Austin Booker didn’t enter the season as the name Bears fans circled on the defensive line. Five games in, he’s the one carrying it, and on Sunday the Chicago Bears need him to make life miserable for Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who is playing through a rib injury. With Montez Sweat suspended and Dayo Odeyingbo ruled out, nobody else on the edge is close.
It’s the cleanest star-vs.-star collision on the board in Atlanta: the Bears’ hottest pass rusher against a quarterback who has been terrific when clean and ordinary when he isn’t.
Austin Booker is the Bears’ pass rush now
Booker leads the Bears with four sacks, which ranks 11th among 106 edge defenders, and his 79.6 overall grade is 15th at the position, according to his PFF player page. He did it on just 154 snaps. At Lambeau Field, he had both of Chicago’s sacks and earned an 86.8 grade on 45 snaps, one of the few bright spots in a 31-7 loss.
There’s a catch worth naming. Booker’s pass-rush grade sits at 62.0, and he has only nine total pressures, so the sacks have come in bunches rather than steady heat. With Sweat out for two games and Odeyingbo’s quad keeping him home, the Bears will lean on Booker for far more than the 110 pass-rush snaps he’s had so far. Shemar Turner, just activated off PUP after his ACL tear, may help on the interior, but the edge belongs to Booker.
Michael Penix Jr. is dangerous when he’s clean
Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
Penix has averaged a league-high 9.3 yards per attempt since he returned in Week 3, according to Sharp Football Analysis. He has a 104.8 passer rating, three touchdown passes and one interception in three starts, and he hasn’t thrown an interception since his first game back.
Pressure flips that script. Penix is 6 of 20 for 6.7 yards per attempt when pressured, per Sharp, and the Ravens sacked him three times Sunday night, the last of which injured his ribs. He sounded like a quarterback determined to answer the bell. “Knowing me, I’m going to be ready to go next week because I sat out enough in my career,” Penix said after the game, according to the Associated Press.
Kevin Stefanski said Penix is in line to start Sunday “as long as everything goes accordingly.” Every hit Booker lands on those ribs matters more than usual, and one more clean shot could put Tua Tagovailoa back on the field.
For a defense that has been shaky at cornerback lately, the math is simple. If Booker keeps Penix uncomfortable, the Bears’ back end gets a break. If Penix has time, Chicago is in for a long afternoon. Kickoff is 1 p.m. ET on FOX.
More on the Chicago Bears
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