LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Montez Sweat is an excellent pass rusher. No defensive lineman, however, can go it alone.

Who would help the star end get after the quarterback in 2024? The jury was out on that.

It still is, but the defensive line’s effort in a 24-17 victory over the Tennessee Titans was a positive development suggesting the Bears might not be so reliant on Sweat.

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That unit, and the defense as a whole, harassed second-year quarterback Will Levis into three turnovers and two sacks, with most of that damage coming in a dominant second half.

Line play was key to this win. It was also disruptive as heck despite Sweat garnering plenty of attention with a quiet day by his standards.

“Those guys got a bunch of hits on the quarterback,” safety Kevin Byard III said. “I love seeing what Darrell (Taylor) did in his first game as a Chicago Bear. He played his behind off. Just watching the film, you can see him flying around. Even talking to Tez at the end of the game – I know he wanted to join the party, and I said, ‘You’re one of the guys who is going to get a lot of attention throughout this year. That’s how it goes. When you get a big contract, go to the Pro Bowl and make big plays, they’re going to chip you and do all different things like that. Some games you’re going to open up a lot of one-on-ones for other guys to make plays.’

“I know he’s obviously going to find ways to defeat those things, but, man, it was a great team win, especially on the defense, watching guys on all three levels make plays.”

Byard is right. Several Bears made major contributions. Right now, we’ll focus on what was accomplished up front, using stats from analytics site Pro Football Focus.

Taylor had two sacks and a forced fumble the Bears recovered. Gervon Dexter Sr. had a sack, a hit and a hurry working from the interior. Andrew Billings had his way on the inside against the run and pass, with two hits and two hurries.

DeMarcus Walker was a real standout. He was excellent working outside.

Per PFF, Walker rushed the passer 33 times. He won – PFF defines a “win” as beating your blocking (on a non-penalty snap) while rushing the passer — 25 percent of the time. Pressure most always comes from that. That win-rate number is sky high for most anyone, and led to four quarterback hits and a hurry.

Walker was the one who set up Tyrique Stevenson’s pick six, essentially wrapping Levis up before the second-year pro shockingly tried to throw it away while falling down.

Taylor rushed the passer 23 times and won 8.7 percent of the time, per PFF, but got home on two of his three pressures and made drive- and game-altering plays. That was big for someone recently acquired from Seattle, who has only been here a few weeks.

Getting contributions like that opposite Sweat, especially with an aggressive secondary in the back, will lead to positive developments for the Bears.

The rotation up front was relatively small, with young ends Austin Booker and Daniel Hardy primarily used on special teams. Sweat, Walker and Taylor worked off the edge. Billings, Dexter and reserve Chris Williams were primary options on the inside.

Those guys worked well together, combining for 19 quarterback pressures, per PFF, including three sacks and seven hits.  Levis was pressured on nearly 40 percent of his dropbacks and had a 42.4 passer rating in those instances. PFF had the Bears blitzing just eight times in 38 Titans drop backs, meaning the Bears were getting home often with just four. That’s something else they need for the secondary to do its thing.

Time will tell if the Bears can sustain this type of pass rush, or if this game will look more like an outlier. There are tougher offensive lines and savvier quarterbacks ahead on the schedule, but Sunday’s game was a sign was a good start after the team finished 31^st in sacks last year and without a proven answer opposite Sweat.

Follow Bears Insider Scott Bair on X @ScottBairNFL. Also, Bair Mail is coming! Join the conversation by submitting a mailbag question or comment to mailbag@marqueesportsnetwork.com for a chance to be included in this new content series.