Bears Front Four a Tough Match Up for Atlanta Falcons

How do the Falcons match up with Bears defensive line?

The Chicago Bears have often had the nickname ‘Monsters of the Midway’ attached to them. It’s been a fitting mantra when combing the franchise’s history in terms of hungry and hunting defensemen.

Dick Butkus was known as one of the toughest linebackers to play the sport. Mike Singletary’s eyes staring across the line of scrimmage as the smoke of chill puffed from under his ducked facemask.

Nowhere on the football field was safe from Brian Urlacher. He’d run the person with the football down from sideline to sideline.

The Bears have a defense that has flashes of the defenses led by their legendary linebackers. The Falcons’ offensive line has its work cut out for it on Sunday.

The Falcons have protected quarterback Matt Ryan well in the first two games of 2020. They have only allowed three sacks so far.

The Bears have already accumulated five sacks in their first two wins of 2020. Those numbers may be a little deceiving.

Though the Dallas Cowboys have former Pro Bowl talents, Everson Griffen, Aldon Smith and DeMarcus Lawrence, they don’t have quite the bite potential that the bears have. The Seattle Seahawks were led by Benson Mayowa and Jamal Adams for their pressure in week one.

Khalil Mack alone moves the needle as far as potential game changers for the Falcons to try and neutralize. The Falcons have to figure out what their lineup will look like in week three.

The injury bug cost Kaleb McGary the second half of the loss to the Cowboys. McGary was sparred the serious knee injury it appeared he had suffered after being diagnosed with a sprained MCL. He won’t be available on Sunday.

That means Matt Gono will be making the start and trying to deal with Mack as well as Robert Quinn. After a career-high 11.5 sacks with the Cowboys last year, Quinn joined the Bears to team with Mack to create a dangerous pass rush combination.

The Falcons will need to remain balanced to keep Quinn, who is known for his speedy edge rush, and Mack to pin their ears back and wear down the young Gono who will be making his first start of 2020.

The Bears are also a difficult team to run the football on. In two games, they’ve only allowed 213 yards so far. That ranks the Bears 11th in the NFL in stopping the run.

The Falcons have struggled the first two weeks to consistently run the ball. It exposes a potentially difficult set of circumstances if the interior of the Falcons’ offensive line can’t create space on Akiem Hicks, Bilah Nichols and Roy Robertson-Harris.