Three NFC contenders made big acquisitions via trade last week, and two of them are set to face off in Week 8 on Monday Night Football. The Chicago Bears pulled off a blockbuster trade for superstar defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons while the Seattle Seahawks acquired six-time All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson in a trade with the Indianapolis Colts.

Nelson is arguably the best guard in the league and will have a solid case for a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day. However, by adding Nelson to their offensive line, the Seahawks have inadvertently created a massive liability in their offensive line, and that's something that the Bears can exploit with ruthless efficiency thanks to their acquisition of Simmons.

After making the trade for Nelson, the Seahawks announced that he would slot in at left guard on their offensive line, which has been his position for his entire NFL career. However, the Seahawks already had a committed left guard in second-year player Gray Zabel. Zabel will now move to right guard, a position he hasn't played since college, and even then, that was not his full-time position.

The Bears must use Jeffery Simmons as a mismatch nightmare

Zabel has said that this move to right guard will be "such a growing experience" for him as a player, and maybe it will pay off in his future. However, learning an entirely new way of blocking in just a handful of practice sessions is a tall order, and his first test will come against the newest member of the Bears' defense, three-time All-Pro Jeffery Simmons.

While it might make sense to some fans to put Simmons against Nelson during this game in a match of strength against strength, the Bears would be wide to heed the words of Sun Tzu. The famous Chinese general and philosopher in fact urged the opposite of this strategy, advising instead to concentrate one's strength against enemy weak points.

In this case, the Seahawks' biggest weakness on the offensive line is likely to be the second-year player starting at a brand new position. By lining Simmons up across from Zabel consistently, the Bears should be able to get constant, immediate pressure on quarterback Sam Darnold, and also stop the run game from getting any traction.

The Bottom Line

Jeffery Simmons should make an immediate impact against the Seattle Seahawks despite only having a few days with the Bears' defensive playbook. Like Nelson, he's the kind of player who's good enough to excel wherever he goes. However, if the Bears want to maximize his impact and knock off the defending Super Bowl champs, they'll send Simmons at Zabel as many times as possible.

Nelson is going to do what he does best, and that's stonewall just about anyone who comes his way. Let him do that to Grady Jarrett or Kentavius Street. They're not likely to cause the Seahawks much trouble, anyway.

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