Bears Offensive Line Key to 2022 Success
by Kris_06905 | 4 years ago | 0 Comments
If you're not from Chicago, let me introduce the 2022 Chicago Bears offensive line;
LT - #72 Sean Rhyan Rookie from UCLA
LG - #68 James Daniels 4th year pro from Iowa
C - #65 Cody Whitehair 6th year pro from Kansas State
RG - 69 Zach Fulton 8th year pro from Tennessee
RT - 70 Bobby Massie 10th year pro from Ole Miss
The 2022 Chicago Bears are 10-1 and the unsung heroes of the team's success have got to be the offensive line. Most people outside of Chicago couldn't name even one of the Bears' starting 5 linemen and honestly, the men who make up that unit are fine with that. Offensive lineman are a different breed and are always willing to work hard for others to get the glory, but true football people know that nothing good comes from a play if the offensive line isn't doing the dirty work.
Jameis Winston has dropped back to pass 366 times and has only been sacked 6 times, or once every 61 pass attempts That is tops in the SFL. That kind of protection has given Winston time to complete 72% of his passes with 30 TDs in 11 games. The receiving corp has also benefitted with both Robinson and Mooney over the 1,000 yard mark this season and 2nd year TE sensation Pat Friermuth leading the team with 60 catches and 10 TDs. Most impressive is the list of superstar defensive players that have been stonewalled by the Bears line including Aaron Donald, Danielle Hunter, Calais Campbell, Montez Sweat, Ed Oliver, Kenny Clark, Rashan Gary, ZaDarius Smith, Fletcher Cox, and Chase Young all held without a sack. In previous years, the Bears were a run-first team so low sack numbers wouldn't be as impressive, but this is not your father's Bears. The emergence of Mooney and Friernuth to go along with All-Pro Allen Robinson have transformed the Bears into one of the top passing offenses in the SFL.
The Bears are 26th running the ball, which is less than ideal when hyping an offensive line. Despite the lack of a dominant running attack to scare defenses, they still aren't able to pressure Winston with any regularity. To be fair, the Bears use 4 running backs almost every game. The o-line has to adjust to the 4 different running styles of Gurley, Cohen, Montgomery, and Patterson and that makes finding a rythym running the ball challenging. The Bears do have 18 rushing TDs, so the line is able to open the holes in the red zone where the Bears offense runs more than it passes. The Bears have the # 2 ranked passing offense and # 3 offense overall.
The Bears o-line doesn't have a single star player on it, but that's fine with them. So far, playing the part of the unsung heroes has served them quite well.