World’s Best Preview: Bulaga’s challenges start with Mack

This is the Stats Are For Losers section of the preview, which leads off with Bryan Bulaga's gauntlet and closes with pick-sixes.

Mack attack: According to Sports Info Solutions, Chicago Bears outside linebacker Khalil Mack was fourth in the NFL among edge rushers with 61 total pressures last season.

While Mack’s pass-rushing snaps were split almost 50-50 between left side and right side last season, he more than likely will line up across from Green Bay Packers right tackle Bryan Bulaga for Thursday night’s season-opening showdown at Soldier Field. It will be Game 1 of a grueling gauntlet for Bulaga, as the NFL continues to shift away from the old-school way of doing its pass-rushing business. That makes right tackles like Bulaga worth their weight in gold.

In the past, defenses preferred to line up their premier pass rusher on the defense’s right side – meaning he’d go against the left tackle and attack the blind side of a right-handed quarterback. That’s no longer standard operating procedure, though. Of the 10 edge rushers with at least 12.5 sacks last season, six lined up on the defense’s left side and went against the offensive right tackle, according to Pro Football Focus. That includes Mack (51.5 percent on the defense’s left), Minnesota’s Danielle Hunter (54.8 percent) and Denver’s Von Miller (82.9 percent) in the first three games. In Week 5, the Packers will face the Cowboys; Dallas’ DeMarcus Lawrence had 10.5 sacks and rushed against the right side of the offense 97.6 percent of the time.

Also potentially on the docket for Bulaga: Detroit’s Trey Flowers (54.7 percent for the Patriots in 2018) in Week 6, the Chargers’ Nick Bosa (55.4 percent when healthy in 2017) in Week 9, San Francisco’s Dee Ford (64.7 percent for the Chiefs last season) in Week 12, Washington’s Ryan Kerrigan (90.1 percent) in Week 14, and rematches against Mack, Hunter and Flowers in Weeks 15, 16 and 17, respectively.

That’s quite the gauntlet.

“I certainly don’t not look at it, let’s put it that way,” Bulaga said. “Yes, I do look at it. Once this thing starts, it’s one week at a time. I feel like nowadays, every team has two really good pass rushers and they’re lining one up over each tackle. Dave and I were just talking about this the other day. It’s no longer just one guy. Each team has two really good guys – or the majority of them do. You just have to deal with it.”

The guy Bulaga might have to deal with on Thursday – especially on critical downs – is Mack. Mack had two big games against the Packers last season. In the opener – with Bulaga making his debut after the torn ACL that ended his 2017 – Mack had one sack, six total pressures, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one interception. In Week 15, with Bulaga sidelined by injury, Mack had 2.5 sacks and seven pressures. For the season, he had 12.5 sacks and six forced fumbles.

“A very good player. Does everything really well,” Bulaga said. “He’s a smart player, as well. I feel like he reads schemes really well. If you look at how teams tried to chip him with tight ends or with running backs, he’s able to see those things really well and avoid that to get into his pass rush. He’s physical at the point of attack when you’re running the football, so it’s not like you can go at him and say, ‘We’re just going to run the football because he only wants to rush the passer,’ because that’s not true. He plays the run just as well. He’s the total package.”

Video: Gutekunst on Mack

Speaking of the rush: Led obviously by Mack, the Bears put pressure on the passer on 12.8 percent of dropbacks last season, according to Inside-Edge.com. Meanwhile, Packers quarterbacks were sacked 8.3 percent of the time, according to league data, the 11th-worst rate in the league – and that’s with Aaron Rodgers’ 59 throwaways leading the NFL by 19, according to PFF.

“He’s a game-wrecker. He’s an absolute game-wrecker,” Bears defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano said of Mack. “He’s a tough matchup, to say the least. The thing that you love about Khalil, is that he’s a great, great dude. He loves to play football. Not like. He loves to play the game, and that is contagious. It’s infectious. He’s just a gym rat. His passion, being inside and all that, but once he gets on the grass, he’s like a little kid out there.”

Best vs. best: Green Bay’s Aaron Jones led the NFL with a 5.47-yard average last season. An explosive runner, Jones took 22 of his 133 carries for at least 10 yards, a 10-yard run rate of 16.5 percent that trailed only the Chargers’ Austin Ekeler (17.9 percent) and the 49ers’ Matt Breida (17.6 percent) among backs with at least 100 rushes.

On the other hand, Chicago allowed a 10-yard run only 8.3 percent of the time, the second-best in the league, according to Inside-Edge.com. For more on Chicago’s run defense – and the challenge for Green Bay’s new zone scheme, click here.

Pick-six: Among all quarterbacks in NFL history with at least 3,000 passing attempts, Rodgers is No. 1 all-time with just two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns. Rodgers’ two have come in 5,492 career passing attempts. Seattle’s Russell Wilson has thrown three in 3,261 attempts, and Ron Jaworski (four in 4,117 attempts) and Steve Young (four in 4,149 attempts) are the only other quarterbacks with less than five. And if that’s not enough, Rodgers’ pick-six rate is 0.036 percent while Wilson’s is 0.092 percent. They are the only quarterbacks better than 0.10 percent.

Chicago’s Eddie Jackson, who had six interceptions during a Pro Bowl season last year, has scored five defensive touchdowns in his two seasons in the league, including three on interceptions. That’s more defensive touchdowns than the Packers have scored the last three seasons combined.