On third-and-5 from the Bears’ 46 in the final 90 seconds of Sunday’s game, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers ran a boot to his left and then gave himself up for a 1-yard loss.
It was the Packers’ last play from scrimmage and it was the first time that outside linebacker Khalil Mack showed up on the scoresheet.
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Officially, Mack was credited with a tackle for loss for putting his hand on Rodgers. In 52 snaps, in the Bears’ biggest game of the season, that was his tangible impact.
“I know that, all in all, you’d love to be able to see that stat sheet where he’s all over it all the time,” coach Matt Nagy said Monday. “I don’t know how real that is all the time. I think sometimes there are outliers. … We talk about how you have to have all these stats all the time to talk about what kind of player you are. I don’t know if I necessarily believe that all the time.”
With that in mind, here are five takeaways from the Bears’ 21-13 loss against the Packers at Lambeau Field.
Evaluating the Mack attack
Teams always will have different evaluations of players and plays after reviewing the film. During the days of former coach Lovie Smith, it was always interesting to see the disparity in teams’ tackle numbers compared to what the NFL game statisticians produced live during the games.
But Mack was nearly completely held off the scoresheet for the second time this season. The first time it happened was the Bears’ loss against the Rams — another big game.
Bears pass rusher Khalil Mack visits Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Sunday. (Benny Sieu / USA Today)
Mack, of course, affects games regardless of stats. Opponents scheme for him. He requires two or three blockers to contain him.His pressure rate (a combination of sacks, hurries and knockdowns) is still among the league’s best, according to Sportradar. The Bears rank in the top-five in that metric, too.
“I think that you can affect the game in a lot of ways by doing things that some of us in here (the Halas Hall media room) really don’t know based off the scheme,” Nagy said.
Nagy included himself, too. He noted that it’s important to know what the defensive call is and a player’s role in it.
“They’re running away from you or they’re chipping you or they’re doing some check at the line of scrimmage, that’s going to happen,” Nagy said. “That’s never going to change for the rest of his career. Would we love to be able to see more (stats)? Yeah, but none of it is because of effort or scheme or anything like that. That’s just the way it was (against the Packers).”
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But there are 22 teams with more sacks than the Bears this season. If there is one lesson learned from covering the Bears’ previous regimes it’s that there is a big difference between pressuring quarterbacks and sacking them. The finish matters, and it’s important to not overrate how much Shea McClellin or Jared Allen hurries a quarterback.
That’s why it’s fair to wonder why opponents have been so successful game-planning for Mack this season. His lack of production against the Packers also is noteworthy because Akiem Hicks returned and played 61 percent of the defensive snaps. Hicks reaggravated his elbow injury at different points in the game, but he finished with four tackles and two quarterback hits.
“He was unbelievable,” Nagy said. “I thought he played lights out. Even all the stuff, fighting through the aggravations of the injury throughout the game, the way he played and the plays he made yesterday, that was fun. We missed that. That was fun to watch.”
Mack’s contract belongs in the conversation, too. His total value of $141 million currently trails only Matthew Stafford’s $150 million. Do the Bears need more bang for the buck?
Here’s a look at the highest-paid pass rushers in the NFL and their performances this season.
| Avg. salary | Sacks per game | Pressures per game | Tackles per game | Total sacks | |
| Khalil Mack | $23.5 million | 0.54 | 3 | 3 | 7.5 |
| Aaron Donald | $22.5 million | 0.79 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 11 |
| DeMarcus Lawrence | $21 million | 0.36 | 1.9 | 3.1 | 5 |
| Frank Clark | $20.8 million | 0.5 | 1.8 | 2.8 | 6 |
| Von Miller | $19.02 million | 0.54 | 2.2 | 3.1 | 7 |
| Trey Flowers | $18 million | 0.54 | 2.1 | 3.5 | 7 |
| Cam Jordan (MNF not included) | $17.5 million | 1.04 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 13.5 |
| Fletcher Cox | $17.1 million | 0.25 | 1.1 | 2.6 | 3.5 |
| Dee Ford | $17.1 million | 0.59 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 6.5 |
| Olivier Vernon | $17 million | 0.33 | 1.18 | 2.7 | 3 |
Changes at cornerback?
Prince Amukamara’s last play against the Packers was a bad one. Left unblocked, the veteran cornerback missed a tackle on running back Aaron Jones during his 21-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. He was replaced by Kevin Toliver and didn’t return.
The Bears did have a plan to rotate the two players because Amukamara was returning from a hamstring injury.
“It was managing reps,” Nagy said. “It was more of that. It wasn’t performance. It was just managing reps. Kevin Toliver was doing well. It was a nice balance of being able to do that.”
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But the “managing” is notable, nonetheless.
Amukamara is in the second year of a three-year extension, but the Bears can move on from him with little financial consequence after this season. Releasing him actually will save $9 million against the salary cap for the 2020 season. Amukamara has quietly played well this season, but there are pressing needs elsewhere. In an important offseason for general manager Ryan Pace, $9 million can go a long way.
The Bears need to find out if Toliver can actually play.
Miller on the rise
If Nagy still is searching for silver linings in the season, the development of second-year receiver Anthony Miller is a big one. With the playoffs out of the question, it’s often best to look at individual improvements, and strides have been made by No. 17.
Miller made a career-best nine catches for 118 yards and a score against the Packers. Over the past five games, Miller had 33 catches for 431 yards and two touchdowns.
His improved connection with Trubisky is obvious. Miller’s 52 targets are two more than Allen Robinson had in the same five-game window. Robinson also had 26 fewer receiving yards.
The Bears need to address their issues at tight end in free agency and in the draft. But they should have confidence in Robinson and Miller. They should be a solid tandem if this trend continues.
Among second-year receivers, Miller’s 50 catches rank seventh. That might not seem like much, but Miller had only four catches for 28 yards in the first quarter of the season.
| Catches | Yards | TDs | |
| D.J. Moore | 86 | 1,174 | 4 |
| DJ Chark | 67 | 965 | 8 |
| Calvin Ridley | 63 | 866 | 7 |
| Courtland Sutton | 63 | 1,019 | 6 |
| Christian Kirk | 61 | 649 | 3 |
| Michael Gallup | 56 | 911 | 3 |
| Anthony Miller | 50 | 649 | 2 |
| Auden Tate | 40 | 575 | 1 |
Running in place
On Monday, Nagy again bemoaned the Bears’ woes in the run game. The Packers have the 24th-ranked run defense and David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen managed to gain only 67 yards on 22 carries.
But that shouldn’t have surprised anyone.
“The consistency is where we’re at,” Nagy said, “and that’s going to be, for myself, just something that I know I take personally and I really want. I understand how important it is to run the football. Even going back to (Sunday), there are run plays in there that you all don’t know because we threw it with the RPOs. There’s a handful of those. And you want to be successful with that. So we’ll go back as a staff, as an organization and just kind of figure out that — everything included — but we do know we need to be better there.”
Statistically, the Bears’ run game isn’t much different than the Chiefs’ in terms of rush attempts per game and total rushing yards, as this chart of Andy Reid “tree” offenses shows. But Reid is getting more from it. Of course, it helps to have quarterback Patrick Mahomes and a fearsome group of pass catchers. The Eagles running game, with Jordan Howard and Miles Sanders combining for 1,212 yards and 4 1/2 yards a carry, has kept them in the race for the NFC East title.
| Bears | Chiefs | Eagles | |
| Rush yards/game | 85.6 | 92.9 | 121.4 |
| Rush Avg. | 3.54 | 4.03 | 4.33 |
| Rushes of 10+ yards | 20 | 29 | 42 |
| Rush Att./game | 24.2 | 23.1 | 28.1 |
| Total rushing yards | 1,199 | 1,301 | 1,700 |
| Rush TDs | 7 | 13 | 12 |
| Scrambles | 18 | 18 | 21 |
| Rushing first downs | 68 | 78 | 91 |
| Rush yards before contact | 775 | 717 | 982 |
Talking points
On Monday, Nagy said he wasn’t aware of the postgame comments made by quarterback Mitch Trubisky in which he expressed some dissatisfaction with the Bears’ scheme and the apparent shortage of plays where he’s on the move.
“First of all, as you all know, you guys are always catching us right after the game,” Nagy said. “And so there’s a lot of emotions that go through. Here we are losing a game like that and knowing we could’ve played better. So I don’t know exactly what the question was that was asked, but I’m saying if you sensed a frustration, I think I know Mitch better than anybody in this building except maybe (quarterbacks coach) Dave Ragone.
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“So I know the effect or what he means by any of that. I think probably, if I’m going back and watching that, it’s probably very general and big picture, but it’s also right after the game so I take nothing by that. We have a great relationship.”
Fair enough. But everyone will continue to watch and listen. Trubisky’s development will remain the most important storyline for the next two weeks, especially with Mahomes coming to Chicago and Nagy planning to play most of his starters.
(Top photo: Benny Sieu / USA Today)
Adam L. Jahns covers the Chicago Bears as a senior writer for The Athletic. He previously worked at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he started in 2005 and covered the Blackhawks (2009-12) and Bears (2012-19). He co-hosts the "Hoge & Jahns" podcast. Follow Adam on Twitter @adamjahns
