A resurgent running game has been a key factor in the Bears' success this season.

Since their Week 5 bye, they lead the NFL in rushing with 171.7 yards per game. In addition, the Bears are the league's only team with two runners who have both compiled at least 650 yards in D'Andre Swift (935) and Kyle Monangai (681).

"It has taken a little bit of time for the O-line and the backs to all get on the same page," coach Ben Johnson said in advance of Saturday night's showdown with the Packers at Soldier Field. "But since the bye week, I feel like we've been unified and everyone understands what the intent is."

No one has conveyed that message better than running backs coach Eric Bieniemy.

"Eric Bieniemy is doing a phenomenal job with all those backs," Johnson said. "He takes a lot of pride in finishing, he takes a lot of pride in playing physical football, he takes a lot of pride in pass protection. All the things that a good running back coach embodies, that's what Eric Bieniemy is about."

Swift is thriving in his first season with Bieniemy.

"He's really embraced what we're trying to do," said Johnson, who was a Lions position coach and offensive coordinator during Swift's first three NFL seasons in Detroit. "He's got some familiarity with the running style that we need from that running back position.

"He's very disciplined on his landmarks—probably the most disciplined I've seen him be in his career now—just staying right on the track and trusting the blocking up front and helping set up some of those blocks."

In last Sunday's 31-3 rout of the Browns, Swift rushed for 98 yards and two TDs, including a stellar 17-yard scamper during which he cut back against the grain and broke two tackles.

"Last week we saw him take that game to the next level where he's able to make some of those tackles on the second and third level miss and become really explosive big gains for us," Johnson said. "That's what he's always had in his body, and that's what we'll continue to need from here on out."

A productive ground game no doubt would enhance the Bears' chances of winning Saturday night's first-place battle versus the Packers.

In the first meeting between the teams Dec. 7 in Green Bay, the Bears rushed for 90 of their 138 yards in the second half to erase a 14-3 deficit and forge a 21-21 tie before Josh Jacobs' 2-yard TD run gave the Packers a 28-21 victory.

A special effort

A play that the Bears' punt coverage team made early in last Sunday's win hasn't been talked about much, but it was impressive and important.

Battling the sun as he raced downfield, Josh Blackwell dove toward the goal line in an all-out effort to keep Tory Taylor's punt from reaching the end zone and resulting in a touchback. The ball bounced up and hit Blackwell in the stomach at the 1. His momentum carried him into the end zone, and he wisely did not touch the ball again. Yet three other players all contacted it in rapid succession.

The Bears' Jalen Reeves-Maybin tapped it toward the field of play, the Browns' Gage Larvavain guided it back toward the goal line and the Bears' Jaylon Jones scooped it up and tumbled into the end zone.

The end result was that the Browns offense started from its own 1.

The unusual play spawned multiple questions: Why did Larvavain touch the ball so close to his own end zone? And why wasn't it a touchback when Jones crossed the goal line with the ball?

The answer to the first question is when a member of the punting team is first to touch the ball, the receiving team can attempt to return it with no consequences. So even if a Browns player had picked it up and then fumbled it, Cleveland would have retained possession at the spot where Blackwell first touched it.

It wasn't ruled a touchback because as soon as Larvavain contacted the ball, the same "no consequence" rule applied to Jones, who smartly grabbed it to prevent a Browns player from returning it.

Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower described the effort as an "unbelievable play by Blackwell; one of the best that I've seen in a long, long time," adding that the increased level of difficulty due to battling the sun "makes it even more incredible."

"I looked up to find the ball, but I knew I was getting close to the end zone," Blackwell said. "I was [thinking], 'I'm going to have to dive for this one.' It hit the side of my stomach. I was going to touch it again, but out of my peripheral, I could see that my body was on the line, so that's why I pulled back the way I did."

The Browns challenged the ruling, believing that Blackwell had touched the ball with his finger while in the end zone. But the call was upheld after a replay review.

"I came to the sideline and said, 'I didn't touch the ball,'" Blackwell said. "Watching the replay, it was closer than I really thought it was."

After the play, the Browns went three-and-out, punting from their own 7. The Bears started their subsequent possession at the Cleveland 42 and took advantage of the excellent field position to grab a 7-0 lead on Swift's 6-yard TD run.

"It was a huge play," Jones said. "Me, Tory and Josh, we've been wanting that for so long. We hadn't had one in a while like that and that play was so special because it was in the sun. [Blackwell] really couldn't see the ball and just the effort he gave … some people get back there and catch it, but to be that acrobatic and make such a special play, we needed that, and it was long overdue."

Injury update

For the second straight day Wednesday, receivers Rome Odunze (ankle) and Luther Burden III (ankle) and linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga (hamstring) did not practice; and Swift (groin), tight end Cole Kmet (ankle/knee) and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds (groin) were limited.

Also for the second straight day, four Packers starters did not practice due to injuries: running back Josh Jacobs (knee/ankle), right tackle Zach Tom (back/knee), defensive end Micah Parsons (knee) and safety Evan Williams (knee). Parsons is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL he sustained last Sunday against the Broncos, but he has not yet been placed on injured reserve.

Receiver Christian Watson (chest/shoulder) and defensive end Lukas Van Ness (foot) both practiced on a limited basis Wednesday after sitting out Tuesday.