Bears' pass pro ranked 25th in NFL
By: erw9z3
At times last season, the Bears' offensive line played like the
line in the photo on the right. But could things be looking up for the
Bears' O-line, at least when it comes to pass protection?
ProFootballFocus.com
ranks the NFL's pass protecting teams. The Bears are 25th. This isn't
some subjective anecdotes either (otherwise, I'd rank the Bears worst
than 25th), this is an objective formula. In fact, the formula is the
following:
[Total Pressure/Passing Plays]*Average Blockers/Play = Pass Protection Rating
And for those calculating at home, "Total Pressure" equals "Sacks + 0.75 (Hits) + 0.75 (Hurries).
The
result of the formula placed the Bears right in between the Packers (24th) and the
Cowboys (26th). So on the positive side, poor pass protection isn't
directly related to being bad. That's the second piece of relatively
good news to come from this piece. The other: Chris Williams was solid
for the last few weeks of the season. Per ProFootballFocus.com:
"However,
he did well against the Eagles in Week 11, did a reasonable job the
next game (in Minnesota, of all places) and was then moved to left
tackle to replace Pace, where he performed very creditably indeed."
That's good news, because
really, he's all that matters on the line. Maybe this season, the other
members of the offensive line will play an important role; however,
outside of Williams, the rest of the line is either too old to relevant
in the long-term, or just not in the long-term plans, period.
As for the rest of the Bears' O-line, here's how ProFootballFocus.com breaks them down, as well as pass protection, in general:
- Only a couple of guys played well, the others really struggled. The two guys were above average: Olin Kreutz and Roberto Garza.
- Orlando Pace was really bad. But you already knew that.
- Matt
Forte stayed in to protect more than any back in the league; he was
also among the worst in the league at staying in to protect.
- Greg Olsen said he's a fine blocker for a pass-catching tight end. The Web site's individual assessment of Olsen disagrees.