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Chicago Bears overcome struggling offensive line in win vs. Panthers

The Chicago Bears beat the Carolina Panthers on Sunday in spite of their offensive line, not because of it.

David Banks

The Chicago Bears have done a lot of things right this season. Their offense has managed to put things together more often than not, and the defense has been consistently among the best. One area where they have not been so good? The offensive line – they're run-blocking well, but they also can't protect quarterback Jay Cutler at all.

On Sunday against the Carolina Panthers, the Bears recovered from a deficit to win the game with a huge fourth quarter, despite the offensive line giving up six sacks. As noted by ESPN Chicago, right tackle Gabe Carimi refused to call it a "setback":

"I don't want to use the word setback. But maybe (it's) a check that we have to keep on working as hard as we have to keep producing as we want to. So it's more of check that we have to keep on working hard. We're not the O-line we know we can be. But when we are, we can be a good O-line unit."

The word "setback" is being thrown around because the offensive line has been playing better in recent weeks. They haven't looked incredibly improved by any means, they've just looked ... less bad. But Sunday was a setback by most people's standards, and the Bears managed their win on Sunday in spite of the offensive line, not because of it.