Snap Judgment: Bears’ pivot to RB David Montgomery is complete

It’s been a choppy start to the season for the Bears, but they’ve managed a 2-1 record and can stay on track for title contention with a win against the Vikings on Sunday.

Although it’s a short week, let’s take a quick look back at the playing time breakdown from their 31-15 win at Washington on Monday:

Montgomery’s time

The Bears have been working toward making rookie David Montgomery their primary running back, and coach Matt Nagy solidified that move in the 31-15 win over the Redskins on Monday.

They didn’t run a ton, but when they did, Montgomery got 13 of the 24 attempts. He also played a season-high 67 percent of the offensive snaps after getting 41 percent over the first two weeks. He turned in 5.2 yards per carry (67 on 13 tries) and caught all three of his targets for 14 yards.

Only wide receiver Taylor Gabriel was more productive at 82 yards (75 receiving, seven rushing).

As Montgomery’s playing time climbs, Mike Davis’ drops and it potentially cuts into Tarik Cohen’s.

Davis went from 40 snaps in the opener to 15 in the Denver game to one Monday. He had one rush for 2 yards.

Cohen hasn’t experienced anything nearly that drastic, but he hasn’t been as involved as many expected. He was in on offense 56 percent of the time over the first two games and played 32 of 66 snaps (48 percent) at Washington. He played 46 percent all of last season.

Given Cohen’s terrific playmaking ability—specifically his capacity to turn short, safe throws into long gains, which is vital if the Bears are going to dink and dunk—it’d be logical to get him more involved. Here’s a look at the playing time for the key skill players Monday:

Allen Robinson, 89 percent

Gabriel, 74 percent (left game with concussion)

Montgomery, 67 percent

Trey Burton, 61 percent

Anthony Miller, 52 percent

Cohen, 48 percent

Regardless of position, Cohen can’t be at the bottom of that list.

Arrow up on Burton

The Bears said they would work Burton gradually toward his normal role and they’ve made good on that. After missing the opener, he played 26 snaps in Denver and 40 on Monday.

He’s starting to look right, too. Burton seemed to move well and have plenty in the tank against the Redskins, giving the Bears what they depend on at the “U” tight end. It’s an essential piece of the offense, and they don’t have anyone other than Burton who comes close to making it work. Mitch Trubisky targeted him four times, and he had four catches for 20 yards.

Another tight end note: The Bears seem high on newcomer J.P. Holtz, whom they claimed off waivers from the Redskins in Week 2. He played 14 snaps Monday.

One more: Backup offensive lineman Ted Larsen continued to get work as a blocking tight end, doing so five times against Washington.

Heavy defensive load, but rotation

As good as the Bears’ defense is, they’ve played the seventh-most snaps in the NFL at 201 and have been on the field an average of 30:49 per game. The Patriots, for example, have played 169 defensive snaps. That means their defenders have already worked a half-game less than the Bears.

The Redskins ran 79 plays on them, but defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano appeared to be rotating more, especially at linebacker. It helped that the Bears had a double-digit lead most of the night.

Khalil Mack saw his playing time dip from 88 percent over the first two games to 78 percent at Washington. Roquan Smith got six plays off after playing all but one down before Monday. Danny Trevathan hadn’t missed a snap, but saw his load lightened to 84 percent.

The only defensive players to go the entire game were cornerback Kyle Fuller, cornerback Prince Amukamara and safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.