New QB, the same familiar problem persists for the Chicago Bears

After a sobering defeat at the hands of the Houston Texans Sunday night, it’s apparent that the Chicago Bears have the same glaring weakness that they have had for so many years - the offensive line. When discussing the game the following day, I noticed that I sound like a broken record. I recall having the same conversation year after year regarding the Bears’ putrid offensive line play. The Bears may finally have their franchise quarterback, yet here we are in week 2 dissecting who missed crucial blocks that led to Caleb Williams being sacked seven times by the Texans.

When Williams wasn’t sacked, he was running for his life most of the time. The Texans pressured Williams 23 times on 48 total dropbacks, which means Caleb was under duress nearly half of the time he dropped back to pass. Insanity. Furthermore, the Texans created 12 pressures and five sacks on 20 blitzes, or 41.7% of Caleb Williams’ dropbacks, per NFL Next Gen Stats. The Bears clearly have an offensive line problem, a coaching problem, or perhaps both.

This isn’t new for Bears fans. Justin Fields, who was drafted in 2021, was sacked 135 times in his three seasons in Chicago. Fields often held the ball too long, but the line’s poor play was still a hot topic for the Bears.

I always thought this was a personnel problem on the playing field. However, some recent developments have led me to discover that the Bears just don’t scheme well, and that falls on coaching. Two weeks into the 2024 season, two of the three top PFF-graded guards are recent Bears’ linemen. Lucas Patrick of the New Orleans Saints has a 92.6 overall PFF grade, the highest in the NFL among guards. Close behind him is Pittsburgh Steelers’ guard James Daniels who has an 89.8 overall PFF grade, good for third-best in the league.

I know two weeks is a small sample size, but Lucas Patrick started 20 games for the Bears from 2022-23 and only earned a PFF pass-blocking grade of 74.9 or higher once. 74.9 is the grade Patrick earned in last week’s season opener. This week he followed that up with a 75.4 pass-blocking grade. In two games with the Saints, Patrick has already had two of his best games as a pass-blocker in the past three years, which tells me that maybe the 31-year-old is now in a system that puts him in a better position to succeed.

Going into the game in Houston, everyone knew that the Texans featured two of the best edge rushers in the NFL. Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. are a feared duo, but the Bears were supposed to be stronger at the tackle position than they are on the interior. This was supposed to be a week where the Bears’ struggles at center and right guard wouldn’t be exposed like it was the week prior against the Tennessee Titans.

The result was quite the opposite. Right tackle Darnell Wright gave up two sacks and was responsible for five QB pressures, earning an abysmal 39.0 PFF pass-blocking grade. Braxton Jones was better on the left side, but the interior of the line still got exposed. Right guard Nate Davis gave up a sack, four QB pressures, and committed two penalties, earning an overall PFF grade of just 52.2.

The film shows that the constant stunts and cleverly disguised blitzes that the Texans threw at the Bears caused the line to completely break down on many plays. When defenders fly in untouched or barely blocked on a regular basis, you have to wonder if the Bears are getting outcoached more so than lacking talent up front.

There have been numerous plays where Nate Davis or Coleman Shelton have let a defender go by untouched, seemingly showing a lack of effort. However, this could be the result of a deeper problem. The confusion on how to handle stunting defensive linemen and who blocks who is a coaching issue when it happens this often and to more than one guy.

It’s a coaching problem when it happens year after year and ruins the growth of a young quarterback. You can put the flashy offensive weapons around Caleb Williams, but building a capable line and having the coaches that can scheme for different defenses and make mid-game protection adjustments is the most important thing the young quarterback can be given right now, and he certainly didn’t have it in Houston Sunday night.