Chicago Bears Winner No. 2: Khalil Mack
After listing him amongst the “losers” last week for his underwhelming performance against the Rams, Khalil Mack redeemed himself and looked more like the superstar pass rusher we know he is.
He got his first sack of the season, as well as racking up two tackles, one quarterback hit, and multiple pressures on Joe Burrow. It was a pleasant sight seeing Khalil Mack and the entire Bears pass rush looking more lively and just putting pressure on the quarterback.
There was a questionable play call that had both Robert Quinn and Khalil Mack in coverage. There is never a reason to have both pass rushers in coverage, so the rookie defensive coordinator might want to take that call out of his book.
Throughout the game, it seemed Desai did a better job with defensive scheming and putting players in an area to make plays. They did a good job preventing the big plays this week, with a lot of that credit going to Khalil Mack and the Bears pass rush.
When Khalil Mack is on, it really affects the game in multiple ways. We saw multiple times where Burrow was checking his blocking or where they were running too because of how Mack was affecting the game.
Even if he is not getting to the quarterback all the time, it is good to see the “Mack effect” in play. As seen today, the strong pass rush leads to takeaways which are much needed for an offense that seems to be struggling at points again.
Let’s hope Mack has another strong performance against one of the best offensive lines in the league next week in Cleveland. The Bears will need him at the top of his game to stop that high-powered offense. Nonetheless, Mack had a big impact on this game and comes away as a winner in the win.