The unthinkable happened last Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams when Chicago Bears All-Pro linebacker Khalil Mack was shutout of the box score.
That’s what happened when the Rams offense committed to the run — passing just 19 times — and decided to employ double and triple teams to contain Mack.
Not that the tactic is anything innovative. That’s what most teams do when game-planning against one of the best defensive players in the NFL. But Mack has struggled to produce in spite of those circumstances.
“We’re trying,” defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano said Thursday, via the Sun-Times. “We’ll continue to try to be creative and put him in spots and try to get him [loose] a little bit.”
While the box score never tells the whole story with Mack — given how teams defend him or when he’s dropped back into coverage — it was alarming not seeing Mack’s name in the stats. Especially since he had amassed 4.5 sacks and 4 forced fumbles after the first four games.
Although the circumstances have certainly changed. The Bears have lost defensive tackle Akiem Hicks to injured reserve and the team itself has underperformed this season.
“We understand how they are attacking him and how they’re taking care of him, how they’re tending to him,” Pagano said. ‘‘They were going to come out and try to run the football and keep it third-and-manageable. A lot of third-and-one, third-and-two, third-and three, never really any opportunities other than four times to really rush the passer for anybody, not only him but for our defense.
“So just because he doesn’t show on [the stat sheet] doesn’t mean he’s not doing his job.”
Still, the Bears are figuring out how to get Mack back to where he belongs: In the quarterback’s face.