The Chicago Bears are celebrating a big victory after their dominant win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. They are now 3-0 at home and have an impressive eight-game winning streak at home, the longest active streak in the NFL. While the Bears have shown growth across all phases of their game in recent weeks, their offensive line has been better across the board.
In their latest game, the Bears offensive line allowed just one pressure, which resulted in a sack by second-year right tackle Darnell Wright. Aside from that, the line performed nearly flawlessly. According to Pro Football Focus, here are the pass-blocking grades for the Bears offensive line in Week 5:
Matt Pryor: 87.5
Bill Murray: 85.7
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Coleman Shelton: 83.7
Braxton Jones: 83.4
Teven Jenkins: 82.8
Darnell Wright: 73.0
Nate Davis: 72.5
One notable player is undrafted free agent guard Bill Murray, now in his fourth NFL season after spending three years in New England.
Murray stepped in for Teven Jenkins, who left the game with an ankle injury, and delivered an outstanding performance. In 37 snaps, he received high grades from PFF:
Overall: 83.9
Pass Block: 85.7
Run Block: 79.2
Hurries, Sacks, Hits, or Pressures: 0
Penalties: 0
Teven Jenkins was having one of his best games of the season before his injury, and Murray’s seamless transition and strong performance highlights the Bears coaching staff’s ability to develop depth on the offensive line, which may be better than many initially thought.
Bears head coach Matt Eberflus confirmed Monday morning that Teven Jenkins will travel with the team to London as they assess his ankle injury, which is a positive sign.
In the meantime, the Bears can be confident that Murray can fill the position until Jenkins fully recovers.
Tells me the offensive line coach sucks.
Kiran/Murray/Kramer/Bates/Wright
In an ideal world, I could see this. Kramer is the guy I’m not sure what their plans are. Anyone?
@BearCub30 —
100%. That’s why I mentioned the boys from the NFC North. Those are the teams that matter the most — and each presents a serious challenge for any O-line.
PS Have you seen that Charley Murphy video featuring Prince and the “pancake” basketball game?
It’s hilarious.
TGena is such a homer.
What I liked most about Murray was he didn’t block his own man. Our OL is making progress.
I’m hoping Wright didn’t come in quite as motivated/conditioned as his rookie year when he thought he was trying out for WR. He moved very well last year when his left arm was injured and he had to reposition to get in front of people. I’m hoping he will improve as the season goes on, but I agree with Dr. Mel regarding Anderson’s admission he was the best OT he went against.
@TGena Move over Mr. Positive, a new Negative is taking over. No excuse for not playing Pryor and Murray earlier to a larger degree. Not if you want to win games rather than protect some very undeserving egos (i.e., no, not, not). BTW, you are correct on Caleb’s very mature assistance to the OL.