A Mic’d Up Khalil Mack is Everything You Love (And Jon Gruden Misses) and Other Bullets

Sep 20, 2018

Because I totally needed more evidence that Hollywood gave up on creating new concepts a long time ago, we’re getting a sequel to Space Jam with Lebron James playing Michael Jordan’s role. Yippee! Did I lay it on thick enough? I think so.

This guy is already making himself feel right at home at Soldier Field:

Even in the aftermath of the trade, Jon Gruden continues to say mind-numbing things that will make you scratch your head so hard you might leave a mark. You know, something like lamenting the difficulty in finding a high-end pass-rusher:

Reporter: "Coach, you look around the league and a lot of teams are looking for pass rushers."

*Jon Gruden chuckles*

Reporter: "Why is it so hard to find a pass rusher?"

Gruden: "It's hard to find a great one. It's hard to find a good one."

— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) September 19, 2018

Maybe Gruden can find his Mack replacement with one of the two first-round picks Chicago sent to Oakland. It’s a tall task, but one that falls on the $100 million head coach/de facto general manager. But hey, good luck hoping elite pass-rushers fall to pick No. 32 for some reason.

Numbers never lie, and that Mack has done this in two prime-time games without any offseason team training or preseason action says everything you need to know about how special he is:

After two games, Khalil Mack has produced better numbers than the entire Raiders defense. pic.twitter.com/SxHQXIzZvQ

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 18, 2018

Dang! I can’t believe this guy wasn’t more hotly recruited coming out of high school:

https://twitter.com/overtime/status/1042594776346968064

The Bears and Packers rarely see eye-to-eye, but Mack has a point regarding the phantom penalty that led to Sunday’s Packers-Vikings tie:

Khalil Mack on the roughing the passer call on Clay Matthews: "I feel like he did everything he could to make the right play. He kept his head out of the way. I feel like that was a perfect form tackle."
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) September 19, 2018

Mack’s excellence has already had a trickle-down effect on the Bears’ entire defense. As Patrick Finlay of the Sun-Times points out, Chicago is the only team in the NFL with a pair of pick-sixes this year. We have also seen players like Eddie Goldman and Akiem Hicks perform at peak levels along the line, Danny Trevathan (Week 2’s Defensive Player of the Week) and rookie Roquan Smith play well at the second level, and the Bears’ secondary has certainly benefited from the increased pass-rush presence.

Speaking of Smith, he cracked the top-5 rookie performers on defense through two weeks that was created by NFL.com writer Chris Wesseling. Smith is described as a “complete linebacker for the modern era” because of his ability to cover running backs and tight ends, while also providing a strong presence for the Bears’ running game. The University of Georgia product has just 67 defensive snaps under his belt, but has made an impact when he has been on the field.

On the other side of the line of scrimmage, the Bears’ offensive line is moving up the Pro Football Focus rankings. Michael Renner’s offensive line grades after two weeks has the Bears as the fifth-best in the league. The Bears have PFF’s second-best pass-blocking grade, which should be music to Mitch Trubisky’s ears. If this group can keep up their pass-blocking prowess, Trubisky’s life in the pocket will be that much easier … but the quarterback has to put it together in order to maximize the line’s contributions.

Kyle Long’s healthy return continues to be a force that has helped push this offensive line to where it is through two weeks. Long is PFF’s second-highest graded guard and has the third best pass-blocking grade. It’s no coincidence that a three-time Pro Bowler who has played quality ball at two different positions on the line in his career is a key cog in a successful offensive line.

A top-5 offensive line should be clearing holes for Jordan Howard on Sunday, which means you have to put him in your starting lineup if he’s on your fantasy team:

START: @JHowardx24
SIT: Alex Collins

Week 3 @NFLfantasy Start 'Em, Sit 'Em (RBs): https://t.co/arorcnT5sb (via @Michael_Fabiano) pic.twitter.com/hwedVKKoG9

— NFL (@NFL) September 20, 2018

Speaking of popular Bears running backs, Matt Forte shares that he has been asked by the NFL to represent the league as an ambassador to London. This is a pretty cool opportunity for Forte, who gets an opportunity to spread the word about football in the land where fútbol is king.

Matt Forte going on a ride-along with Chicago police is an eye-opener on so many levels. Give it a full watch. It’s worth your time:

“The narrative, even to the young kids, is that all police officers are bad and that’s not the case, so we gotta find some kind of common ground.”@MattForte22 joins Commander William J. Bradley of the 006th District for a ride along in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood. pic.twitter.com/fz4aePr05O
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) September 19, 2018

written by

Luis C. Medina

Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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