The Chicago Bears’ first play of the day against the Houston Texans couldn’t have gone any better. It took just one play for running back David Montgomery to put the Bears on the board against the Texans after the 23-year old ran for an 80-yard touchdown to give Chicago an early 7-0 lead over Houston.

The play happened with 10:04 remaining in the first quarter after the Texans’ first drive ended in a punt. On first and 10 at the Bears’ own 20 yard line, Montgomery received the football and found a hole in the Houston defense, before stiff-arming a couple of defenders as he ran near the baseline for the score, which is his fourth touchdown this season.

Montgomery, a third round pick by Chicago in the 2019 NFL Draft, had 17 carries for 72 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the Bears’ 34-30 loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 13. On Sunday, he gave a boost to his team’s offense, which has struggled oftentimes this season and entered the Week 14 game averaging just 20.5 points per game, which ranks 28th in the NFL.

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The Bears also entered the game averaging just 86.9 rushing yards per contest, the second worst mark in the league just behind the Texans. It’s safe to say that Chicago can easily surpass their average thanks to Montgomery’s touchdown.

Chicago is trying to make a late playoff push. At 5-7, Matt Nagy's team needs to win at least three of its last four games to have any hope of snagging an NFC playoff seed. Realistically, the Bears need to win out, which will be made tougher by the fact that Chicago still has to play Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in the NFC North.

Chicago's pursuit of the playoffs is balanced against the need to get a higher draft pick and find the franchise's quarterback of the future… or trade assets for a veteran quarterback who can improve this struggling offense in 2021.