Going into the regular season, there was always one position that Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson was going to have his hands full with, and that is at left tackle.
Braxton Jones entered the season as the starter after having the job last year. Jones struggled, which led to a drastic change in the Week 4 Las Vegas Raiders game when Theo Benedet moved from right tackle after starting in place for the injured Darnell Wright to left tackle to replace Jones. Rookie second-round pick Ozzy Trapilo moved from the bench to right tackle, and all of a sudden, the Bears found their left tackle in Benedet.
After the bye week, Benedet officially took over at left tackle up until Week 12 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, when a quad injury kept him from playing. Jones is on the IR, so that left Trapilo to fill in at left tackle, and he ended up having the best performance by a Bears left tackle all season.
Week 13 ended up being a very complicated week for Johnson as now he is faced with the most important decision of the season: start Benedet or Trapilo at left tackle.
Johnson's decision could make or break this season wide open for Chicago
Starting Benedet means there are limitations with him. Benedet's strength has been in the run game as the Bears have been a much better running team since he started. Before the bye week, the Bears averaged 102.3 yards per game. Since then, Chicago averages 165.1 yards per game.
The struggles that Benedet has faced are in pass protection and penalties. He has committed seven penalties this season and has allowed 22 pressures and two sacks in 290 pass block snaps played. Pro Football Focus has him graded at 56.4 overall, ranking him 62nd out of 80 tackles, and at 57.6 in pass blocking, ranking 64th out of 80 tackles.
On the other hand, Trapilo impressed in his first two games of extensive action against the Raiders and Steelers. In the Raiders game, Trapilo did not allow a sack and only allowed two pressures. His performance in the Steelers game was even better, with just one pressure allowed and a pass pro effectiveness grade of 88.4.
Trapilo has only had 137 offensive snaps this season, so there isn't enough data to determine how good he can be. Based on the two games he played against the Raiders and Steelers, though, he appears to be the real deal.
With Benedet healthy again and able to play, Johnson has a big decision to make for not only the Week 13 match against the Philadelphia Eagles, but the rest of the year. This evaluation at left tackle could be a week-by-week situation.
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If Johnson doesn't pick correctly or find a left tackle that can start consistently, Chicago could be in big trouble throughout the final month and a half of the season.