ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The Chicago Bears' blowout win against the Buffalo Bills will forever be remembered as a signature performance by the defense. But on offense, coach Matt Nagy made good on his promise to get running back Jordan Howard's season on track.

Coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons, Howard was slow to get out of the gate in Nagy’s offense. He scored just one touchdown in the first five games.

Although Howard carried the ball only 14 times for 47 yards on Sunday, he found the end zone twice, giving him four touchdowns in the past three weeks.

Only Hall of Famer Walter Payton (34) has more rushing touchdowns than Howard (20) in his first three seasons with the Bears in the Super Bowl era.

Howard was the subject of trade speculation prior to the deadline, but the Bears stood pat with their roster. Howard, who will enter the final year of his rookie deal in 2019, might end up playing elsewhere next season, but Chicago needs him for the stretch run.

As the weather turns -- the Bears have three straight cold weather games from Dec. 2- 16 -- Nagy is likely to place added emphasis on the ground game. The Bears, under Nagy, will always be a pass-first team, but there’s an art to calling plays when conditions change in November and December. For all the trickery and misdirection on offense, which admittedly is enjoyable to watch after what the Bears ran last season, there’s no substitute for a powerful back in certain short-yardage/goal-line situations.

“When he [Howard] gets a full head of steam ... he’s going to make a defender pay,” Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky said.

Howard isn’t perfect, but he has gained a lot of yards since arriving in Chicago as a fifth-round pick in 2016. Howard, after all, became the fastest Bear to reach 2,000 rushing yards last year.

The offense is centered around Trubisky, who -- despite completing just 12 of 20 pass attempts for 135 yards, one touchdown and one interception (76.0 quarterback rating) -- stepped up and made several plays on third down to keep drives alive in the first half.

Statistically speaking, Trubisky’s 1,949 passing yards are the fourth-most by a Bears quarterback through the first nine weeks of a season, but that’s more of a reflection on the struggles the Bears have endured at the position than anything else.

Trubisky is a gamer -- no doubt about it -- but he also suffers through spells in which he is inconsistent. Having a healthy and motivated Howard can ease the pressure on Trubisky as the Bears zero in on their first playoff berth since 2010.

Piling up big numbers for an entire year on a losing team is nice. But these aren’t the John Fox Bears. What the current Bears need is for Howard to have a handful of meaningful games down the stretch.

Howard will probably finish the season with a career low in rushing yards, but his importance has never been greater.