The Chicago Bears entered Monday Night Football down three of their top defensive starters against the Minnesota Vikings. One of the more underrated linebackers in the league, TJ Edwards, was one of them.
In his place was third-year pro Noah Sewell, a fifth-round pick by the Bears out of Oregon back in 2023.
It was abundantly apparent, after just one drive, that Sewell was going to make the most of his opportunity to start next to Tremaine Edmunds. From the get-go, Sewell was all over the field. On almost every run play on the Vikings' first few drives, Sewell either making the tackle or near the pile at the end of the play.
By halftime, Sewell led the Bears with three solo tackles and four total. But, his impact was felt on every drive, and in a big way.
Noah Sewell just gave the Bears an added luxury on defense
By the game's end, Sewell would lead the Bears defense with nine tackles. The most impressive part? Seven of them were solo. For perspective, only two players on the Vikings' defense ended with four solo tackles in this one. As for Chicago, Kevin Byard was also active and came up with five of his own.
But, Sewell led the way. He was fantastic for the vast majority of the game, aside from a tough touchdown given up to Aaron Jones through the air. Coverage is a spot where Sewell can afford to improve, but that's never been his strength and he was caught and the back end of a wrong-place, wrong-time type of play. Still, his overall performance was strong despite Chicago's late collapse.
This past offseason, the Bears allowed veteran Jack Sanborn to leave via free agency and sign with his former head coach Matt Eberflus, who is now the defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys. This move made fans believe the Bears had all the faith in the world in Sewell.
By the time Edwards is back and starting, Sewell will have done plenty to cement his status as a player the Bears can count on if an injury were to happen again.
Read more: Bears just took a Kevin O'Connell guarantee and buried it in real time
Between Sewell, Edwards and Edmunds, the Bears once again have a trio of formidable linebackers. And, if all goes according to plan, the unheralded rookie, Ruben Hyppolite II, will join them in panning out as well.