The Bears have caught some breaks this season in avoiding opposing quarterbacks — they missed Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow and Aaron Rodgers — but haven’t been nearly as fortunate with elite pass rushers.
One of the most impressive parts of quarterback Caleb Williams cutting his sack total from an NFL-worst 68 last season to 20 through the first 13 games is that he’s seen a series of potential Hall of Famers. Between Aidan Hutchinson, Maxx Crosby, Cam Jordan, T.J. Watt and Micah Parsons, they took him down only twice.
The Browns’ Myles Garrett could go for double that in one game when he visits Soldier Field on Sunday. He’s done it to the Bears before, and this time, there’s history on the line. Garrett leads the league by far with 20 sacks and needs three to break the single-season record shared by Watt (2021) and Michael Strahan (2001).
“I’m going to try and make sure that he doesn’t get the sack record on us and on me,” Williams said. “Going versus those types of players… you’ve just got to make sure every single snap, [you’re] not allowing them to wreck the game. That’s something that he’s done throughout his whole career.”
Garrett is the biggest reason this game against the 3-10 Browns isn’t a gimme for the Bears, who coach Ben Johnson said “desperately” need a victory for their playoff chances. At 9-4, he’s been setting the target at 11 wins, and this is easily their most favorable matchup with the Packers (9-3-1), 49ers (9-4) and Lions (8-5) looming.
Garrett is better than anyone they’ve faced to date and looks as unstoppable as ever even in his ninth season. He was the slam-dunk No. 1 pick in 2017, when the Bears drafted quarterback Mitch Trubisky second.
He’s never had a bad season, and his 122 1/2 career sacks rank 22nd all-time and third behind Von Miller and Jordan — each had a six-year head start — among active players. Garrett got 4 1/2 of those in a 2021 game against the Bears and Justin Fields that was such a disaster that it forced coach Matt Nagy to give up offensive play-calling.
Garrett’s done all that despite constant double- and triple-teams, all kinds of creative chip blocks and even, according to him, officials telling him in 2022 they simply aren’t going to flag offensive linemen for holding against him because he’s so dominant.
“When you look at the size and strength and speed, it’s just a unique package where he really has it all,” Johnson said. “He’s got that bull rush that can take a tackle and put him on roller skates and walk him right back into the quarterback, which happens quite a bit.
“Every team that you see on tape, they have a plan for him, and yet… he just still walks that tackle on back into the quarterback. Heaven forbid you ever leave him one-on-one. That’s really where he shows up. He’s almost un-blockable that way.”