1st & North: Week 8 recap, Week 9 ahead

One player makes all the difference in Chicago, and as we enter the midway point of the season, every NFC North team would make the playoffs. Hello, everyone, and welcome into First and North. I'm Cassie Carlson. Joining me this week on the show, we have the voice of the Lions, Dan Miller. We have Lily Zhao joining us from Fox, Milwaukee. She's been busy over the last two weeks. And Ahmad Hicks from Fox, Minneapolis. Well, the NFC North isn't getting any easier anytime soon. It remains the toughest division in football with every team above 500 and with at least five wins. So the Vikings no longer undefeated after week eight as the Lions served them their first loss of the season. The Bears in second place at six and two, following their Monday night win over the defending Super Bowl champs, the Lions five and two and the Packers five and three after they beat the Panthers on Thursday night football. Let's start here in Chicago and what a The Bears, who made another statement in primetime. It was their second of three straight primetime games. And it was the Bears' debut of Jeffrey Simmons, who we knew was going to be a multiplier. I don't think anyone expected this to be such an impact on game one. Six tackles, three pressures, one sack, two hurries, and one batted ball. And he wears those orange sleeves, and you can see him all over the field. This is something that Ryan Poles was questioned about when he traded two first-round picks to the Titans to bring in a defensive tackle, maybe the best in the NFL. And the reaction in the locker room after this game was... You should have sent him all the draft picks of the future. Ryan Pohl said every single Super Bowl champion team since 2018 had a red-level defensive tackle on their roster. He added one in Jeffrey Simmons, and he is not only impacting this team on the field, as we saw in his first game, but also off the field. He challenged his former Mississippi State Montez Sweat to improve as he is coming back from a suspension, and Montez Sweat was everywhere on the field as well. Registered one sack, three QB hits, Two more sacks that were negated by penalties, but the Simmons factor in this game is going to be something that we continue to talk about because not only is it helping the defensive line, it is also helping the secondary. And we know the secondary is one of the weaknesses on this defense. And even going into the game, Dennis Allen had to blitz at a 40% rate. That's the fourth highest in the NFL. Jeffrey Simmons, after one of the first few drives, went to the sideline and said to Dennis Allen, hey, we can just rush with four. He's also telling his coach how to play. And they only had to blitz 15%. Sam Darnold was seeing ghosts. And Jeffrey Simmons played 87% of the snaps in his Bears debut. It was quite a performance, and what a night as the Bears are now being talked about as Super Bowl contenders. Let's listen in on what the rest of the team had to say about Simmons and his debut. Our guys were excited the moment they heard the news that we were bringing him on, and he's fit right in. You know, we got a high-character locker room, and he is that himself. And you can feel his presence out there. The last couple years have been hard, you know, not winning football games, but also for me it was like, what can I do to help this team get back to that? It sucked that I wasn't able to do that, But... But... You know, I'm a Chicago bear now. You know, things change. It's Hefe. I'm happy he's on our side. He helps everybody on that field, on the defense. He helps the D-line. When he gets, you know, double teams, he frees up other guys to be able to go be special. And then when he gets one-on-ones, he, you know, allows him to wreak havoc. And so I'm excited he's on our team. He's a big key piece for us. And that handshake you just saw right there was making the rounds on social media because we can't believe that those two are now teammates. With the Bears win, here is a look at the updated Super Bowl odds. The Bears now have the third best odds at plus 950 just behind the 49ers and the Bills. Let's check in now with Dan in Detroit, where I know football Dan has kind of been put to the side after linebacker Jack Campbell was carted off the field. Everyone is waiting for updates. There haven't been many. I know Dan Campbell spoke yesterday. What can you tell us about the latest about their captain? Yeah, we haven't gotten much in terms of Jack's condition to this point on Monday. Positive was the word that we got from Dan Campbell. And then in a radio appearance this morning, Tuesday morning, Dan Campbell talked about the fact that he's improving. So we're hanging on to those things and just hoping that at some point we get the full report that says that what we all want to hear, he's got moving in all his extremities and he's ready to go and walking out of the hospital. That's, I think, what everybody's hoping for. Hoping we'll get at some point. But to this point, nothing in terms of an in-depth report as to Jack's condition. But at least those words, positive, improving, we'll hold on to those. Because, look, he's a heart and soul guy for this football team. He represents the city so well. He's a fan favorite around here. And that's a really difficult thing to see. We all know that that's a possibility in this game. We all know that that's part of football, that these things can happen. But when you see it, and it's in front of you, and it's one of your guys, it's difficult. But let me also add this. The class that the Vikings showed from Kevin O'Connell on down in that moment, since that moment, has been noticed by everybody in Detroit. It has meant a lot to them. And it's, you know, you're beating the heck out of each other. But when that happens, it is a brotherhood. And those guys all come together. And that certainly has happened in this instance. Ahmad, if you want to respond, just what the Vikings have said about a terrible, scary situation. Yeah, pretty much every interview that our Don Mitchell conducted after that game, it all started with the thoughts and prayers, you know, going towards Jack Campbell and the rest of the Detroit Lions. As Dan said, this is a brotherhood in the NFL, and although they do go to war every single Sunday, they never want to see something like that happen. And I think we all kind of took a pause no matter where you are. If you're watching the game at home with family and friends or at the stadium, I think everyone gasps and kind of fear for the worst. So it's like we're hanging on to all of these updates. I know Dan Campbell said the other day the prayers were working. So I think we'll all continue to extend our prayers towards Jack Campbell and his family and hope for the best, like Dan said. Let's listen in from Dan Campbell when he spoke Monday about Jack Campbell. You don't ever want to see somebody like that on the field. But when you see Jack, Jack never lays on the field, ever, no matter what it is. And that's when you're like, you know, it just, like I say, it puts it in perspective. It's hard, you know, and it was hard on everybody. You know, it's hard on the players, man. You know, to see your guy down there like that. It was all for him, all for the other guys, who they got hurt. But particularly in his situation, you know, definitely, you know, when you see your brother go down like that. The tears in Aiden Hutchinson's eyes were tough to watch as they then had to go out on the field and finish the rest of the game. What was the response you saw from this team, and how much do you think it spoke to the identity of the Lions? Immediately after that, you had a fourth down play that was critical in that game, and you saw Hutch get in there and apply pressure to the quarterback, and then the pass was broken up and the Lions took over the ball. I think They were driven after that for Jack, and that's not an easy situation. And I talked with Dan Campbell this morning. We had to put something together for the weekend, and he said, look, it's not going to be an easy situation going forward because you're not going to have Jack out there. And this is something that will stick with the team, but it's also something that can galvanize the team and bring them together. And he's a captain. He's one of the best players in the league. So there's so many different layers to this. But he's also a husband and a father. And that's one thing that people keep coming back to about Jack. So I think in the moment, they responded extremely well. Well, There'll be kind of two tracks to this going forward. There'll be the emotional side, recovering there. And then the football side, where, again, you're missing not just one of your best players, but one of the best players in the league, not having Jack Campbell in there for the foreseeable future. We'll see where this thing goes, but it's a... A moment that we're all hanging on to and hoping for the best, and going forward, it's one that the Lions are going to have to deal with in different ways. As Dan Campbell said, the thoughts and prayers seem to be working, so we continue to send those to Detroit and the Lions. That does bring us to the Vikings, Ahmad, and the defense that held the Lions' offense to 19 points. And the offense, which went against the worst-ranked defense and only managed 15 points, and now Justin Jefferson. His frustration seems to be at a boiling point. Yeah, I mean, he declined to speak to media after the game. I think what the biggest thing people realize here is Justin Jefferson has been so humble for so many years, but you look back. to the last three seasons. He's missed seven games due to an injury. Then the next season, you know, he had to deal with some quarterback issues this previous season. And then this year, dealing with Kyler Murray off to his worst career start in his NFL career. I mean, this is a guy who is one of the top receivers in the National Football League, and you can't find a way to get him the football, whether that's the play calling, the quarterback, the decision-making, you name it. But what I said the other day, right now the Vikings are affecting his pockets. And what I mean by that is Justin Jefferson can't go out there and demand a top dollar extension because he doesn't have top dollar results right now. GMs are going to look at his resume and they're not going to look at it with an asterisk and say, well, you did have a bad quarterback here. Oh, you weren't good. They're going to say, hey, we can get you at a discounted rate right now. And I think that's frustrating for him. He may be realizing that. And I think he's like, look, we need to pick it up. And that's what we saw with that clip right there. Frustrated beyond means. And look at those numbers. Those are not good. You don't pay a guy $25 million a year for that type of production. So he's frustrated. Fans are frustrated. And I think the clock is ticking for Kevin O'Connell and Kyler Murray right now. Yeah, usually Justin Jefferson's in the top three of all of those categories. I mean, what do they do at the quarterback position? The trade deadline is just a week away. Is that something that they are exploring? I mean, you hear the rumors about it, but what do you go out there and get? Kirk Cousins, Jacoby Brissett. I mean, none of these guys are going to help your future. Like, you're stuck with this situation right now. Kevin O'Connell made his bed. They picked Kyler Murray. Now you've got to sleep in the bed and deal with whatever comes from it. But they've got to get him prepared. And if he's not the answer, go to Carson Wentz. Try and save your season. At least Carson Wentz knew how to get Justin Jefferson the ball. How many more weeks does Kyler Murray have? Before Carson Wentz. Ha, ha, ha. Well, I mean, he's dealing with a hamstring injury right now. They said that his status for this Monday night's game is up in the air. So if he doesn't play Monday and Carson Wentz comes in there and balls out and Justin Jefferson goes for 100 yards and two touchdowns, Kyler's time may be done. We don't know that for sure. But, you know, that's what we're looking at again. Another quarterback battle here in Minnesota. What's new? Sorry, we have to ask you about it every week. I love that Dan, we just took Dan with a little smirk on his face. I feel bad for Ahmad. How long have we been doing this? I try to think of other things to talk about. And now we're asking him again. Yeah, it's just, we got to talk about it. Lily. Let's go to the Packers because the Brewers win a World Series and the Packers beat the Panthers on Thursday night football. Very unique scenario in this game. Christian Watson taken to the hospital mid game then returns and played the rest of the game. Can you explain this wild situation? Yeah, I mean it was a moonshot from Jordan Love to Christian Watson in the second quarter and he goes down and lands on the football. This has happened to him before though. He's landed on the football before and injured himself so there was a lot of concern in terms of the internal injuries. He got up, he was on the field for quite a while but got up. Was holding his side and then went into the locker room, went directly to the hospital just for precautionary reasons just to get things checked out. He told us after the game, though, he was coughing up blood and he broke a rib. But you have to talk about I think everybody was at the game because the traffic was quite good to get him to the hospital. Get him checked out, get him cleared, brought back to the stadium via the ambulance, and he came back in the third quarter and played. And the first snap of him back on the field was Jordan Love going back to Watson, but he kind of popped out of that ambulance WWE style and got back out there so quick that you blinked and he was back. So it was encouraging to see him get cleared, wear extra padding. Again, the concern is now the rib and how that will affect him the rest of the season, but you see him come back out of the tunnel right there. And he got a really loud cheer from the Green and Gold Faithful. So his toughness was certainly on display on Thursday night. Again, he is a guy that the Packers cannot replace offensively. So to have him back after what looked like a scary situation was super encouraging. And then, Cassie, you mentioned the Brewers. They also made an appearance in that game. They brought the Commissioner's Trophy to Lambeau Field. And a couple of the Brewers also did Lambeau Leap. So that was a really nice kind of cohesion of both sports on Thursday night. Okay, before we take a break, can you just explain what it was like covering the Brewers winning a World Series? Yeah, it was fantastic. I mean, there was kind of this aura about this team that you knew they were going to do it, and they went out and did it, just lost two games the entire playoff run. This was a team of destiny who knew they could win it. They kind of walked the walk and talked the talk, and it was fantastic to see this team win their first ever World Series title and bring it back to the city of Milwaukee and celebrate with the city as well. So big kudos to Pat Murphy and the Milwaukee Brewers on a World Series champion. Title, it was fantastic to cover. Yeah, it's been a busy couple of weeks for Lily and the Fox Milwaukee team. We need to take a break. Micah Parsons has a Target debut date. And who else will make a trade before the deadline? We discuss when we come back on First and North.