Packers need to shore up running game

GREEN BAY, Wis. – For the Green Bay Packers, the hope was that Cedric Benson quickly would add a new dimension to the offense and help revive a running game that often has seemed like an afterthought under coach Mike McCarthy.

The reality, at least in Week 1: Aaron Rodgers was the Packers’ leading rusher in a loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Benson had nine carries for 18 yards, averaging 2 yards per carry. Rodgers ran five times for 27 yards. Nobody else, including promising second-year back Alex Green, got a touch in the running game as the Packers (0-1) were playing from behind.

“The way the game goes sometimes dictates whether you’re heavy run or pass, but we don’t want to be running the ball for 2.0 (yards per carry),” McCarthy said. “So that’s not acceptable.”

The Packers certainly aren’t the first team to struggle to run against the 49ers. With a ferocious front seven, San Francisco was the NFL’s stingiest run defense in 2011, giving up only 77.2 yards rushing per game.

But new center Jeff Saturday said the Packers can’t just chalk their running game struggles up to playing a tough opponent.

“I think it’s a little of both,” Saturday said. “I think you kind of have the perfect storm – you’ve got a very good defensive front seven and guys (on the offensive line) who aren’t oiled up exactly right.”

Now comes a Thursday night game against the division rival Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field, with Benson getting another chance to face his former team.

The Bears (1-0) took Benson with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2005 draft, but his career in Chicago ended because he was inconsistent on the field and found trouble off of it. If Benson had any ill will toward the Bears, it has faded over the years.

“That was so long ago,” Benson said. “I already got my shot at them a couple years ago.”

Did he ever. With Cincinnati, Benson faced Chicago in 2009, rushing 37 times for 189 yards and a touchdown.