Bears 2024 defense: What stats tell us about the drop-off and who ascended

When Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson referred to his new team as a “sleeping giant” ahead of the 2024 season, he remembered a defense that had previously stifled the Lions.

“Personally, we struggled with that defense here for both games that we played them in 2023,” he said at his introductory news conference Wednesday. “That was a huge deal, knowing that as much as I struggled staying up at night trying to attack this defense, I knew what that was capable of.”

In the first seven games of the season, the Chicago Bears had the most effective defense in football. Their success rate of 63.9 percent (per TruMedia) was No. 1. Their EPA (expected points added) per snap was 14.7, third best. They played like the defense that gave Johnson nightmares.

Then came the Hail Mary in Washington and the loss in Arizona and Andrew Billings’ injury and coach Matt Eberflus’ firing … and things fell apart.

“This year what was a little different than 2023 was Billings being out,” Johnson said. “Him being out, we could feel that when we played Chicago.”

In Weeks 9-18, the Bears ranked 28th in defensive success rate. Strong performances against Seattle and Green Bay to close the season certainly helped the final numbers, but the Bears were too erratic on defense.

The Bears did some good things overall. Their 26 defensive penalties were the fewest in football. Their 13 fumble recoveries were the most for the Bears since 2012. It was still the foundation, but the offense never got to be good enough to compensate if the defense fell off a cliff like it did.

As Johnson seeks a coordinator, he already sees pieces in place on defense that helped draw him to Chicago.

“There are a number of players that I was really excited about,” he said. “Secondary-wise, I think (Kyler) Gordon’s a phenomenal nickel. Jaylon Johnson, last year and the year before, really didn’t want to throw it his way. I think he’s that caliber of corner right now. He’s playing at that level. The two linebackers are excellent ballplayers. They’re quick to diagnose and react. And up front, that defensive line, there might not be as much star power right now, but collectively, they made it really difficult to run the football against.”

This is the third of our three-part series breaking down the numbers of the 2024 Bears. We analyzed Caleb Williams’ season, then the offense. Now, the defense.

Linebackers

T.J. Edwards proved to be one of the team’s bright spots, and had things not fallen apart with Eberflus, I wonder if Edwards could’ve earned a short contract extension. Now, we’ll have to see how he fits with a new coach as he enters the last year of his contract.

In 2024, Edwards set career-high marks in sacks (four) and tackles for loss (12). In a couple of rough games for the defense, Edwards usually was the one still making plays.

Tremaine Edmunds experienced a playmaking drought in the middle of the season. From Week 8 to Week 15, he totaled four splash plays in eight games. He then had a pass defensed in each of the final three games, giving him eight on the season. Edmunds had more than one splash play in only three games all season. That’s a tough look for someone making as much money as Edmunds, and someone with his captain status. Overall, he had only one fewer splash play than ’23 but was part of six takeaways last season as opposed to two in ’24.

When the Bears defense was rolling, so was Jack Sanborn. It seemed like every time he was on the field, he made a play. We did see, however, the Cardinals offense attack him and keep the Bears in their base defense in that 29-9 loss. Sanborn had seven tackles for loss in ’23 and only two in ’24. We’ll see what general manager Ryan Poles’ plan is with Sanborn, who’s a restricted free agent and someone valuable both on special teams and on defense.

The play-time percentage for Sewell isn’t surprising considering the depth chart, but he was a healthy scratch the last four games of the season — not a good sign for the 2024 fifth-rounder.

The Bears didn’t get the kind of production they expected from Montez Sweat, chasing Jayden Daniels, this season. (Greg Fiume / Getty Images)

Defensive ends

Bears defensive ends combined for 16 1/2 sacks. That’s not a terrible number, but no one had more than Montez Sweat’s 5 1/2. That’s not ideal when he’s the highest-paid player on defense.

Sweat also compiled nine tackles for loss and 12 QB hits. The attention he garnered helped Gervon Dexter put up big numbers (more on him in a bit). Sweat finished with a good pressure rate, per Pro Football Focus. Opposite him, DeMarcus Walker tied a career high with 16 QB hits to go along with 3 1/2 sacks and seven tackles for loss while starting every game for the first time in his career.

But the Bears need more out of Sweat.

“Montez, we had a good conversation,” Poles said. “I know he’s disappointed in himself and wants to get better. I know and he knows he’s capable of much more. Also as we continue to build the defensive line, adding more talent on that will help. When we looked at some of the chip numbers and the double teams, he did get a fair share of that too.”

Getting Sweat 100 percent healthy will be critical, too. His playing time is not reflective of what it could be for someone at his level. Using Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson, the league leader in sacks, as one example, the Bears should want Sweat on the field more.

A few other notes on the D-ends…

• Darrell Taylor had two sacks in Week 1 and didn’t notch another until Week 17. He had nine games without a QB hit.
• Rookie Austin Booker had only 1 1/2 sacks and four QB hits. The skill set is definitely there for him to be a steadier contributor, but he has work to do.
• In his third season, Dominique Robinson had only seven tackles and one QB hit. He’ll enter 2025 on the roster bubble.
• Jacob Martin did have six QB hits in eight games to go along with three sacks.

Defensive tackles

The “second-year leap” can be a tired summer narrative, but in the case of Dexter, he matched it in training camp and went on to have an extremely productive season.

Among interior defensive linemen, Dexter’s 19 QB hits (which led the team) ranked fifth. He had five sacks, four tackles for loss and two fumble recoveries. Dexter did have a bit of a lull from Week 6 to Week 12 when he had only six splash plays and no sacks over six games, but he should continue to ascend. If the Bears were to move to a 3-4 defense, he should be able to handle the five-technique position.

Billings’ injury turned out to be a massive blow to the defense. The defensive drop-off coincided with his torn pec, which took place in the loss to the Cardinals. Before his injury, Billings had a 10.3 percent pressure rate per Pro Football Focus, the best of his career. He was ranked highly in ESPN’s “pass-rush win rate” stat among defensive tackles.

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Poles did make a nice find with reserve Chris Williams, whom the Bears acquired (along with a seventh-round pick) from the Browns for a sixth-rounder in late August. He had played in 13 games in his career and without a sack and didn’t play in 2023. This year, he played in every game and had three sacks, seven QB hits and three tackles for loss.

What should be disappointing for Poles is that Zacch Pickens, his 2023 third-rounder, did not have the sophomore bump like Dexter. Pickens was a healthy scratch down the stretch, losing playing time to Jonathan Ford, who was plucked off the Packers’ practice squad. Pickens had one sack and two QB hits.

Byron Cowart was another under-the-radar contributor. Called up from the practice squad, he wound up with 2.5 sacks, five tackles for loss and four QB hits.

Cornerbacks

The Bears’ opponent passer rating was 90.9 this past season, the 13th-best in the league, their same rank as 2023 (88.0). The biggest drop-off in the secondary was interceptions, which were cut in half. The Bears tied for the lead league with 22 in 2023 and had 11 in ’24.

Jaylon Johnson, who’s off to another Pro Bowl, had eight passes defensed and two picks. He started every game for the first time in his career, and despite playing three more games than in 2023, he saw two fewer targets his way, a sign of opposing quarterbacks avoiding Johnson’s side of the field. As a run defender, Johnson had seven tackles for loss, tied for fourth most among corners.

Tyrique Stevenson’s most memorable play isn’t in his stat line — his gaffe on the Hail Mary against the Commanders. Otherwise, he led the team with 12 passes defensed to go along with two picks. After rotating with Terell Smith during the middle of the season, Stevenson went back to full time in the final few games. Stevenson did lead all defensive players with six penalties — four of which led to first downs.

Smith’s biggest knock remains his durability — he missed three games this season — but he did have a pick and four passes defensed. He had the best opponent passer rating of the three outside corners (72.7).

On a better team, and with a few interceptions, Kyler Gordon might have gotten some Pro Bowl attention — he’s been that good. Gordon did miss two games, but he led the team with three fumble recoveries and had four tackles for loss.

Gordon had four “run stuffs” for zero yards, tied for second most among corners in the league.

Kevin Byard, forcing a fumble by Malik Willis, missed his running mate, Jaquan Brisker for most of the season. (John Fisher / Getty Images)

Safeties

The stats don’t show the leadership the Bears seemed to miss when Jaquan Brisker left the field. His season ended in Week 5 after he sustained a concussion. Brisker’s social media posts vow a return to the field, but it’s fair to be concerned about his long-term health and wonder what kind of player he can be.

He was coming off one of his best games, too. In Week 4, Brisker had 12 tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss and an interception in the win over the Rams.

Veteran Kevin Byard totaled 130 tackles, a career high, and tied his career best with five tackles for loss. He had seven passes defensed — his highest total since 2021 — but had only one interception.

Brisker’s replacements — Elijah Hicks and Jonathan Owens — each had two fumble recoveries. Owens had an interception and forced fumble as well. All four Bears safeties are under contract for 2025.

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Special teams

When you think about the 2024 Bears special teams unit, two blocked field goals — including a potential game-winner against Green Bay — will come to mind first. But the Bears had a pretty good year with their third phase.

For the first time since 2005, the Bears had three players win NFC special teams player of the week (Tory Taylor, Cole Kmet, Josh Blackwell). They had their first blocked punt since 2012 — and had two of them, Daniel Hardy and Robinson. Blackwell returned a punt for a touchdown, the team’s first since 2021. The Bears were 11th in the league in kickoff returns.

Taylor finished his rookie year with the franchise’s best single-season marks in net punting average (41.6 yards) and gross average (47.7 yards). The gross punting record had stood since 1949 (George Gulyanics). His net punting average was nearly a full yard better than the previous record holder (Pat O’Donnell, 2019).

It’s generally tough for a Bears punter to rank too highly in the league because of the challenges of punting in Soldier Field. Taylor did tie for fourth in the NFL with his 34 punts inside the 20-yard line.

Cairo Santos was 21-for-25 in field goals, his lowest percentage since 2018. He also attempted 13 fewer field goals than last season, a sign of an offense that punted a lot (Taylor was second in the NFL in punts).

Santos was 8-for-9 from 50-plus yards out, setting the franchise record for most 50-plus yard field goals made in a season. He’s made 21 as a Bear, which is two shy of Robbie Gould’s 23.

His long was 54 yards, and as consistent as Santos has been from anything within that number, a bigger leg might’ve changed the Bears’ situation in a few games this season. He is adept at kicking at Soldier Field, a skill that can be hard to find.

The Bears’ special teams unit had 11 penalties in the first eight games, several procedural on the new kickoff, but only five in the final nine games.

(Top photo of Tremaine Edmunds and Gervon Dexter: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)