After another disappointing season in 2024, the Chicago Bears went on a mission this offseason to change things. General Manager Ryan Poles set out to change the morale and atmosphere around Halas Hall. All the losing of the last couple of decades has taken a toll and things had to change.
The Chicago Bears have become irrelevant in the NFL. A few good seasons in between long stretches of failure caused that. They have been so bad for so long that many forgot how good the franchise once was.
Poles quickly showed how serious he was on his mission. He hired Ben Johnson, the most sought after candidate in the offseason. Johnson had a lot of success helping turn around the Detroit Lions as their offensive coordinator. Now he hopes to do the same as the head guy in charge in Chicago.
Johnson then hired his coaching staff. One of his first moves was hiring Dennis Allen. Allen has had his own success as a defensive coordinator. Now he gets to help improve a defense that has a storied history of greatness in the league.
Will Dennis Allen get the most of Montez Sweat?
The hiring of Allen was a huge change. In addition to running defenses, he has experience as a head coach. Matt Eberflus, the former head coach, avoided hiring coaches with head coaching experience. It seemed that he did not want someone who could ultimately replace him.
Johnson is not like that. This is his first time as a head coach. He feels secure enough to hire coaches with experience and, instead of feeling scared of being replaced, he wants to gain information from that experience. With Johnson and his new coaching staff are moving to change the attitude with the Chicago Bears. There is now a new era and things feel different.
With Allen on board, there are hopes of the Chicago Bears defense rising once again. One player who is especially happy about the change is defensive end Montez Sweat. Sweat is arguably the best and most important player on the defense.
When he got to Chicago via a trade midway through the 2023 season, Sweat helped change the face of the defense. He played with a high motor and his new teammates followed him.
Things were different last season, however. He dealt with injuries and his play suffered. After recording six sacks in nine games with the Bears in 2023, he recorded just 5.5 in 16 games in 2024. Additionally, not having help on the other side contributed to his play. Teams started to send multiple players his way to slow him down and it worked.
Montez Sweat did his homework
Once the Chicago Bears announced the hiring of Allen, Sweat was fired up. He saw the success that the New Orleans Saints’ defensive end, Cam Jordan, had with Allen. Now Sweat envisions himself having the same success here in Chicago. He quickly watched tapes so he can see what he can do.
Cam Jordan has always kind of been one of those premier pass rushers in the league. It’s kind of hard not to watch him when you play my position. I have gone back and looked at some of the film of how he has excelled in this defense under Dennis Allen.
While there are high hopes for Sweat, perhaps there is some hope for the other side of the defensive line finally. Poles acquired Dayo Odeyingbo. He could also thrive in Allen’s system. Let’s not forget second year defensive end Austin Booker. He has a ton of tools and just has to put it together. Allen could unlock that for him.
With Johnson a lot of people are looking forward to seeing a new look offense put up many points this season. However, with Allen as the coordinator and Sweat leading the way, the Chicago Bears defense can shut down opposing offenses and mark a return of the Monsters of the Midway.
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