Buried in litigation of the blocked 46-yard field goal that doomed the Chicago Bears — sending them to their second final-play loss in four weeks — is the fact the pass rush was stuck in neutral.
That can happen after a catastrophic ending.
There was plenty of blame to pass around for the missed kick and many fair questions after the 20-19 loss to the Green Bay Packers. But focusing on poor protection, a low kick, choosing not not to run another play and whether the left hashmark was ideal obscured an issue that has plagued the Bears recently and could be their undoing if it happens again Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field.
The pass rush, spearheaded by defensive end Montez Sweat, has been lackluster of late, short of the level the Bears need to execute the plan of complementary football they talk about when charting a path to victory.
It’s especially troublesome because the Bears got barely a hint of pressure on Packers quarterback Jordan Love, whom they will face again in Week 18. It was the first of six divisional games in the final eight weeks of the season, and any problems the Bears have against their rivals will be magnified because they’re meeting each team twice. Any issues the Bears have against the Vikings will be tested again when they meet next month. If you’re not built to win in your division, it’s going to be hard to reach the playoffs, let alone advance.
There’s some level of irony that one of the two hits the Bears had on Love came on one of the game’s decisive plays. With the Bears leading 19-14, the Packers faced second-and-6 on their 34-yard line. The Bears brought a six-man pressure as linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards blitzed. Running back Josh Jacobs picked up Edwards coming straight up the middle, and defensive tackle Gervon Dexter worked off of left guard Elgton Jenkins to arrive in Love’s face and hit him good — but not until just after the ball was out. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson, locked in man coverage across the board, slipped and fell, and Christian Watson had a 60-yard gain to set up the winning score.
If the Bears were getting pressure on Love with their four down linemen, maybe they would not have blitzed in that situation with the Packers needing to drive the field for a touchdown with less than four minutes remaining. But Love had all sorts of time against the base rush and, on this specific play, the Packers chipped Sweat with tight end Tucker Kraft before right tackle Zach Tom blocked him. Sweat was nowhere near the pocket. In fairness, the Bears didn’t have a ton of pass-rushing chances. Love attempted only 17 passes.
It has been a tough season for Sweat. He has 3½ sacks and only seven quarterback hits — just one in the last two games after missing the loss at Arizona with a shin injury. More recently, he has dealt with an ankle injury. A hyperextended elbow suffered during training camp has plagued him as well. Sweat has gotten questions about the ankle and shin recently but he wasn’t 100% in Week 1.
“The whole body,” he said. “It’s just what comes with it. It is what it is.”
There’s no question Sweat’s arrival in midseason last year transformed the defense. The numbers and the eye test tell you as much. But with Sweat struggling to accumulate pass-rush numbers — his win rate is 13.2% — it jumps out if the other players on the line are not coming through. They haven’t of late, and Dexter has been in a production slump along with defensive end Darrell Taylor, who made a splash in the season opener.
A defense that averaged 6.9 quarterback hits and had 20 sacks through seven games has only 12 hits and five sacks in the last three, with one against the Packers when DeMarcus Walker chased Love out of bounds on third-and-goal from the 5-yard line. The Bears are tied for 15th in the league with 25 sacks, five off the number they finished with in 2023 when they ranked 31st.
“As pass rushers, we look at numbers,” Sweat said. “We know that we’re judged upon our numbers and stats like that. It’s just one bump in the road. Just got to keep going.”
To be very clear, Sweat isn’t using his slew of injuries as an excuse. He knows if you’re on the field, you’re being graded. If you’re near the top of the pay scale — he signed a four-year, $98 million extension last November — you’re being graded at a higher level. But the numbers and the eye test don’t return the same results as last season.
“We need to just figure things out as a front,” he said. “It’s a collective group that needs to compete to one common goal.”
5 things to watch in the Chicago Bears-Minnesota Vikings game, plus our Week 12 predictions
Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold has been sacked only three times in the last two games, and Minnesota has done a solid job managing the loss of left tackle Christian Darrisaw to a season-ending knee injury. Darrisaw is probably the second-best player on the team after wide receiver Justin Jefferson. Darnold played a clean game last week against the Tennessee Titans but had five interceptions in the two games before that. He’ll give the secondary chances to make plays and the Bears increase their chances if they can make him throw early, throw on the run and throw will being hit.
“Sometimes you just need to reset and reestablish some of those things that will allow you to follow through as a one-on-one rusher and really get the quarterback on the ground,” defensive coordinator Eric Washington said.
Defensive line coach Travis Smith said resetting along the line doesn’t mean overhauling what they have been doing.
“Whenever you get some adversity or frustrations, a lot of people look outward to blame or say, ‘We need to do something different, we need to get fancier, we need to look at the trends,’ ” Smith said. “I think reset means let’s reteach us.”
Sweat’s presence is one reason why the defense is ranking well in some key areas — No. 1 in the red zone, No. 4 on third down and No. 7 in points allowed. But the elite pass rushers, the guys getting chipped routinely and dealing with slide protections, still find ways to pile up numbers. Perhaps Sweat can get there as the season progresses and he tries to play through the wear and tear.
He seems more focused on team production and most irritated by the Bears’ recent skid than anything else.
“We’re on a what, three- or four-game losing streak?” Sweat said. “Pretty (darn) frustrated.”
Scouting report
Andrew Van Ginkel, Vikings outside linebacker
Information for this report was obtained from NFL scouts.
Van Ginkel, 6-foot-4, 242 pounds, is in his first season in Minnesota after the Vikings signed him to a two-year, $20 million contract in free agency. The move reunited him with defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who was the coach in Miami when the Dolphins chose Van Ginkel in the fifth round of the 2019 draft out of Wisconsin.
There have not been many more effective free-agent additions this season when you consider bang for the buck. Van Ginkel is tied for fifth in the league with eight sacks (two more than his previous career-high) and leads the NFL with 13 tackles for a loss. He has scored two touchdowns and has 12 quarterback hits and a forced fumble.
“He’s in a defense that really is catering to his traits,” the scout said. “In terms of the impact and disruption, he kind of reminds me of a player like Kyle Van Noy. Not the body type. Van Ginkel doesn’t have elite traits or measurables. That’s why he was a fifth-round pick. But in a system where they can scheme one-on-ones for him, get him matched up off twists and stunts as a pass rusher, he can be very productive because his effort level is outstanding. He’s a technician when he rushes because he’s undersized. He’s not a true defensive end. Flores has done a fantastic job of putting him in the right position.
“Van Ginkel has decent speed, not great. But he’s got high instincts. Good zone vision when he’s asked to drop in coverage. Strong tackler. He’s got the kind of intangibles you’re looking for when you talk about glue guys in your locker room but he’s playing at a higher level. I think he’s best as a two-point player, standing up, on the line of scrimmage. He’s athletic enough to drop or carry a seam route and he’s a good player in the open field and you watch, when this guy rushes, his hair is on fire. Just a gritty football player.”
