How good is the Chicago Bears offensive line? Here’s what the numbers say.
Bears center Drew Dalman (52) and guard Joe Thuney (62) work to protect quarterback Caleb Williams (18) in the third quarter against the Bengals on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
By Sean Hammond | shammond@chicagotribune.com | Chicago Tribune
PUBLISHED: November 13, 2025 at 6:00 AM CST
The Chicago Bears have the No. 3 offense in the NFL, averaging 379.8 yards per game.
That bears repeating: The Chicago Bears have the No. 3 offense in the NFL. That’s through 10 weeks, too, no small sample size.
This is an offense that finished dead last among 32 teams a year ago and a franchise that hasn’t finished better than 20th in total offense since 2016.
First-year coach Ben Johnson’s offense has quietly become one of the NFL’s best. In addition to ranking third in total yards per game — trailing only the Indianapolis Colts (396.9) and Buffalo Bills (384.4) — the Bears are second in rushing (147.3 ypg) and 11th in passing (232.4 ypg).
The advanced analytics are less enthusiastic about the Bears offense. Per NFL Pro, the Bears rank ninth in expected points added (think of it like WAR in baseball) at plus-0.03 per play. They’re tied for fifth in EPA per rush and 12th in EPA per pass.
It’s also worth pointing out the Bears are seventh in points per game — the number that ultimately matters the most — at 26.6.
What’s working for the offense? It starts up front.
This is an elite offensive line ESPN Analytics tracks “win rate” for offensive and defensive linemen in both the passing and running games. If an offensive lineman can sustain his block for 2.5 seconds on a pass play, that’s a win.
In the running game, a defender earns a win if he beats the blocker and is in position to make a stop, if he disrupts a running lane or if he records a tackle within 3 yards of the line of scrimmage. If the defender doesn’t do any of those, it’s a win for the offensive lineman.
Per these metrics, the Bears have one of the best offensive lines in the league. As a team, they rank second in pass blocking win rate (71%) and fourth in run blocking win rate (74%).
The Bears are one of only two teams ranked in the top five in both the passing and running games. The Bills are first and second, respectively. The Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks are the only other teams in the top 10 in both categories.
Everybody is winning
Bears left tackle Theo Benedet (79) and the offensive line work to protect quarterback Caleb Williams (18) in the third quarter against the Commanders on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
The wins are coming from all sides.
Individually, right tackle Darnell Wright ranks 11th among offensive tackles in pass blocking win rate at 94%. Some of his clips against the New York Giants certainly caught the attention of Bears fans on social media. Wright is having his best season despite an injured elbow.
On the other side, left tackle Theo Benedet ranks third among NFL tackles in the running game, winning 82% of his matchups. The Bears made the switch from Braxton Jones to Benedet largely because of the potential they saw in Benedet in the running game, and it has coincided with a rise in efficiency.
“(He’s) a guy that plays with really good leverage,” offensive line coach Dan Roushar said. “He’s got good feet. There’s a quickness about him. There’s a recoverability about him. And he changes direction pretty well.”
Most notable, though, is that the Bears are seeing a return on their investment in the interior, where they spent much of their offseason efforts. Left guard Joe Thuney, center Drew Dalman and right guard Jonah Jackson all rank in the top 10 among interior linemen in pass blocking.
Thuney is winning 98% of his matchups and ranks second, Jackson is winning 96% and ranks fifth and Dalman is also at 96% and ranks ninth.
Thuney is also ninth among interior linemen in the running game, winning 76% of the time. He’s the only interior lineman in the league who ranks in the top 10 in both the passing and running games.
“He’s phenomenal,” Roushar said. “He’s steady Eddie. He’s a great communicator. You know exactly what he’s going to do each and every down, so that brings a lot of comfort and familiarity to the players playing next to him.”
Time to throw and sacks — and why they’re related
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams runs the ball in the first quarter against the Bengals at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Nov. 2, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
After all that talk about Brian Burns and the Giants pass rush, New York did not sack Caleb Williams. It was the second time in his career Williams wasn’t sacked, joining the Week 3 win over the Dallas Cowboys this season.
In nine games, Williams has been sacked 14 times. A year after getting sacked a league-high 68 times (third-most all time), Williams’ sack total is tied for 27th this season. Among qualified passers, only the Denver Broncos’ Bo Nix (10), the Seahawks’ Sam Darnold (10) and the Atlanta Falcons’ Michael Penix Jr. (13) have fewer. The Bears’ 4.7% sack rate ranks fifth in the NFL.
Related Articles“It’s huge,” Williams said. “Part of it is the guys I’ve got up front. They’ve been awesome for me and for us.
“And then the other half is Coach’s emphasis on me getting the ball out and when it’s time to go make a play, make plays. And when it’s time to throw it away, throw it away. So just doing a better job with that overall this year.”
Williams continues to have the NFL’s highest number in Next Gen Stats’ time-to-throw metric. He’s holding on to the football for 3.27 seconds per drop-back. In Sunday’s win over the Giants, he averaged 3.43 seconds, his third-highest mark of the season.
But that metric isn’t necessarily a knock on Williams. It probably says more about his style of play than anything. Others at the top of the leaderboard in time to throw are also mobile quarterbacks: Jalen Hurts, Jacoby Brissett, Josh Allen, Cam Ward and Justin Fields are the next five.
Asked a few weeks ago about Williams’ time to throw, Johnson was unconcerned by the high number.
“He certainly is extending plays probably more so than most, so maybe that augments that number a little bit,” Johnson said. “Throughout this process in the spring and in camp, we’ve been pretty consistent with: ‘Let’s drill the footwork. Let’s have that footwork guide us through our progressions.’
“There’s times where we’re really good at it and there’s other times where we maybe are either too fast or we’re too slow, so we’re working through that.”
If the time to throw and the sack total were high, it probably would be more of a concern. But that’s not the case.
Odds and ends- Nickel back C.J. Gardner-Johnson had two more sacks Sunday. According to the Bears, Gardner-Johnson is just the second defensive back to have three or more sacks over his first two games with a new team since sacks became a stat in 1982. Rod Kush did it for the Houston Oilers in 1985.
- The Bears defense continues to lead the NFL with 20 takeaways. The Bears also lead the league with a plus-14 takeaway margin.
- This week’s opposing quarterback, the Minnesota Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy, has thrown deep (beyond 20 yards) on 18.5% of his pass attempts, per Next Gen Stats. That’s the highest rate among QBs with at least 100 attempts. Eight of his 20 deep passes targeted star receiver Justin Jefferson, although three ended in interceptions.
- The Vikings defense leads the NFL with a 42.2% blitz rate, per Pro Football Reference. They blitzed Williams 37.2% of the time in Week 1. Williams actually has a better passer rating this season against the blitz (119.2) than when teams don’t blitz (80.6). Eight of his 13 touchdown passes came when the defenses was blitzing. All four of his interceptions came when there was no blitz.
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