WCG Key Match-Up: Bears OL vs. Lions DL

The Bears offensive line has been a challenge the first four weeks of the season. Week 1 they had to go up against Atlanta's D-Line, led by John Abraham and Ray Edwards.  Week 2 they had to deal with the Saints blitz-happy DC Greg Williams.  Week 3 the always difficult Green Bay 3-4 front, and last week, Carolina's young talented front four. The Bears OL, for the most part, have performed admirably in pass protection if you go back and look at the games closely, and last week had a great game run blocking. Monday night they face possibly the best defensive line in football in the Detroit Lions led by the beast in the middle, Ndamukong Suh. It's pretty simple how the Bears can spoil the Lions first Monday Night game since 2001: Simply having a great performance against a ferocious defensive line. That means limiting the penalties that puts the offense in 3^rd and long situations, continuing to open running lanes for Matt Forte and Marion Barber, and bringing Jay Cutler back to a comfort zone to where he doesn't consistently have happy feet.

Tall order, but certainly not impossible to get done. If the Bears O-Line can get the job done in both the running and pass blocking department, I'm confident the Bears can walk out of Ford Field 3-2.

LT J'Marcus Webb vs. RE Kyle Vanden Bosch

When you are the starting LT of your team you are consistently going to go up against some of the best DE's in the game. Monday Night he faces a guy who might not be great, but he's certainly make LT's earn their pay check in Kyle Vanden Bosch.  Vanden Bosch is a high motor DE that doesn't stop until the whistle is blown, so Webb will need to match KVB intensity and not allow disrupting the QB's timing or blowing up plays in backfield in the running game. After a rough start in the opener I can honestly say that Webb has been one of the Bears better OL. He's hasn't been vulnerable to the speed rush, has stood strong against bull rushes, and has had nice awareness when picking up blitzers on his side.

LG Chris Williams vs. NT Corey Williams/Nick Fairly

If this was last year Bears fans should be a little concern about the match-up against the veteran Corey Williams, but Chris Williams has certainly been a surprise this season at the LG position. He bounced back Sunday with a good game after a bad game the past week against the Packers. Not saying this is a match-up Chris Williams will dominate, but it's one of the few match-ups on across the line that Bears fans could feel confident about. The interesting match-up will be Williams against the rookie Nick Fairly who will be making his debut Monday. If Fairley makes some plays early in the game, I can see Jim Schwartz playing him a lot more throughout the game. With Fairly being a tremendous talent and there's no game tape on him; it makes him the wildcard match-up on that line.

RG Chris Spencer/C Roberto Garza vs. DT Ndamukong Suh

A RG with a broken hand and a 1^st time C will have the duty of neutralizing the best DT in the game today in Suh. I only imagine that the Bears will double  Suh most of the game with the C not only because they don't have a RG capable of blocking him 1 on 1, but you have a RG playing with a broken hand. I don't think they can completely shut down Suh, but if they can contain him while the other 3 O-linemen do their job effectively that gives Jay enough time in the pocket to exploit match-ups on the outside.

RT Lance Louis vs. LE Cliff Avril

Frank Omiyale was benched last week for Lance Louis at RT and Louis shockingly looked decent. Then I remember that Louis originally moved from TE to OT back at San Diego State. We will see how decent Louis looks against a very good pass rusher in Cliff Avril Monday Night. I think we will see Tice design some run plays towards Avril who knows he's going up against an inexperience player playing RT for the first time in the pros. The hope is that Avril over run plays which leads to Forte getting into the second level getting big gains on the ground. In pass protection, Louis might get some help from the TE's from time to time.