Larry Mayer and Simon Kaufman of ChicagoBears.com discuss the Bears players they’ll be watching on both sides of the ball in Sunday night’s home game against the Rams.
Mayer
Offense: Running back Tarik CohenÂ
The Bears’ most dynamic and versatile playmaker figures to once again be a major factor against a Rams defense that’s led by lineman Aaron Donald. Cohen did it all last Sunday against the Giants, setting career highs with 12 receptions for 156 yards and also rushing for 30 yards on eight carries and throwing a game-tying 1-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Miller as time expired in regulation, forcing overtime.
Cohen moves all over the field and creates matchup problems with his speed and quickness. He has showed the most growth as a receiver, as evidenced versus the Giants when he caught passes of 46, 32 and 23 yards to set up two field goals and a touchdown on three fourth-quarter possessions.
“He’s starting to really understand the ‘whys’ of the routes, whereas in training camp you hear it, [but] you don’t know all the options to different things that we do,” said coach Matt Nagy. “And then also he’s getting more and more reps to be able to see versus defenses how that play, route, concept works. Like I say with Mitch [Trubisky], he’s building a library and we’re able to [do] some good things with him.”
