For Bears fans worried about their team’s chances of knocking off the Packers in Week 17 to punch a ticket to the postseason, Chris Simms thinks it won’t matter.
“My guts says that the Bears will be in the playoffs,” Simms told NBC Sports Chicago.
The key for Simms doesn’t lie in the Bears-Packers matchup, but in the game between the Cardinals and Rams. If the Rams win, it won’t matter if the Bears win or lose on Sunday. They’ll clinch a playoff berth regardless.
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“I went back and watched the first matchup between the Cardinals and Rams… Arizona does not matchup well against the Rams,” Simms said. “The Rams defense is made to stop the spread and mobile quarterbacks. They really couldn’t move the ball much, except for one drive, the last time around.”
Furthermore, Simms thinks the Cardinals are trending in the wrong direction heading into their tough matchup against the Rams defense.
“Arizona has not been playing good football, at all,” Simms said. “Kyler Murray hasn’t been all that impressive the last six, seven, eight weeks of the season. Last week he throws a really bad interception late in the football game.”
The Cardinals started the season strong, getting out to a 6-3 record while scoring 29.5 points a game. But since then, they’ve gone 2-4 while only scoring 22.8 points per game. A lot of that drop off seems to stem from Murray’s relative lack of explosiveness running the ball, which is one of his greatest strengths. During the 6-3 stretch, he ran for 604 yards and a whopping 10 touchdowns. But since then he’s only racked up 202 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.
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That being said, things aren’t perfect in Los Angeles either. But Simms doesn’t think it will affect the Rams’ ability to win.
“The Rams have some injury issues, we know that,” Simms said. “Jared Goff’s not playing, running back issues... but, McVay is run game. It’s all about the run game. It’s not an overly complicated formula… I think John Wolford will be able to run the offense.
“Ultimately, I think the Rams are going to win a defensive struggle type of game. That Rams defense is damned good and it matches up really well with how the Cardinals play football.”