Skip to main content
Bear Digest

How Chicago Bears Pass Rushers Gain the Help They Really Need

Montez Sweat, Grady Jarrett, Gervon Dexter, and Austin Booker can look much different with a little assistance, but not from the place most fans expect.
Gene Chamberlain|
Bears pass rushers like Gervon Dexter can look much different with a bit of assistance.
Bears pass rushers like Gervon Dexter can look much different with a bit of assistance. | David Reginek-Imagn Images

In this story:

Chicago Bears

The problems the Bears had at rushing passers last year have been greatly exaggerated.

This isn't to suggest players like Gervon Dexter, Montez Sweat, Grady Jarrett and Austin Booker did an excellent job, but they weren't as poor at it as everyone believes. Ranking near the bottom of the league in pass-rush win percentage isn't a good thing, but that often-cited stat itself is not the only indicator of pass rush.  

Pressure, pressure percentage, and sacks suggest the Bears were mediocre pass rushers, but nowhere close to being one of the league's worst teams. They were 22nd in sacks with 35, 25th in pressures and 21st in pressure percentage, according to Pro Football Reference. It's not good, and they definitely failed to sign or draft edge rushers who can help.

A few of the defensive tackles acquired could improve this. Neville Gallimore and Kentavius Street both have been better pass rushers than they have been run stoppers.

Unless you believe in Dayo Odeyingbo's miraculous return from an Achilles tear after he wasn't even a good pass rusher while healthy, there is no real personnel reason to expect a better pass rush than last year, except for Austin Booker’s two years of experience and strong conclusion to last year.

There is a way they get better, though. They can improve rapidly. It has as much to do with Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams, D'Andre Swift, and the offense as with their defensive front.

The hidden turnaround

In a column he writes for the Arlington Heights Daily Herald, Chicago ESPN AM-1000 radio personality Marc Silverman uncovered this. Silverman used to be a Bears beat reporter and still spends a great deal of time at Halas Hall. His station is the flagship for the team. He's not someone sitting at home picking and choosing arguments based on a whim or fantasy football.

Silverman pointed out one key way the Bears can improve at rushing the passer this year, and  buried it in the final paragraph of his column, "Six players (and a coach) under pressure to improve the Bears’ defense."  Of all places, it’s in a paragraph when he's talking about the Bears quarterback.

"You hear the term complementary football thrown around ad nauseam, but if Williams can get the offense started faster during the season, the defense can get more favorable pass-rushing opportunities," Silverman wrote.

Silverman touched on it, and here's how it shakes down.

The Bears' offense was a total mediocrity at complementary football. Ultimately, they got the job done by rallying late in games for six regular-season wins and seven total. However, the team spent too much time trailing in games after starting slowly. As a result, their pass rushers couldn't tee off and chase the quarterback in the way winning teams' defensive fronts often can.

Here's what a deeper look at this turned up:

The Bears scored 240 second-half points as opposed to 195 in the first half. That's a huge discrepancy. In the second and third quarters, they had only 185 points total. Teams get into leading or trailing positions late in games in the second and third quarters. The Bears obviously had trouble with this.

The less time spent leading, the more time spent trailing or tied. Teams trailing or tied put too much pressure on their defensive lines because the opponent is in a better position to run the ball and keep the front off balance with play-action passing. It's when the offense is predictable that a defensive front can really apply the pressure.

Only two playoff teams trailed for bigger chunks of games last year than the Bears, who trailed 22:31 of every game. The Bills were nearly at the same time trailing, at 22:45, while the Chargers trailed for 25:07.

Fourteen total teams trailed for less time in games than the Bears, and that's not what you'd expect from a team among the final eight left playing, and one overtime period away from playing to reach the Super Bowl.


Combined, the Bears were trailing OR tied for an average of 34:37 in games. That's not conducive to letting your defensive front tee off. There were only 14 teams with more time trailing or losing. The idea is to rank among the league's best at this.

The turnaround formula

A defense that stops the run puts opposing offenses in poor pass-blocking situations. An offense scoring earlier in games puts the opponent in deficit situations and in poor pass-blocking situations.

Williams posted an 85.15 passer rating on his first 20 throws in games, with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions. He had a 97.37 passer rating after his 20th throw, with 15 TDs and three interceptions.

A Chicago Bears Rookie Minicamp Primer

The Reasons You Can't Count Out Tyrique Stevenson Just Yet

If Williams is a little more accurate earlier in games, Johnson is hunting for big gains a little less earlier in games, and the defense stops the run early when most teams are running the ball, then rushing the passer later while leading becomes a possibility.

It's all about complementary football. The complement can't be the offense wasting numerous takeaways by their defense during the course of the game without scoring, only to grab leads late with miracle rallies.

Better pass rushing can come from more time spent on the field protecting leads earlier in games.

Sweat, Booker, Jarrett, Dexter, and possibly even Odeyingbo might suddenly look quite a bit different if they're teeing off on opponents rather than playing back on their heels.

This might help more than any free agent signing they can make the rest of this offseason.

X: BearsOnSI

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
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.

Home/News