Are the Chicago Bears the Best Team in the NFC? Jeffery Simmons and Ben Johnson Make the Case

Yes. If I had to pick one NFC team today, I’d take Chicago. The Bears are 6–2 after beating the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks 34–17 in Seattle. Ben Johnson has already won a division and a playoff game in Chicago. Now Jeffery Simmons gives his team a way to win the kind of game that can make even a good offense look ordinary.

Simmons Changes How Chicago Can Defend

The Bears paid two first-round picks and a fourth-rounder to acquire Simmons and a fifth-round pick from Tennessee. That is a hefty price. It makes sense for a contender because an elite interior defender can improve several matchups on the same snap.

If an offense doubles Simmons in the run game, it has one fewer blocker available to climb to a linebacker. If it slides protection toward him on a pass, a teammate can draw a one-on-one matchup. And when Simmons pushes the pocket from the inside, the quarterback has less room to step up and escape pressure from the edge.

That gives defensive coordinator Dennis Allen more freedom to rush four and keep seven defenders in coverage. Against the NFC’s best quarterbacks, that flexibility matters. It gives Chicago a way to contest the quick throw without giving the quarterback a clean pocket to wait for a deeper one.

Simmons made an immediate impression in Seattle, earning a game ball in his debut only five days after the trade. The bigger payoff will come when Chicago can put opponents in obvious passing situations and let its front dictate the protection. That is a quality I want from a team I’m picking to win the conference.

Ben Johnson Has Already Proven He Can Lead a Contender

Johnson won the NFC North in his first season and became the first Bears head coach to win a playoff game in his debut year. That is the strongest evidence for calling him an elite coach. His offense gets the attention, but he has already turned his work as a play caller into results as a head coach.

Seattle showed how that translates. Chicago opened with a 17-play, 80-yard touchdown drive capped by Caleb Williams finding Luther Burden III. When the Seahawks cut the lead to 20–17 in the fourth quarter, Chicago answered with a 56-yard touchdown drive. D’Andre Swift finished with three rushing touchdowns.

Those two drives are the reason I trust Johnson with this team. The first showed Chicago could sustain offense on the road. The second showed it could answer when the game tightened. Williams has a coach who can build a drive around what the defense is giving him and still find a way to finish on the ground.

Chicago Has the Best Combination

Minnesota’s defense belongs in the conversation. It was allowing a league-low 13.3 points per game entering Week 9. But if I’m choosing a team that can win a shootout, grind out a close game or protect a late lead, I want an offense that can sustain long drives, a quarterback who can create when a play breaks down and a defensive front that can get pressure with four.

Chicago has all three. Johnson already proved he could take the Bears into January and win there. Simmons gives him a defense better equipped to finish the job. That combination makes Chicago my NFC pick.