Chicago Bears Stats: Unique numbers prove Bears among the elite
By Ryan Heckman
3. The Chicago Bears lead the NFL in sacks
The most pleasant surprise from this Bears team in 2021 has been the sack production from their front seven. This is an area where the Bears had to be better, along with winning the turnover battle. The Bears currently rank sixth in the NFL in turnover margin per game (+0.6). A large reason for winning the turnover battle has come due to the pressure they are generating on opposing quarterbacks.
The Chicago Bears lead the NFL in sacks through five weeks with 18.
The catalyst for this front seven, without a doubt, will always be Khalil Mack, who currently has 5.0 sacks on the season. But, the re-emergence of Robert Quinn as an elite pass rusher is helping the unit overall.
Quinn is already over double the amount of sacks he had all of 2020, with 4.5 so far this year. He looks healthy, which is a huge positive.
Along with Quinn, second-year pro Trevis Gipson has been playing very well and boasts a pair of sacks this season as well. The do-it-all linebacker, Roquan Smith, has also managed two sacks while tallying 10 tackles per game thus far.
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If the Bears can continue to sack the quarterback at a league-leading pace, their defense will keep them in enough games in 2021 where a playoff push isn’t out of the realm of possibilities.