Biggs: 10 thoughts on the bears preseason opener

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Originally Posted by Blue Horse-shoe

It's no secret that Tice likes maulers( the extra big guys ) who SHOULD be able to do at least this one thing effectively : run block. You sacrifice a little athleticism in pass blocking with this , but it's the one thing they should be able to do well. So ..... I hope that as the pre-season moves along we at least see this side of their game develop because they didn't do well at this last night.
I can live with 'average' pass blocking ( barely ) when it comes to maulers , cuz u don't get the athleticism to be elite pass blockers.
But they damn sure better be good run blockers then if that's what their 'talents' dictate. Cuz not having 1 of these two things ... does not bode well .

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Those are good points & I hadn't thought about it too much (about Tice and maulers). But since he's been here, we have gotten a lot bigger across the oline. It seems to me that in past years, even long before Tice got here, that the run blocking took longer to develop than the pass blocking. Sometimes in those first couple of games the run blocking seemed "off" ......but after a couple games the run blocking often got better. Of course, it seems like the olines get better as the season progresses (in all phases, pass and run blocking).

I've made up my mind that personally, I'm not going to have a coronary if the oline looks a bit rough in the first couple of games. Now if they totally suck, that's different (I might have that heart attack anyway). But if they just have a few bone head plays, even a false start or two (not more) and if a given player like Webb (or anyone) gets beat a time or two, I'm not going to panic. I think they will get better.

I also believe that even the best offensive lines are going to give up a few sacks, QB hits, and hurries. The defenses have evolved in recent years to a higher degree than the blocking schemes, IMHO. This doesn't mean it's OK to be turnstiles like last season, but Cutler is going to get knocked around a bit no matter how good our line is.

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Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

Those are good points & I hadn't thought about it too much (about Tice and maulers). But since he's been here, we have gotten a lot bigger across the oline. It seems to me that in past years, even long before Tice got here, that the run blocking took longer to develop than the pass blocking. Sometimes in those first couple of games the run blocking seemed "off" ......but after a couple games the run blocking often got better. Of course, it seems like the olines get better as the season progresses (in all phases, pass and run blocking).

I've made up my mind that personally, I'm not going to have a coronary if the oline looks a bit rough in the first couple of games. Now if they totally suck, that's different (I might have that heart attack anyway). But if they just have a few bone head plays, even a false start or two (not more) and if a given player like Webb (or anyone) gets beat a time or two, I'm not going to panic. I think they will get better.

I also believe that even the best offensive lines are going to give up a few sacks, QB hits, and hurries. The defenses have evolved in recent years to a higher degree than the blocking schemes, IMHO. This doesn't mean it's OK to be turnstiles like last season, but Cutler is going to get knocked around a bit no matter how good our line is.

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Yeah no O-line is ever perfect and I don't think any of us expect them to be. But they better be good at at least 1 frickin thing ....... so it's that something they KNOW they can hang their hat on , rely on . And , hopefully , by mid-season this year , we'll be able to say that. Cuz all we've been able to say about them for years now is " Eh , they're fair " or " well they were good at ____ in this game or that game ".
Cripes can they actually be bona-fide GOOD at one thing ? Consistently ?