The Chicago Bears suffered a tough loss against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday. The loss snapped the Bears’ five-game winning streak and knocked them from atop the NFC playoff and NFC North standings.

It happened partly because the Bears defense couldn’t find a way to stop Packers quarterback Jordan Love. He threw for 234 yards, three touchdowns and one interception after he completed 68% of his passes.

While the secondary gave up a few explosive plays for touchdowns, Love threw the ball all over the field because of a lack of a Bears pass rush. Chicago sacked Love once and only had one quarterback hit as Love faced little pressure and escaped whatever pressure he did see.

It’s been a similar story for the Bears pass rush for much of the season. Chicago has had sparks like Sunday when defensive end Montez Sweat sacked Love on Sunday. But for the most part, much like Sunday, the Bears rush hasn’t passed the eye test.

So, 14 weeks into the season, has the Bears pass rush performed as poorly as it seems? Here’s a look at the numbers.

Hanging near the bottom

It doesn’t take a long time looking at the numbers to see that the quick answer to that question is yes. A glance at most pass rush categories has the Bears listed near the bottom.

Chicago ranks tied for 26th after Week 14 with 24 sacks, far behind the league-leading Denver Broncos’ 55 sacks, according to Pro Football Reference. The Bears are tied for 29th in quarterback hurries (24) and 29th each in quarterback pressures (73) and quarterback knockdowns (25).

The one area where the Bears are middle in the pack in these categories doesn’t leave much room for encouragement either. Chicago has blitzed on 25% of its defensive snaps this season, which is 10th in the NFL. It has also blitzed 110 times this season, ranking 16th. Despite blitzing at a relatively high clip, the Bears still haven’t gotten to the quarterback too often.

Pro Football Focus has also ranked the Bears near the bottom tier with its pass rush grade. The website graded Chicago’s pass rush with a 62.3, which ranks 26th in the league heading into Monday night.

Safety Jaquan Brisker is the Bears’ top-graded pass rusher according to PFF. He leads the way with a 75.2 grade, ahead of defensive tackle Gervon Dexter’s 73.6 and Sweat’s 67.3. Brisker ranks 90th overall with his grade while Dexter is 105th.

Brisker, meanwhile, has the Bears’ top win percentage. The statistic shows the percentage of “wins” rushers have against blocking on non-penalty pass snaps. Brisker is the team’s best at 14.3%. Robinson is second at 13.3% and Sweat is third at 11.6%. For reference, the Cleveland Brown’s defensive end Myles Garrett, whom the Bears will play Sunday at Soldier Field, leads the league at 27.7%.

There’s important context needed when looking at the numbers. Chicago’s pass rush was never fully healthy this season the way Bears general manager Ryan Poles envisioned. Defensive end Austin Booker missed the first seven games of the season with a knee injury he suffered during the preseason.

Chicago’s top free agent pass rush acquisition Dayo Odeyingbo tore his Achilles and has been out for the rest of the season since Week 9. Bears rookie defensive tackle Shemar Turner, whom the Bears wanted to use more off the edge, missed most of training camp with an ankle injury before tearing his ACL in Week 8. But the Bears still struggled to rush quarterbacks even when they have played.

Sweat’s big rebound season

While the Bears have struggled to create pressure, their top threat is on pace for his best season this year.

Sweat has put together his best performance with the Bears since they traded a second-round pick for him and then extended him to a four-year, $98 million contract in 2023. He’s 12th in the NFL this season with 8.5 sacks in 13 games and is on pace for 11.2 sacks.

It’s the most sacks Sweat has had in a season since he totaled 12.5 in 2023, a career-high, with both the Washington Commanders and the Bears. This season is the third time Sweat has had at least eights sacks in his seven-year career.

The Bears have to be encouraged by the development, even though they’d like more support surrounding Sweat. He improved this year after being limited to 5.5 sacks last season as he dealt with nagging injuries.

Pressure from the secondary

The Bears defensive line injuries have forced defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to get creative with how he pressures the quarterback. He’s done so by sending cornerbacks and safeties on blitzes when he can.

Slot cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson leads the Bears secondary with three sacks in the six games he’s play with Chicago. All three came during the first two games he played with the Bears. Brisker has contributed a sack, two quarterback hits and eight hurries.

Allen likely would’ve been sending more pressure using his secondary had it also been healthy. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson had missed most of the season before coming back the past couple of games while cornerback Tyrique Stevenson has dealt with injuries at times too. That’s forced Brisker to play back in coverage more instead of blitzing.

Slot cornerback Kyler Gordon, who injured his groin before Sunday’s game, has only played three games this season because of various injuries. Gordon also would’ve been a blitzing threat could he play. He does have one sack in limited time.

Creating mistakes

Let’s end on a positive note. Although the defensive line has struggled to create pressure, it’s been a part of the Bears league-leading turnover machine.

Chicago’s defensive linemen have forced four of the team’s 11 fumbles. Sweat leads the way with three, which is tied for fifth-most in the NFL, while Booker added one. Linebacker Noah Sewell also forced Las Vegas Raiders running Ashton Jeanty to fumble behind the line of scrimmage in Week 4.

The Bears have recovered nine fumbles this season as part of their NFL-leading 27 takeaways.