Chicago Bears: 3 Factors that could dash hopes for a big season

Poles fails to find a pass rusher to complement Montez Sweat

The signing of edge rusher Montez Sweat was a big coup for Poles and the Chicago Bears. Poles looked ahead at the free defensive end agent market and what would be available in the draft and decided that giving up a second-round pick for Sweat was the best move.

Sweat was in the final year of his contract. Poles did not want him as just a rental so he gave Sweat a huge extension. Despite playing about half the season, Sweat led the defense in sacks. In fact, between Washington and Chicago, he had 12.5 sacks. Every other lineman on the roster combined for 9 sacks.

Sweat did a great job of adding quarterback pressure. He was constantly pressuring quarterbacks and his high motor was infectious. However, the other players still weren’t getting to the quarterback. Yannick Ngakoue, who was having his worst season, did pick up his play. Before Sweat arrived, he had two sacks.

In five weeks after Sweat’s arrival, Ngakoue had two sacks as well. However, a fractured ankle cut his season short. The Chicago Bears were left without any other pass rusher who produced much pressure with Ngakoue down.

We saw in the regular season finale what not having a complementary pass rusher did to Sweat. The Green Bay Packers sent multiple players at Sweat, slowing down his path to quarterback Jordan Love. The Packers completely disrespected any other pass rusher but the Bears had no answer.

We can expect the same thing to happen in 2024 if the Bears don’t find another effective pass rusher. There are high hopes for Booker. However, he is still a project. He only had 18 games and just 580 snaps in his college career. While he looks better than his experience would suggest, he is taking a big step at the professional level.

If the Chicago Bears cannot find a pass rusher to complement Sweat, and his performance suffers because of it, that will negatively affect the defense. We saw how more pressure helped the secondary. The Chicago Bears led the league in interceptions last season. If they cannot get more pressure, the defense won’t step up to be the elite unit the players feel they can be.

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