Chicago Bears Sackwatch 2024: Week 9 vs Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals had one of the worst pass rushes in the NFL before Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears , but Chicago's pass protection had to feel like a gift to the Cards' defense. They sacked Chicago quarterback Caleb Williams six times, had 12 QB hits, and per Next Gen Stats , they pressured Williams on 46% of his dropbacks. Prior to the game, Arizona's pass rush was only at a 26.6% pressure rate.

The New England Patriots , whom the Bears host on Sunday, have the sixth-lowest pressure rate (29.7%) and the fifth-lowest sack rate (5.2%) in the league this season.

Just like last week, something has to give. Will the Pats' pass rush break out, or will Chicago's pass protection, which has the fourth-highest pressure rate (39.5%) and sack rate (9.2%) in the NFL, be the unit that takes advantage of the matchup?

Here's how I saw the sacks allowed this week in Arizona.

Sack 24 - 1st Quarter 8:02 - Xavier Thomas and L.J. Collier This was a third and 13 following a five-yard illegal formation penalty, so the pass protection needed to hold up to get the receivers downfield.

That did not happen.

Caleb Williams hits the top of his drop, steps up, and the pressure is on him. Arizona outside linebacker Xavier Thomas (#54) works around Bears' right tackle Darnell Wright. As Thomas is running the circle, he pulls Wright's outside arm down, which throws Wright off balance. Once he stumbles, he can't keep pushing Thomas past the pocket, and Thomas sticks his foot in the turf and cuts upfield toward the quarterback.

Defensive lineman L.J. Collier (#91) works right guard Matt Pryor back, and it's a stalemate up until Pryor is caught flatfooted, and a quick swim gets Collier free to pounce.

I'll split this one between Wright and Pryor, as both defenders get home about the same time.

Sack 25 - 2nd Quarter :56 - Xavier Thomas The Bears had a first and ten from the Arizona 37-yard line, the half was winding down, and they had all three timeouts. Caleb had the whole field to work with, so there was no need to force anything. Just take whatever the defense gives him, and don't take a sack.

He has a decent pocket here, and running back Roschon Johnson pops open right in front of his, yet he doesn't pull the trigger. The Bears ended up with a Cairo Santos field goal on this drive anyway, but just take the easy play when it presents itself. Get the ball to RoJo, let him get in field goal range, and you take some pressure off the offense. This one is on Caleb.

Sack 26 - 3rd Quarter 14:21 - Dante Stills and Zaven Collins Caleb drops and sets. He looks right. Comes back to the left. And there's nowhere to throw. The Cards have everything bottled up as they only rushed four.

Left tackle Larry Borom was bullied late by outside linebacker Zaven Collins (#25), and on Caleb's right side, Darnell Wright's guy bumped defensive lineman Dante Stills (#55) off of Teven Jenkins' block.

Had Williams been given another split second, he likely would have hit tight end Cole Kmet, who chipped before coming across the middle from the left, but he ran out of time.

Stills getting half a sack was unfortunate luck, but Borom was too passive in absorbing the blow, and he allowed Collins to get through his inside gap. I'm giving this one to Borom.

Sack 27 - 3rd Quarter :32 - Kyzir White and Zaven Collins Borom got crossed up on something here. He had a guy (Collins), then just left him. Linebacker Kyzir White (#7), lined up over left guard Teven Jenkins, was blocked, but once Williams was flushed out of the pocket, he slid over for a piece of the sack.

Running back Roschon Johnson comes across the formation to pick up a blitzer, and while not the prettiest, he's in decent position. It's Borom's faux pas that caused this sack.

Sack 28 - 4th Quarter 15:00 - Zaven Collins On the very next play, the first of the fourth quarter, the Bears give up their fifth sack of the day, and again, please draw your attention to Chicago's left side. The Cardinals run a stunt, and neither Borom nor Jenkins handles it. Borom doesn't accept the player from Jenkins, which likely makes Jenkins linger, so he's unable to get to the edge stunting back to him. But Borom does nothing. It feels like I'm picking on Borom, but if he takes the defender from Jenkins when he should, this stunt is likely picked up.

Sack 29 - 4th Quarter 14:02 - Jesse Luketa Caleb obviously sees the free blitzer late as he points safety Budda Baker out, but once protection is set and running back D'Andre Swift has eyes on the Mike (White #7), the back isn't staying in if White drops. Swift did right by checking the Mike, then curling up in front.

This was perfect timing from Baker because Chicago's protection was set, and Borom was on an island with the edge rusher. Caleb didn't have time to flip it to Swift because Baker was on him so quickly. He tries to set and spin left, but Borom whiffed on his guy again.

It doesn't feel right to give this all to Borom, so let's split it. Half for Chicago's left tackle and half to sacks happen because this was a very good play by Baker. If Caleb jukes then runs right, he could probably make a pass to Swift, but he guessed wrong and ran into Borom's guy.

Here's the individual Sackwatch tally after eight games:

Caleb Williams - 5.5 Larry Borom - 3.5 Matt Pryor - 3.5 Sacks Happen - 3.5 Darnell Wright - 3 Nate Davis - 2.5 Coleman Shelton - 2 Braxton Jones - 1.5 Kiran Amegadjie - 1 Teven Jenkins - 1 Cole Kmet - 1 Marcedes Lewis - 1

As I've often said, the breakdowns are based on my best guesses about each play. Only the Bears know the specifics and where the blame truly lies for each sack allowed.

Historical Sackwatch after nine games:

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