The offensive line ran out of the tunnel as a group during pregame introductions but after that, things got a bit more difficult against one of the NFL’s top defensive fronts.
On the plus side the Bears were not called for a single penalty, on any position group, and the line kept quarterback Jay Cutler relatively safe under pressure from the No. 1 ranked sack brigade. Cutler was sacked twice, once resulting in a strip and lost fumble, and the Broncos collected a modest three other hits on him out of a total of 34 pass plays, two of the hits coming on blitzes by safety T.J. Ward.
On the downside, the Bears ran their norm of at least 25 times but for only 86 yards.
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“They’re just good at a little bit of everything,” said right tackle Kyle Long. “They’re a tough group...Not scoring a touchdown until the last minute – that falls on us as an offensive line. We need to be able to run the ball and produce those chunks offensively and give Jay a chance to be able to have some stuff open up on the back end.”
The group was shuffled yet again with the return of rookie Hroniss Grasu to center and shifting Matt Slauson back to left guard. Coaches left Patrick Omameh as the starter at right guard and put Vladimir Ducasse on the bench after starting the first nine games.
Omameh and Long had mixed results on the right side, exemplified by the bulldozing of the Broncos on Jeremy Langford’s two-yard TD run in the closing minutes, but followed by the Broncos stuffing Langford on a run-right on the try for two-point conversion.
NFL
Moon's Grade: D+