The National Football League trade deadline saw a flurry of action that sent a few major impact players from one roster to another. Four teams, all with winning records and looking to enhance their chances to win Super Bowl LVII, acquired top notch talent from four teams with losing records looking to shed salary cap problems and pick up future draft choices.

The first major trade in the past couple weeks was pulled off by the San Francisco 49ers with the acquisition of Christian McCaffrey from the Carolina Panthers. Most football pundits considered McCaffrey the best player on the Panthers roster before the trade, while he joins a San Francisco offense that adds an explosive weapon to an already potent group.

The other notable trades this week saw the NFC North Division leading Minnesota Vikings acquire tight end T.J. Hockenson from the Detroit Lions. The Baltimore Ravens, leaders of the AFC North Division, added defensive strength with the acquisition of Roquan Smith from the Chicago Bears. And finally, just before the trade deadline passed, the Denver Broncos shipped defensive stud Bradley Chubb to the Miami Dolphins, who are the only team this year to beat the Buffalo Bills and trail the Josh Allen led AFC East Division leaders by a game and one-half.

So, with the Panthers, Lions, Bears and Broncos all shipping talent to contenders one might think that those four teams would drop even further in their divisions standings. One might think that, but initially that is seldom the case.

Only the 49ers have played games with their newly acquired talent, and in what many considered a surprise San Francisco lost their first game with McCaffrey while the Panthers picked up a victory the same weekend over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Why?

Because there is a tendency in the NFL that when a new high profile star joins a team that squad has an initial dip in performance. It is as if the new player takes too much attention and his teammates are caught watching him instead of doing their job. In the long run, adding talent to a roster is likely to pay dividends, but that first game out not so much.

In his second game with the 49ers, McCaffrey became the first player since LaDainian Tomlinson accomplished the feat in 2005 of being involved in three touchdowns while passing for one, running for another and scoring a third on a rushing play. His breakout performance was key to the 49ers extending their regular season winning streak over the Los Angeles Rams to eight games.

The team that makes the trade of a star athlete picks up the motivation by players not accepting that they are on a squad unloading talent with an eye only on the future. It is pride that drives their performance in the first game they play after management jettisons one of their best players.

That means, this week we can anticipate the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears to elevate their play motivationally while the Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens could be in for a dip in performance. The Broncos have a bye this week, so their first game after the Chubb trade will be a week from Sunday when they meet the Titans in Tennessee.

To see this theory play out from both sides, we have the Bears, who traded away Smith, host the Dolphins in their first game since acquiring Chubb.

That gives us an edge coming and going.

Qoxhi Picks: Chicago Bears (+5) over Miami Dolphins