AP

Much of the focus on the Bears offense this offseason has been on the passing game.

The additions of Brandon Marshal and Alshon Jeffery at wide receiver creates good reason for that, but it might be premature to say that the Bears are going to go away from running the ball a lot. When Michael Bush visited the Bears before signing with them, he got a pretty good indication from offensive coordinator Mike Tice that running will still be a big part of the offense.

Tice recounted how close the 2006 Jaguars — Tice was assistant head coach on Jack Del Rio’s staff — came to having two 1,000-yard rushers in Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew and let Bush know that he’d like to see the Bears become the seventh team in history to do the trick.

“He said he wanted to do it and I said, ‘Well, you got the right two people,'” Bush said, via the Chicago Sun-Times.

Bush and Matt Forte are both capable of reaching the 1,000-yard plateau on their own, so it’s not the most outlandish goal to set. It’s a difficult one to achieve, especially when you’ve got the makings of a pretty good passing attack, but the Bears should be able to realize plenty of benefits from their backfield even if they don’t wind up fulfilling Tice’s dream.

A strong running game would help Jay Cutler throw the ball more effectively and a good passing game would make life easier for the running backs. If the Bears strike that balance, their offense should be very good regardless of the final numbers for Bush and Forte.