Chicago Bears: Khalil Mack dominates despite empty stat sheet

The Chicago Bears saw a dominant performance from Khalil Mack in Week One

Coming off of a low sack season in 2019, 2020 was supposed to be a bounce back to dominance for Khalil Mack. Unfortunately, one week into his 2020 season and Mack does not have a sack yet again. This could start to annoy some Chicago Bears fans, considering they did spend multiple first round picks to bring him here.

However, while Mack did not see his name on the stat sheet for a sack, it was clear that his impact was felt throughout the game.

To start, Mack recorded six pressures according to PFF, and one went for a quarterback hit. He was relentlessly in the backfield all game. In fact, he not only led the team, but his pressures were fourth in the NFL on Sunday, behind only Joey Bosa, T.J. Watt, and Bud Dupree. Those are the names you want to hear Mack with.

Mack also finished 18th in Week One in pass rush productivity. That could be a little higher, but a lot of that has to do with him having the fifth highest number of pass rush snaps of the week. He was on the field rushing as much as anyone, and won as much as well.

Winning on Both sides

Mack moved pockets, and made life tough for Matthew Stafford. Stafford is a good quarterback and avoided a few sacks, making Mack look less effective. However, another reason is the loss of Robert Quinn.

The Bears specifically paid Quinn to make life easier for Mack. With an injury to Quinn in Week One, it can be argued that last week, life was tougher, as no one on the other side drew attention away from Mack. Even Akiem Hicks played far less than a full game as he returned from injury.

Beyond Mack getting all of the attention, he moved around the formation much more than normal.  According to PFF, Mack had 41 snaps from the left side, where he has always lined up. However, he also spent 26 snaps on the right side, taking on Taylor Decker. That is where Quinn is supposed to be, but without him, the Bears wanted to get pressure on that side as well. So they moved Mack around.

Will Mack and Quinn switch sides when both are on the field? Will Quinn free up the attention to unleash Mack? Either way, it is fair to note that while Mack did not record a sack, he had a strong performance on Sunday.