The Chicago Bears impressed the NFL, its fans and critics in all three phases during Sunday's 30-12 home win over the Atlanta Falcons.
Yet, the one unit where the Bears might have excelled the most was the defensive line.
The D-line paced the whole unit all of Sunday. The line had 19 of the team's 66 tackles, but also had four out of five sacks and four out of six tackles for loss. The line produced 10 out of 11 quarterback hits as well.
How did the line do so well? It was a combination of the Falcons' inexperience on their offensive line and the Bears' linemen excelling by exploiting that weakness.
With first-time starters Joe Hawley at center and Garrett Reynolds at right guard, the Bears D-line was able to get an extremely formidable push towards quarterback Matt Ryan, forcing the young star into mistakes like throwing a pick to Brian Urlacher and fumbling when defensive end Julius Peppers pressured him. Urlacher gobbled up the fumble and scored a defensive touchdown.
Bears defensive tackle Henry Melton owned both newbies and made Ryan's life miserable.
Melton, who is replacing former Pro Bowl tackle Tommie Harris, had five tackles with two for a loss, two sacks and clobbered Ryan seven times. One play in the fourth quarter had Melton and Peppers annihilate Ryan after a throw. Ryan was shaken up following the play, as Peppers made helmet-to-helmet contact that wasn't called.
Maybe Melton is ready to have a breakout season. Receiving limited action in 2010, he had 16 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Looks like he could pass those up next week at New Orleans if he keeps it up.
Peppers also played nicely, getting three tackles with one for a loss and two sacks. Fellow starters Israel Idonije and Anthony Adams combined for five tackles, as backups Matt Toeaina, Amobi Okoye and Nick Reed had the other four tackles.
Last season, the Bears D-line accounted for 18.6 percent of the team's tackles. That number jumped to 28.8 percent against Atlanta. That's an encouraging sign as Chicago needs strong line play if it wants to pressure and limit New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers' effectiveness the following two games to produce wins.
Bob Bajek is a freelance reporter and can be followed at Patch.com and Twitter.
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/845562-chicago-bears-d-line-beastly-outing-against-altant-falcons
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