Thursday night, defensive end Montez Sweat looked a lot more like the player the Bears envisioned when they gave him the richest per-year salary in franchise history.
“Having the effect of Tez — the ‘Tez Factor’ — is a pretty cool thing to see … ” coach Matt Eberflus said Friday. “You could feel him forcing those incomplete passes, the hits on the quarterback. That certainly has an effect on their passing game.”
Sweat had eight pressures in the 16-13 win against the Panthers, the most for any Bears player since Robert Quinn in Week 13 of 2020, per NFL Next Gen Stats. He’ll have to do more, of course — the Bears gave Sweat a four-year, $98 million contract Saturday to sack the quarterback.
The biggest argument against Sweat through the first five years of his career are his sack totals. He averaged 7.25 sacks through his first four seasons and has 6 1/2 this year. He’s never had more than nine in a season. For his other admirable traits — Sweat plays the run as well as any defensive end in the sport — he needs to get the quarterback to the ground to be worth the $24.5 million average annual value the Bears gave him. Only four edge rushers in the history of the sport have received more: Nick Bosa, T.J. Watt, Joey Bosa and Myles Garrett. Entering this season, the four averaged, in order, 10.75, 14.75, 8.8 and 12.4 sacks per year during their careers.
The Bears gave the Commanders a second-round pick for Sweat on Oct. 31. He played his first game for the Bears five days later and his second five days after that. With 10 days between the Panthers win and the Bears’ next game in Detroit, Sweat will have an opportunity to grow more comfortable with new team, his new defense and his new home.
He likes the defensive identity he’s seen thus far.
“All hats to the ball,” Sweat said. “Flus talks about all the guys getting to the ball.”
But they’re not getting to the quarterback. The Bears recorded a sack Thursday for the first time in three games. They finished with three — and are still last in the league with 13. The league-leading Ravens, in one fewer game, have 35.
Sweat didn’t have a sack against the Panthers, but defensive linemen Justin Jones, Yannick Ngakoue and Rasheem Green did. Before Thursday, the Bears had only six sacks from their defensive line.
“He is really starting to free guys up, which is what a good rusher does,” Eberflus said. “Really starts to free guys up on the inside, on the other side because he draws attention. Just the way he rushes.”
Cynically, that sounds like a good way to justify the expenditure — to give credit to Sweat even when others are the ones recording sacks. But Jones said the Panthers were so focused on Sweat that it made his life easier.
“He’s very, very physical,” Jones said. “Being on the edge, you have to chip, double team. You have to know where he’s at at all times. With all that being said, it takes pressure off everybody else and allows other guys to be free and allows other guys to win one-on-ones. I feel like we were able to really show that. It was good having him around.
“He’s a very, very smart player and complements the guys that we already have. It’s cool to be a part of, it’s good to have him.”
The Bears’ defense has allowed the third-fewest yards per play in the NFL since Week 6. The next step, though, is to become dangerous. From Weeks 6-9, the Bears gave up the 11th-most points in the league, were tied for 19th in takeaways and were last in sacks.
“I think we’re going to be a great defense —we just have to start generating some turnovers,” Sweat said.
The Lions will be a truer test of the Bears’ defense, and of Sweat.
“I saw him for four years straight when I was in Philadelphia, so I already knew the kind of problems he causes for offenses,” linebacker T.J. Edwards said. “He can do it all. He’s athletic. He’s big. He’s strong. [He has a] really good set of moves and things like that. It only helps us.”
The Bears are counting on him.
“I think his impact is going to be more and more as we go,” Eberflus said.
