Chicago Bears: 5 X-factors for beating the Vikings in Week 10

2. Khalil Mack, EDGE

If Smith does his job it’s up to the Chicago Bears’ pass rush to put the pressure on Cousins. The leader of that pass rush is Khalil Mack.

Mack and his teammates put some pressure on Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill. They sacked him three times. There were a few other times when the rush just got there a tad late. As the game progressed, however, the pressure wasn’t getting to him. He had a clean pocket and made some big throws.

Mack has to put a lot of pressure on Cousins. We’ve already seen how he wilts under Chicago’s pressure. Mack has had success getting to Cousins and making things happen. In the two games he’s played against Cousins and the Vikings, Mack recorded 2.5 sacks, 3 quarterback hits and he forced Cousins to fumble the ball away twice.

Mack is one of the leaders of this defense. His teammates follow his lead. He has to find a way to not just put pressure on Cousins but to get his hands on him. We hear all this talk about how bad the Bears’ offensive line is. Well, the Viking’s line isn’t much better. In 209 dropbacks, he’s been sacked 16 times. Foles has 285 dropbacks and has the same number of sacks. If the Bears force Cousins to drop back more times than he’s used to, the defense will have plenty of chances to create big plays.