At 8-3 the Chicago Bears should be thinking playoffs and more

Summary

Forward Progress: At 8-3 the Chicago Bears Should Be Thinking Playoffs and More

Podcast: Forward Progress – A Chicago Bears Podcast
Hosts: Dan Bernstein & Matt Abbatacola
Episode Date: November 24, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Dan Bernstein and Matt Abbatacola dive deep into the Chicago Bears’ eighth win of the season, a closely contested 31-28 victory over the Steelers, pushing the team to an 8-3 record. They passionately debate what this means for Chicago’s playoff (and, potentially, Super Bowl) aspirations, analyze Ben Johnson’s impressive coaching job, evaluate Caleb Williams’ accuracy struggles and growth, and discuss why opportunities like this season are so rare for the franchise. Expect a no-excuses tone: the message is clear—this isn’t about “development” any longer. The Bears should be thinking big.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Bears’ Win Over the Steelers: Scrappy but Satisfying

• [01:43] Matt sets the table: “It was a strange game from Jump and there were people out there of whom you have never heard … But they beat a winning team and they can be proud of it.”
• [02:29] Dan notes the depleted Bears defense still found a way: “one of your reserve linebackers who starts goes out. It was just a really bizarre game and they were able to just do enough defensively to keep the Steelers down.”
• [03:21] Dan questions Pittsburgh’s choices: “The Steelers came out one of the Worst running games in the NFL ran for 186 yards against the Bears… And why they kind of went away from the run … I’ll never understand. Mike Tomlin is being lit up in Pittsburgh…”

2. Coaching: Ben Johnson’s Masterclass

• [04:08] Matt compares the Bears’ record to their point differential: “The fact that The Bears are 8 and 3 with a negative point differential is a testament to the job Ben Johnson is doing… He has coached this team to a record above and beyond that.”
• [05:00] Dan’s praise: “This is what it looks like to have a legitimate NFL head coach at the top of your organization. One of the top play callers in the league right now in Ben Johnson.”
• [12:17] Ben Johnson on Montez Sweat, via press conference: “He’s been heating up since the bye week… you just felt it each week. He seems to impact the game a little bit more each week.”

3. The Upcoming Test: Eagles on a Short Week

• [06:39] Matt lowers the bar: “I’m not holding them to a victory standard in this game. I just want the Bears to acquit themselves professionally and just don’t look like this is the class hike that we all know it is.”
• [07:54] Dan pushes for higher expectations: “Why can we not hold them to a standard of victory in this game on Friday? Why not? You’re eight and three and you’re in first place…”

4. Missed Opportunities and Game Management

• [08:23] Matt: “The Bears aren’t shying away from what they didn’t do well… They know what they left on the field.”
• [09:25] Dan on game-ending plays: “Caleb Williams also had an opportunity to complete a pass … a really bad throw. You get that first down… that ends the game. … That was a complete train wreck at the end for them.”
• [10:01] Matt on near interception to end the game: “Had Brisker not tipped that? Was [Nishan Wright] going to pick it off? I think it was.”

5. Ben Johnson on Caleb Williams’ Performance

• [10:19] Ben Johnson: “31 points on offense … always a good thing… we probably had a couple that we let get away from us… I don’t know many quarterbacks that do play a perfect game.”
• [11:17] On turnovers: “Just hold on to the ball… We can’t have them… they’re not okay. So we’re well aware of that.”
• [11:44] On Montez Sweat: “He’s been heating up since the bye week… it felt like out there from my count. But it’s good to see that come on just like that.”

6. Play Design: Turning Weakness into Strength

• [14:34] Buddy from Rockford’s email praised Ben Johnson’s “glimpse inside the brain” for successfully running a screen play the Bears had previously failed with.
• [16:00] Matt: “The capital that you build up just by showing that play. For every opponent… they keep showing this, and now they’ve got a counter.”
• [16:23] Dan: “So now not only running it successfully, but just showing it… that guy now hesitates and pauses for a second, and maybe that half a step is all that guy needs.”

7. The “Development” Debate: What Should the Bears Expect?

• [16:41] Matt: “If you lucked into an 8 and 3 … how do you make it matter that you’re ahead of schedule where every season is precious? … Bears fans know… with the Eagles kicking your ass. That’s how it happens.”
• [17:39] Dan challenges the patience for Caleb Williams: “He’s 28 games into his NFL career… He’s had enough time now. … When he misses opportunities to get downfield… I get frustrated with Caleb Williams…”

8. Caleb Williams’ Self-Assessment and Expectations

• [22:35] Matt reads Caleb Williams’ own accountability: “It starts with me and it falls down to everybody else. Missing a few passes, a couple passes that recently I’ve been kind of surgical with. Missed those passes today. It was frustrating but I’m trying to stay positive for the guys.”
• [23:02] [Caleb Williams Audio/Quote] “You don’t apologize for any wins in this league… But you do understand where you can be as a team. … And that’s the frustrating part. You know, it starts with me… missing a few passes… it was frustrating but, you know, trying to stay positive for the guys… we have so much left in the tank and we can be so much better.”
• [24:14] Dan: “Caleb Williams is not satisfied… This is not about the development of the quarterback anymore… You’re 8 and 3, this season is now changed.”

9. The Urgency of 8-3: Opportunity is Rare

• [25:28] Matt: “I think a lot of things can be true … nobody had the Bears 8 and 3. … A lot of this is found money. A lot of this is them playing over their head in large part due to their schedule and it’s okay. … There’s no apologies for that.”
• [30:12] Dan: “We got to keep getting better. Like I said, you know, it starts with me on my side and then, you know, we’ll keep growing from there.”
• [31:24] Matt: “Your issues at left tackle may have just accelerated the rise of your eventual planned starter…”

10. Accuracy Questions and the Ceiling for Caleb Williams

• [18:32] Matt: “Accuracy. He’s just gotta be… I don’t know if it’s learning anything correct.”
• [19:03] Dan: “When guys are open and he has chances to gain yards downfield and he doesn’t throw a good ball… You’re 8 and 3. Like, this season is now changed. It’s a different season now.”
• [27:19] Matt: “That’s what frustrates me, that we get to a nature versus nurture question about accuracy. … I’m concerned about the nature of his accuracy problems. Why it just pops up. Why stop missing open receivers? That’s because there’s no explanation.”
• [34:04] Completion percentage criticism:
  • Dan: “He’s at 59.2%… Ben Johnson set the expectation of 70% going into the season… That’s the expectation.”

11. The Matthew Stafford Model—Or Warning

• [36:37] Dan reminds listeners Detroit traded away their number one overall pick, Matthew Stafford, despite his stats, because ‘not good enough’: “He could walk into Halas Hall today and be the best quarterback that’s ever played the game for the Bears by far… And yet they said, you know what? That’s not good enough for us. You don’t know when this chance is coming again. You’re 8 and 3 now. You’re going to the playoffs. You’ve got to be better.”
• [38:23] Matt: “Stafford got his ring, he’s going to have the gold jacket.”

12. The NFC/NFL Big Picture

• [41:09]–[47:00] Brief whip-around of other Week 12 NFL results and playoff implications:
  • Eagles’ loss likely to have them angry and motivated for Friday.
  • Seahawks “might win this whole thing.”
• [42:24] Matt: “This one is… I hate the term measuring stick games, but Bears gotta play well. … I'm not going to get hung up in the outcome, but they've got to play well.”

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Expectations:

  • Dan Bernstein [07:54]: “Why can we not hold them to a standard of victory in this game on Friday? … You want to be a big boy?”
  • Matt Abaticola [22:35] quoting Caleb Williams: “It starts with me and it falls down to everybody else… I’ve been kind of surgical with [those passes] and missed those passes today. It was frustrating but I’m trying to stay positive for the guys.”

• On accuracy and growth:

  • Dan Bernstein [18:38]: “There is nothing to learn. … we’re not asking him to make the most difficult pass in football… We’re talking about when guys are open… and he doesn’t throw a good ball.”
  • Matt Abaticola [27:21]: “[Accuracy] just pops up. … There's no explanation. That's not about… Ben Johnson. It's not familiarity with teammates. I don't know what I'm talking about in the accuracy questions.”

• On Play Design:

  • Matt Abaticola [14:34] (paraphrasing emailer): “Further proof Ben Johnson’s seeing what we’re seeing and… turning a weakness into a strength.”
  • Dan Bernstein [16:23]: “Just showing it… that guy now hesitates and pauses for a second, and maybe that half a step is all that guy needs.”

• On Rarity of Opportunity:

  • Dan Bernstein [32:43]: “The Bears have gone to the playoffs 16 times [since 1967]… They’ve had 14 seasons of 10-plus wins in the Super Bowl era… This doesn’t happen with this organization.”
  • Dan Bernstein [38:25]: “You don't know when this chance is coming again. You're eight and three now. You're going to the playoffs. You've got to be better. That's why I get frustrated with Caleb Williams.”

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Important Timestamps for Major Segments

• [01:43] Episode kicks off: Bears are 8-3 after Steelers win
• [02:29]–[06:39] Recap and stakes of the Pittsburgh game, divisional implications
• [10:19]–[12:17] Ben Johnson postgame press conference (on Williams, turnovers, defense)
• [14:18]–[16:23] Play breakdown: WR screen, how Ben Johnson adjusted
• [16:41]–[17:39] Why 8-3 matters; how to capitalize on “found money” season
• [18:32]–[19:03] Williams’ accuracy: skill or teachable?
• [22:35] Williams and Loveland’s self-criticism after the win
• [23:02]–[24:14] Caleb Williams’ press conference audio
• [27:19]–[28:19] Nature vs. nurture: can accuracy be taught?
• [30:12]–[35:41] Roster stability, offensive expectations, and why it’s not about development anymore
• [36:37]–[38:25] Stafford as a cautionary tale about “not enough,” parallels for Williams
• [41:09]–[47:00] NFL Week 12 recap, playoff picture

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Tone & Takeaways

• Passionate, unfiltered, and at times exasperated—especially regarding the need for higher standards for a winning Bears team.
• Deeply analytical: detailed on both stats and play-calling, but shot through with lifelong Bears-fan frustration and hope.
• Relentless in holding both the quarterback and the organization accountable. The central message: No more excuses, no more “rebuilding” talk. At 8-3, the Bears owe it to themselves, their teammates, and their fans to aim higher. As Dan put it: “You just don’t know what’s going to happen beyond this year. … This may be the shot.”

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For Bears fans, this episode is a rallying cry: enjoy the ride, but demand excellence—because seasons like this don’t come around often in Chicago.

Transcript

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[Matt Abeticola]

Forward Progress, a Chicago Bears podcast on 312 Sports is brought to you by Beer Church Brewing New Buffaloes Brewery Pizzeria in a historic Church Wood fired Neapolitan Pizza Small batch craft beer brunch every day. Visit beerchurchbrewing.com the first place bears are 8 and 3 and sitting in comfortable playoff position after a win over the Steelers by final of 31 to 28. It was a strange game from Jump and there were people out there of whom you have never heard because NFL games as we get toward late November tend to look like that. But they beat a winning team and they can be proud of it.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, no, absolutely. The three point victory at Soldier Field over a what was a first place team in the AFC north without Aaron Rodgers and looking back on it, I still wanted the Bears to beat Aaron Rodgers, but I'm glad he didn't play. I'll say that much about the way that that game developed with the linebackers being out. One of your reserve linebackers who starts goes out. It was just a really bizarre game and they were able to just do enough defensively to keep the Steelers down. With Mason Rudolph thankfully at quarterback who can't throw a deep ball to save his life, the Steelers came out one of the Worst running games in the NFL at 3 point yards per carry towards the bottom of the league ran for 186 yards against the Bears.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

And why they kind of went away from the run a little bit and just didn't run more until, hey, stop me. I'll never understand. And Mike Tomlin is being lit up in Pittsburgh yesterday and today. Really just absolutely being lit up because.

[Matt Abeticola]

People thought that how dare you lose to the Bears kind of thing.

[Dan Bernstein]

How dare you lose to the Bears. And several of the comments I read along the lines of a junior varsity defense is what it was. Well, it had nothing to do with talking about the Bears offense. It was the Bears defense and the fact that they couldn't take advantage of the opportunities that were given. Even with Mason Rudolph as the quarterback who made his 19th start, I think you said right. In his 19th career start somewhere around there. Yeah, he's being just lit up for losing that game yesterday against that defense.

[Matt Abeticola]

I don't think it's a perfect comp to Pythagorean record in baseball or third order record when you look at what the runs scored and runs allowed say about the quality of your team. But point differential is a blunt way of looking at that. And the fact that The Bears are 8 and 3 with a negative point differential is a testament to the job Ben Johnson is doing. He really has. He, he has, he has coached this team to a record above and beyond that in these games against whoever he's got to play, whoever's on the schedule. To be able to have just enough to be able to have a blocked kick, to be able to have a kickoff return, all the critical things, all the takeaways that they've had. This has been an outstanding coaching job to this point with this group.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. And that's why they are 8 and 3 because of Ben Johnson. And this is what it looks like to have a legitimate NFL head coach at the top of your organization. One of the top play callers in the league right now in Ben Johnson and what he schemes and develops and plans and game plans against defenses is why they are eight and three. Yeah, that point differential is really interesting to look at being negative. 3. The only first place team to have a negative point differential, the only winning team to have a negative point differential, I think. And so far you've had four games on the calendar. Now, every game matters, obviously every game matters. Every game is a W or an L. But you've had three divisional games or a tie with the Cowboys. That's correct. Cowboys and Packers, I think. Right. You have four. Four games that are really. Yeah. I want to highlight and look at two against the Vikings, one against the Lions. You're one and two in those games. Or. Yeah, you're one and two. Almost gave up the second one to J.J. mcCarthy, who was absolutely terrible in that game. You got beat badly by the Lions. You did beat. And then you had one stolen away from you at home Monday night to open the season up by J.J. mcCarthy and the Vikings, who later was then named NFC Offensive Player of the Week. And then this coming Friday against the Eagles is not for me. It's not the first test of the season. But those three divisional games with this one, the four most important games. Now, again, every game is a win and loss. Every game is important. But these are ones to look at your divisional games and then NFC opponents, especially one that's on top of a division that is defending super bowl champion, that is currently 8 and 3 as well, after a horrible loss yesterday in Dallas.

[Matt Abeticola]

Well, I'm not holding them to a victory standard in this game. I just want the Bears to play well on Friday. I want the Bears to acquit themselves professionally and just don't look like this is the class hike that we all know it is. Play up to your level of opponent. Play up to them. And I'm not really worried tactically. I'm not worried about preparation. I'm just concerned about the quality differential, the overall talent differential in this game right now. And I think they'll be prepared. But until they get out there against. And it's. I think it may help them, too, for it to be a short turnaround, that. That the. There'll be less of themselves. Perhaps. Maybe. Maybe it's still a little bit beat up and that might even things out a little bit because neither team is quite properly recovered. But I'm not worried about the outcome. I'm just worried about how well they can play and what they can show in this particular matchup where they're doing it now.

[Dan Bernstein]

I totally understand what you're saying, and half me agrees with you. The other half me, I don't. I don't. I don't like it.

[Matt Abeticola]

You're getting greedy.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Because why can we not hold them to a standard of victory in this game on Friday? Why not?

[Matt Abeticola]

It's a lot to ask. I think.

[Dan Bernstein]

So. So what? You're eight and three and you're in first place, your division. You want to be a big boy?

[Matt Abeticola]

Maybe I'm going in with a sense of awareness that, I mean, Maybe I don't think that they're as good as their record says they are.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. And again, I understand that. I do. But I'm still going to hold them to the standard of you should go out there and win this game.

[Matt Abeticola]

They want us to.

[Dan Bernstein]

You should go out and win every game.

[Matt Abeticola]

And I'm noticing it in a lot of the post game comments too, that the Bears aren't shying away from what they didn't do well at all. Like, they're. They're owning it. They know the. What they left on the field and what it took.

[Dan Bernstein]

They had.

[Matt Abeticola]

They had two chances to put this game away.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. They had two drives at the end to put this game away and they failed to do it. Now, Kyle Manon guy, I don't know if he slipped completely on the grass or he tangled up in someone's feet.

[Matt Abeticola]

Was I texting you or someone else at that?

[Dan Bernstein]

Someone else.

[Matt Abeticola]

Okay. Because I was texting other people. I said zone left and I was screaming it to anybody who wanted to know.

[Dan Bernstein]

You did talk to me about running behind.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yes. Tuning in these situations. Stretch left because you run behind the best player on your team. And they did. And they had it.

[Dan Bernstein]

They had it. And again, I don't know if he. I have to watch again. I don't know if he just slipped or if he tangled over someone's feet.

[Matt Abeticola]

No, somebody got him. Somebody reached out. It was a legit. It wasn't a hand.

[Dan Bernstein]

Was it a hand? I thought it was somebody feet he tripped over.

[Matt Abeticola]

Watch it again.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I will.

[Matt Abeticola]

I'm pretty sure somebody got him.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. But that. That was there for you. Caleb Williams also had an opportunity to complete a pass that he. That it was just a really bad throw. You get that first down and that. That ends the. The dry or that ends the game essentially for. For the Steelers and doesn't allow them the opportunity to get back in and even get close to driving a field goal. But I mean, that was a complete train wreck at the end for them to Mason Rudolph and getting tipped by Grady Jarrett and then a bad pass at the end. Had no chance of even getting close to his target.

[Matt Abeticola]

And you know what? Had Brisker not tipped that? Did you see where Nishan Wright was?

[Dan Bernstein]

Was he going to pick it off?

[Matt Abeticola]

I think it was. And he still wouldn't have got a damn game.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, he wouldn't have.

[Matt Abeticola]

No. Still they're going to. Four picks in a game. He's not going to get a game ball.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right, I want to just listen to Ben Johnson a Couple of cuts from Ben Johnson. After the game yesterday, he was asked first about. About Caleb's game.

[Ben Johnson (Coach)]

Once again, I got to go look at that tape. But you know, 31 points on offense and that's always a good thing when you get. Get over 30. So, you know, from my perspective, we probably had a couple that we let it get away from us, but, you know, that's. I don't know many quarterbacks that do play a perfect game.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. Again, interesting. Have any initial comments which he's always had every game on post game with the exception of yesterday. And then after last week's game, the answer was I need to watch the tape. Okay. Which he's consistently had things to say and the standard there of I don't know what quarterbacks ever played a perfect game. I'm not sure when that was asked of Caleb Williams. No one, no one's asking him to be perfect or play a perfect game. That's not, that's not realistic or reasonable. He was also asked about Caleb's turnover, which led to seven points for the Steelers defense.

[Ben Johnson (Coach)]

Just hold on to the ball. Yeah, we know how important these turnovers are. We can't. We can't have them. They're not. They're not. Okay. So we're well aware of that.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right. Sounds frustrated, sounds defensive because he's pissed off about it. Okay. He doesn't want that, you know, get rid of the ball instead of taking that sack, find an outlet or throw the ball away. He sounded pissed off. And then he was asked about Montez sweat also.

[Ben Johnson (Coach)]

He's just. He's been heating up since the bye week. Tez has. And you've just felt it each week. He seems to impact the game a little bit more each week. And so I think he had two. Is that right? And had a chance for a third. It felt like out there from my count. But it's good to see that come on just like that. I feel him, I feel Grady, feel Book. I feel all those guys. And you know, it's whenever we get that two score lead there, that's when it certainly starts playing in our favor a little bit more as well.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. All good stuff there from Ben Johnson talking about Montez sweat. And he has, come on, what is it, six sacks?

[Matt Abeticola]

I think he's at six and a half in the last, what, six games or something like that.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abeticola]

And he's stuffing the stat sheet. He should not have had the fumble recovery. He had the forced fumble, but had Gervon Dexter not sort of been dancing with Whatever. I still. I watch. I hope that there's something. When they watch that film.

[Dan Bernstein]

Maybe there were two balls in the field.

[Matt Abeticola]

I don't know. I don't know what he was doing. I don't know what he was looking. He was. He was like, the ball was here. Maybe it's still here. Oh, it's over there.

[Dan Bernstein]

Maybe. Maybe there was a hologram that was projected onto the field.

[Matt Abeticola]

A ball. And he was a force ghost.

[Commercial Narrator]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Putting his hands through it, trying to grab it and pick it up.

[Matt Abeticola]

Somebody was projecting a force ghost of the ball.

[Dan Bernstein]

I still love the idea of Mont going to the sideline, yelling at the guy. He's like, come on, fellas.

[Matt Abeticola]

I got to do everything around here.

[Dan Bernstein]

I got to sack him. I got to. I got to force the fumble and I got to run 10 yards and pick it up.

[Matt Abeticola]

Wait for me to come back over and pick it up. Jeez, guys, come on.

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[Dan Bernstein]

One other play that I want to talk about too is something that we we discussed earlier but not on DBU but before the show. The play that I've highlighted that they ran but did something different. The wide receiver screen.

[Matt Abeticola]

And I also there was a an emailer that sent this in because I didn't quite real I noted it but I didn't quite realize the similarities at the time exactly what was going So I want to thank this is Buddy from Rockford.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yep.

[Matt Abeticola]

Who actually did send in a note that and I love the way he put it. He said 1038 of the first quarter. The same screen that we've been talking about, the one that was blown up by Andrew Van Ginkel, Max Crosby and Brian Burns. It was a gain of 12 yards on a draw play to Manungai because of the fake by Williams. The point being it was a glimpse inside the brain of Ben Johnson. Further proof he's seeing what we're seeing and you can see T.J. watt recognize it. You could tell that they'd focused on the play. Ben Johnson saw it, too, turning a weakness into a strength.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. And it was great. It was an absolutely great call. And in my notes, too, I even highlighted Caleb Williams, how impressive and how awesome the. His body movement was on that fake because he sold it so well. And then he turned. Great handoff. Great call. But, yeah, Ben Johnson saw that. And we kept asking, stop running that play, please. But they do it in the first quarter.

[Matt Abeticola]

But they run it and they beat the guy.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes. And it was awesome. It was great. And yeah, TJ Watt blew it up. Up field, and it would have been destroyed again. And he counters it.

[Matt Abeticola]

Think about what that means going forward, too. That the. The capital that you build up just by showing that play.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right.

[Matt Abeticola]

For every opponent whose advanced scouts had been working on this, every opponent's like, all right, well, there's that one. We're going to be the team that gets this. They keep showing this, and now they're. Well, they got a counter.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abeticola]

Nope, they saw that one. We can't. We can't coach our guy to just go now.

[Dan Bernstein]

So now not only running it successfully, but just showing it. That guy now hesitates and pauses for a second, and maybe that half a step is all that guy needs.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yeah, it's advanced stuff. It's great.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's great. It's really good call. So I loved it, and it was a really creative call. All right. One other thing I want to get into is Caleb Williams, and we talked about him a lot on the post game show. I want to get, you know, a little deep into it. On DBU today, we talked about why this 8 and 3. Why the 8 and 3 season matters now. Like what. What advantage?

[Matt Abeticola]

Yeah, I'm trying to say, like, if. If you lucked into an 8 and 3 or somehow you are ahead of schedule, how do you make it matter that you're ahead of sched schedule where every season is precious? You want to win the super bowl this year. It's rare that that happens in football. Usually your surprise year ends up with these Bears fans know, with the Eagles kicking your ass. That's how it happens. That's the reminder that's coming this week because you've got the team in 2001. Yay. They're 13 and three. Oh, the season's over. And we weren't. We weren't that good, and we were never that good. And the Matt Nagy team, oh, My God, we're 12 and 4. Look at this. Oh, well, the kicker missed and now the season's over and maybe we weren't all that good and this guy was coach of the year and now he sucks. How can you make that not happen? And obviously the circumstances are very, very different now, but what can you do about the luck that you've had with the opponents that you've had and make your team more likely to win a Super bowl because of it?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. So here's the. Here's the whole point on. On Caleb Williams. And I've been very hard on Caleb all season, and I'm not going to let up good on the expectations for Caleb Williams. He's 28 games into his NFL career. He was the number one pick overall. He's had enough time now in one particular area. And why I get frustrated with Caleb Williams is when he misses opportunities to get downfield that are open opportunities. Okay. And, you know, people say, oh, you got to relax. Caleb Williams needs to develop and grow. He's still learning this. He's still learning that. It's only 11 games with Ben Johnson. So I want to ask you, what. What does Caleb Williams need to learn or which area does he need to improve on in order to complete a pass to an open receiver with a clean pocket and a good foundation from which to throw? What does he still need to learn?

[Matt Abeticola]

Accuracy. He's just got to be. I don't know if it's learning anything correct.

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't think I'll learn anything correct.

[Matt Abeticola]

I think he's just got to be accurate. Throw it. Throw it where it's got. And even on some of the completions, to be on the run side and not on the backside of the play. Be. Throw a receiver in 2 yards after the catch. That's the advanced stuff.

[Dan Bernstein]

And you're exactly right on it. There is nothing to learn. I mean, we're not asking him to make the most difficult pass in football across the field in double coverage or even with tight single coverage.

[Matt Abeticola]

He said that.

[Dan Bernstein]

We're talking about when guys are open and he has chances to gain yards downfield and he doesn't throw a good ball. Yeah. And people are like, oh, you know, you know, you have to give him time. Give him time. You're 8 and 3. Like, this season is now changed. It's a different season now. Dan, do you know the last time a team went. Started 8 and 3 in their first 11 games and missed the playoffs?

[Matt Abeticola]

Started 7 and 3. I know the Bears did that the last time an 8 and 3 team missed the playoffs. I don't know.

[Dan Bernstein]

1996, wow. Was the last time a team in their first 11 games started 8 and 3 and missed the playoffs. Again, it was a 16 game schedule. It was the Kansas City Chiefs. They finished 1 and 4. They finished 9 and 7. But when you're 8 and 3, you make the playoffs. I'm sorry if it's ahead of schedule. You're an NFL player. I'm sorry that this is your first year with the head coach. You have a chance here. You're going to the playoffs, Dan.

[Matt Abeticola]

Mm.

[Dan Bernstein]

You're going to the playoffs now? Yeah. Mathematically, they, they could still finish with an 8 and 9 record.

[Matt Abeticola]

I was going to say it's also. You're not talking about a large sample of a 17 game schedule.

[Dan Bernstein]

You're not, you're not. But last year, I just, I took last year just for some context as well. There were 14. There were 15 teams that finished with double digit wins last year. Okay. 14 of those 15 made the playoffs. The Seahawks were the only one that did Not. They finished 10 and 7. They did not make the playoffs. They were the eighth team on the NFC on the outside looking in. After 11 games. The Seahawks were 6 and 5. Okay. The Bills after 11 games were 9 and 2, finished 13 and 4. The Ravens were 7 and 4, finished 12 and 5. The Steelers were 8 and 3, finished 10 and 7. The Texans were 7 and 4, finished 10 and 7. The Chiefs were 10, 10 and 1, finished 15 and 2. Chargers 7 and 4, finished 11 and 6. The Broncos 6 and 5, finished 10, 7. The Eagles were 9 and 2, finished 14 and 3. The Commanders were 7 and 4, finished 12and5. The Lions 10 and 1, finished 15 and two. The Vikings 9 and 2 finished 14 and 3. The Packers 8 and 3, finished 11 and 5. The Bucks and the Rams were two teams that were outliers here at 5 and 6 after 11 with terrible divisions and finished both 10 and 7. Okay, if you're 8 and 3 after 11 games, you're going to the playoffs. Otherwise it's a, it's an absolute catastrophe of an ending to your season.

[Matt Abeticola]

And when you talk about the, asking the question the way you did about what Caleb Williams has to learn, I'm looking at getting these quotes here from the Tribune story about the game, about how the Bears had two opportunities to end this game, to just be over and take a knee and that's it. Colston Loveland said, we could have done a better job obviously ending the game when we could have. Caleb Williams said, it's nice when you get to learn from wins and find ways, when you have mess ups, when you find ways to win. But understand that we have so much left in the tank and we can be so much better. And this is per next gen stats, 10 of Caleb Williams incompletions came on passes in the short or intermediate area of the field. This is Williams now. This isn't Maddie, it isn't me, it's Caleb Williams. It starts with me and it falls down to everybody else missing a few passes, a couple passes that recently I've been kind of surgical with. Missed those passes today. It was frustrating but I'm trying to stay positive for the guys.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, listen, let's, let's listen to Caleb Williams. Okay? Because if you think I'm hard on Caleb Williams because my expectations for him are too high, I'm going to tell you why this eight and three season matters and why his performance at every level and every throw matters. Listen to Caleb Williams talk about himself. How do you look at a game like this? You had the three touchdown passes, you guys had an opportunity to put them away. Yep, you get the win. I mean how do you kind of balance that as you assess yourself?

[Caleb Williams]

Yeah, you don't, you don't apologize for any wins in this league.

[Dan Bernstein]

No one's asking you to.

[Caleb Williams]

You know, I think that, I mean that's a historic organization over there and they got a bunch of great athletes, bunch of great coaches and things like that. So like I said, you don't, you don't apologize but you do understand where you can be as a team. What we could have done out there. And that's the frustrating part. And you know, it starts with me and you know, it funnels down everybody else, you know, missing a few passes and a couple, you know, passes that you know, recently that I've been, you know, kind of, kind of just surgical with and missed those passes today and it was frustrating but you know, trying to, trying to stay positive for the guys, just knowing what type of game it's going to be. You know, they were running the ball well and things like that and so they were using a lot of clocks. We weren't going to have many possessions and so I'm trying to be positive for those guys and you know, not, not, not get too frustrated in those situations. And then from there we gotta, you know, it's, it's, I said it before. We gotta, we gotta learn from. It's nice when you get to learn from wins and you know, you find ways when you have mess ups or all These different things to find way, to find ways to win. But also understand that we have so much left in the tank and we can be so much better.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay? Caleb Williams is not satisfied with his performance. Yesterday he could have said, I threw three touchdowns, I had a rating over 100 and I had zero interceptions thrown. He was not satisfied himself with his performance. I wasn't either. Because they could do so much better. His words, they could do so much better. See, this is not about the development of the quarterback anymore. You're in an eight and three season right now. You're going to the playoffs. You know what? You, I want you to go into that locker room and I want you to tell Andrew Billings and Bayard and Scott Daly and TJ Edwards and Grady Jarrett and DJ Moore and Jonathan Owens, Cairo, Santos, Montez, Sweat Joe Tuney, Edmonds and Jalen Johnson, Kyler Gordon. Tell those guys it's about development for the quarterback this season. Why are they there? Why are they putting their bodies on the line week after week after week so that when their career is over, their physical bodies will never be the same ever again. They're never going to feel good. You tell them it's all about the development of Caleb Williams this year. You're 8 and 3, Dan.

[Matt Abeticola]

I don't think it's zero sum.

[Dan Bernstein]

I think out there to win a.

[Matt Abeticola]

Championship, I think a lot of things can be true and I think we're in a position to understand that there's multiple levels here. Of course, you start eight and three, win the super bowl every year. That should be your goal, to be in a position to win the super bowl with everything that you do. And if you get there a year early or two years early or three years early, and this is the first of many Super Bowls, say, holy crap, we're here and it's raining confetti on us, then great. But I do think it's also reasonable to understand that nobody expected, nobody had the Bears 8 and 3. A lot of this is found money. A lot of this is them playing over their head in large part due to their schedule and it's okay. And I will quote Caleb Williams, there's no apologies for that.

[Dan Bernstein]

No one's asking anyone to apologize.

[Matt Abeticola]

But I also think that Williams has been told, and he understands where he is in his development, that as we said at the start of the season, it's a rebuild of a rebuild. This is in large part a true, almost like a red shirt rookie year for him. And that the, the truth is, the fact is you can tell Grady Jarrett and those guys, whatever you want. The fact is we are watching him still develop, which is why I'm continually troubled by the fact that there's no explanation for the accuracy process.

[Dan Bernstein]

And that's what I'm talking about, Dan. That is not developments and growth right now. Understanding his playbook, understanding Ben Johnson's playbook, how to get the calls in, how to share those in the huddle in the way that Ben Johnson wants to, and then how to get out of the huddle and at the line of scrimmage with enough time to take a look at the D. I get all that. That's part of his development. But throwing the football accurately is not part of his development.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yeah, that's.

[Dan Bernstein]

Why aren't you doing that?

[Matt Abeticola]

Yeah, that's what bothered me. That's what frustrates me, that we get to a nature versus nurture question about accuracy. And scouts will debate this. Scouts will debate, can it be taught? I know. You can't make somebody run faster necessarily. You can't make somebody jump higher. Can a quarterback's accuracy be taught? And he was always. Go back and look at the scouting reports and the mahomes like arm talent. And we see this stuff every game. We see the athleticism, we see all this stuff. The toughness, the short memory that he's got about letting bad plays roll off of him. I'm concerned about the nature of his accuracy problems. Why? It just pops up. Why stop missing open receivers? That's because there's no explanation. That's not about. That's not familiarity with Ben Johnson.

[Dan Bernstein]

No.

[Matt Abeticola]

It's not familiarity with teammates.

[Dan Bernstein]

No. I don't know what I'm talking about in the accuracy questions. And the issue, again, as I stated, the question about having a clean pocket with a good foundation from which to throw, why are you so inaccurate? And we saw it play out yesterday where they could have ended the game without giving the Steelers a chance to even try to tie. He was asked more about his accuracy.

[Ben Johnson (Coach)]

You mentioned some frustration with your accuracy.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yep. When you're in a funk like that, how do you. How do you pull out?

[Caleb Williams]

Yeah, you next play mindset, and then from there, you just got to go out there and execute today. I, you know, I just. In the beginning, it didn't. It didn't feel like I got into a, you know, good rhythm. I was missing passes and. And it was, you know, it was kind of weird. It was just. I wasn't too frustrated, like, you know, a couple weeks ago where I was just missing and I got supremely frustrated and things like that. You know, I understood, you know, and I wrote on my notes for myself to stay positive for myself, but also the guys. And I think I did a solid job with that, you know, this week and, you know, just was missing and it was like I said on passes and routes that, that I've been hitting the past couple weeks and been pretty good with. And so, you know, we'll figure it out. We'll go back and watch and figure.

[Matt Abeticola]

Out why the problem a couple weeks ago was his accuracy. Was the drops.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yep. I'm not worried.

[Matt Abeticola]

A couple weeks ago I know what was happening. He was putting it on guys and they were dropping.

[Dan Bernstein]

They were dropping it.

[Matt Abeticola]

But he just.

[Dan Bernstein]

And we saw an impact on the roster and a guy's reps because of that.

[Matt Abeticola]

Good. That's also coaching.

[Commercial Narrator]

Right?

[Dan Bernstein]

But for sure.

[Matt Abeticola]

But when you said it's kind of weird, like that's. That's a little scary to not know.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's. See, that's what I'm talking about. That's why I get so frustrated with this kid.

[Matt Abeticola]

It's a little scary to not know why you're missing. Open guys. Stop doing it.

[Dan Bernstein]

Open guys. Clean pocket, firm foundation to throw. Why are you missing?

[Caleb Williams]

We got to keep getting better. Like I said, you know, it starts with me on my side and then, you know, we'll keep growing from there.

[Dan Bernstein]

See, he recognizes it, he realizes it.

[Caleb Williams]

But also understand that we have so much left in the tank and we can be so much better.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yep.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's why I'm frustrated. Because they can be so much better. It's there for them. This shouldn't have been a three point game. And then, okay, fine, take that out of it. It's a three point game. Should not have given them an opportunity to drive down field to even get close to field goal range. You could have ended the game with your offense. You had two chances to do it. And it's just that that's what drives me crazy. So why is this eight and three season important? Because I reject something you said, okay. That were ahead of schedule. That, you know, hey, we're planned to 3, 4, 5. You can't plan that. You can't. You could prepare all you want. There's no guarantee. There's no guarantee. They get 8 and 3 after 11 games. Again with Ben John. There's no guarantee to it. There isn't. You've had very limited injuries on the offensive side of the football. You're very lucky to have all of your. Now they're not completely healthy You've had issues at left tackle. DJ Moore struggling with some injuries. Deandre Swift miss a game with injuries, but Kyle Monongai was awesome in that game.

[Matt Abeticola]

And your issues at left tackle may have just accelerated the rise of your eventual planned starter at that position.

[Dan Bernstein]

So they've been very fortunate on the offensive side of the football. You've got to take advantage of this eight and three season because there is no guarantee. So I reject that planning down the road how that progression works. It may not work that way. This may be the shot. And listen, so looking, looking at the Bears since 1967, which is the start of the super bowl era, the Bears have gone to the playoffs 16 times. Dan, since 1967, 16 times. Seven under Ditka, three under Smith, two under Nagy and then other guys were single times. They've had 14 seasons of 10 plus wins in the Super bowl era. 14, seven with Ditka, four with Lovey Smith and then other ones were having one offs. This doesn't happen with this organization. And I know, and I'm preaching the goodness of Ben Johnson that this is a byproduct of having Ben Johnson as your head coach. But there's no guarantee to it. You're eight and three. It's time to stop with the excuses. It's time to stop saying we got to figure it out. You know, the whole idea of the quarterback wants to get one of those back, oh, he's going to want that one back.

[Matt Abeticola]

How many times he's going to want that.

[Dan Bernstein]

You can't say that five or six times in a game. That defeats the whole purpose of he wants that one back. And I'm not asking for perfection. I'm just, I'm not. That's not reasonable. But why is it looking at quarterbacks, Dan, with 250 or more attempts this year in the NFL, there are 25 quarterbacks that qualify with 250 or more. Caleb Williams is 25th in completion percentage. He's behind Cam Ward and Trevor Lawrence. He's at 59.2 completion percentage and he's.

[Matt Abeticola]

Made up for that a bit with some big plays. If you start looking at the, what is it, yards average yards or win expectancy added per play, he's going to have some higher averages because there they're hunting bigger plays.

[Dan Bernstein]

And so he's also made up some ground. Remember we talked about his completion percentage and the expected completion percentage. He was the worst in the league with a differential of almost 9 or 10. Whatever it was. Yep, he's closed that gap A little bit. He's no longer the worst of qualifying quarterbacks. He's behind now. Who jumped him is Cam Ward and Trevor Lawrence, but he's still up there with a, with a significant differential. Okay.

[Matt Abeticola]

And what is he. Is he under 60% in actual completion?

[Dan Bernstein]

59.2.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yeah. I'd love to take the drops out of there too, to be fair.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I know.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yeah, I know.

[Dan Bernstein]

But why is it that Ben Johnson set the expectation of 70% going into the season?

[Matt Abeticola]

Because that's his expectation.

[Dan Bernstein]

For what? For not his quarterback, but for what?

[Matt Abeticola]

For his offense.

[Dan Bernstein]

For his offense. That's what his offense can produce. A quarterback who can complete 70% of his passes. So looking at right now, Drake May is at 71% completion percentage. And again, this is over 250 passes attempted. Josh Allen, Mac Jones, Sam Darnold, Dak Prescott, Jared Goff and Daniel Jones are at 69%.

[Matt Abeticola]

Nice.

[Dan Bernstein]

Those. That's the expectation that Ben Johnson has for his offense. This is what my offense can produce from my quarterback. Those are the expectations. He's at 59.2%. Okay. He has a clean pocket, a firm foundation to throw and he's missing guys. Still, it's not about development anymore. It's about an 8 and 3 season. You just don't know what's going to happen beyond this year. And you can't say, oh, we're planning for two years down the road, three years down the road. Especially when, and we've talked about this too, your offense going forward, barring injuries, is pretty much set with the guys you have on your roster. There aren't many changes you, you, you've already brought in the middle of your, your offensive line. You have your right tackle. You may have a left tackle, but that's an op. That's a position there that you could look at.

[Matt Abeticola]

I think you need an upgrade at running back.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. Running back is the only other position. Left tackle and running backs are your question marks. You have your two tight ends, you have Roman Dunes and you have Luther Burden. That's pretty much your offensive roster moving forward from. Your starters are concerned. It's not about what's it going to look like, what are we going to draft? Like what big player are we looking, what skill set, player are we looking at to add to this team? You have that there. It's time. They're 8 and 3. These chances don't come along very often. He needs to be better and making the passes that are there to be made. Ben Johnson expects his offense to complete 70% of those passes, he's at 59.2%. Okay. And there's one last thing I want to bring up to you and then we can, we can move on and wrap up from this. Ben Johnson was in Detroit as the passing coordinator when they took their number one overall number one pick at quarterback in Matthew Stafford and traded him away.

[Matt Abeticola]

Matthew Stafford, probably the MVP right now.

[Dan Bernstein]

17 seasons in the NFL. Okay. With the Lions. He had nine seasons of playing 16, 16 games or more in the season. He said one 5,000+ yard season. When he was comeback player of the year in 2011, he had seven consecutive 4200 yard seasons. He's gone over 4000 yards 8 of 10 seasons in a stretch with the Lions. He averaged for the Lions 27 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and 4,423 yards per season in that stretch. Something no Bears quarterback has ever touched. And he did it consistently. And they said, you know what? Three playoff appearances, three second place finishes, three wildcard losses is not enough. I don't care about the stats. I care about wins and winning Super Bowls. You have a chance now to go to the playoffs and to do something. It's not about your development anymore. Not anymore. Not when you're 8 and 3 and you're going to the playoffs. They traded away their number one pick. I remember in 2009 when Matthew Stafford dislocated his shoulder in his non throwing, non throwing arm, stayed in the game and threw the game winning touchdown. And I remember thinking, holy shit, the Bears have to play against this guy for who knows how long. Now that guy, that, that's, that's some balls right there. To go out into the line of scrimmage with a dislocated non throwing arm, still accept the snap and throw it. The winning touchdown pass. And they said, you know what? Not good enough. And they traded him away. Now. Yeah, at the end it's benefited him immensely being with the Rams.

[Matt Abeticola]

Got his ring, he's going to have the gold jacket.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, he's going to the hall of Fame as a, as a, as a Ram, period. But they traded that guy away because he wasn't good enough. And all the stats were there. He could walk into Hallis hall today and be the best quarterback that's ever played the game for the Bears by far. It's not even close. And yet they said, you know what? That's not good enough for us. You don't know when this chance is coming again. You're eight and three now. You're going to the playoffs. You've got to be better. That's why I get frustrated with Caleb Williams. The opportunities that are there for a guy of his caliber to make the completions when needed. When you have a clean pocket, you have a firm foundation from which to throw, make the damn passes. That's why I get pissed off.

[Matt Abeticola]

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[Dan Bernstein]

Just taking a look at week 12 in the NFL, the Thursday night game. We talked about Texans over the Bills a few days back. Ravens took down the Jets 23 to 10. The Patriots over the Bengals 26 20. Lions dropped the Giants, who were very Competitive with James Winston 34:27.

[Matt Abeticola]

They pulled it all out. Mike Kafka was getting deep in the bag saying, hey, you're letting me run things.

[Dan Bernstein]

Give it a try.

[Matt Abeticola]

Sure, why not?

[Dan Bernstein]

Packers took down the vikings at Lambo 23 to 6. It was the Chiefs and overtime over the Colts 23 to 20. Seahawks dropped the Titans 30 to 24.

[Matt Abeticola]

Seahawks might win this whole thing. They're really good. Seahawks are really, really good.

[Dan Bernstein]

Jaguars 27 over the Cardinals 24. Browns 24 to 10 over the Raiders. We talked about the Cowboys Eagles with that three point win for the Cowboys 24 21. Falcons over the Saints 24 to 10. Rams beat the Buccaneers 34 to 7 last night.

[Matt Abeticola]

I want to get when you mentioned that game last night and that is going to create a very angry, unhappy and motivated Eagles team on Friday that could very easily embarrass the Bears. It is possible. Which is why I want the Bears. Just if you can avoid that, if you can get out there and play well.

[Dan Bernstein]

So you feel like it could be another Lions game.

[Matt Abeticola]

I, I don't know if they've got the offensive firepower to quite do that, but defensively I'm just worried about the things that could happen to this Bears team if things start to go badly on them. So this is, this one is. I hate the term measuring stick games, but Bears got to play well. They got to play well. I'm not going to get hung up in the outcome, but they've got to play well. But in that game last night, my player of the week, my play of the week. If you want teaching tape on the NFL, if you want to show a young football player what it means to play NFL football, I want you to watch the play of Elijah Clark. Elijah Clark is a gunner on kickoff for the Cowboys and he got blocked on a kick, a late kickoff in the game. He got not only blocked, but he got blocked to the ground right off the kick. He's running down the field and he gets blocked to the ground. Guy just clobbers him. Didn't hold him, didn't, didn't. Just buried him. So he got up and this is all happening at NFL speed. He got up and his guy did it again. As he was getting up, he kind of stumbled and he got buried to the ground again. Same Play ball still in the air. I think however they rule it. He's still just trying to get down the field. Knocked down, got up, knocked down again, scrambles to his feet, circles around his attacker and hits the ball carrier. Hits the kickoff returner and separates him from the ball. Separates the ball from him. He and a teammate combined at exactly the same time. Might have been a little helmet to helmet, but there was helmet to ball. There was helmet to helmet. It was. They blew this guy up and they recovered the fumble. The long snapper. Recovered the fumble. I guess it was it a punt. Excuse me. It might have been. It was the. It was the long snapper, Trent Seeg, who came down to get the ball.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abeticola]

Which is awesome for a long snapper.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abeticola]

To get a recovery. But to see a guy lose badly twice, the kind of thing on film, you're like, people would be making fun of him to then race down the field and put a devastating hit on the ball carrier. The kind of thing can change a game. That's teaching tape. It's absolute teaching tape. For anybody going to a training camp, when they say you put it on film, you might get cut, but that's on film regardless of whether it is an exhibition game. The fourth quarter of an exhibition game, you're losing by 50. Yeah, that's the kind of thing where a coach is going to say, I want to cut that guy. Get that guy. Elijah Clark. Outstanding.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, you know, it's also a metaphor for life there, Dan. You get knocked down, you get back up. Even if you get knocked down again.

[Matt Abeticola]

You get up again, you get up again. I'm never going to keep me down. So just kudos to him because that was glorious. That was. That was just like, okay, okay, okay. Bang.

[Dan Bernstein]

And then tonight, Panthers at 49ers for Monday night Football. Looking at the standings, the Patriots 10 and 2 on top of the AFC East. The Ravens have jumped the Steelers for first place in the AFC north with that 6 and 5 record. They're tied, but Ravens on top now. Steelers in second place. The Colts at 8 and 3. The Jaguars at 7 and 4 in second. The Broncos at 9 and 2. The Chargers 7 and 4 behind them. Eagles still on top of the East. The Bears on top of the NFC North. Packers 7, 3 and 1. Detroit Lions at 7 and 4. Currently on the outside looking in of the playoff picture. Buccaneers on top of the NFC south at 6 and 5. The Panthers 6 and 5 also. And the Rams at 9 and 2 ahead of the Seahawks, who are 8 and 3. Also the Niners 7 and 4. So competitive, three teams there in that division.

[Matt Abeticola]

That does it for Forward Progress today, a Chicago Bears podcast. And we thank our friends and at Beer church for it.

[Dan Bernstein]

Forward Progress, a Chicago Bears podcast with Dan Bernstein and Matt Abeticola on 312 Sports.