When both starters played, the two offenses looked nothing alike. Before the Ravens loss, Penix had the Falcons on a 2-game run built on 35 points at Lambeau and 45 at the Superdome, with Brian Robinson Jr. scoring 3 times in New Orleans and Drake London catching 5 balls for 96 yards. Chicago's offense has been all over the place. It scored 59 on Carolina, then 3 against Minnesota a week later.
The best comparison is Green Bay, since both teams have already played there. Atlanta won 35-14 at Lambeau. Chicago lost 31-7 at the same stadium with a backup at quarterback. That's 1 game each and it shouldn't be pushed too far, but it shows what each offense looks like with and without its starter. Atlanta has had its own bad day, though: a 34-3 home loss to Carolina, the same Panthers team the Bears scored 59 against.
Chicago's defense came out of Green Bay even more banged up. Kyler Gordon (calf) and Shemar Turner (knee) were already out, then Tyrique Stevenson Sr. (hamstring) and Dayo Odeyingbo (quadriceps) were listed as doubtful to return, and T.J. Edwards (hamstring) was ruled out for the rest of the game. Atlanta's injury list from the Ravens game has its own problems: Za'Darius Smith was out with a concussion and neck injury, Yasir Abdullah went to injured reserve, and C.J. Henderson left with a groin injury.
Kickoff is 1:00 PM ET at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, indoors, so weather won't be a factor. This week's practice reports will settle most of this game. Watch whether Williams practices fully, whether Penix's ribs hold up when he throws, and how many of Chicago's defensive backs are healthy on Sunday. A 3-2 team and a 2-3 team, both coming off losses, would look very different with their starters back.