The Atlanta Falcons are headed into a huge game this Sunday against the Chicago Bears where they will once again attempt to make the climb back to .500 following their dreadful loss at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens. 

This is one of the best teams in the NFC coming to town and an excellent measuring stick as to where this Falcons team is at following what has been a roller coaster first five games of the year. Much will be made of the quarterback matchup and understandably so, however it may not be the passers who rule the day.

It's also a fascinating showdown between these two defenses, and while the Falcons had been making it a habit of playing stingy on that side of the ball, the numbers actually indicate Chicago has the more effective unit right now.

Despite a Week 1 meltdown defensively in the win over the Carolina Panthers as well as the perceived offensive mindset from head coach Ben Johnson, the Bears are actually top-five in the league in points allowed per game with just 19.2 right now. Atlanta on the other hand is in the bottom half of the NFL with 24.4 points being given up on average, just ahead of the 0-5 Los Angeles Chargers.

The figures are similar when it comes to total yardage, with the Bears top-10 in the league with 311.4 total yards allowed per game and the Falcons right around league average with 328.6 yards allowed per game. Atlanta had been particularly stingy against the rush, but giving up more than 200 yards on the ground to the Ravens knocked them well off the pedestal there. They do still remain ahead of Chicago though with 80.2 rushing yards allowed.

Passing yardage is where there is a real separator though with the Falcons sitting No. 27 in the league at 248.4 yards per game through the air and the Bears in the top half of football with 215.4 passing yards per game.

It's important to note that outliers do occur and none of these numbers are perfect predictors, but it does indicate that a Chicago team which already entered this game with a clear advantage on offense with Caleb Williams coming back may also have the edge on defense as well.

This is a massive challenge for Atlanta, and if they do not bring their best, the Bears are capable of making this ugly.