Bears legend calmly (and fairly) calls out well-paid defender who must step up

The Chicago Bears were competitive in Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions was competitive for nearly a half. An officiating mistake late in the first half was the turning point, as Detroit scored 24 unanswered points on their way to a 52-21 win.

The Bears' defense was simply overwhelmed in all areas by a group of Lions' offensive players who clearly wanted to send a message to their departed offensive coordinator, who is, of course, now the head coach in Chicago. 52 points and 511 yards for the Lions came with a heavy dose of big plays (15 plays of 10-plus yards, seven of 20-plus yards, and five of 30-plus yards, as the Bears also lost cornerback Jaylon Johnson and linebacker T.J. Edwards during the game.

Lance Briggs calmly and fairly calls out Montez Sweat

Lions quarterback Jared Goff is the most "pressure sensitive" quarterback in the NFL (h/t to ESPN's Mina Kimes). His stat line on Sunday (23-for-28 for 334 yards and five touchdowns) reflects how he was not sacked and how the Bears' pass rush hardly touched him.

The Bears have made notable investments across their defensive line, but when it comes to getting after the quarterback edge rushers usually take center stage.

Montez Sweat made an immediate impact upon being acquired from the Washington Commanders during the 2023 season, with six sacks over his first nine games as a Bear. No long after acquiring him, the Bears gave Sweat four-year, $98 million contract extension.

Sweat followed that half-season surge with just 5.5 sacks over 16 games last season. Before this season started, a deeper look actually showed a dismal pass rush win rate over the season-plus since the Bears acquired him.

Through two games this season, Sweat has zero sacks and just one quarterback hit. His PFF pass rush win rate against the Lions was pretty good (21.1 percent), but two pressures on 20 pass rush snaps lands disappointingly.

On CHGO's postgame show Sunday, former Bears linebacker Lance Briggs called out Sweat without venturing into hot take territory.

"I know Sweat had a sack called back today", Briggs said. "However, there's no...there's not enough consistency right now (with) our d-line creating pressure."

After talking generally about the residual effect that comes from a lack of pass rush pressure, and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen liking to dial up blitzes every once in awhile, Briggs came back to Sweat.

"What is my standard? What is Montez Sweat's standard?", Briggs said. "Am I a premier player or am I just a guy? Cause right now you look like just a guy getting paid premier money.”

Even as the top of the edge rusher market continues to rise with each new long-term deal someone gets, Sweat is still among the 12 highest-paid players at the position this year. He's also under contract through 2027, without a viable-looking path to part ways in 2026 unless the Bears are willing to take on a notable chunk of dead money.

Read more: It only took two games for Rome Odunze to fully assert himself as the Bears' WR1

Two games does not make a season. But Sweat has been underwhelming going back to last season, and it has become impossible to ignore. Unless an undisclosed injury is in play, it's time for him to justify his pay check. Props to Briggs for saying so, and doing it in a reasonable fashion when it might have been easy to go a different direction.