Are Minnesota Vikings a worst case matchup for Chicago Bears?

The Chicago Bears run defense has been a disaster this season. The reality is that it is not going to magically get better, either. The biggest issue that the team has is defending the edges from outside runs breaking free.

Chicago Bears will struggle with Dalvin Cook

So far this season the Chicago bears are allowing 6 yards per carry to the outside, compared to just 4.1 yards per carry to the inside. That is on 69 rushes and 65 rushes inside, so the split is fair.

Still, the big issue with Chicago is that they do not have edge setters who defend the run well. Robert Quinn has had a reputation for years of not caring about the run, while Dominique Robinson is a pass rusher first, who is slowly learning the intricacies of run defense.

On the flip side, the coaches trust Al-Quadin Muhammad more, but he has made no impact in the run game, and Trevis Gipson has actually been the worst run defender of the group. However, his role has been to sell out as a pass rusher.

Either way, you can go down all four edge rushers and find little reason to get excited about an improving run defense, especially to the edges.

This was exposed by Saquon Barkley, who is one of the best outside running backs in the NFL. Unfortunately, if Barkley is not the best at running outside, it is only because Dalvin Cook is.

The entire game of Dalvin Cook is breaking runs to the outside. Per PFF, he has 42 rushes that went outside the tackle, and 19 that went in between the tackles. It is obvious what his game is.

Even more shocking is that he has 31 of those 42 rushes to the side of the left tackle. This means that Cook is going to be running straight at Quinn, and Robinson all day long.

Of course, Cook runs out there so often because he has the speed to break the big runs. So far this season he is averaging 5.1 yards per carry on runs outside the tackles, while he is at 3.3 when it comes to rushes in-between the tackles.

No wonder he consistently breaks things to the outside. Still, when Cook is averaging 5.1 yards per rush to the outside, and the Chicago Bears are giving up 6 yards per rush to the outside, we have a serious issue.

Cook is not going to waste time running between the tackles, and while Chicago has seen a 50/50 split of inside and outside runs, this week will be geared heavily toward their worst nightmare. Keep an eye on how the Chicago Bears defend Dalvin Cook.