The Chicago Bears offensive line has gotten a boost from Alex Bars and Sam Mustipher.
The 2020 NFL season for the Chicago Bears started off fantastic then quickly came off the rails. After staring off 5-1 with quarterbacks Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles, the team unraveled, losing their next six games. There are a variety of reasons for that; namely, coaching, the defense feeling they had to win games on their own cussing frustration and the offensive line.
Speaking of the offensive line, it appears that they may finally be turning the corner. Not coincidently, the Bears offense is as well. After Foles went down with an injury, Trubisky once again took over the starting job but the offensive line saw a new look as well in terms of personnel. This change came by way of two undrafted free agents both out of Notre Dame.
Rookie center Sam Mustipher and right guard Alex Bars stepped into staring little roles to little fanfare. But due to their strong play, the fanfare is slowly coming.
The two Notre Dame products are giving the Chicago Bears some juice.
In the last three games, the Bears offense that was seen as virtually lifeless has scored 25, 30 and 36 points, respectively, coming out of the bye week. This culminated in a 36-7 romp of the Houston Texans, which now sees the Bears still in the hunt for a playoff berth.
The Bears run game, a run game the franchise has been relying on since the dawn of time, has completely come alive. David Montgomery has been thriving, to the delight of Bears and fantasy football fans everywhere his last three games since the bye, racking up games with yardages of 103, 72 and 113, respectively. He’s also scored four times in that stretch.
It’s still up in the air on just where the Bears will end 2020 in the standings, as well as the fate of the quarterbacks, head coach and general manager.
However, Bears fans can find solace in the fact that they may finally have some young solid pieces in the interior of their offensive line to build around, and those young pieces of Bars and Mustipher deserve their recognition.