Chicago Bears Tale of the tape: James Daniels vs. Eric Kush
James Daniels and Eric Kush split time at left guard in week six. Which player had the better game in the Chicago Bears loss to the Miami Dolphins?
The Chicago Bears have a platoon at left guard. While Eric Kush started their week six matchup with the Miami Dolphins, notching start number five of the season, this was the second time in which he did not play a full game.
This week, rookie James Daniels actually outsnapped the veteran Eric Kush, 39 to 31. The two went series for series in and out of the line up in the game. With that in mind, how did the two fare?
Per Play
Excluding kneel downs, Kush was on the field for 28 plays that resulted 211 yards. That equals 7.5 yards per play. He was on the field for one scoring drive.
James Daniels saw the field for 38 plays that resulted in 303 yards, equaling 7.9 yards per play. Three touchdown drives started with Daniels on the field.
Running game
The Chicago Bears rushed the football 19 times for 100 yards with Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen combined. They chose to run the football 15 times with Daniels on the field, just four with Eric Kush on the field.
Daniels helped break 15 rushes for 90 yards, six yards per rush. With Kush on the field, they averaged 2.5 yards per rush.
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Game Situation
While this is likely nothing to look into, Eric Kush started the game and the first half. Kush starting is worth noting. However, starting the second half was just due to the rotation.
The team kept to their rotation throughout the game as well. On the game winning drive attempt that ended in a Tarik Cohen fumble, Eric Kush was on the field. When the team went on their last drive in over time, it was James Daniels leading the way.
Tale of the tape
The Bears having more plays, and rushing the ball much more with James Daniels on the field was likely just due to the flow of the game. However, the results are tough to deny. The offense flowed more with Daniels over Kush.
After sliding into limited action in the past two weeks, it is trending towards Daniels taking this thing over sooner rather than later.