The Patriots came out of Chicago with a loss, but they also came away with a small break that now looks a lot bigger in hindsight.
Just one week after their Thursday night trip to face the Bears, New England got to watch Jeffery Simmons make his debut for Chicago on Monday Night Football against Seattle. And after seeing what he did to the Seahawks, it’s hard not to think Drake Maye and a battered Patriots offense dodged a serious problem by the slimmest of margins.
Simmons, the longtime Titans standout who had reportedly hinted at wanting a reunion with Mike Vrabel in New England this offseason, was dealt to the Bears last week for two first-round picks. Chicago already had a strong defense, and Simmons made it even nastier the moment he stepped on the field.
He played almost the entire game against Seattle despite arriving only five days earlier, and the impact was immediate. Simmons finished with a team-high 6 combined tackles, 2 for a loss, a quarterback hit, a pass defended and a sack. He was a wrecking ball all night, and Sam Darnold felt it over and over again.
That’s exactly the kind of night the Patriots were fortunate to avoid.
New England has spent plenty of time over the past two seasons dealing with elite defenses, and the start of this year has been no different. That was part of what made the offense struggle early, including Maye. So when a game-changing defender like Simmons is out of the picture, even by accident of timing, it matters.
The same was true with Montez Sweat missing the Bears game because of suspension. Between that and Simmons not arriving in Chicago until after the Patriots had already played them, New England escaped two potentially ugly matchups with elite defensive talent.
Vrabel and company can be thankful for that, because Simmons looked every bit like the kind of player who could have turned Week 7 into a nightmare for a depleted offensive line.
The Patriots will have another star pass rusher to think about in Week 9 when they host the Packers at Gillette Stadium, but Micah Parsons is out with the ACL injury he suffered last season. That still leaves plenty for New England to deal with, but avoiding another defensive superstar is never a bad thing.
In Other News...
Patriots Suddenly Have A Tight End Problem They Can't Ignore
The Patriots tight end room suddenly looks a lot thinner after Hunter Henry went down with a foot injury in the Dolphins game and was ruled out after trying to shake it off. For a team already trying to piece together answers on offense, losing one of its most reliable pass-catching options has a way of exposing just how fragile the depth chart really is.
With the November 10 trade deadline approaching, New England may have to decide whether this is a short-term hiccup or a problem worth solving externally. One name that naturally fits the conversation is Dallas Goedert, a proven veteran who could help stabilize the position if the Patriots choose to be aggressive, but for now the bigger question is whether the front office believes the current roster can hold up long enough to avoid making that kind of move. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots Kicking Situation Just Got More Uncomfortable For Andy Borregales
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Mike Vrabel still voiced confidence in Borregales afterward, which matters because the Patriots are trying to manage several moving parts at once, including injury updates and possible returns elsewhere on the roster. Even so, the kicking spot remains one of the more uncomfortable questions around the team right now, and the next stretch of games will go a long way toward showing whether Borregales can quiet the noise or keep inviting it. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots Survive Officiating Mess Against Miami, But NFL Still Owes Answers
The Patriots left Miami with a win, but the conversation afterward was about the officiating as much as the result. A touchdown by Kyle Williams was first ruled incomplete before Mike Vrabel won the challenge, and the sequence only added to the sense that this game was handled unevenly from the start. The league had already made a last-minute switch in the officiating assignment, a rare wrinkle that raised eyebrows before kickoff.
What has kept the issue alive is the lack of a real explanation from the NFL. The crew change was reportedly tied to poor work in another game, yet the league has not clearly addressed why that swap was made or why several of the calls in this matchup became so contentious. For New England, the points still counted and the victory still stands, but the questions around how the game was managed are not going away soon. [Read more 🡒]