By Brandon Simmons
Jeffery Simmons to the Bears
The Chicago Bears made a huge upgrade to their defense, acquiring Jeffery Simmons in a trade with the Tennessee Titans. The Bears sent over 2 first round picks to acquire the al pro defensive tackle giving their defense a significant boost as they seek to pursue another big postseason run, following last year’s trip to the divisional round.
This move does boost the Bears defense a little but also puts them ahead in the division and conference. Simmons is an elite DT and could get after the QB’s in the NFC North, especially the Minnesota Vikings, who also have a great defense but lack the offensive prowess. With a high powered offense, Chicago really holds a true advantage, whose high scoring efforts can goad opposing QB’s into a passing contest and set them up as a victim of their pass rush, which also includes Bears defensive end Montez Sweat.
The same could be said for QB’s outside the division and within the NFC. In fact, the NFC West, sans the Arizona Cardinals, boasts an impressive group of divisional QB’s, who also lead legit teams chasing long postseason runs. In Monday’s win over the Seattle Seahawks, Simmons recorded a sack. It was the Los Angeles Rams that knocked the Bears out of last season’s playoff run and can either repeat that or derail their efforts. But with Simmons clogging the middle, it can actually derail the Rams ground game, leaving Rams QB Matthew Stafford susceptible to Simmons and Sweat.
Seahawks and 49ers join Colts Fire Sale
The Indianapolis Colts continue to clean house and stocks. Last week, the Colts traded 8 time pro bowl guard Quentin Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for a 2027 3rd round pick and 2028 5th round pick. Following that move, the San Francisco 49ers acquired Deforest Buckner for a 2027 4th round pick, bringing him back to the team who drafted him 7th overall in 2016.
The Seahawks might have found a solution in Nelson for their immediate postseason future. QB Sam Darnold has been sacked 17 times this season, including two different games where he was sacked 5 times each. Darnold probably should get rid of the ball quicker, but Nelson can provide him a little bit more time to deliver the ball downfield, possibly finding another option outside of Seahawks wide receiver Jackson Smith-Njigba. Considering Darnold got sacked 3 times in Monday night’s loss to the Chicago Bears, pass protection isn’t the sole fix, but rather the run game. Seahawks are 20th in the league in rushing overall, and can stand to boost that up to bring balance back to their offense.
The 49ers are bringing back Buckner to kind of give their defense more of a boost. The Niners started off 6-0 before losing to the Atlanta Falcons. Injuries are metriculating through the offense and this move ensure depth is provided to this unit in addition to balance provided for this team. San Francisco is already ranked 4th in defense but having Buckner on the field will keep them in that spot.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout out to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers making “incomplete” history. Sunday, the Bucs became the first team in NFL history to win a game by completing 0 passes. Tampa Bay QB Baker Mayfield went 0/3 passing while Tampa Bay running backs Bucky Irving and Kenneth Gainwell combined for 324 yards and a touchdown on the ground. To be fair, the game was full of strong rain which probably ruined any efforts for the passing game . The irony of the zero completions is that the Bucs beat the Atlanta Falcons in this game 16-0.
Shut out to Cleveland Browns defensive end Jared Verse for not backing up his trash talk. Coming into Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Verse suggested that he was going to “dominate” against the Steelers, but that turned out not to be the case. Verse had 0 solo tackles, one assisted but was also body slammed on a field goal attempt by a Steelers offensive lineman. Steelers subsequently roasted verse after they won 27-6.
Week 9 is here, which officially starts the 2nd half of the season. The Green Bay Packers visit the New England Patriots Sunday afternoon, a battle between 2 teams who had shaky starts but still n aiming for the top of the playoff seeding. The Minnesota Vikings will host the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football. The Bills have pretty much been playing at a high level all year and won’t stop that against a Vikings team who is coming off their first loss last week. The Buffalo offense will be a grand test for the Minnesota defense. But until then…I’ll holla.
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