Are the Bears A Running Team?

Lovie Smith was hired by the Chicago Bears in 2004. It is hard to beleoieve that he has already been here for six years. Since Lovie Smith has been head coach of the Chicago Bears he has said were going to be a running team. So I decided to look at how many Yards the Bears have rushed for each year since he has took over and see how they have ranked overall. The Bears still have two more games left for this 2009 season, but I think the sample size is large enough.

Year Yards Ranking
2009 1237 30th
2008 1673 24th
2007 1330 30th
2006 1918 15th
2005 2099 8th
2004 1624 25th

As you see the only years where the Bears have been a running team under Lovie was the 2005 season. All of the other years they have ranked near the bottom in running the football. The Bears were terrible rushing in 2004, Lovie's first season in Chicago. Then they did run in 2005 and they made it to a NFC divisional game. They continued to get worse in 2006 but they made it to the super bowl. After the super bowl appearance they got really bad and have been ranked among the bottom since. So the Bears have only been a running team for two years under Lovie Smith. So if he still says were a running team, then we need to get a coach who doesn’t live under a rock. The Bears could be a good competitive team if they did run the football like they did in 2005 and 2006, but they don't.