How ineffective is the Bears’ pass rush?
The Bears suffered a tough loss against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, snapping their five-game winning streak and knocking them from atop the NFC playoff standings.
It happened partly because the Bears’ defense couldn’t stop quarterback Jordan Love. He threw for 234 yards, three touchdowns and one interception after he completed 68% of his passes.
While the secondary gave up explosive plays for touchdowns, Love threw the ball all over the field because of a lack of a pass rush. The Bears sacked Love once and only had one quarterback hit.
It’s been a similar story for much of the season. Chicago has had sparks, but for the most part the Bears haven’t passed the eye test.
So, 14 weeks into the season, has the pass rush performed as poorly as it seems? Here’s a look at the numbers.
Hanging near the bottom
Chicago ranks tied for 26th after Week 14 with 24 sacks, far behind the league-leading Denver Broncos’ 55 sacks, according to Pro Football Reference. The Bears are tied for 29th in quarterback hurries (24) and 29th in quarterback pressures (73) and quarterback knockdowns (25).
The one area where the Bears are middle of the pack doesn’t leave much room for encouragement. Chicago has blitzed on 25% of its defensive snaps, which is 10th in the NFL. It has blitzed 110 times, ranking 16th. Despite blitzing at a relatively high clip, the Bears still haven’t gotten to the quarterback too often.
Pro Football Focus graded Chicago’s pass rush with a 62.3, which ranks 26th in the league heading into Monday night.
Safety Jaquan Brisker is the Bears’ top-graded pass rusher according to PFF. He leads the way with a 75.2 grade, ahead of defensive tackle Gervon Dexter’s 73.6 and Sweat’s 67.3. Brisker ranks 90th overall with his grade while Dexter is 105th.
Brisker, meanwhile, has the Bears’ top win percentage. The statistic shows the percentage of “wins” rushers have against blocking on non-penalty pass snaps. Brisker is the team’s best at 14.3%. Dominique Robinson is second at 13.3% and Sweat is third at 11.6%. Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, whom the Bears will play Sunday at Soldier Field, leads the league at 27.7%.
There’s important context needed when looking at the numbers. Chicago’s pass rush was never fully healthy this season. Defensive end Austin Booker missed the first seven games with a knee injury.
Chicago’s top free agent pass rush acquisition, Dayo Odeyingbo, tore his Achilles and has been out since Week 9. Bears rookie defensive tackle Shemar Turner, whom the Bears wanted to use more off the edge, missed most of training camp with an ankle injury before tearing his ACL in Week 8. But the Bears still struggled to rush quarterbacks even when they played.
Sweat’s big rebound season
While the Bears have struggled to create pressure, their top threat is on pace for his best season.
Sweat has put together his best performance with the Bears since they traded a second-round pick for him and then extended him to a four-year, $98 million contract in 2023. He’s 12th in the NFL this season with 8.5 sacks in 13 games and is on pace for more than 11 sacks.
It’s the most sacks Sweat has had in a season since he totaled 12.5 in 2023, a career-high, with both the Washington Commanders and the Bears. This season is the third time Sweat has had at least eights sacks in his seven-year career.
The Bears have to be encouraged by the development, even though they’d like more support surrounding Sweat. He improved this year after being limited to 5.5 sacks last season as he dealt with nagging injuries.
Pressure from the secondary
The Bears’ defensive line injuries forced defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to get creative with how he pressures the quarterback. He’s done so by sending cornerbacks and safeties on blitzes.
Slot cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson leads the Bears’ secondary with three sacks in the six games he’s play with Chicago. All three came during his first two games with the Bears. Brisker has a sack, two quarterback hits and eight hurries.
Allen likely would’ve sent more pressure from the secondary had it been healthy. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson missed most of the season before coming back the past couple of games while cornerback Tyrique Stevenson has dealt with injuries at times. That’s forced Brisker to play back in coverage more instead of blitzing.
Slot cornerback Kyler Gordon, who injured his groin before Sunday’s game, has only played three games this season because of injuries. Gordon also would’ve been a blitzing threat. He has one sack in limited time.
Creating mistakes
Although the defensive line has struggled to create pressure, it’s been a part of the Bears’ league-leading turnover machine.
Chicago’s defensive linemen have four of the team’s 11 forced fumbles. Sweat leads the way with three, which is tied for fifth-most in the NFL.
The Bears have recovered nine fumbles as part of their NFL-leading 27 takeaways.