Chicago Bears: 5 Players who need to play well to beat Packers in Week 6

Chicago Bears: 5 players that must step up to beat the Packers

Robert Quinn needs to continue his good play

The Chicago Bears were heavily criticized last year when they signed edge rusher Robert Quinn. Why give an aging player such a big contract (5 years, $70 million)?

Then Quinn got injured and missed Week 1. He came back in Week 2 and recorded a sack on his first play. That would be his only sack until Week 15. Two sacks in the season caused the signing to look even worse.

We were told over this offseason that Quinn’s injury was more serious than anyone let on. He was healthy now, though. People didn’t believe it until the games began.

Quinn got off to a hot start and has already outdone his 2020 output (yes, I know, a low bar). He has 4.5 sacks so far. More importantly, his play is helping Khalil Mack. Mack is also off to a fast start without having to face multiple bodies on his way to the opponents’ backfield.

Quinn and Mack have helped the Bears become the leaders in sacks. That is very important because of the weakness in the secondary. After the Week 1 debacle, the secondary hasn’t been torched like that since.

Quinn has to keep pressuring the quarterback. He didn’t record a sack last week, but he did a good job of pressuring Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr. While Carr avoided Quinn, he ended up running into Mack all game long.

Quinn needs to put the pressure on Rodgers. If Rodgers sits in the pocket he’ll carve out the secondary. He can also move around and buy time, however. If Quinn is doing his job, then Rodgers will run towards Mack or the Bears’ tackling machine, Roquan Smith. Trapping him like that will help minimize the damage Rodgers can cause.