Matchup to watch: Chicago Bears offensive line vs. Indianapolis Colts defensive line
CHICAGO - After a shaky Week 1, the Chicago Bears' offense got bruised up by the Houston Texans in Week 2.
There were too many sacks, quarterback hits and pressures. That's why the key matchup this week in Indianapolis is going to focus on the trenches.
Here's our matchup to watch this Sunday when the Bears take on the Colts, which is the same match-up we watched last week:
Bears' struggling offensive line
Allowing seven sacks, 11 quarterback hits and 36 total pressures in one game was not how the Bears' offensive line envisioned their evening going last Sunday night.
That's what the Bears endured against Houston and its defensive front featuring Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson.
Not one lineman had a good game. The individuals struggled in their own specific ways as Caleb Williams was bruised for most of the game. The Bears, however, want to see the entire offense come together and be less one-dimensional to avoid pressures and sacks.
"We’re going to look at all of those as individual entities," Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron said. "I don’t think the sacks are always correlated to the issue at hand. One is a slide on a screen play, another running out on the sideline on a keeper. Really, it’s more as a whole, what does the rush feel."
One part Waldron looks at is the lack of a running game. The Bears are averaging 77.5 rushing yards per game and 3.5 rushing yards per carry. Neither is a good number in the NFL.
It's a number, combined with the pressure rates, that shows how much better the Bears' offensive line needs to be up front.
"The point of how the run game impacts the rush plan – if we can lean on a defensive line in the run game, that’s going to directly correlate to less pressures, the sacks can be a sack number," Waldron said. "The pressures is the thing we are focused on."
Colts' decimated defensive line
The Colts' defensive line struggled in Week 1 when Texans running back Joe Mixon carried the ball 30 times for over 150 rushing yards. Things will be a little bit different for them in Week 3.
Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner will miss Sunday's game and rookie EDGE rusher Laiatu Latu missed practice on Thursday.
Missing Buckner is already a massive blow to the Colts' defense. That was evident when the Green Bay Packers ran through the Indianapolis Defense for 261 rushing yards.
What could help the Colts is the Bears. The Bears' offensive line had a plethora of pre-snap fouls that moved them back five yards before drives got a chance to flourish.
The Bears, against a short-handed squad, can't afford to help ou the other team.
"I know Indy’s loud, I was there for four years," Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said. "It is a loud place, and we need to get that on point and we'll work that today."
The X-Factor: Getting back on track
The Bears' offensive line desperately needs a win.
They need a game where the running game clicks and they keep their quarterback clean. That could come this Sunday.
It's not a stretch to say the Bears' offensive line should be expected to perform at a high level against a unit that struggled before losing a key piece of its core. The Bears, however, aren't focusing on that reputation.
"It really comes back to us and knowing we that as an offense we want to be able to establish the run in every game we play in," Waldron said. "The opponent will be the opponent each week. Knowing the past stats may help you lean on one thing or the other based on film study. But, it always comes back to us."
The Bears can combine the two facets.
Last year, the Bears were a good running team. Even though most of their numbers were inflated with Justin Field's scrambling stats, they still blocked well for Khalil Herbert, D'Onta Foreman and Roschon Johnson.
They can get back to that, especially with Johnson, Herbert and D'Andre Swift in the backfield now. Those backs are talented, and the Colts' struggling defensive line should give the Bears a chance to click.
Staying multidimensional on offense is key.
"Knowing they are going to attack something and approach something that maybe was a perceived weakness the week before, they’ll focus on it, try to improve it," Waldron said. "For us it just goes back to focusing on ourselves, focusing on our fundamentals, hitting the blocks the correct way and we will be rolling."