Following Thursday night’s frustrating loss to the Commanders, Bears running back Khalil Herbert had trouble sleeping, as he always does after a game. His mind kept going back to one play in particular, so he got out of bed around 3 a.m. and grabbed his iPad to watch the play again and again.
With the Bears facing fourth-and-inches in the second quarter, Herbert took the handoff and was stuffed at the goal line. Herbert thought about what he could’ve done different. Leaping over the pile was certainly an option, but Herbert has never considered himself a hurdler. He’s more comfortable with his feet on the ground. Still, the play haunted him.
“Just trying to figure out what I can do differently if I’m presented that situation again,” he said Tuesday. “How can I get in? What could I have done different? Just so that if I’m in that situation, when I’m in that situation again, we have a different outcome.”
It was one of three missed opportunities in the red zone for Chicago against Washington, where the Bears had the ball inside the 5-yard line on all three occasions. Chicago scored just seven points against a bad Commanders team — a 40-yard bomb from Justin Fields to Dante Pettis.
Herbert knows that the red zone offense needs to get better moving forward. And it certainly helps having a dynamic running back duo in Herbert and David Montgomery, who lead the second-ranked rushing attack in the NFL.
“I really just feel like both of our styles, we’re able to make people miss, make plays,” Herbert said. “And that ultimately helps the team get those hard yards when we need it. . . . Either of us [get] going and we’re able to do something, help the team out.”
