The Bears must force Taylor Heinicke to step outside of his...

The Bears must force Taylor Heinicke to step outside of his comfort zone.

A single phrase may have been the most significant to the Bears’ prospects of defeating the Falcons at Soldier Field

this week, despite all the loud hype about them shutting out Atlanta and winning Pro Bowls.

This week, Montez Sweat called starting quarterback Taylor Heinicke of the Falcons, a former colleague in

Washington, “gritty.” The Bears should be concerned at this point because the ninth-ranked Falcons defense will

make it difficult for their offense to score points.

Typically, Atlanta’s offense has terrible road performance, but Heinicke hasn’t started the majority of the season, and

last week’s 29-10 victory over Indianapolis on home soil was a huge triumph for him. A gritted quarterback is

patient, avoids making costly errors or taking excessive risks, and accepts that games will end in losses while

pressing forward and maintaining focus on the bigger picture.

This is precisely the type of quarterback that Joe Flacco presents challenges for the Bears defense to stop, albeit

because of his expertise, he is more likely to injure an opponent on a deeper pass.

Flacco was intercepted three times, sacked, and then sacked again, but he persisted and saw that the Bears offense

was being equally damaged by his defense.

When given the opportunity to play, Heinicke has demonstrated this kind of play throughout his career. In the

playoffs, he once came dangerously close to surprising the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with this move.

Playing the long game, forcing him to beat you underneath, and making the offense pay a physical price for its short

games are the best ways to defeat a quarterback like him. You don’t compel Flacco to attempt to make the big play,

like the Bears ultimately did against him, by giving up the big play. Their defense must eventually force Heinicke to

do the unpopular thing and pass to wide receivers longer downfield in order to take advantage of the scenario.

It’s the overall strategy that their defense needs to have on a day when they’ll be put to the test both in short passes

to backs and on the ground.