Bears edge-rusher Montez Sweat has chance to accomplish incredible feat

Chicago Bears edge-rusher Montez Sweat has a chance for an incredible accomplishment this season that seems almost impossible to imagine. There is a chance that he could end the 2023 NFL season leading two different teams — his current team in Chicago and his former team the Washington Commanders — in sacks. 

Entering Week 18, he sits atop the leaderboard of both teams in sacks, leading the Commanders with 6.5 sacks and the Bears with six sacks. 

The Bears made the surprising decision to be buyers just before the NFL trade deadline, adding Sweat from the Commanders for a 2024 second-round draft pick and then signing him to a long-term contract extension worth $98 million over four years. He has had an immediate impact on the team's defense and helped them to a 5-3 record down the stretch following his addition.

His six sacks with the Bears already lead the team and surpassed the 4.5 that belong to Justin Jones.

When Washington traded him, his 6.5 sacks were leading the team, and nobody has been able to pass him in the eight weeks since.

Defensive lineman Jonathan Allen is the closest, entering Week 18 with 5.5 sacks. He would need at least 1.5 sacks to move ahead of him. Allen has not recorded a sack in five weeks and has just 2.5 since the beginning of October. Based on the most recent stretch of games, it doesn't seem likely. 

Sweat and the Bears have an opportunity to potentially knock the Green Bay Packers out of the playoffs on Sunday, while Allen and the Commanders have a chance to play spoiler against a Dallas Cowboys team fighting for the NFC title.