Tag: Montez Sweat

Montez Sweat sounded so disheartened after the Bears blew another winnable game under Matt Eberflus

Montez Sweat can’t believe how inept the Bears are.

Over the last few weeks, as their 2024 season spirals down the drain, the Chicago Bears have found very creative ways to lose football games.

On Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, it was Matt Eberflus refusing to direct his team to play more competitive offense with plenty of time on the clock after incredible late-game heroics from Caleb Williams. It shows that even in a year where they showed so much promise at the start, the Bears have not been able to shake the specter of their woeful coaching.

As the Bears continue to tumble down the NFC standings, Pro Bowl defensive end Montez Sweat said he can’t believe how Chicago manages to continue blowing winnable games. In fact, the 28-year-old star defender went as far as to say that he’s never seen a football team as futile as the Bears in crunch-time situations to this point:

Ouch. When you see Sweat make these kinds of statements, it is a good reminder that he played for the Dan Snyder Washington Commanders, which was one of the most hopeless operations in NFL history. If Sweat really thinks the way the Bears have sometimes lost in 2024 is worse than that, Chicago’s rock bottom might be an abyss.

And while I know football isn’t played in a vacuum, if Eberflus had managed the Bears’ losses to the Packers and Washington Commanders better, they would be the NFC’s sixth seed right now. Now that really stings.

Bears DE Montez Sweat happy to be where he’s wanted

Montez Sweat happy to be where he’s wanted.

Montez Sweat spent the first four-and-a-half seasons of his NFL career with the Washington Commanders. A 2019 first-round pick from Mississippi State, Sweat started 67 games for Washington, playing in every game during four of those seasons.

However, after 233 tackles, including 54 for loss and 44 sacks, the Commanders traded Sweat to the Chicago Bears at the 2023 NFL trade deadline—the cost: a 2024 second-round pick.

The Bears quickly signed Sweat to a four-year extension, making him one of the NFL’s highest-paid edge rushers. Sweat would have a career year between the two teams last season, combining for a career-high 12.5 sacks. He actually led both teams in sacks.

On Sunday, Sweat will see his former team for the first time since last year’s trade as the Bears travel to Northwest Stadium to face the NFC East-leading Commanders.

Sweat has no regrets and is happy to be in Chicago.

“I’m happy just being somewhere that I’m wanted, being at a place where they want me to be and I’ve got a spot,” Sweat said via Alyssa Barbieri of Bears Wire.

“It’s just a good environment. You’re around guys you want to play for. You’re around coaches you want to play for. That makes you want to go hard. That adds a big part to your game.”

Sweat would hardly notice Washington’s new environment. Josh Harris had only been the owner for a little over three months before the Commanders traded Sweat and Chase Young. Ron Rivera and his coaching staff are gone. In are general manager Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn. The roster has over 30 new players, led by rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.

Everyone is happy in Washington, which wasn’t always the case during Sweat’s time there. Sweat, who has 2.5 sacks this season, feels like the Commanders gave up on him. They didn’t. It was business. Washington wanted to retain Sweat, at least the former regime did, but Harris preferred to acquire draft capital. It was a smart move that worked out for all parties.

Sweat admitted he’s a little more motivated this week.

“I want to do damage every week,” Sweat said. “Maybe, maybe this week, a little bit more motivation. But it’s just another week. I feel like we’re definitely on track to having a great D.”

The Commanders and Bears should be one of the NFL’s top games in Week 8.

Montez Sweat glad he was traded from ‘toxic’ Commanders

Montez Sweat unloads on his former team.

Montez Sweat recently called his former team, the Washington Commanders, “toxic” in an interview with Chicago Sun-Times reporter Jason Lieser.

You can’t really blame him. After all, he was not talking about the current Commanders environment. Sweat was not able to experience the Commanders new administration led by general manager Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn. Remember, last October, Sweat was traded to the Bears for the Bears’ second-round choice in the 2024 NFL draft.

“It was a toxic, heavy toll, just losing and people around you being kinda OK with losing,” said Sweat. “It could sometimes rub off on you. You’ve gotta stay hungry and know that you want to win.”

Indeed in his five seasons with Washington (2019-2023), the team had three names, the Redskins, the Football Team and the Commanders. Their owner, Daniel Snyder, was repeatedly in the headlines, bringing negative headlines and stories to the team’s environment.

His teams during those seasons were 3-13 (2019), 7-9 (2020), 7-10 (2021), 8-8-1 (2022), and 4-13 (2023). Even the manner in which Sweat came to Washington displayed the clown show Snyder brought to the draft.

In the 2019 NFL draft, Snyder told the football staff that despite all their preparation for the draft, they were drafting Dwayne Haskins 15th overall. Haskins was not expected to be drafted in the first round, but Snyder wanted him and insisted he get what he wanted. Head of college scouting Kyle Smith was reported to have spoken up energetically and loudly.

This resulted in the Commanders then attempting to please their football staff, trading back up into the first round and selecting Sweat 26th overall. However,  this maneuver to be accomplished cost them dearly, as they had to send two second-round choices to the Colts to complete the deal. Therefore, Washington gave up the 46th pick in 2019 and the 34th pick in 2020. Just think they could have chosen someone other than Haskins at 15, and then they would have possessed those two additional second-round choices.

Sweat, a lean and mean 6-6, 262 pounds, was in the final year of his contract in 2023 and signed a four-year extension after his trade to Chicago. In his eight games with Washington, Sweat totaled 6.5 sacks, 10 tackles for a loss and 11 QB hits. Then, in his nine games with the Bears, Sweat accumulated 6.0 sacks, 4 tackles for a loss, and 14 QB hits.

Commanders coach Dan Quinn talks the importance of a strong pass rush

Dan Quinn stresses the importance of a strong pass rush.

The Washington Commanders struggled to rush the quarterback last season after trading away Montez Sweat and Chase Young. While the trades gave Washington some excellent selections in the 2024 NFL draft, they left them extremely thin at a critical position.

This offseason, the Commanders started over. The changes began with the coaching staff. Dan Quinn took over as head coach. Quinn, one of the NFL’s best defensive coordinators, gets his second shot as a head coach. Coming with him from Dallas is new defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr.

Quinn and general manager Adam Peters knew changes were needed on the roster, particularly at defensive end. Following Quinn and Whitt from Dallas were Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler. The Commanders also signed Clelin Ferrell, formerly of the 49ers.

Quinn’s teams have always been successful rushing the passer and he expects that to continue with Washington, regardless of who is coming off the edge.

Ahead of Wednesday’s first training camp practice, Quinn explained the importance of a strong pass rush.

“Affecting the quarterback is, has to be at the top of what you wanna do defensively, right behind taking the ball away and tackling well,” Quinn said.

“You don’t always want to be able to have to bring five or six to generate pressure and pass rush. So, when you can get there with four and affect the quarterback and get him out of the pocket, or, you know, change where he has to go, set his feet, that’s what we’re looking for.”

It didn’t matter how many pass rushers the Commanders sent last season; they couldn’t get near opposing quarterbacks. That will change under Quinn. A strong pass rush goes hand in hand with taking the ball away.

While Washington may not have an elite pass rusher, Quinn couldn’t be more excited to coach defensive tackles Daron Payne, Jonathan Allen and Johnny Newton. Those three will play a key role in the Commanders’ ability to rush the passer in 2024.

What is the Commanders’ most glaring hole ahead of the season?

What position is the most questionable for the Commanders ahead of the season?

The Washington Commanders are set to open training camp this week. The rookies reported late last week, but the entire team is due in Ashburn on Tuesday.

The rosters of all 32 NFL teams are primarily set. Over the next several weeks, teams will trim their rosters from 90 players to 53. Training camp and the preseason will help determine the back end of rosters across the league. While there are some veteran free agents still out there who could step into starting roles, finding impact players at this stage of the year is difficult.

So, as training camp kicks off this week, what is Washington’s biggest remaining hole?

It’s easy to say offensive tackle — specifically left tackle. But the Commanders feel good about the trio vying for the role: Veterans Cornelius Lucas and Trent Scott and rookie Brandon Coleman.

What about cornerback? There are some serious questions there, too. However, the addition of new head coach Dan Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. should help some of the Commanders’ talented young defensive backs.

Jared Dubin of CBS Sports recently looked at every team’s biggest roster hole ahead of the season, and he believes it is edge rusher for the Commanders.

And in Washington, Dorance Armstrong was a strong rotation edge rusher for the Cowboys and Dan Quinn over the last few years, but he’s now the No. 1 guy. That’s less than ideal. The Commanders are counting on guys like Clelin Ferrell, Efe Obada and Dante Fowler Jr. to supplement him.

This is fair. Armstrong, Ferrell, Obada and Fowler are all solid and reliable veteran players, but none of them is a dominant pass rusher at this juncture of their career. There is hope that Armstrong, with an increased role in 2024, will develop into a double-digit pass rusher.

Things are much different for the Commanders in 2024 than they were one year ago. Washington entered 2023 with Chase Young and Montez Sweat. The Commanders traded both and allowed their backups, Casey Toohill and James Smith-Williams, to depart in free agency.

Montez Sweat was ‘angry’ when he was traded from Commanders to Bears

Montez Sweat discusses his emotions after the Commanders traded him to the Bears.

The Washington Commanders had always planned to extend the contract of 2019 first-round pick Montez Sweat. Throughout his first four seasons, Sweat was solid and dependable. But he always left you wanting a little bit more.

Last season, the Commanders decided to move on from Sweat, sending him to the Chicago Bears at the NFL trade deadline. Why? Washington was going nowhere in the last year of an old regime and its first year under new ownership.

It also helped that the Bears’ offer of a second-round pick would be a top-40 pick.

Sweat’s situation was different than Chase Young’s situation. The Commanders had no interest in a long-term deal with Young but had always wanted to retain Sweat. Before his trade to the Bears, Sweat led Washington with 6.5 sacks. That was good enough to lead the team for the entire season.

After his trade to Chicago, Sweat had six more sacks, which also led the Bears. Yes, Sweat led two teams in sacks last season, which was good enough to earn a trip to his first Pro Bowl.

The Bears rewarded Sweat with a new four-year deal worth $98 million for his excellent play.

In an interview with Dan Pompei of The Athletic, Sweat reflected on his trade from Washington to Chicago. He wasn’t happy about it.

“I was shocked,” he says. “In disbelief.”

Sweat reflected on a text from then-head coach Ron Rivera to meet him in his office to discuss the trade.

“I was very emotional,” he says. “I was angry and probably said some things I wanted to take back. Maybe.”

Sweat acknowledged that the fear of starting over scared him.

“It felt like somebody kind of gave up on you, like you aren’t good enough anymore,” Sweat said.

Things worked out for Sweat. While the Commanders could use him, the Bears are likely one year ahead of Washington in their rebuild. Sweat’s value was at an all-time high, and owner Josh Harris agreed to the deal, giving the next regime a high second-round pick and potential building block.

 

PFF ranks Commanders’ defensive line last among the NFC East teams

Is the defensive line still a strength for the Commanders?

Since Washington selected defensive tackle Daron Payne in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft, the defensive line has been a strength. Washington chose Payne one year after it selected his former college teammate, Jonathan Allen, in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft.

In 2019, Washington selected defensive end Montez Sweat and followed that up by choosing Chase Young in the 2020 NFL draft. During the 2020 season, it looked like Washington had the makings of what could’ve been a dominant foursome for a long time.

It didn’t happen. Young never became the player most thought he’d become for different reasons, and he was traded last October. The Commanders also traded Sweat at the trade deadline, too, although because they received an offer they couldn’t refuse. The team didn’t want to trade Sweat.

Washington’s defense, which was expected to be a team strength, was dead last in multiple categories last season. Even Payne and Allen had down seasons.

So, with Payne and Allen back but Sweat and Young gone, is the defensive line still a team strength?

Pro Football Focus recently ranked every NFL team’s defensive line from 1 to 32. Washington was ranked 19th, last of the four NFC East teams.

Last season resulted in unexpected down years from the interior duo of Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne. Allen led the team in quarterback pressures, with 49, but it was his worst PFF pass-rushing grade since 2019 and the worst overall grade of his career.

Rookie Johnny Newton will hope to force his way into the rotation inside and make some noise, but the big issue for this team is on the edge, where new free agent Dorance Armstrong may be the most proven commodity.

It’s hard to disagree that the issue here is on the edge. Washington signed multiple veterans, including Armstrong, Dante Fowler and Clelin Ferrell, but none of the group is in Sweat’s class. Armstrong does appear to have the highest ceiling of the group.

In case you were wondering where the rest of the NFC East ranked:

  • 3. Philadelphia Eagles
  • 6. Dallas Cowboys
  • 18. New York Giants

The Giants’ ranking was a bit of a surprise with the addition of edge rusher Brian Burns and the presence of Dexter Lawrence.

Numbers prove the Commanders could not rush the passer in 2023

The Commanders could not rush the passer in 2023. Will that change in 2024 under Dan Quinn?

When the Washington Commanders opened the 2023 NFL season, they had Chase Young and Montez Sweat starting at defensive end. By November 1, both players were gone, and Washington turned to a pair of 2023 Day-3 draft picks and two other former seventh-round picks as its top pass rushers.

As you’d imagine, the Commanders struggled to rush the passer, but it wasn’t only because of the personnel. Washington was always seemingly at a coaching disadvantage, too. The Commanders didn’t have the pass rushers to win one-on-one, and the coaching staff didn’t do a good job of creating pressure.

That will change under new head coach Dan Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. While Quinn and Whitt will not have Micah Parsons in Washington, Quinn has always been excellent at finding ways to create pressure.

We’ve reviewed the Commanders’ defensive ineptitude a number of times, but Pro Football Focus recently gave us another statistic showing their struggles.

PFF used “clustering” to examine all 32 NFL defenses from the 2023 season. Before we review the assessment on Washington, let’s allow PFF to explain the clustering method:

Clustering is a mathematical technique used to group similar observations. The most common form is the k-means clustering algorithm, which completes its iterative process when each observation is in the cluster that best represents it. In other words, there is no other cluster whose center (or mean of all the variables) is closer to that observation than the one it currently belongs to.

Now, what about the Commanders?

PFF has Washington in Cluster One with the Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans.

The Commanders rushed the passer the least often of any defense in 2023 (29.3%).

In addition to Washington’s inability to rush the passer, the team struggled across the board defensively. This offseason, general manager Adam Peters signed Dorance Armstrong, Clelin Ferrell and Dante Fowler at defensive end. Armstrong and Fowler followed Quinn to the Commanders from Dallas.

And while none of the aforementioned newcomers are known as standout pass rushers, Washington will be much better at applying pressure in 2024. Armstrong, in particular, is the most intriguing addition.

3 Bears named to CBS Sports’ Top 100 NFL Players of 2024

The Bears have plenty of young talent, and three players landed on Pete Prisco’s list of the Top 100 Players of 2024.

The Chicago Bears have a slew of talent on the roster, which general manager Ryan Poles has spent the past three years cultivating in order to put this team in a position to succeed.

CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco unveiled his annual “Top 100 NFL Players” list, where three Bears players made the cut. And it’s no surprise all three returning veterans played a key role during the late second-half run in 2023.

Cornerback Jaylon Johnson topped the list for Chicago at No. 34. He established himself as one of the NFL’s best cover corners, and he also has a career-high four interceptions. He also has recorded 36 tackles and 10 pass breakups. Johnson earned a massive contract extension this offseason.

He had his breakout season in 2023, which earned him a new contract from the team. He gives them a true No. 1 corner and will team with Tyrique Stevenson and Kyler Gordon to give them one of the best trios in the league.

After Johnson, there was a dropoff until defensive end Montez Sweat landed at No. 73. He was acquried in a trade last year and quickly earned a massive contract extension. Sweat’s career-high 12.5 sacks ranked third in the NFC. He led both the Bears (6.0) and Commanders (6.5) in sacks last season, becoming the first player to accomplish that in NFL history.

He had a career-best 12 1/2 sacks last season playing for the Commanders and Bears. He was traded midway through the season from Washington to Chicago and quickly established himself as the top edge player on the Chicago defense.

Wide receiver DJ Moore rounded out the list for the Bears at No. 84. Moore is coming off a career year with Chicago, with 96 catches for 1,364 yards and eight touchdowns, after being acquired in the massive trade for the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL draft. While the Bears added two big names at receiver with Keenan Allen and rookie Rome Odunze, Moore will still be the featured guy on offense.

He had a career-best 96 catches in his first season with the Bears. But the best thing about him is his big-play ability that is evident by his 14.2 yards-per-catch average.

When looking at the talent on the roster, there’s no reason these players — and some returning veterans and newcomers — won’t be able to crack this list at this time next offseason.

Why the Bears must keep Montez Sweat healthy in 2024

The Bears can’t afford to lose Montez Sweat to injury this season.

The Chicago Bears are a good team on paper. However, they have some stuff to work out to improve on the field. They have a rookie quarterback in Caleb Williams and an offense that is going to take some time to get their chemistry together on a full-time basis.

They need their defense to play well all season long to have a chance of contending for the playoffs. They took a big step in 2024, but it didn’t come until the second half of the season. The timeline lines up to when Chicago traded for star defensive end Montez Sweat.

He’s a great player that they needed on the defensive line to shore up the pass rush so that the rest of the unit could fall into place. Some people were skeptical about the trade when general manager Ryan Poles first made it, but he showed exactly why it was a smart move right away.

Sweat missed seven games in 2021 due to injury with the Washington Commanders. But he played in all 17 games in back-to-back seasons from 2022-23. He was back to full health and feeling good, which showed on the field.

Which is why the Bears must keep Sweat healthy in 2024. If he goes down, they are in big trouble. Their pass-rushing depth isn’t great behind Sweat, where DeMarcus Walker and rookie Austin Booker are the key names on the roster. Losing him would be a brutal blow for their postseason aspirations.

Injuries happen in football but the Bears can’t afford to lose Sweat. Their depth at edge rusher will increase over the years, but they didn’t do enough this offseason to add there. Keeping Sweat on the field will be a top priority.