Charles Leno comes down to earth for Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears had been getting great play from Charles Leno. That didn’t happen Week 4

One of the more promising developments of the Chicago Bears 3-0 start was the play of Charles Leno. Leno has always been up and down, so if the team was getting him in an up year, it could have had effects similar to 2018.

However, while Leno played well, it was fair to note he had not been tested. Romeo Okwara, Lorenzo Carter, and Charles Harris is not murderers row. On Sunday, he saw an aging stud in Justin Houston. Houston brought the emerging Leno right back down to earth.

Houston beat Leno throughout the game. Leno allowed a sack, a hit, and three pressures, and each and every one of them was against Justin Houston. Leno had the speed to hang with speed rusher Al-Quadin Muhammed. He did not have the understanding to hang with Houston, who beat him with technique, multiple moves, and moves that he set up throughout the game.

The Chicago Bears know what they have in Leno. Against the weaker pass rushers, he will be fine, but against well-refined power rushers, he is going to struggle. The Bears unfortunately did not have the assets to provide Leno help as DeForest Buckner dominated the inside and Cody Whitehair had his hands full as well.

Overall, Germain Ifedi was the best Chicago Bears blocker in pass protection. However, Ifedi was an issue in the run game. It could be argued that Massie was the best lineman on the field. He saw Denico Autry and Al-Quadin Muhammed, so his test was not as steep as the others.

Still, he held up on the ground and while he did allow two pressures, that was better than the likes of Daniels, Leno, and Whitehair. When the Bears are getting their best play out of Bobby Massie there are likely issues elsewhere.