Chicago Bears Week 7: Rush Khalil Mack up the middle vs. Patriots

If the Chicago Bears want to get pressure on Tom Brady, they need to attack right up the middle

What makes Tom Brady so unbeatable is that the book has pretty much been written on how to slow him down. There is one way, but it is not easy to do it.

First, you have to get home with four. This is obvious; you can beat most quarterbacks if you only need four rushers to get home. This would mean you have seven on five in the back end.

This is a good start for the Chicago Bears as they blitz the least in the NFL, but get home the most. They are almost made for Tom Brady.

However, the aspect that matters the most in that pressure is that it needs to come straight up the middle.

We all know that Tom Brady is not the most mobile quarterback. However, within the pocket, he is mobile. He is extremely impressive at stepping up into the pocket, no matter how many bodies are around him to make plays down the field.

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However, if there is nowhere to step up in the middle of the pocket, he does have an issue bailing on the pocket and extending outside of the hashes to make plays.

It should not be surprising that the Patriots recently extended center David Andrews and guard Shaq Mason. The duo have been starters for four seasons, and Joe Thuney is entering year three with the group.

Eddie Goldman is not going to provide the pressure against this group that we are looking for.

This is why a lot of teams cannot beat Tom Brady. They put their slow nose tackle up the middle, he does not pressure Brady fast enough, and Brady works the secondary.

The Houston Texans put together a decent plan back in the 2016 AFC Divisional Round. Romeo Crennel and Mike Vrabel are two coaches who know Tom Brady exceptionally well. They lost the game because Brock Osweiler was the Texans quarterback, but the defense played well.

Notice what the two who know Brady so well did with their star edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney. They lined him up over the center and guard and had him use his speed and power to blitz Tom Brady straight up the gut.

They did it with Whitney Meciless too. It led to some success.

This is not a look you go to every play. However, we have seen Mack pass rush from every spot on the line, including the one Clowney, had success in against New England.

When the Chicago Bears need a sack, they need to line Khalil Mack straight up the gut and rush him at their interior to force Brady to bail from the pocket.

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