Za'Darius Smith is Active for the Falcons, and the Bears Should Be Worried

Za'Darius Smith is officially active for the Atlanta Falcons today, which is fantastic news for Atlanta and absolutely terrifying news for anyone tasked with blocking him.

ESPN's Marc Raimondi confirmed the veteran defensive end is officially off the inactive list for Sunday's matchup against the Chicago Bears. Getting a premier edge rusher back in the lineup is exactly the kind of break this defense needed.

"ESPN's Marc Raimondi reported on X: 'DE Za'Darius Smith is active for the #Falcons.'"

Just a couple of weeks ago, the medical cart came out for Smith before he waved it off and walked away under his own power. He cleared concussion protocol but spent the week nursing a neck injury. Now, he is fully cleared to resume his primary job of making offensive linemen look foolish.

The Falcons are sitting at an ugly 2-3 and desperately need a win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to keep their season from spiraling. Having Smith back completely changes the math for an Atlanta defense trying to hold the line. Anyone looking at the live totals or sack props today has to factor in that the Falcons just got their best backfield disruptor back in the mix.

The timing could not be worse for Chicago. The Bears are rolling out Caleb Williams, who is returning from a hamstring injury to take the snaps. For context, putting a rookie quarterback with a bad hamstring in the same backfield as a fully cleared Za'Darius Smith is basically a 100 percent guarantee of chaos. We will see if the Bears can prevent a disaster when things kick off this afternoon.