The Bears made the biggest midseason trade of the year on Thursday, acquiring star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons from the Titans for two first-round picks and a Day 3 pick swap.

After two other NFC contenders, the 49ers and Seahawks, went out and acquired DeForest Buckner and Quenton Nelson this week to bolster their title aspirations, the Bears topped those efforts by trading for Simmons, one of the league’s best defensive players. 

With Simmons, the Bears have not only made a statement, but given their defense a massive upgrade. As Simmons heads to Chicago, here are four numbers that show the impact Simmons can have on an improved Bears defense. 

41.31% 

The Bears’ opponents’ success rate this season, seventh-best among defenses. Even before acquiring Simmons, the Bears’ defense has taken massive strides in their second season under DC Dennis Allen. Last year, they ranked 27th in opponent success rate (46.93%). Their biggest strength was turning the ball over, leading the league in turnover differential (+22) and takeaways (33). They’re still seventh in takeaways this year (10), but despite a -1 turnover differential, their defense is better.

Outside of success rate, the Bears have jumped from 23rd (24.4) to ninth (20.4) in points allowed per game and from 29th in yards allowed (361.8 per game) to eighth (313.4). After ranking 22nd in sacks (35) last season, they currently rank seventh (19).

1st

Simmons’s pass rush win rate among defensive tackles, per ESPN. The Bears’ defense is much improved, but it also never hurts to add arguably the best DT in the game. Simmons is coming off a terrific 2025 campaign, recording a career-high 11 sacks, ranking second among DTs in pass rush win rate and record three forced fumbles while earning first-team All-Pro honors for the first time. He followed it up by continuing to get after the quarterback in 2026 while tallying four sacks and a forced fumble.

The Bears tweaked their defense this offseason, primarily by upgrading their secondary and linebackers with rookies S Dillion Thieneman, CB Malik Muhammad and signing of LB Devin Bush and safety Coby Bryant. The trade for Simmons not only brings one of the best players, but upgrading a part of the defense Chicago did not get to as much in the offseason.

40.6%

The Bears’ blitz rate this season, per Next Gen Stats, is the fourth-highest in the NFL. This is both significantly higher than last season and that a Dennis Allen-led defense has in years, going back to his time as the Saints’ DC and head coach.

Here’s the rate that Allen’s defense has blitzed each season going back to 2018: 

• 2026 (Bears DC): 40.6% (fourth)
• 2025 (Bears DC): 28.7% (12th)
• 2024 (Saints HC): 23% (25th)
• 2023 (Saints HC): 23.9% (18th)
• 2022 (Saints HC): 18.2% (29th)
• 2021 (Saints DC): 24.2% (22nd)
• 2020 (Saints DC): 30.3% (15th)
• 2019 (Saints DC): 34.1% (seventh)
• 2018 (Saints DC): 28.5% (12th)

While several defenses—namely, the Vikings—have found success blitzing, the increased number of blitzes has produced mixed results for Chicago. 

When the Bears blitz, they give up 104 pass yards per game (second-most), seven touchdowns (third-most) and an EPA per pass of 0 (24th), per Next Gen Stats. When they don’t blitz, they give up 121.9 passing yards per game (5th), allow an EPA per pass of -0.16 (fourth) and four touchdowns (seventh). Teams have taken advantage of these blitzes, especially when facing a good passing offense. 

In Week 1, Bryce Young threw for 145 yards and a touchdown with a +0.35 EPA per pass against the Bears’ blitzes. In Week 5, Jordan Love averaged 14.7 pass yards per play with an EPA per pass of +0.63 when facing these blitzes. In Week 7 against the Patriots, Drake Maye threw for 136 yards and two touchdowns with a +0.48 EPA per pass when the Bears blitzed him. 

The blitz, however, has allowed the Bears to affect opposing quarterbacks. When blitzing, they’ve recorded 41 pressures (eighth), a pressure rate of 45.1% (16th) and a time to pressure of 2.13 seconds (second). When they haven’t blitzed, they’ve registered 36 pressures (26th), a pressure rate of 29.5% (19th) and a time to pressure of 2.92 seconds (27th). 

This is where Simmons comes in. With Simmons in the fold, the Bears should be able to pressure the quarterback without having to rely on the blitz as much. Along with his sack production, Simmons also leads all defensive tackles in pressures (28) and pressures against double teams (10), per Next Gen Stats. This should especially come in handy when the Bears face good quarterbacks such as Love and Maye, who can take advantage of their blitzes.

87.6

The number of rushing yards the Bears are allowing per game this season. Another area Chicago’s defense has improved is against the run, where they’ve improved from 27th in rushing yards allowed (134.5) to third (87.6). The jump has not been dramatic in advanced stats as they’ve improved from 26th in defensive EPA per rush (-0.01) to 19th (-0.07), but still a positive. These numbers also benefited from the Bears’ exceptional control of time of possession this season, forcing their opponents into passing situations. For example, the Falcons rushed All-Pro Bijan Robinson only nine times in part because they fell behind 21–7 at the half. 

This is another area Simmons can be an upgrade. Beyond his work as a superb interior pass rusher, he is also a strong run defender, and can make a good Bears’ run defense even better. Bears defensive tackle Grady Jarrett has led the run defense, ranking second among DTs in ESPN’s run stop win rate. Now, he and Simmons will form one of the league’s top defensive tackle duos.