Chicago Bears: 5 Hot takes on the Bears playoff chances, Khalil Mack, and more
By Evan Bruner
Chicago Bears Hot Take: The offensive line isn’t as bad as people think
Going into this season offensive line was considered the Bears’ biggest weakness, and it’s easy to understand why. The unit was filled with unproven players, and the injury to Teven Jenkins only added to the concerns for a group that had very little depth, to begin with. The Bears were supposed to have one of the worst offensive lines in all of football, but have they done enough in the first five weeks to dispel that narrative?
The offensive line was exposed against the Browns
I usually try not to overreact to one game, but this was too much of a meltdown to not have at least some concerns about the line going forward. Even on your worst day, giving up nine sacks is just unacceptable. Myles Garrett is a generation talent, but that’s not an excuse for him to completely take over a game like that. We are five games into the season, and 65% of Garrett’s sacks came from just that game.
The Bears have done a good job of hiding their offensive line problems
The unit has held together fairly well since the Cleveland game. One thing that has helped has been the quicker passes. Fields has done a better job the last couple of weeks of getting rid of the ball quickly to take pressure off the line.
Also, just because the sack numbers are down doesn’t mean Fields isn’t still taking hits. He took several shots after getting rid of the ball against the Raiders on top of the two sacks he took. Overall, the line hasn’t been asked to do very much the last couple of weeks, so it’s hard to say things are fixed.
Individually, there aren’t any real standouts on the line. Jason Peters is the only lineman that has been above average. Guys like Cody Whitehair and James Daniels have been serviceable, but the now injured Germain Ifedi has been consistently bad the last few weeks, and Sam Mustipher has been a total disaster. Looking at the unit right now, it’s hard to feel great about this group.
Bottom line
The line has been considerably better in recent weeks, but they still have a long ways to go for them not to be considered a liability.