The NFL, the most parity-driven major sports league, feels even more wide open this year. Even the perceived powerhouses entering the season and teams with the best records have flaws that are already being picked at by opponents.
Betting markets and bettors are keeping plenty of teams alive. As of Thursday evening, FanDuel had 11 NFC teams with +164 or shorter odds to make the playoffs, and seven teams with +1100 odds or shorter to win the Super Bowl. Thirteen teams were at +2500 or shorter to hoist the Lombardi Trophy in February.
This open competition leads to opportunity. And opportunity leads to action. Even when the Nov. 10 trade deadline was still a ways away, teams started to address their weaknesses. The Dallas Cowboys added Joey Porter Jr., the Baltimore Ravens nabbed Cam Jurgens. Now with the deadline growing closer, NFL teams have decided to strike. First, Quenton Nelson was shipped off to the Seattle Seahawks from the sinking ship known as the Indianapolis Colts. Soon after, DeForest Buckner returned to the San Francisco 49ers to bolster their defensive front.
Then, on Thursday, the Chicago Bears fired a shot across the bow to the rest of the NFC and NFL, trading two future first-round draft picks and a fourth-rounder to the Tennessee Titans for defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons and a 2028 fifth-round selection.
Now that’s some real action for a trade deadline!
In an escalating arms race, the Bears added one of the premier players in the NFL, defense or otherwise. Before the deal, Simmons had played in Tennessee his entire seven-plus year career for a franchise that hasn’t been in a prime-time game since 2024. Yet, he still managed to rack up postseason accolades for his work in the trenches, nabbing a first-team All-Pro in 2025, two second-team nods and four Pro Bowls. Simmons might not have received a ton of Defensive Player of the Year chatter, but his name was always on the short list over the past few seasons, at least in this writer’s opinion. He turned 29 this summer, safely considered within his athletic prime, and plays a position that has a smoother aging curve than other spots that might rely on more quick-twitch athleticism than defensive tackle, where brawn can help stave off regression. There were 17 defensive tackles who played 400 or more snaps in 2025 who were 30 or older, compared to 18 for all other defensive positions combined, according to The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr.
Other models have shown a similar aging pattern for defensive tackles, which makes sense because of the prerequisites for playing the position. Offensive guard is similar on the other side of the ball. As are other power and strength-focused athletes like heavyweights in combat sports and first basemen in baseball, for example.
Fun neat article I’m preparing about age drop offs on IDP players.https://t.co/EwOVGAID10pic.twitter.com/FkVk6X2oyO
— Noor Harazeen (@noor_harazeen14) May 21, 2023
Simmons is under contract until his age-33 season on what should be a deal that ages well, especially if the salary cap continues to rise. The Bears are giving up two first-rounders, a rich asking price, but also more justifiable considering the player they acquired and the position that he plays. The draft picks also reset right as Caleb Williams’ potential new deal (it’s really as likely as can be at this point) should kick in, when a need for cheaper talent becomes more valued as his salary cap hit multiplies several times over.
But enough about future problems and conundrums. Let’s get to the fireworks factory! What does Jeffery Simmons bring to Chicago? To make this as Chicago-y as possible: a monster is back in the Midway.
Jeffery Simmons is very, very strong pic.twitter.com/7SxfuuubFy
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) December 2, 2025
If the accolades didn’t already speak to Simmons’ ability, the eye test quickly does. Simmons, already hard to miss at 6-foot-4, 300-plus pounds and with the bright red sleeves he wears under his pads, quickly made an impression when he manned the middle of Tennessee’s defense over the past few seasons.
Simmons brings it on every snap. He’s a mauler in every sense of the word. Even when playing for a team that hasn’t been competing for much, Simmons made the most of his chances in one-on-one opportunities, particularly on obvious pass situations, and created big plays against double-teams (including in the run game).
Simmons currently leads all defensive tackles in pressures this season, per Next Gen Stats, with four sacks to boot. He has 10 pressures when double-teamed this season, and the highest pressure rate when double-teamed as well; three of his sacks have come when double-teamed.
Since 2024, Simmons has racked up the second-most pressures and an 11.7% pressure rate, which ranks fifth among all qualifying defensive tackles. Of his 137 pressures over that time period, 36 have come when double-teamed, too. He ranks second in quick pressure rate as well, which is extremely impactful since defensive tackles have the shortest path to the quarterback, and thus can impact a pass play even when they don’t come down with a sack (don’t worry, Simmons’ 20 sacks since 2024 ranks second as well).
Again, Simmons is a mauler, not a gap-shooter who quickly wins but can get washed out of plays or can’t hold up against double-teams on the inside. Simmons is a dominant force against the run as well.
Jeffery Simmons (he’s in the red sleeves, you can’t miss him) defeating the block and brings down Derrick Henry pic.twitter.com/ihjcB49Mux
Enjoying this article? Support our work with a small crypto donation.— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) October 5, 2026
Simmons has 31 tackles this year against the run and 21 run stops, which are tackles that lead to unsuccessful gains (in terms of success rate) for the offense. Both of those marks rank second this season. Since 2024, Simmons leads all defensive tackles in run tackles with 143 and 105 stops. That’s an absurd number, especially paired with Simmons’ pass-rush ability. These aren’t empty calorie jumps on the pile when a running back is already gaining a first down. Simmons is not only disrupting offenses on every down, he shuts the door on them to begin with. His run stops have generated -69 EPA since 2024, which ranks second behind only Colts defensive tackle Grover Stewart (teams in need of run defense should be calling about him).
Simmons is a one-man game-wrecker on every down and in every situation. It’s something not a lot of defensive linemen can do, especially as teams have leaned into using space-eaters on early downs and kicking edge rushers inside on passing downs.
Pointing out what Simmons does every down is important here. Because while the Bears’ offense is starting to roll again with Williams healthy and Ben Johnson calling plays, their defense has been punching above its weight this season. Their game plans this season (and last year, for that matter) under defensive coordinator Dennis Allen have been essentially “let’s survive until third down and then give them the crazy fists.”
The Bears don’t have a ton of aces on their front to get after the passer (unless you count slot dynamo Kyler Gordon). Austin Booker has flashes but with Dayo Odeyingbo on injured reserve, not a single defensive lineman or edge has a pressure rate even above 9% other than Grady Jarrett at 9.9% (for reference, league average is currently at 10.8%). To make up for this lack of pass rush juice, Allen uses his deep rolodex of pressure goofiness that he likes to throw at offenses on passing downs that are supremely effective.
the sickest thing about the Gordon sack is that the Bears are only rushing 4, but 2 of those rushers are DBs.
a simulated pressure that drops 7 into coverage, occupies the RB, gets a free runner, and the Patriots only getting 3 routes out right away. pic.twitter.com/Y3kkAQcSQS
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) October 23, 2026
Overall, the Bears rank 12th in EPA per play and have some strong success rate numbers (ranking third overall, 10th against running back runs, and fourth against the pass). The problem, which might not be a problem now but when facing the better offenses in the playoffs, is that those numbers are buoyed by their 26.1% third-down conversion rate allowed, which ranks first in the NFL.
When you shine a light on the early-down splits for this defense, the warts and blemishes start to show: the Bears rank 32nd in EPA per play on early downs and allow the most yards per play (6.8) and net yards per attempt (9.3! NINE POINT THREE!). Their success rates drop to the middle of the pack (16th overall, 15th against the pass, 13th against the run) and their sack rates and pressure rates drop from third and sixth, respectively, to ninth and 13th.
Again, not a real problem right now and a credit to Allen and the Bears’ defense for making the most of what they are, but the Bears have currently played the 30th-ranked offensive schedule so far this season, per FTN. A defense that ranks 30th in explosive passes allowed and 21st in explosive designed runs allowed (and 29th in yards before contact on running back runs) is just asking to get their nose bloodied, or their head taken straight off, against the better offenses the rest of the season and when the weather gets colder.
The strength of this Bears team is their explosive offense that can run and throw the ball equally well, especially with a now-healthy Williams firing Hadouken-like passes all over the field to his deep group of pass-catchers. Their defense, while well-coached, still needed reinforcements. Simmons is not only a few more munitions of ammo, he’s a bomb for Allen to ride like the Major in Dr. Strangelove.
The Bears are betting on Simmons to help them win on first and second downs so they can let Allen unleash his wickedness on third and fourth downs. That will allow them to win every down with the threat of chaos always about to be unleashed by their defensive play-caller, a combination that is so important to have come playoff time. Get off the field and get the ball back in the hands of their dynamic quarterback and explosive offense, creating runs on opponents like a trapping basketball team stealing the ball and launching another 3 before the opposition can even catch its breath. A sprinkling, nay a pouring, of venom and spice to make everything nice in Chicago.
<
p style=”text-align:left”>General manager Ryan Poles, Johnson and the Bears are pushing it in a wide-open season and making it a spooky season for other teams in the NFC.
Discover more from NAIRAVOICE.COM.NG
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
