Chicago Bears: Five pleasant surprises at halfway point

Pass Protection

This one cannot be put on just one player. This is a team effort. Coming into the year, some may have been optimistic about the Chicago Bears offensive line. However, not many would see them as a top ten group. Some fans did think the Bears offensive line was going to be bad. However, through eight weeks they are a top ten pass protecting bunch.

In sacks allowed, they rank tenth. In quarterback hits, they rank fifth and in pressures allowed they sit in third place. They are a top ten bunch in any way you look at it. They are average in sack rate, but that has more to do with Mitch Trubisky.

As we have shown in our weekly sack breakdowns, the majority of sacks allowed this season have come from Trubisky missing a read or a blitz assignment. That is why the pressures and hits are downs, but he is taking a few more sacks. He is walking himself into them.

Still, that is an overall positive for the Chicago Bears pass protecting group. When looking at average time to throw, Trubisky has 2.67 seconds, tied with Phil Rivers and Case Keenum. In that span, Keenum has 24 sacks and Rivers 11. Trubisky sits in between the old veteran who knows how to and the low-end starter at 17. Given where Trubisky is, this tends to make sense, and ties back into him increasing the sack total.

With that in mind, the five men up front have done everything not only to be a top ten group but potentially a top-five unit moving forward.