The Bears (1-1) will visit the Indianapolis Colts (0-2) Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium. Here are three things that should increase their chances of winning:

(1) Establish the run.

A productive ground game no doubt will help the Bears sustain drives, create manageable third-down situations and slow down the Colts pass rush.

"It always starts with running the football," said tight end Cole Kmet. "I think every offense, the No. 1 goal is to run the football effectively. It always starts there. From there you can open up some things in the pass game as well."

The Bears entered Week 3 ranked 28th in the NFL in rushing yards, averaging 77.5 yards per game. In last Sunday night's 19-13 loss to the Texans, Bears running backs combined to gain 27 yards on 17 carries.

After focusing on fundamentals in practice this week, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron is confident that the Bears will improve on the ground.

"The run game is something every single week that we want to be able to lean on," Waldron said. "So we've got to be able to get that going. Through great fundamental work, the practice preparation, I feel like we are heading in the right direction."

The Bears will face a Colts defense that ranks last in the league against the run, averaging 237 yards per game. The 474 yards that Indianapolis permitted on the ground in losses to the Texans and Packers are the most by any NFL team over the first two games of a season since 1978.

Shoring up their run defense no doubt has been a top priority for the Colts this week.

"I know they're going to try and make that a key for them," said quarterback Caleb Williams, "to make sure they stop the run because, just like anybody, you stop the run, you kind of make the team one-dimensional."

The Colts will attempt to do that without defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, a three-time Pro Bowler who was placed on injured reserve this week with an ankle injury.

(2) Contain Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson.

The Bears will be challenged by Richardson, a 6-4, 245-pound dual threat who possesses a rare combination of size, speed and arm strength. In the first two games of the season, he threw for 416 yards with three touchdowns, four interceptions and a 63.1 passer rating and rushed for 93 yards and one TD on 10 carries.

"It's really like any dual threat college QB," said defensive end Montez Sweat. "He's good on his feet and also has a pretty good arm, so we've got to be good in both dynamics.

"Any QB that can run and throw is something that you have to account for. You've got to watch your rush lanes. If you rush too high, he's going to come right up under. If you rush too inside, he'll come out the back end, so he definitely presents a challenge."

The Colts offense also features running back Jonathan Taylor, a fifth-year pro who has been hampered by injuries since rushing for 1,169 and 1,811 yards in his first two NFL seasons with Indianapolis in 2020-21. When healthy, Taylor is dangerous; he ran for 103 yards on just 12 carries last Sunday in a loss to the Packers in Green Bay.

"This offense starts with him," said defensive coordinator Eric Washington. "He's one of the most productive runners that we've seen in the last couple years. Attempts, yards, all of those things, he's everything that you look for in a featured back. We've got to do a really good job of maintaining our discipline as far as our gaps are concerned and our run fits. We've just got to do a good job of working together and making sure that we keep him in front of us with respect to our assignments."

(3) Avoid negative plays on offense.

Last Sunday night in Houston, the Bears lost yardage on six penalties, seven sacks, three running plays and two pass completions.

Asked this week where he'd most like strides to be made, Waldron said: "We want to avoid negative plays. We want to be an efficient offense, and we want to be able to run the ball. A great starting point is getting in and out of the huddle, me with the play calls and getting up to the line of scrimmage. No delay of games, no pre-snap false starts, none of those mechanics."

Many of the negative plays in the first two games were caused by the Titans and Texans blitzing Williams, a strategy the Bears are expecting the Colts and other future opponents to employ against the rookie quarterback.

"We've just got to be on it," said receiver DJ Moore. "Know our calls, know our protection, know when we're 'hot' just to help Caleb out. I know we've got to nip that in the [bud] because it's a copycat league and other teams are going to try to bring the house at him."

The Bears are working to improve handling stunts by opposing defensive lines.

"A lot of times when it's a five-man [rush], which we got some last week, it's more about just games, twists and pick games going on inside there," said coach Matt Eberflus. "We've got to work on passing those off. That's what they did last week."

This week in practice, the Bears focused on correcting the pass protection mistakes they made against the Texans.

"It's not scheme," Eberflus said. "It's not this or that. It all comes down to basics and fundamentals and we've got to keep working on that as we go."