Bulaga stopping elite pass rushers in their tracks
Bryan Bulaga has faced a murderer’s row of pass rushers.
In Week 1, it was Chicago’s Khalil Mack, who has 57.5 sacks and four Pro Bowls in five-plus seasons. In Week 2, it was Minnesota’s Danielle Hunter, who has 45 sacks and one Pro Bowl in four-plus seasons. In Week 3, it was Denver’s Von Miller, who has 100 sacks and seven Pro Bowls in eight-plus seasons. In Week 4, it was Philadelphia’s Brandon Graham, who has 45.5 sacks in nine-plus season but 9.5 in helping the Eagles win the Super Bowl in 2017. On Sunday at Dallas, it was DeMarcus Lawrence, who has 35.5 sacks and two Pro Bowls in five-plus seasons.
Amazingly, in matchups against edge rushers with a combined 283.5 sacks and 14 Pro Bowls, Bulaga hasn’t allowed a single sack.
“No,” offensive line coach Adam Stenavich said on Monday when asked if he could recall a lineman facing such a gauntlet. “I definitely was thinking about that the other day. I’m like, ‘God, you really don’t get any weeks off in this league,’ especially with the schedule we’ve had. Bryan’s been playing his butt off. I’m really proud of him and the way he’s battled through some things with the shoulder deal and just how he goes about his business every week. He’s a true pro, great leader in our room. Obviously, his play on the field has reflected all that.”
Bulaga missed the second half of last week’s game against the Eagles and was listed as questionable for the showdown against Lawrence, who had 25 sacks the past two seasons. Bulaga started and rendered Lawrence a nonfactor. Bulaga limited Lawrence to one tackle and, according to Pro Football Focus, one quarterback pressure.
For the season, Bulaga hasn’t let his man even touch the quarterback. He’s allowed seven pressures – one against Chicago, five against Denver and the one against Dallas.
The timing couldn’t be better from a personal standpoint. Bulaga, 30, will be a free agent at the end of the season. If he can keep playing to this standard and continue to dodge the significant injuries that have dogged him throughout his career, he could be in line for one more big payday.
Bulaga will get a bit of a break, at least from a marquee-names perspective, the next few weeks. On Monday night against the Lions, Detroit’s primary rusher on the defense’s left side is Devon Kennard. However, Kennard is no slouch with three sacks – with all three coming in the opener against Arizona. The next week against Oakland, it’s a matchup against veteran Benson Mayowa, who is tied for ninth in the league with a team-high 4.5 sacks. In Week 8 against Kansas City, Bulaga’s primary matchup will be against Emmanuel Ogbah, who has a team-high 2.5 sacks. In Week 9 against the Chargers, he’ll get equal doses of the elite tandem of Joey Bosa (three sacks) and Melvin Ingram (one). In the final game before the bye against Carolina, Bulaga’s primary matchup will be against first-round pick Brian Burns, who has 3.5 sacks.
“He’s just being really consistent,” Stenavich said. “The way he’s approaching his game plan and how he’s going to protect against certain guys, really studying what they do and being able to predict what they’re going to do before they actually do it. It’s a credit to him and how he game-plans and prepares, and then he’s able to put it on tape.”
