CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Bears’ running game got better Sunday, as long as everyone is comfortable measuring progress in fractions. The team and the coach that love talking about running the ball more than actually doing it managed just 2.5 yards per carry in the 23-16 win over the Panthers.
Technically, it was 2.52 yards, which was up from a flat 2.5 the week before against the Buccaneers and — get ready for this — almost a yard of improvement from the 1.8 yards they averaged in the loss to the Colts two games ago.
At the end of the game, when the Bears most needed to run so they could drain the clock and avoid another scary finish, they either could not or did not.