(First of all, sorry for the one-day delay, but we wanted to wait until after the trade deadline before we published)
The Chicago Bears defense has now had Jeffery Simmons for 120 minutes, and the changes are monumental.
The defense has been completely transformed, and it has altered the Bears’ paths not just this season, but for many seasons beyond.
The Bears defensive line had 11 sacks in six games before the Jeffery Simmons trade. Since he’s arrived, they’ve had seven in two games. Their blitz rate
has gone from around 40% prior to the Simmons acquisition, and now it’s just 15%.
More pressure, less blitzing. Jeffery Simmons ‘ impact cannot be overstated.
Prior to Simmons, the defense was having a lot of success with smoke and mirrors. The Bears really were winning 11-on-11; they were winning with stunts and blitzes and catching the other team off guard. With Simmons, the Bears can do far more straight-up defending, and are doing it at a far more successful rate.
The win over the Bucs showed us something. It showed us, without question, that the Bears defense was a championship-caliber defense.
With many of these Bears teams over the last 15 years or so, if an offense played that poorly, there was simply no chance the Bears could win, but with this team, and this defense, the defense showed that this was not going to be a team that was just carried by the offense. The defense can carry plenty of weight too.
After the first two drives of the game that resulted in touchdowns, the Bears’ drives went like this: Interception, Interception, Field Goal, Interception, Punt, Punt, Interception, Punt, Punt, Fumble, Field Goal. That’s 11 possessions, 6 points, 5 turnovers, and 4 punts, 3 of which were 3-and-outs.
That is quite possibly going to be the worst stretch of offense we ever see out of a Ben Johnson offense. But the defense stood tall. They consistently turned down the Bucs offense. The Bears continued to show their success on third down, allowing just two third-down conversions on 12 attempts.
The Bears defense won this game where the offense couldn’t have played worse.
We entered this season thinking the Bears were going to have to win every game 38 to 34. With Dennis Allen and Jeffery Simmons, the Bears have added another way to win: with defense.
We knew the Bears could win with Caleb Williams playing hero ball. We knew they could win with a methodical choke-the-life-out-of-you running attack. We knew they could beat you with short, efficient passes. We now know they can beat you with defense as well.
Championship teams have more than one way to win a football game. Championship teams know how to find a way to victory when they aren’t firing on all cylinders.
Despite an ugly win, the Chicago Bears took a giant step on Sunday toward potentially winning the Super Bowl this year.
I know plenty of Bears fans were upset that the Bears didn’t add another cornerback at the trade deadline. Based on everything I heard and read, it certainly felt like Ryan Poles tried to find the right guy for the right price, but he was unable to find that guy.
Can the Bears survive with their questionable cornerbacks? We will see when they square off against teams like the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, who have receivers that will absolutely challenge them. But if their front four can continue to harass opposing QBs and force them into making bad decisions, it will certainly mask other warts on the team.
The Chicago Bears roster isn’t perfect. But neither are the other 31 rosters in the NFL. It’s mid-November, and the Bears sit atop arguably the greatest division in the history of the NFL. Four of the conference’s best five teams sit in the same division. Think about that. The 2026 NFC North is on pace to be the greatest division in the history of the NFL, and halfway through the season, the Bears have the best record of any of them.
The Bears are a championship-caliber team. It’s a fun thing to type. The Bears are a championship-caliber team. It’s been 40 years since I confidently said that during the season. The back half of the schedule is going to be a challenge, but this Bears team will be up for that challenge week in and week out. Having this level of confidence about this team is certainly foreign, and it’s going to be a fun thing to get used to.
Because, in case you haven’t noticed, the Bears are a championship-caliber team.
