Several Chicago Bears had very solid individual performances vs the Detroit Lions.
The Chicago Bears lost the war to the Detroit Lions. The Bears may have lost the game to the Detroit Lions 27 to 24, but several Bears appeared to have won their individual battles. According to Pro Football Focus, several Bears played as well as anyone in the league at their position.
These were Week 11's best centers pic.twitter.com/ntPpXqMnJ3
— PFF (@PFF) November 22, 2017
Has Cody Whitehair turned the corner and put the slump behind him? Whitehair struggled early and then the Bears moved him around a little because of injuries to the offensive line. Position hopping certainly didn’t help Cody either. Whitehair returned to center against the Lions and had the best performance of anyone in the NFL, and by a wide margin. Whitehair looked solid in pass coverage and sealed off his defenders on several ground gaining runs. A performance like this bodes well for Whitehair moving forward.
https://twitter.com/PFF/status/933157093095411712
This is the grade that’s going to get several Bears fans agitated. Most fans are convinced that Charles Leno isn’t worth a nickel, let alone the contract extension that Ryan Pace gave him prior to the season. Bears fans won’t admit that Leno played well, they’ll blame the PFF grades to say that they are wrong. They certainly don’t want to see Bobby Massie with the 4th highest tackle grade last week either. The truth is, Massie, while still average at best, has been better than he was last season and Leno has played well. According to PFF, Leno is currently the 13th ranked tackle (both left and right) in the entire NFL.
Highest graded TEs in Week 11 pic.twitter.com/LPWMoYz4Ar
— PFF (@PFF) November 21, 2017
Whether you like PFF or not, no one can argue that Adam Shaheen didn’t have his best game as a pro. Forget the fact that Shaheen made an impact in the passing game (and try to forget the fact that he wasn’t targeted down the stretch), Shaheen also blocked very well, something that was a concern when he first started practicing. Coming out of Ashland, everyone knew Shaheen was going to be a bit of a project, but he’s showing the reason why Pace used a second round pick on him and he should be expected to be the starter week one in 2018.
Whether you like PFF grades or not, they still give some indication of play. Several key members of the Bears stepped up and played well. If the Bears are going to develop into a contender, these are the types of performances they need from key players.