It’s no secret that by acquiring Khalil Mack from the Oakland Raiders, the Chicago Bears defense immediately improves as the 2016 NFL Defensive Player of the Year makes them a much more aggressive, physical and intimidating unit.
But how will the Bears utilize Mack?
The Bears are a team with a proven defensive coordinator in Vic Fangio, who will find creative ways to use his skills. Furthermore, Chicago also has other quality defenders, such as Roquan Smith and Leonard Floyd, who can match well and complement Mack to become the building blocks of the Bears defensive unit.
Mack is a game changer and will have an immediate impact not only on the players around him but on the entire defense as a unit. He can create turnovers on any given play and is such a defensive threat that he will always draw attention, regardless of where he goes on the field.
By adding Mack the Bears are still far from winning the division, but they are closer to becoming an elite defensive unit as he will make life a lot easier for Fangio and the Bears when they face quarterbacks such as Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, Minnesota’s Kirk Cousins, and Detroit’s Matt Stafford.
Mack has great speed a vast array of moves that allow him to quickly rush the passers. His explosiveness will usually end in sacks, hits or at the very least in disrupted throws and balls batted down.
When Mack faces single blocking, he will almost always win as he has the power and the speed to quickly get past the offensive lineman and force the passers out of the pocket.
Mack, who played 90 percent of the Raiders’ defensive snaps last year, has excellent technique and enough power to drive back even elite linemen and quickly focus on chasing the quarterbacks.
Mack’s elite caliber comes to light when he’s blocked by two players, as he often can find ways to split them to get through and force the passer to scramble.
Mack is also a huge force against the run game as he’s a complete defender. He completely shuts down his side of the field in the run game.
Opposing teams usually can’t run the ball past Khalil Mack. The last couple years teams have just avoided running to his side as much as possible, and he did this by himself without the help of good defensive linemen or linebackers.
He’s the total package as he can do it all. Prof of this is a game in 2015 when the Denver Broncos decided to use a single blocker to try to contain him and they failed miserably. As a result, Mack finished with five sacks and wrecked Denver’s entire game plan all by himself.
In 2017 the Bears defensive unit was already pretty solid without Mack as they finished the year ranked seventh in sacks and 10th in total defense (11th versus the run, and seventh defending the pass).
Now that the three-time Pro Bowler will be bringing his talents to Chicago, their defensive rankings across the board will most likely elevate from last season and make a lot of noise in the NFL.
