Bears News: Washington on his defense: "Our pass rush needs to be extremely impactful" |
CHICAGO—The Chicago Bears last defeated a division opponent when they faced the Minnesota Vikings in week 12 of last season in a 12-10 defense-dominated game.
With Minnesota's offensive weapons —wide receiver Justin Jefferson and running back Aaron Jones—this Sunday (Noon / FOX) will probably be another defense-dominated match. “There are explosive (plays) throughout this offense and especially from the quarterback position to (Justin) Jefferson. They do a really good job of running the football to set up their play action game. So, we’re going to have to make sure we’re on top of our keys, that we find a way to make this offense one-dimensional,” defensive coordinator Eric Washington said. “We cannot afford to let this offense have efficiency with their rushing attack (to) setup play action and to execute in that realm and then also be in manageable third down situations.” Stopping the rush has been a problem for Chicago’s defense this year, which is quite odd given that they were the best run defense in the league last season. The Bears’ passing defense has improved statistically since 2023, but they have struggled, as they only have 25 sacks. Their sack leader is Gervon Dexter who has not recorded a sack since Chicago’s win against the Carolina Panthers back in the beginning of October. “Our pass rush needs to be extremely impactful this week and the guys know that to make sure that when this quarterback holds the ball that we’re in position to take advantage and get some hits on him,” Washington said. “Everything that we like to do starts with our four-man rush first through third down and including two-minute and whatever we desire to do in terms of sending an extra player should complement that. But, we have to have the production with our four-man rush.” When the Bears traded for edge rusher Montez Sweat last season, he made an immediate impact and led the team in sacks with six in nine games. Unfortunately for Chicago, Sweat has not had the same impact this year. He has 3.5 sacks and missed the Bears’ game against the Arizona Cardinals with a shin injury. Given Sweat's limited impact, there are some questions as to whether that injury is lingering. However, Washington does not believe that is influencing Sweat. “Montez is getting himself ready to compete and no one at this time of the year feels great. I don’t intend to speak for him, but that’s not something I see him dwelling on or focusing on when I watch him practice,” Washington said. “When I watch him engage our entire process to get to Sunday. We’ve got to go out and find a way to be at our best when our best is required.” There is also some uncertainty in the secondary. Chicago has been rotating cornerbacks Tyrique Stevenson and Terell Smith since Smith came back from injury. Stevenson’s actions went viral on the Hail Mary against the Washington Commanders, and perhaps his lack of discipline on that play may be costing him his starting job. He played 85 percent of the defensive snaps against the Commanders and 79 percent against the Cardinals. However, that declined to under 60 percent in each of the last two games. For Smith, who played in all four of those games, his playing time increased significantly in the last two games as he played over 40 percent of the defensive snaps in that span after playing under 20 percent of the defensive snaps against Washington and Arizona. Washington did not definitively say if Stevenson has lost his starting job but said the Bears will continue to utilize both players. “We feel great about what they can contribute to our defense. You saw Terell in the Arizona Cardinals game come within inches of getting a pick. You saw him get a pick last week and beginning of the season, (Tyrique) is running down the sideline with the ball in his hand scoring for us. So, we like what both players bring to the table and we’ll continue to utilize both,” Washington said. “First of all, both of them, you love the size that they both have at the corner position. Tyrique’s an explosive tackler, really good at the point of attack. If teams are scheming to force the corner into a position where he’s at the point and he has to make tackles, you really like what he can do. Then Terell, I just love his man coverage ability and I love his savvy, his understanding of route concepts, being able to feel pattern pressure and ultimately execute in the coverage.”
