Chicago Bears lose to Atlanta Falcons: Defensive grades

Watching the Chicago Bears’ defensive line work this preseason, it seemed safe to assume that they’d continue their strong play when the games mattered.

And they absolutely followed through on that confidence.

Less than a day after receiving a four-year, $48 million extension to stay in Chicago, Hicks celebrated by dominating. He routinely blasted blockers–sometimes, he did it to double teams–into the backfield and racked up a tackle and two sacks. Forget just trying to free up linebackers to make plays: Hicks has become a monster onto himself.

But aside from Hicks’ accustomed brilliance, the Bears got more solid plays from other interior linemen as well. Eddie Goldman didn’t register a ton on the stat sheet (one tackle, one quarterback hit), but his strength up the middle continued to flash. And undrafted second-year defensive end Roy Robertson-Harris keeps making the most of his snaps, including batting down a third down pass.

However, the defensive line couldn’t quite keep up their dominance all game due to the offense’s struggles and miscues of their own.

In particular, Hicks cost the Bears a third down stop with a fatigue-induced roughing-the-passer penalty in which he hit Matt Ryan two steps late after an incompletion. After that, the Bears had to dig deep again in the third quarter to limit the Falcons to a field goal.

Also, the Bears still could use more consistent production out of the other defensive end spot, as Mitch Unrein and Jonathan Bullard didn’t impact the game much. Could this be the start of Harris getting more snaps opposite Hicks? We’ll see.

All in all, though, if the men up front keep playing like this, the Chicago Bears will be a force to be reckoned with all season. Judging by the team’s inconsistent play on the backend, they’ll need to.