The Chicago Bears earned their fourth straight win and seventh win in the past eight games after defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-28 on Sunday afternoon. Their latest hot streak has pushed them to the top of the NFC North and came with the added bonus of potentially fixing their biggest weakness at left tackle.
The blindside has been a hot discussion in Chicago as Braxton Jones, Theo Benedet and Ozzy Trapilo have had their chances to take the job and run with it. When Jones and Benedet were sidelined due to injury on Sunday, it was Trapilo that finally took advantage of his opportunity, posting a 79.5 overall grade and allowing one pressure on 37 pass-blocking snaps against the Steelers according to Pro Football Focus.
The performance should give Chicago optimism about their rookie and could inspire a big shakeup along the offensive line moving forward.
Ozzy Trapilo is Emerging for Bears at the Right Time
The Bears offensive line has been outstanding this season coming on the heels of an offseason overhaul. While Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman and Jonah Jackson have paid off their investments next to former first-round pick Darnell Wright, the left tackle position belonged to Braxton Jones before he landed on IR with a knee injury on Oct. 25.
Benedet was already starting to mix in at left tackle before Jones had gotten injured , but he had fallen on tough times, allowing eight pressures in 35 “true passing sets” in previous wins against the Cincinnati Bengals and New York Giants. With his performance declining, Benedet’s quadriceps injury may have come at the right time and the Bears may lean on Trapilo at left tackle moving forward.
Sunday’s game marked the first one in a stretch where Chicago will see some of the game’s elite pass rushers. While Steelers star T.J. Watt was an adequate first test, he only managed one sack on 53 pass rushing snaps and Pittsburgh as a team managed just seven pressures on Caleb Williams’s 38 dropbacks on Sunday.
The job doesn’t stop there. The Bears will travel to face the Philadelphia Eagles on Black Friday where Trapilo will matchup with Jaelan Phillips and even bigger challenges await including two matchups with Micah Parsons and the Green Bay Packers sandwiched around a Dec. 7 meeting with Myles Garrett and the Cleveland Browns.
Put it all together and Trapilo may be emerging at the right time for a team that’s starting to put it all together.