Jordan Howard is not a man known for stirring the pot. Controversy isn’t his thing. Teammates will be the first to tell people that. He’s just a rock solid person who does whatever is asked of him for the good of the team. At the same time, he’s still a human being and a relentless competitor. One doesn’t get to the NFL without those traits. So it’s natural for a competitor to get frustrated.
At first glance, it’s hard to know why he’d be that way. Howard was the focal point of the Bears offense in 2017. He ran the ball more times and scored more touchdowns than he did as a rookie. He also went to his second Pro Bowl. One would think he’d be pretty happy. Except no. Howard has said repeatedly since last year personal stats mean nothing to him. He wants to win and a 5-11 record is not what he had in mind.
A big reason for why things went that way was the poor performance of the offense. Not just their inability to throw the ball due to a lack of talent at wide receiver. Fans were irate with the utterly predictable and two-dimensional nature of its operation. It seems even Howard himself couldn’t stay silent on it anymore.
Jordan Howard calls out former coaches for “basic” offense
Howard took time to make an appearance on the popular NFL Network program called “Good Morning Football.” There he got a chance to talk about his thoughts on the hiring of new head coach Matt Nagy. Though not the emotional type, Howard did seem excited about what the 39-year old could do to help the offense improve. At the same time, he also couldn’t hide a tinge of resentment towards the previous staff for how poorly things were handled this past season.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
"I feel like we're going to be a lot more creative on offense now."@ChicagoBears RB @jhowardx24 is excited for new head coach Matt Nagy pic.twitter.com/xiODrvCxj1
— GMFB (@gmfb) February 1, 2018
One can understand the frustration. In 2016, Howard faced a tackle box of eight or more defenders 27.78% of the time. This past year, with the lack of creativity evident almost every week, that number skyrocketed to 43.12%. It’s not much fun having to constantly slam your head against the proverbial wall, taking the abuse and knowing the coaches could be doing more to ease your burden.
Thankfully he’s in store for a treat. Kareem Hunt, the NFL leading rusher this season, played under Nagy in Kansas City. He faced an eight-man or more box just 23.53% of his carries. That was thanks to the formations and play designing Nagy and the Chiefs staff were able to cook up to keep defenders from crowding the line of scrimmage. If the same can be done for Howard moving forward, the result could be huge for Chicago.
