Bear Digest

Montez Sweat facing former team among most favorable Bears matchups

The former Commanders edge rusher and several other Bears look to have good advantages in personal battles within Monday's Hail Mary rematch.
Gene Chamberlain|
Quarterback Jayden Daniels tries to unload the ball before Montez Sweat can unload on him.
Quarterback Jayden Daniels tries to unload the ball before Montez Sweat can unload on him. | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

It was back at the end of training camp and GM Ryan Poles addressed questions about the outlook for this Bears pass rush.

"I think this was the best training camp Montez Sweat has had," Poles said. "He's in really good shape, ready to go."

The praise keeps coming Sweat's way but so does criticism from the fan base heading into the Hail Mary rematch game because his sack totals and even pressure totals haven't been what someone might expect from the franchise's highest paid player.

Teams have apparently found a way to stop Sweat without overtaxing the rest of their blocking scheme after he had a torrid start to his career in Chicago.

After the Bears' Hail Mary loss to the Washington Commanders last season, Sweat had played 16 games for the Bears with 9 1/2 sacks, 20 quarterback hits and 34 pressures. Those are numbers according to Stathead and Pro Football Reference.

In the 13 games since the Hail Mary battle, including the first four games this year, Sweat has three sacks, 14 pressures and nine quarterback hits.

A return to his NFL city of origin would be a good time for the "Sweat effect," as Matt Eberflus used to call it.

“Montez has been pretty consistent in terms of the run game," defensive end Dennis Allen said.

They don't have run-stopping $98 million defensive ends. Stopping the run at end would be a little like fantastic mustard for a hot dog or great giardiniera on an Italian beef. It's a sidelight, a complementary thing.

Pass rush is where it's at for defensive ends.

"I think all of us, in terms of what we're doing in the passing game, we'd like to get a little bit more," Allen said. "I have to try to do a better job of putting him in position to where we can give him some opportunities to go get after the passer and then, when he does create or we create those opportunities, he has to take advantage of those by winning his one-on-one."

The one-on-one matchup might favor Sweat on Monday night and there are other ones favoring the Bears as a team.

DE Montez Sweat vs. RT Josh Conerly Jr.

Conerly is a 6-foot-4, 315-pound rookie from Oregon who went 29th overall in this 2025 draft, and he's had a slow start so far. Conerly has allowed four sacks according to Pro Football Focus. He has committed four penalties and PFF grades him 88th of 112 tackles in the league.  No doubt Sweat will get more than just Conerly blocking him as opponents frequently apply chip blocks or outright double teams. The Bears haven't had the rush from other players to take that type of attention away from Sweat, and Grady Jarrett being injured and questionable again probably isn't going to help their overall pressure. With one sack, three quarterback hits and five pressures, it hasn't come from Dayo Odeyingbo on the other side. With focus on stopping the Washington running game and a need for the rush to contain Jayden Daniels within the pocket, it might not be a week for big sack totals but plays stopping Daniels trying to run or tackles for loss would be a big boost to the Bears' cause.

WR DJ Moore vs. CB Marshon Lattimore

Lattimore had a solid career for the Saints and then last year missed seven games with a hamstring problem. He had a concussion earlier this season and when he has played he wasn't effective. PFF has him rated 131st out of 169 cornerbacks and 130th against the pass. Both Stathead and PFF have his passer rating against when targeted in the 105 range. Moore hasn't been the top Bears receiving threat but it seems only a matter of time until he breaks out while teams are forced to devote more of their coverage emphasis to stopping Rome Odunze. Moore has 16 catches in four games for 173 yards, an average of 10.8 yards per catch. One big issue hurting Moore has been the inability of the screen game to take hold. Moore is an ideal screen receiver but Johnson this past week was critical of how they have set up blocking for those.

WR Luther Burden III vs. S Quan Martin

Burden's speed really showed up against Dallas and no one should be surprised if the Bears try to isolate him in coverage on Martin, the former Illinois player who has had real struggles this season. Martin has allowed a passer rating of 1144 and 72.2% completions according to Stathead, and PFF grades him 131st out of 134 safeties in pass coverage and 121st overall. If the Bears go deep, it makes sense that they challenge Martin with Burden or even former Washington receiver Olamide Zaccheaus as their other top receivers would be matched up on cornerbacks. Martin did make a big fumble recovery last week to trigger a win over the Chargers. If the Bears are in a different personnel package, it wouldn't be surprising to see Martin pitted against Colston Loveland downfield.

TE Cole Kmet vs. LB Frankie Luvu

The Commanders have had real problems with Luvu's coverage all season. He's graded 111th of 137 linebackers against the pass, although he's been more solid against the run, 14th of 137. With the Bears likely to try to get Colston Loveland involved this week, the Commanders might be more inclined to devote strong safety coverage to the "move" tight end, pitting Kmet with Luvu. Kmet has been targeted just four times per game and has only caught seven passes but for a 16.6-yard average.

WR Chris Moore vs. CB Tyrique Stevenson

Because of injuries to Noah Brown and Terry McLaurin, the Commander will likely be forced to rely at "Z" receiver on Moore, who has 13 catches for 242 yards.They could try to get Deebo Samuel outside to that position, as well. But Moore is capable. He's 32 years old now after stops with Baltimore, Houton, Tennessee, Arizona and now the Commanders. After the Hail Mary, Stevenson obviously has more to prove in this game than anyone. He's put together two of his stronger games, and his passer rating against for this season is an outstanding career-best 61.2. He has allowed only 42.9% completions, 9 in 21 targets. In addition, he's been a playmaker with an interception, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.