Bears’ pass rush target: Can Montez Sweat and Austin Booker reach double-digit sacks together for the first time since 1993?

The Chicago Bears are heading into the new NFL season with a specific pass-rush benchmark that has not been met in a generation. Montez Sweat and Austin Booker, both defensive ends in the Bears’ front, are being positioned to attempt something the franchise has not accomplished since 1993: have two Bears earn double-digit sack totals in the same year.

Sweat’s case begins with production. According to Yahoo Sports, Sweat recorded exactly 10 sacks last season for Chicago, marking the first time the Bears have had a player reach double digits in sacks since Robert Quinn set a franchise record with 18.5 in 2021. That matters because double-digit seasons are not common for a team that has often cycled through different pass-rush identities over the past decade.

Booker’s role is more about following through. Yahoo Sports’ framing ties the duo to the same kind of outcome Bears last saw in the Trace Armstrong and Richard Dent era. The implication is straightforward: if Booker can also reach at least ten sacks alongside Sweat, it would be a meaningful confirmation that the Bears’ emphasis on generating pressure from the edge is producing more than one standout year.

This is not just a stat trivia exercise for Chicago. A pair of edge threats can change the math for opponents. When offenses cannot comfortably double one side or bracket one player, protection schemes tend to lean toward earlier help, shorter coverage windows, and more rushed decisions. In practical terms, that often turns a good pass rusher into a more disruptive one by reducing the frequency of one-on-one matchups that are fully neutralized.

Still, the franchise context cuts both ways. The Bears’ history is filled with individual flashes at the edge, but sustained pressure has usually required either a deeper rotation, a consistent coverage unit that gives the pass rush time, or a scheme that produces repeated one-on-one looks. Sweat’s 10-sack season offers evidence that pressure can be consistent for Chicago, but translating that into a second double-digit year with Booker is the harder part of the storyline.

What to watch next is the process behind the numbers. Training camp and the early weeks of the regular season will be the first real tests of whether Booker is winning enough snaps with edge-quality speed, leverage, and finishing ability, not just flashing in isolated moments. Equally, it will be worth monitoring how often quarterbacks are forced into quick throws because the Bears’ front generates pressure from both sides rather than relying on one perimeter threat.

If the Bears do reach the same two-player, double-digit-sack outcome they have not posted since 1993, it would stand as a clear sign of a pass rush that can pressure games late, not only produce highlights. For now, the spotlight is on the duo’s ability to turn a single confirmed baseline from Sweat into a broader identity for the defense centered on repeatable edge production.

The current report is framed around a question and a target, not an established outcome. The Bears have not made this a finished story yet, and sack totals depend on play-to-play factors that go beyond effort, including offensive line health and how opposing coaches game-plan the pass rush from week to week.