A lot of things happened in the Chicago Bears rout of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. Obviously, it starts with Mitch Trubisky. It’s kind of a big thing when a quarterback in this town throws six touchdown passes in a game. Lost in the massed hysteria of what happened was the outstanding play of the offensive line who rarely allowed their QB to get pressured all day. In the midst of that, a new story began with James Daniels.
The Bears haven’t reported anything on the second round pick from Iowa for weeks. It was a shock to many that the team chose to start veteran Eric Kush over him despite his strong performance in the preseason. The reasoning they used was concern that Daniels wasn’t up to their standards on handling blitzes and stunts.
So for three weeks the rookie sat and watched. Then, almost out of nowhere, something changed. On the third offensive series of the game against Tampa, the Bears pulled Kush and inserted the rookie at left guard. This would be the first ever action of his professional career. Daniels refused to pass up that opportunity. He put together one hell of a drive.
James Daniels first career offensive drive breakdown:
#1 – Sustains his block on a pitch to Gabriel to the outside
The mark of a good blocker is not caring if the play isn’t run directly in your territory. Execute the assignment no matter what. Trubisky pitches it to Gabriel going around the left end. Daniels engages the defensive tackle from the snap and doesn’t let up until he hears the whistle, keeping that man far from the scene of the action.
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#2 – Uses pure power to drive the D-lineman back 4-yard gain
The Bears running game has struggled to get going so far this year. Part of it has been the suspect blocking up front. Eric Kush was among the worst of the guilty party. Tampa Bay has a good run defense so it was tough to get anything going against them. However, Daniels had two really nice plays on this first drive. The first was here when he plower forward with power and consistent effort to help Tarik Cohen get four yards.
#3 – Again creates just enough space for Cohen to get the 1st down
This next play was more of the same. Initially, it looks like Daniels looks like he has no one to block but he wisely finds someone, widening the lane just enough for Cohen to squeeze through for a two-yard gain and the first down. Little things like this may not seem like much but it’s often where interior linemen earn their money the most. It’s a game of inches after all. Guys who can get you that couple extra are valuable.
#4 – Pulls outside for critical seal block that gets Cohen around the edge
This was his best block of the drive by far. It’s a run-pass option. Trubisky hands it to Cohen on 2nd and 1. Daniels is tasked with pulling to the right and picking up the free defender on the edge. Not only does he do that, but he also sustains the block long enough (on Pro Bowl linebacker Lavonte David no less) for Cohen to pause, evaluate and scream around the right side for a long gain. It was a perfectly executed sequence and an exhibit of how good the rookie is.
#5 – Stout pass protection on Trubisky TD throw to Robinson
The final play of the drive. Trubisky takes the snap and pressure seem to set in off both edges. However, none comes from up the middle with Daniels being a key reason for that, holding up both Gerald McCoy and 1st round pick Vita Vea. Trubisky stands in the pocket and delivers arguably his best throw of the day to Allen Robinson for a touchdown. Daniels went against some really good players on that drive and made them look like emergency backups at times.
Considering it was his first snaps ever in a regular season game? There’s no telling how much better the 21-year old can get.
