There were a lot more negatives than positives during the Chicago Bears Week 1 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. The once “best defense in the league” looked worse than ever. The new-look offense reminded many of the struggles of last season. All in all the performance was underwhelming and in many areas inexcusable. Nevertheless, there are always positives to take from each game, and a few players came away winners even though it was a rough night all around.
The Chicago Bears had a few bright spots in their loss to the Rams in Week 1
Winner No. 1: Offensive Line
One of the main talking points coming into this game was how the beaten-up offensive line would hold up against Aaron Donald and company. To the surprise of many, the group played well enough and ended up being a positive takeaway from the outcome. The injuries to Larry Borom and Jason Peters are disappointing, but the unit played well as a whole and going forward could hopefully improve if there is less turnover within the group.
While the pass blocking was okay, the main area of success was run blocking. The interior of the line did an especially good job taking Donald out of many of the plays. Opening up the game with a 41-yard rush by David Montgomery set the tone for a night that saw him average 6.8 yards per carry.
The line did a good job of creating holes, especially on inside runs. Sam Mustipher proved to be very effective against the interior of the Rams defensive line. He was a great story last year, but there were still questions on if he should be the future center. While the questions are still out there, he looked very good tonight, for the most part.
Cody Whitehair and James Daniels seem to be the key cornerstones of this offensive line and will need to keep up this type of play in order to have success as a unit. The Bears had to rotate tackles throughout the game due to injuries, but all-around pass blocking was better than most thought it would be today.
Only three sacks were allowed tonight, but the game plan seemed to be getting the ball out quickly. We will see how the offensive line can hold up if the offense can hopefully take some shots deep to stretch the field. Still, it was a solid night for the offensive line today.