Kyle Monangai goes off as Bears beat Eagles to death in the trenches

Throughout the 2025 NFL season, SB Nation’s Doug Farrar writes about the game’s Secret Superstars — those players whose performances might slip under the radar for whatever reasons. In this installment, we focus on Chicago Bears rookie running back Kyle Monangai, the seventh-round surprise who has been a bellcow back at times, and always a force multiplier in Ben Johnson’s killer run game.

When people discuss Chicago Bears head coach and former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, it all usually starts with Johnson’s genius regarding receiver deployment and passing play design. Justifiably so, as Johnson is one of the best in football at both of those things. But if you hearken back to Johnson’s time with the Lions as the offensive shot-caller from 2022-2024 (Bears fans will have no trouble doing so), those Lions would throw any run concept at you, and likely eat your lunch when doing so.

Perhaps the most obvious and dominant Ben Johnson statement to date regarding the importance and efficiency of the right run game came in Chicago’s 24-15 Black Friday win over the Philadelphia Eagles. In that game, the Bears had 42 designed carries, and they gained 246 yards with 91 yards before contact and 177 yards after contact — both of which were season highs. The Bears had done something similar to the Cincinnati Bengals in a 47-42 Week 9 win, and in that game, it wasn’t the combination of veteran back D’Andre Swift and rookie Kyle Monangai; it was Monangai who did it all, as Swift was out with a hip injury.

This time around, it was the duo that did it, and they did it at an historic level. Monangai and Swift became the first twosome of Bears running backs to each gain more than 100 yards in a game since Walter Payton and Matt Suhey did it on November 10, 1985. Monangai also scored a rushing touchdown in his fourth straight game, becoming the third Bears rookie to do so in the Super Bowl era, joining Payton in 1975 and Jeremy Langford in 2015.

Not bad for the Rutgers alum, who was selected with the 235th overall pick in the seventh round of the 2025 draft. At 5’9 and 205 pounds, Monangai was undervalued due to his size, and the fact that he wasn’t regarded as a breakaway speed guy. But there were some out there (ahem) who thought more of Monangai based on the college tape.

This season, Monangai has run the ball 121 times for 591 yards, five touchdowns, 19 forced missed tackles, 12 runs of 10 or more yards, six runs of 15 or more yards, and no fumbles — that last statistic takes him back to his college days, where Monangai never lost the ball in 670 carries for the Scarlet Knights.

From the start, Monangai’s NFL teammates were impressed. And if you think that the Bears don’t see him as a bell-cow runner, let his 22 carries for 130 yards and a touchdown last Friday be your answer.

“We went against each other in training camp a lot and we were able to have some competitive periods and some competitive plays,” Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds said of Monangai on November 3, the day after the rookie blew up the Bengals’ defense. “We felt that throughout the whole camp, just as far as his playmaking ability, the way that he runs the ball — he has good contact balance, he’s strong and not just that, he has good vision, and a lot of good traits that you want in a running back.

“I was able to see a lot of that stuff in camp, so that’s another guy that I’m not surprised with, and seeing the way that he moves around the building, and goes about his business. It’s good to see those type of guys get rewarded with games like this, because the attention to detail and you can tell that they really want it. They strive to be the best, and it’s really good just to see them have these types of games and all the hard work pay off for him.”

Monangai showed all of that and more against the Eagles, working in perfect concert with an offensive line determined to beat the living daylights out of Philly’s defensive line over and over. An Eagles defense that ranks ninth in DVOA (but 20th in run defense DVOA) got pantsed by Chicago’s front five, not to mention all the diabolical blocking schemes Ben Johnson had for his skill players. From start to finish, this one wasn’t even close.

Monangai’s 17-yard run with 6:51 left in the first quarter was a prime example. Before he even got to the line of scrimmage, right guard Jonah Jackson had taken defensive tackle Jalen Carter and blocked him all the way back into linebacker Zack Baun. This gave Monangai the front-side cutback to exploit, and he took it from there.

Monangai’s second explosive run came with 4:33 left in the third quarter, and if you’re a blocking aficionado, this was Mozart as it should be played. The Bears completely caved in the right side of Philly’s defense, giving Monangai the perfect four-lane highway to do what needed to be done. Thirty-one yards later, the damage to the Birds was quite evident. Yes, Monangai benefited from all that blocking, but he was also the one making defensive backs think about business decisions downfield, which is part of his game.

Before the season, I hypothesized that Chicago’s refurbished offensive line could be the new Monsters of the Midway. Turns out, I may have underestimated them.

“Can’t say enough about that running game,” Johnson said after the win. “I don’t think we win that game if we’re not able to run the ball like we were. Both the backs over 100 yards – was just outstanding. You could feel decisiveness; you could feel them hitting it downhill. They turned on the gas and were lowering their shoulders, too, so that was so good to see. But it doesn’t happen without that offensive line. You can’t say enough about [left tackle] Ozzy [Trapilo] and [left guard] Joe [Thuney] and [center] Drew Dalman and Jonah [Jackson] and then [right tackle] Darnell [Wright].

“I mean, those guys, they were huge for us. And so, I’m really proud of them. Really proud of the tight ends, the receivers. It’s a frustrating game if you’re a pass-catcher because those conditions were challenging for us to get some consistency going there, and yet they still were a big part of what we were doing there in the run game, and they knew that going into it. So, that was huge to see.”

The Bears are now 9-3 with the NFC’s one-seed, and given their ability to call their shots with that run game and make it go no matter what… well, this is NOT an offense you want to face right now, and certainly not in the postseason, when weather conditions could be more forbidding.

Specifically, Windy City weather conditions.