Only the Chicago Bears have more rushing yards (866) than the Atlanta Falcons do (834 yards) on the season.
Both teams average more than 166 rushing yards per game, and Atlanta's Robinson duo (Bijan and Brian) has quickly become one of the league's best (alongside D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, when they're both healthy). They're the only pair with four rushing scores through the first five games.
Bijan, specifically, is a special talent who has firmly established himself as one of the league's best backs. He's a threat to score whenever he has the ball in his hands, and Chicago will need all 11 defenders on the field to commit to slowing him down.
That task will be much harder with three key starters, T.J. Edwards, Montez Sweat, and Dayo Odeyingbo, sidelined. They might go heavier on the defensive line (Neville Gallimore and/or James Lynch might see some time at DE alongside Shemar Turner) more often than not this week, but it's really anyone's guess how they'll divvy up the snaps there.
Meanwhile, the linebacker unit is much more clear. This is a rare instance where it's arguably just as important to get quality play from that unit.
The Bears will be in base defense much more this week
It's no secret how Atlanta's bread is buttered on offense. I've already mentioned that they have the second-best rushing attack. Meanwhile, their passing game lags far behind (their 195 yards per game rank 21st). They've gotten a bit of a boost after Michael Penix Jr. returned to the lineup, but he's probably less than 100% after exiting last week's matchup against Baltimore with a rib injury.
Based on the Falcons' rushing and passing success, it's safe to assume Chicago will deploy their base defense (featuring four defensive linemen and three linebackers) more often this week.
Devin Bush is the Bears' best linebacker, but he's much better in coverage than when he's coming down near the line of scrimmage. His size (5'11", 234 lbs.) limits his ability in that department.
With Edwards out of the lineup, they'll probably be counting on D'Marco Jackson to wear the green dot and relay plays to the rest of the defense this week. That's a role that he took over (and passed with flying colors) after a bomb went off in Chicago's linebacker room last year. He'll be an every-down player on Sunday.
Who will be Chicago's third linebacker? Based on last week, it'll be Noah Sewell. He played 22 snaps in his season debut against Green Bay after returning from the Injured Reserve list. That was 36% of the team's defensive snaps, and he'll probably see 50% or more this week.
Sewell enjoyed a mini-breakout last season after largely being limited to special teams duties over his first two years. He started nine games and finished the campaign with 59 tackles (including 3 for loss) and one forced fumble before tearing his Achilles in their Week 17 matchup against San Francisco.
If the Bears allow the Robinson duo to take over the game, they'd be hard-pressed to come out with a victory in Atlanta. Both Sewell and Jackson have shown flashes, but have largely been overshadowed throughout their career. They'll need to bring their A-game to slow the Falcons down.
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