Rich Reacts to Jeffery Simmons Paying Immediate Dividends in His 1st Chicago Bears Game

For decades, Bears fans have asked the same questions. When do we get the quarterback? When do we get the coach to go with the quarterback? When do we get the GM who puts it all together? Rich has an answer now.

"Done. Mission accomplished," Rich said. He acknowledged the phrase has a famously premature history in this country. But he stood by the point. "The table's wired."

Rich laid out the timeline that makes it so appealing. Caleb Williams turns 25 in Week 11. Ben Johnson is 40 years old. Ryan Poles is 41. He was careful to note it's only two big games, and that the Week 2 result shows how quickly things can go "poof" for the Bears. But the foundation is there.

And on top of it, Jeffery Simmons.

The show played Simmons talking about his reception from Chicago fans in his debut, which came on the road. "It was unreal, man, to be accepted that fast," Simmons said. "Especially in Chicago, they breathe football." He was struck by the energy even though it wasn't a home crowd. "That's what we need. We need that energy from our fans," he said. "I couldn't be more happy to be a part of it."

Rich then addressed anyone questioning the trade. "Anybody out there wondering if Ryan Poles did the right thing," he said. On set, the joke was immediate: "What did they trade for him again? I already forgot."

The production backed it up. In his debut, Simmons had a sack, six tackles and two tackles for loss in 48 snaps. Rich also shared that Simmons wears bright-colored sleeves so his 3-year-old daughter can spot her dad on the field. "Well, the whole league knows him," came one response, and the crew joked about everyone calling him daddy.

Even more telling were the split numbers. With Simmons on the field, the Seahawks were held to 3 yards per play, and the Bears defense had three sacks and an interception. With him off the field, Seattle averaged 13.3 yards per play. "Get out of here," Rich said.

He granted it's one game, and admitted that a week earlier he was saying the defending champs were back. "But holy crap, was that an all three phases tail kicking of the defending Super Bowl champs."

Rich said San Francisco, sitting on its bye, had to take notice, and so does the rest of the NFC. The division is deep, with everybody over .500, and the Vikings already won in Chicago, which gives them a leg up. Even so, Rich's conclusion was clear. "Bears sure look like the team to beat in the NFC moving forward," he said, "because last night, they will go into anybody's building and rip your heart out and show it to you pumping."

He also had an answer for anyone worried about the weather turning. Chicago's offense isn't so "high falutin" that it will be hard to run when it gets cold. The Bears have 17 rushing touchdowns this season, the most in the NFL, and the last time they had that many through eight games was 1956.

"So they will hit you in the mouth," Rich said, "and then when they don't hit you in the mouth with the run game, they have a deadly accurate, very confident king in the making."

Rich didn't think he was going overboard. Neither did the crew. "He's playing like a number one draft pick should be playing," one voice added.

"Correct," Rich said. "And it's all working."