Film Study: Was adding Sweat the answer for Bears' struggling pass rush?
There's been no better pass rush on Thursday nights than the Bears, which is a little strange, since that's usually such a weakness.
But quality of opponents makes a difference. The Bears were credited with 11 quarterback pressures and 3 sacks in the win over Carolina; 16 pressures and 5 sacks on Oct. 5 at Washington.
Two NFL teams are far and away the worst at protecting the quarterback this season, Washington and the New York Giants. Carolina is in the bottom five.
So to get a true sense of whether there's a "Sweat Effect" happening on the Bears' defensive line, it's going to have to wait until this week against Detroit. The Lions are tied for fourth in fewest sacks allowed.
In his second game with the Bears, defensive end Montez Sweat made his presence felt right away, forcing three early incompletions by Panthers QB Bryce Young. On one of those, Young had wide receiver Terrace Marshall wide open on a crossing pattern because Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson collided with a teammate. But Young threw an errant pass with Sweat in his face.
The Bears might have had their best defensive series of the season when the Panthers were backed up on their own 9-yard line in the second quarter. On first down a blitz by T.J. Edwards caused Sweat to go unblocked to force a bad throw.
On second down defensive tackle Zacch Pickens used a quick move to get into the backfield and cause another incompletion. Then Justin Jones knocked Panthers center Bradley Bozeman to the ground and sacked Young. After a punt the Bears started in good field position and kicked a field goal in a game they won just 16-13.
Dare we say the Bears defensive line looks complete at the moment? Better withhold judgment until we see Sweat operate against good competition. But we've talked here about how Jones and nose guard Andrew Billings have been solid, rookies Pickens and Gervon Dexter have held their own, and value free agent Rasheem Green has had his moments.
Whether there's any point in re-signing defensive end Yannick Ngakoue remains open to debate, but it seems safe to place a tepid vote for defensive line as the Bears' best position group right now.
No new quarterbacks:
It's tough to predict when Tyson Bagent will next see the field, but he proved to be a capable backup while winning two of four starts. There's obviously room for improvement, such as fewer interceptions and more downfield throws.
But Bagent made some nice plays against Carolina and the Bears probably lose the game without several key third-down conversions.
Just before halftime, Bagent put the Bears in field-goal range by hitting Cole Kmet for a 13-yard game while getting decked by Panthers defensive end Derrick Brown. Bagent also bulls-eyed a tight window to Darnell Mooney for the victory-clinching first down.
This next part is worth repeating: Instead of the Bears wondering whether they should take a new QB in next year's draft, focus on how much better wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. would make the current QBs.
Best play:
The opening play of the game was nice, a tunnel screen to D.J. Moore off play action. The Bears even pulled Teven Jenkins to sell the run and hold the linebackers. Moore probably gains more than 16 yards if Cody Whitehair and Darnell Wright didn't whiff on blocks. To be fair, though, Wright had a nice night with run blocking.
Hybrid DB:
Kyler Gordon had an interesting game. He's essentially being used as the nickel corner, and the Bears' five main defensive backs all played 100% of the snaps Thursday. But Gordon was often used as a third linebacker and finished with 8 tackles.
Going back to last year, Gordon has been better in run support than pass coverage, which is why it could make sense to use him at safety and move on from Eddie Jackson next year. Land an elite cornerback, keep Jaylon Johnson, make Tyrique Stevenson compete for nickel and this defense might be in decent shape.
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