the team’s fourth-lowest graded player on offense.
So, yeah, Montgomery didn’t have anywhere to run and still managed to churn 48 hard-earned yards.
The problem with Montgomery, if it’s even fair to launch any criticism his way, is his lacking big-play ability. He needs an effective offensive line to produce, and that’s a problem with the current state of affairs in Chicago.
It’ll be a shame if Montgomery ends up leaving town at some point only to enjoy a higher level of success with his next team. And it feels like that could become a reality if the Bears don’t get their offensive line straightened out.