Chicago Bears Week Two: Khalil Mack can repeat prime time show

If you thought Khalil Mack played well to open his Chicago Bears career, he may be in an even more opportune role in Week Two

We all know about it. Khalil Mack put on a show to make his Chicago Bears debut. Three tackles, one sack, a forced fumble, an interception, a touchdown, and even more just in one game. While that stat line is unreal, there seems to be a feeling that he can not only repeat that performance on Monday Night Football but in all instances may be able to exceed that performance.

The fact of the matter is that Mack was not in a great spot last week. Not only was he on a pitch count, and was coming in cold with no knowledge of his defense, he also was taking on a stiff competitor.

Bryan Bulaga was playing his first game off of an ACL injury as well. However, when healthy he is an elite tackle in the NFL. Even if he was shaking the rust off, so was Mack. It should have been a tough test for Mack.

Enter Germain Ifedi

Ifedi is the Seattle Seahawks starting right tackle. While he is a former first-round pick, he has yet to live up to the hype. His name recently came up in a Sports Illustrated article that suggested veterans were disgusted in how Pete Carroll favored players such as Ifedi due to draft status rather than on-field performance.

Entering year three, Ifedi has not yet changed his perception. While it was not all his fault, Von Miller lined up on his side and came away with three sacks. Ifedi was matched up with Von Miller for most of the day and lost.

Mack and Miller are different stylistically, but the change should only present more of a problem for Ifedi, whose head is likely spinning already after what Miller did to him.

What is interesting to note is how the Seahawks tried to account for Miller. In over 33% of passing situations, the Seahawks would throw an extra tight end, or running back to help in chip blocking on that side.

That helped the Broncos regarding downfield coverage, and the Broncos also found ways around that chip block to present pressure.

Take the two plays highlighted. The first play was not even a sack, but a pressure that led to an incompletion. Miller sees the tight end and bursts outside, as to get around the edge of him. The inside defensive end, Derek Wolfe also contains the pocket by stepping out into the edge. This helps in pushing the guard back into the tackle.

More from Bear Goggles On

With Miller so far outside of the tight end, Ifedi stays in to help the guard clean up Wolfe. When Ifedi engages, Miller stunts inside and bursts into the middle. Russell Wilson just so happened to be stepping up thanks to the contain, Miller beats J.R. Sweezy in a sprint back to the line of scrimmage and a collision ensues.

This second play further encapsulates this idea of taking advantage of Ifedi and Sweezy. It works in the same regard. Sweezy catches on and is closer to Miller this time, but the speed of Miller, combined with Sweezy have to change directions and burst to make this impossible to stop.

Now, picture Akiem Hicks in the Derek Wolfe role. He can easily drive Sweezy into Ifedi and create the same mismatch for Khalil Mack. Vic Fangio has already shown he can contain Russell Wilson in the pocket, and force him to step up.

Neither play was a Miller sack but showed how he impacted the game beyond the box score. Pro Football Focus gave Ifedi an overall below average grade and rated him the 60th best tackle out of 69 that qualified.

Next. Week One CB report. dark

The Seattle Seahawks tried to send extra help, but Denver was quick to find the solution and make life rough for Russell Wilson. In prime time, in the Chicago Bears home opener, with a week under his belt to dust off the rust and get his wind back, there is almost no doubt that Khalil Mack is going to get to Russell Wilson at least once in this game. The question becomes how many times?

For more grades, advanced statistics and more at Pro Football Focus, subscribe
to PFF’s EDGE or ELITE subscriptions at ProFootballFocus.com.

Home/Chicago Bears News