3 Keys to a Chicago Bears opening day victory over the 49ers
By Ryan Olson
Chicago Bears Keys to a Win: Get after Trey Lance in the pocket
The 49ers will be without two core pieces to their interior offensive line. Alex Mack recently retired and Laken Tomlinson walked in free agency. This means the 49ers will have some new faces to their offensive line which could be a weakness for them and an opportunity for the Chicago Bears.
The Bears can do many things to put pressure on the weak points of the 49ers, such as sending pressure in the A and B gaps, or they could get creative inside by making the interior lineman work together and communicate by having EDGE rushers attack the B gaps and the interior lineman attack the C gaps. These are simple things but these switch concepts on the inside of the offensive line where you make them communicate are something the Bears struggled with last year.
I would also love to see Al-Quadin Muhammed or Trevis Gipson work inside as a 3-tech on some reps on third and long — the same way the Packers use Z’Darius Smith and Preston Smith. The Bears are naturally set up well to do this as their EDGE group is very strong and their interior line is lacking talent.