The Chicago Bears offensive line knows a lot of the upcoming season rests on their shoulders. They have a rookie quarterback to protect. Caleb Williams is talented but can’t be expected to get the ball out fast all the time. It falls on them to give him solid blocking and also avoid costly penalties. That latter part became more difficult this season since the NFL made a change to its rules involving illegal formations on offense. In this case, they are putting much greater emphasis on offensive tackles not getting away with lining up too deep in the backfield. The Baltimore Ravens found that out the hard way in Kansas City, as they were flagged multiple times. Left tackle Braxton Jones took careful note of that.
He admitted to Courtney Cronin of ESPN that it has forced him and Darnell Wright to pay closer attention to their alignment on every snap. Such penalties can quickly kill drives.
“I definitely saw that. I watched that and I saw Baltimore’s tackles – they’re a little more upright in their stance. I think they just had to maybe lean forward just a little bit. That’s all that was. I saw that he said they were using him [Ronnie Stanley] as an example and I felt the same way. Three of them in a row or whatever it was, it was excessive. It’s definitely something to look at and me and Darnell [Wright] are definitely looking at, making sure that we’re good going into our game.”
The rule dictates that tackles’ helmets must line up with the center’s waste. If they drift further back, it’s a penalty. The NFL seems to think such tactics give blockers an unfair advantage. Pre-snap penalties were a problem for the Bears last season. Jones knows they must be disciplined about this.
Braxton Jones continues to show his maturity.
What people have overlooked about him is how much more fundamentally sound he’s become since his rookie year. While he may not have the best anchor against power rushers, he’s rarely caught off guard by any fancy moves defenders try to pull. That comes from his work ethic and discipline. The fact that he is already aware of the rule and its potential impact and is studying ways to make sure it doesn’t hurt the team is a great sign of his maturity. It also reflects on how well-coached the group is.
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One could say it’s a good thing the Bears suffered from pre-snap issues for the first half of training camp. It was false starts, illegal formations, and snap problems. Some were concerned that the offensive line lacked focus. However, the issues virtually disappeared by the end of last month. Braxton Jones and Wright were great in the preseason, allowing only one pressure between them. If that carries over into the regular season, the Bears offense is in great shape.
Gee….if the NFL is so uptight about this, maybe they need a line of drones hovering overhead and have chips embedded in the helmets to alert linemen when they are 2 cm too far back!
The offensive line is going to be key to the Bears’ success this year. They’ve added a lot of talent to the roster as well as depth. Let’s hope the O-line protects Williams and makes good blocking for their run game.
If you get paid for writing at least proofread your work. It’s just getting more and more apparent these articles are being slapped together after tying one on the night before. So, the refs are making the teams play by written rules they got lax on. Thats good. Offensive linemen should have a definite advantage by knowing the snap count. I’m just wondering why the QB can have a receiver in his helmet and the rest of the offensive line doesn’t. It would eliminate the homefield advantage a bit but I’m surprised teams don’t do that. Is there a rule… Read more »
This article is simply more of Erik Lambert’s obsequious bullshit. Teven Jenkins has been quoted as saying: “I feel more continuity this year. There’s more explanation behind what we’re doing. Instead of like last year, [where] some things were gray in some areas. [Now], we’re really hammering out the small details. And I feel like half the stuff is because we retained Chris Morgan.” Maybe the other “half the stuff” is because the Bears.replaced former assistant line coach, Austin King with a “new guy” — assistant OL coach, Jason Houghtaling. That view crystalizes Teven’s calculus and illustrates a lack of… Read more »
Another hiccup here. If Erik has it right (he doesn’t) and the tackle’s helmets have to line up with the center’s ‘waste’ (sic), then all the center needs to do is take a dump in the backfield and the tackles can line up anywhere they want, ….