Most Chicago Bears fans take the old saying "defenses win championships" to heart because of the 1985 team, but for the younger generation that watched the Seattle Seahawks blowout the New England Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl LX, those three words have never echoed louder in the Windy City.
Seattle's defense dominated in the Super Bowl, forcing eight punts, recording six sacks, and creating three turnovers to capture their second title. The Patriots didn't even score their first points of the game until the fourth quarter.
Chicago had a great season, going 11-6, winning the NFC North, and winning a playoff game against the Green Bay Packers. Watching the Super Bowl, though, was a reminder to the Bears that there is one critical thing they need to do in the offseason to fix their biggest need: get a pass rusher.
Seattle's six sacks is what Bears should strive for
Chicago had 35 total sacks in 17 regular season games this season, which is only more than what six NFL teams had. Montez Sweat was the best pass rusher with 10 sacks, but it still wasn't nearly enough to justify not doing anything at defensive end in the offseason.
Dayo Odeyingbo had an awful first season with the Bears, playing only half the games due to injury, and he recorded just one sack in eight games. Austin Booker recorded 4.5 sacks in 10 games this season, an improvement over 2024 and showing potential as a future starter.
That still leaves a massive gap for the Bears as they need a second stellar edge rusher to support Sweat. The options are to either sign Trey Hendrickson in free agency if the Cincinnati Bengals don't franchise tag him or trade for Maxx Crosby from the Las Vegas Raiders. There are also realistically 10 great edge rushers in the 2026 NFL Draft that could go in the first round that the Bears can consider.
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The Bears have to do something about getting more pressure on the quarterback. If they fix that, Chicago can no doubt make a deeper run in the postseason.