The Chicago Bears' defense has been a major issue going back to the fourth quarter of their season-opening loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Their blowout loss against the Detroit Lions on Sunday placed a magnifying glass on that side of the ball and the 73 points that the Bears have allowed over the last five quarters of play.
After falling to 0-2 on the season, one starter along the defensive front was singled out by Bears legend Lance Briggs for his lack of impact on the game. In the eyes of Briggs, veteran defensive end Montez Sweat is being paid as if he were a premier pass rusher in the league. Unfortunately, the production doesn't match the financial investment Chicago's front office made in him following the trade with Washington that brought him to the Windy City midway through the 2023 season.
Lance Briggs Calls Out Bears' Montez Sweat Over Disappointing Play Through Week 2
After spending his entire 12-year career as a member of the Bears, Briggs knows the ins and outs of this organization as well as anyone. The three-time All-Pro was less than impressed with the pressure that the Bears' pass rush was able to get on Lions quarterback Jared Goff, and looked no further than the Bears' $98 million man when casting blame.
"Sometimes in situations like that, you have to look in the mirror and say, ‘What can I do more? What is my standard? What is Montez Sweat’s standard? Am I a premier guy or just a guy?’ Because right now you look like just a guy getting paid premier money,” Briggs said of Sweat on CHGO's "Brick by Brick After Dark" following Chicago's Week 2 loss.
Briggs admitted that Sweat would have recorded a sack had there not been a defensive penalty called on Tyrique Stevenson. The penalty was called, though, and the sack did not count. The front four needs to get pressure on the QB to prevent the secondary from being hung out to dry, though.
Thus far, Chicago has three sacks and nine QB hits through two games. Sweat, despite his large salary, has only accounted for one of those hits and zero sacks. This is more than enough of a reason for Briggs to sound the alarm now, as Sweat is coming off a 2024 campaign where he registered a new career-low for QB hits and recorded just 5.5 sacks, by far the fewest that Sweat has had in a season where he appeared in more than 10 games.
While this season's sample size is only two games, there was a noticeable dip in production from Sweat throughout the 2024 campaign as well. When Chicago gave up a second-round pick to acquire the pass rusher, before signing him to a massive contract extension, this was not a conversation the front office was expecting to hear less than two years later.
Unfortunately, that is the reality of the situation at the midway point of September.