Bears’ Montez Sweat did not hold back about ‘toxic’ Commanders
After a 16-13 win over the Carolina Panthers last November, Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus was eager to talk about the impact of the newest addition to the team, defensive end Montez Sweat, and what he called “The Tez Factor.”
“Having the effect of Tez, the Tez factor, is a pretty cool thing to see,” Eberflus said after the game, according to Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com. “You could feel him forcing those incomplete passes, the hits on the quarterback. That certainly has an effect on their passing game.”
For Montez Sweat, this sort of moment has been a rarity throughout his career. Not only was Sweat receiving well-deserved praise for his impact on the game even though he didn’t record a single tackle or a sack — Sweat did have five pressures against Carolina, the most by a Bears player in over a year — but it was coming in the aftermath of a win, which wasn’t happening too much during his time with the Washington Commanders. In Sweat’s four-plus years with the team, the Commanders were 28-45-1, but the disappointing win-loss record wasn’t even the worst part. It was how everyone in the building handled the losses that bothered Sweat the most.
“It was a toxic, heavy toll, just losing and people around you being kind of OK with losing,” Sweat said of his time with the Commanders, per Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times. “It could sometimes rub off on you. You’ve gotta stay hungry and know that you want to win.”
Despite the toxic, heavy toll that playing in Washington for four and a half seasons had on Montez Sweat, he’s clearly stayed hungry. Sweat notched a career-high 12 sacks in 2023, six of which came in his nine games with the Bears. In doing so, Sweat became the first player in NFL history to lead two different teams in sacks in a single season. He also finished the season with a career high 57 total tackles, 40 quarterback pressures, 14 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles.
© Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Bears defense looks to build on strong finish to 2023 season
Four days after acquiring Montez Sweat, the Bears signed the Pro Bowl defensive end to a four-year, $98 million contract extension. It was at this point that the Bears defense took off in 2023. Over the final nine games of the season, the Bears D forced 19 turnovers and allowed just 17.8 points per game. It’s not a coincidence that the Bears, who were 2-6 at the time they traded for Sweat, went 5-4 after acquiring him.
The partnership between one of the NFL’s most storied franchises and one of the league’s emerging defensive ends looks to be a match made in football heaven. And those aren’t just my words. Take it from Montez Sweat himself.
“I definitely made a transition to a better spot for me,” Sweat said. “[Shoot], this was my first Pro Bowl and first double-digit sack year and all those types of things. I reached some accolades that I always had aspirations of getting, but never reached in Washington. You could definitely say it worked out better for me.”
The post Bears’ Montez Sweat did not hold back about ‘toxic’ Commanders appeared first on ClutchPoints.
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