5 Things to Watch: Chicago Bears vs New England Patriots

1. Offensive Line

The biggest reason the Bears were drubbed to kick off the preseason was the play of the offensive line. In short, they were awful. They did nothing to help out the running backs. Holes quickly closed and there was no push off the line of scrimmage. The pass protection for the quarterbacks was just awful. Bears QBs were sacked seven times and hit an additional 11. Chicago quarterbacks dropped back to pass 33 times, they were hit 18. Your quarterback isn’t going to survive if they get hit 55% of their drop backs.

The good news is that the line play could not be worse. The Bears’ line will improve. Whether it improves enough to be a productive line this season is going to be the biggest question mark for the rest of the preseason.

The offensive line’s production doesn’t need to rival the ’85 team, but it needs to be solid. They need to open some holes for the young running backs but more importantly, they need to protect Jay Cutler.

The Bears defense is on the right track, but there are a lot of young, unproven pieces on the offense. They need the offensive line to do their job and give them a chance to develop. If the line continues to look as porous as it did against Denver, any improvements anywhere else will be null and void. When fans watch the offense they usually just keep their eye on the ball, but tonight fans should watch the line play and see if they are keeping defensive linemen off Cutler’s back and opening holes for the young running back trio. If the Bears want to any chance to make a playoff push in 2016, it’s going to start with the five guys up front on offense.