As it looks now, it would be surprising if they made a move for additional urgent help and here’s why.

1. Shrinking list of candidates

The names of Cleveland’s Myles Garrett and Vegas’ Maxx Crosby were discussed for a time as potentials for pass-rushing teams, such as the Lions. But reports from then say none of the teams He even wants to talk about trading his star running back. CBS Sports’ Jordan Dajani pegged Azeez Ojulari of the Giants, Za’Darius Smith of the Browns and Preston Smith of the Packers as possibly the best running backs on the market.

Since the Bears tried and failed to trade for Matthew Judon, it is believed that they might have interest in whoever is available, but in reality, the truth is that they would not benefit much. They’re not going to give up high draft picks for someone like any of the Smiths, who used to terrorize them in Green Bay. Both are in their 30s, but the Packers would likely have little interest in trading Preston Smith to a division team. Ojulari has skills but with only 43 games played he has always had injury problems in four seasons. He has 22 sacks in four seasons, but he’s more of an asset for a 3-4 than a one-gap pass rusher like the one the Bears use on the wing.

2. They already run well

They’ve risen from second-to-last in the league last year and last the year before to 12th in sacks with 20, the same number they had in the final nine games of last year once Sweat arrived on the scene. But it goes much further than the bags.

The Bears rank 10th in rushing at 9.6% according to Stathead/Pro Football Reference. A rush is forcing the QB to throw before he wants to or getting him out of the pocket. They occupy eighth place in pressures with 27.6%.

For the Bears, it’s all about pressure and forcing takeaways.

3. The big picture looks good

The goal of the Bears’ pass rush is to run and cover. It is a system of two parts that complement each other. How much can they improve when they lead the NFL in passer rating against opponents like they do, and when they are number one in red zone scoring and red zone touchdown percentage allowed? They maintained a top-four offense with four field goals until a stroke of luck on the final play forced them to kick field goals.

“The guys have done a tremendous job on that end of the field understanding the urgency that’s needed and understanding that our goals are field goals and turnovers,” defensive coordinator Eric Washington said. “We want to take the ball away or force field goals. Their urgency increased. We had to do things to defend the run. We had to do things in terms of affecting the quarterback. And everything was exactly what we wanted.”

More interceptions could happen if they had a little more pressure, but then again, more could happen when they finally get their two vital and injured members of the secondary back, Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker.

They do not keep statistics on the percentage of Hail Marys detained. They could benefit from having a strong pass rush on that play, but Sweat was out with a shin injury and appears on track to return this week after playing just 50% of the snaps last week. Without Sweat, the entire race seems weaker. They have three other pass rushers in the top 20 in ESPN pass rush win rate largely due to Sweat’s presence.

“The other benefit of having a guy, a player like Montez, is that, as you probably know, some of the quick production is spread out to the other guys on the defensive line,” Washington said. “We’re the sum of our parts, so to speak. If you’re going to focus your attention on Montez, then the person outside of his lineup has to be productive.”

4. They may already have the answer

The younger pass rushers haven’t really made a big impact, but Darrell Taylor has been in the top 15 in pass rush win rate all year and they just got Jake Martin back on Sunday after being on IR all year. season. He only played 15 plays.

“The energy was obvious, his energy, the speed, the quickness, the toughness,” Washington said. “I thought he did some really good things as a edge rusher. I thought he was in position a couple of times to not only affect the quarterback but also hit him and I’m looking forward to him making a pretty significant jump this week.”

If he doesn’t, or Sweat has an unforeseen issue related to his injury, then the urgent need seems a little more serious. But the help they’re getting at tackle, with Andrew Billings fifth among interior linemen in pass rush win rate and Gervon Dexter 11th, has evened out the pressure and could continue to do so, as long as they don’t lose Long-term sweat.

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If that happens, then it will essentially be every man for himself up front and the Bears will be almost back to where they were in their pass rush in 2022.

And then an exchange wouldn’t look bad. But there’s only one game for all of these scenarios to happen and then the Bears defense will be what it is.

Right now, that’s pretty good when you can limit a high-scoring team to 18 points, or four field goals and a fluke. If they do something similar to Kyler Murray and a potentially explosive Cardinals offense, expect the deadline to come and go without his name being mentioned in relation to pass rushers.

Twitter: BearsOnSI