Chicago Bears: James Daniels passes big test against Aaron Donald

The Chicago Bears offensive line faced a huge test playing without Kyle Long against the Los Angeles Rams. Thanks to James Daniels, they did just fine.

The Chicago Bears‘ season has been a fantastic one. They own a 9-4 record. For the first time since 2012, they’ll finish the season with a winning record. At the beginning of the season, not many expected them to be on the verge of winning the NFC North. Yet that’s exactly where they stand.

While many kept making excuses for them underestimating the Bears, the team just keeps moving forward. The Bears didn’t play anyone. But against the three NFC teams the Bears played who are playoff contenders, they are 3-0. The best team they played was the New England Patriots and they lost (albeit barely and after they played a bad game).

Well, in Week 14 they faced the Los Angeles Rams, owners of a record of 11-1, best in the NFL, and completely shut them down.

Another idea the “experts” espoused was the Bears offensive line’s weakness. Once Kyle Long went down, many expected the line to fall apart. While there have been moments that the line was shaky, it’s played pretty well. Even so, many expected the line to be exposed when Aaron Donald and company came to town.

As great as Khalil Mack has been for the Chicago Bears, Donald has been a tad better. Mack has 10.0 sacks for the season while Donald has 16.5 and has his eye on the NFL sacks record. Donald has 46 tackles to Mack’s 36. Mack has an interception and a touchdown while Donald has neither. Finally, Mack has six forced fumbles while Donald has four.

Donald, along with his line mates Ndamukong Suh and Dante Fowler, was expected to blow up the Bears offensive line, especially without Long. That didn’t happen.

Rookie guard James Daniels was key in the attack against Donald. Yes, he had some help at times, but Daniels was the guy who was most responsible for blocking Donald. He mentioned that he studied the different movements and alignments Donald showed and got an idea of how to block him. It sure worked.

Donald finished the game with just 2 tackles and a quarterback hit. He had no tackles for loss. The front-runner for Defensive Player of the Year looked like a backup.

In his press conference on Monday, head coach Matt Nagy spoke on how well Daniels played (via the Chicago Tribune).

"His technique was really good. He never lunged too much, he stayed balanced. One of James’ biggest strengths is if he happens to lose a little leverage, he can recover. But for the most part he was very consistent. And, man, for being such a young kid, he was very calm and composed."

Daniels was calm? He sounded very confident. If you had a game like Daniels had against Donald, you’d be very confident as well.

"It was fun. One thing I learned is — and I know it is true and I have always known it — but when you use your technique, it doesn’t matter who you are blocking. You will be fine. That is something I have always known, but today was something that really showed that."

Everyone is giving the Chicago Bears defense credit for having an outstanding game and they did. However, if James Daniels played like a rookie against Aaron Donald the way many assumed he would, the end might have been a little different. After that game, his confidence level and the confidence the coaches and quarterback Mitchell Trubisky have in him will surely skyrocket.