Bears defensive end Montez Sweat has never been on a winning team and made the playoffs once in his first four NFL seasons — with the 7-9 Commanders in 2020. But he looked in the eyes of his teammates Sunday and saw a team that still has a lot to play for.
“Everybody was pretty much locked in, even though it’s the end of the season,” said Sweat, whose teams in Washington finished 3-13, 7-9, 7-10 and 8-8. “Some guys are packing it up right now, ready to go on vacations. We still have a lot [left] and we’re trying to get a dub.”
The Bears didn’t answer a lot of questions on offense in their 27-16 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday at Soldier Field. Justin Fields and the offense scored 21 points in the first 23 minutes, then stalled and produced just two field goals — one of them courtesy of a defensive stand that set them up at the Cardinals 27 in the fourth quarter.
The future of Fields and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy remain in doubt. Regardless of what happens in the final two games, there will be many question marks on that side of the ball throughout the offseason
But the defense, while it hasn’t quite arrived as a force in the league, is trending in the right direction, with a core of young players who are getting better and already looking forward to next season. Other than defensive end Yannick Ngakoue — who signed a one-year, $10 million contract in training camp — and veteran safety Eddie Jackson, every key regular is virtually certain to be in place in 2024. And Jackson, who has one year left on the four-year, $58 million contract he signed in 2020, is hoping to be back, excited about the defense’s growth this season and the potential to take it to another level next season.
So with only a long-shot chance at the playoffs (1% per the New York Times playoff calculator), nobody on this defense is packing their bags, with two games to go against the Falcons on Sunday at Soldier Field and the Packers in Week 18 at Lambeau Field. They are determined to finish strong.
“It’s very important,” Sweat said. “We want to put film on tape and finish on a good note, so that can carry over into the next season.”
The defense’s situation this season is a far cry from last year, when the teardown portion of general manager Ryan Poles’ rebuild was still in place. Only two 2023 starters played in the season finale against the Vikings last year — defensive tackle Justin Jones and safety Jaquan Brisker.
The starting secondary in that game included cornerbacks Elijah Hicks, Greg Stroman, Jr. and Harrison Hand and safeties Brisker and DeAndre Houston-Carson.
Linebacker T.J. Edwards isn’t ready to look toward 2024, but he knows a strong finish will be a benefit.
“We’re very focused on being in the now, with the guys that we’ve got,” Edwards said. “We’ve got to play our best ball. We work so damn hard all year, showing some really good things and we want to keep doing that.”
With every Week 1 regular except Ngakoue healthy, the Bears’ defense is feeling the momentum after a long season of struggle and progress, and primed for a strong finish that would be a true indication of progress.
“We know what type of team we have, especially on the defensive side of the ball,” Jackson said. “We’re rallying around each other and we want to continue to show everyone what type of defense we have and what type of defense we’re going to be.”
