Montez Sweat has faced a gauntlet of right tackles since he was acquired by the Chicago Bears. Ryan Ramcyzk, Taylor Moton, Brian O’Neill, and Penei Sewell are four of the ten best right tackles in the NFL, and he has faced them in all five of his starts since being traded for. Still, he has done well and changed the way the Bears play defense.
The Chicago Bears are getting the most out of Montez Sweat now
Finally, the Chicago Bears decided to throw him a bone as well and move him around. Taylor Decker is still a quality tackle, but he is not nearly as good as Penei Sewell. So, the Chicago Bears decided to get Montez Sweat, their best rusher match up on the Lions' weaker tackle.
In the four games prior to week 14, Sweat had 16 rushes against the left tackle. Other than that, he has rushes against right tackles. On Sunday, he had 17 rushes against Taylor Decker. The results were a sack, a quarterback hit, and six combined pressures. His pass rush win rate was 17.9%, which is above his career rate, and one of the best games of his season.
For Decker, it was his worst game of the season as a pass protector. He allowed a sack to Yannick Ngakoue as well. You could argue that Sweat being on that side helped work Decker down to the point where the change of pace helped Ngakoue. It was his best game as a rusher since the Sweat trade.
He also did not play much, as the Bears mainly rushed DeMarcus Walker against the right tackles, Ngakoue against the left, and then had Sweat cut into the playing time of both by rushing against both tackles. Sweat had his work against Sewell, but not quite as many.
The Chicago Bears should continue to use Sweat against the weaker tackle, whichever side that may be.