There is a common theme among the four NFL teams playing in the Conference Championship weekend. The Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos, and New England Patriots all have defensive lines that produced at a high level, especially on the interior.
NFL media member Kevin Clark noted that each team's starting defensive tackle duo leads the NFL in pressures. The Broncos are No. 1, followed by the Seahawks, then the Rams, and finally the Patriots.
Here are the quarterback pressures from each duo during the 2025 regular season.
— Oliver Twist (@WillHuntingsCar) January 22, 2026
Chicago Bears know where they need to improve on during the offseason
The Chicago Bears did not create enough quarterback pressures (QBP), finishing 25th with 189. But that was even more evident when looking at the pressures generated from starting interior defensive linemen Grady Jarrett and Gervon Dexter Sr.
Jarrett finished with 20 QBPs, and Dexter added 41, which was 28th among defensive linemen. With those numbers, the Bears’ interior defensive linemen duo is 26 quarterback pressures away from tying the Patriots’ Christian Barmore and Milton Williams.
Jarrett was limited to 14 games because of a knee injury and started to generate more pressure later in the season. From Weeks 14-18, the veteran defensive tackle created 10 quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.
Dexter put together his best pass-rushing season to date, but he finished 11 games, including the playoffs, where he generated two quarterback pressures or fewer. The unit did not create enough consistent pass rush, and the defense felt it. In the 42-38 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Jarrett and Dexter finished with zero combined quarterback pressures.
Read more: One sentence perfectly describes Bears' incredible 2025 season
Generating pass rush from the interior will be one of the many focuses this Bears team will need to address as they look to improve for the 2026 NFL season.