Ben Johnson knows what his teams needs to do to WIN NOW

Summary

Forward Progress - A Chicago Bears Podcast

Host: 312 Sports
Episode: Ben Johnson knows what his team needs to do to WIN NOW
Date: January 6, 2026
Hosted by: Dan Bernstein & Matt Abaticola

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Episode Overview

This episode features Dan Bernstein and Matt Abaticola diving deep into the state of the Chicago Bears as they head into the playoffs. The main focus is on head coach Ben Johnson’s tough, no-nonsense assessment of his team’s inconsistent performance, especially following a disappointing loss. The hosts dissect Johnson's candid press conference, discuss personnel issues in the Bears secondary, debate the team's defensive philosophy, and deliberate keys for offensive improvement. The episode closes with lively NFL talk—debating league celebrations, records falling, and memorable moments from the regular season.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Playoff Prep & Ben Johnson’s Mood

• The Bears are in playoff mode, prepping for a Saturday night NFC North showdown against the Packers.
• Dan and Matt note Ben Johnson’s visible frustration, referencing his “grim faced” demeanor and “unacceptable” performance remarks after the Bears’ recent flat showing.
• Locker room energy is tense, with “the most disappointed and most angry... not just Ben Johnson, but locker room that the media has experienced over the 18-week season.” (Dan, 02:18)

2. Was Last Week's Loss Actually Useful?

• Matt suggests a loss can galvanize focus:
  • “This could be one of those times where the coach has realized, oh, okay, oh, you think you can just roll out of bed and play football... now I got your attention for this week and here’s what we’re going to do. Listen up.” (Matt, 02:55)
• Bears finished the regular season on a strong 11-2 middle stretch, and now need another playoff win streak.

3. Broadcast Talk — Bears-Packers in Prime Time

• Both hosts praise Amazon’s NFL streaming broadcasts and pregame coverage, contrasting it to forced “debate shows” on other networks.
• They debate streaming vs. traditional TV coverage and how the local broadcast will work. (04:00–06:18)

4. Ben Johnson Press Conference Analysis

a) Simpler Game Plan: Mistake or Masterstroke?

• Johnson explained he ran fewer motions/shifts to “play fast” against a complicated defense.
• Dan and Matt are both critical:
  • “Stop doing that because I like the shifts and the motions that can catch teams off guard or make them think or... tell you stuff.” (Matt, 07:39)
  • “That was not what I was expecting to hear...” (Dan, 07:54)
  • “They cut down on their penalties, but don’t make the offense dumber. Yeah. Not now.” (Matt, 08:17)

b) Tyrique Stevenson’s Mysterious Benching

• Coach’s response was terse about Stevenson’s absence—“We felt good about where Shawnee and where Jalen were...” (Coach audio, 08:39)
• The hosts suspect something unexplained, possibly disciplinary, is afoot:
  • “That was a brusque response. He couldn’t wait.” (Matt, 09:27)
  • “Something seems fishy about it that’s worth further exploration.” (Matt, 12:36)

c) Defensive Approach Critiqued

• Johnson emphasized “limiting the opponent with their points” despite giving up massive yardage (430 yards vs Lions).
• Matt calls this “making excuses” and is irked at Johnson’s focus on points over yards:
  • “You allowed 430 yards, Danieled 1,300 yards [in last three games]... I think you’re making excuses.” (Matt, 13:58)
• Dan defends Johnson’s perspective:
  • “He knows what his defense is, and that’s how it’s going to be. And they’re going to give up yards... but the main focus is limiting them on points.” (Dan, 16:03)

5. What CAN the Bears Fix?

a) Defensive Adjustments

• The hosts agree: Blitz less, play more coverage, especially if "bend but don’t break" is the reality.
• Matt: “If truly embracing Ben, but don’t break and too high safeties... stop sending extra people.” (Matt, 21:52)

b) Offensive Keys to Winning Now

• Efficiency is paramount. Pre-snap penalties are killing drives.
  • “You need to clean up your pre snap stuff because if you want to talk about being more efficient, you can’t keep hurting yourself.” (Dan, 23:33)
• Short-yardage situations: Matt wants more “3rd and short” to give the offense repeatable, manageable chances.
• Emphasize strong 3rd quarter starts—Bears often wasted “double up” opportunities (last drive of first half, first drive of second half).

c) Turnovers & Home Field Stats

• Much of Bears’ defensive “success” is turnover-dependent; against quality playoff teams, turnovers are harder to come by.
• The Bears don’t have the best home playoff record among NFC teams—Rams do at 7-1.

6. Next Gen Stats: WR Drops and QB Speed

• Caleb Williams led the league in passing yards lost due to drops (404), well ahead of other QBs.
  • “That matches up with the eye test.” (Matt, 31:44)
  • “It explains away some of the completion percentage...” (Dan, 33:00)
• Williams as Speed Threat: Caleb Williams had five 20+ MPH runs, most among QBs.
• Both hosts discuss how Ben Johnson resists using his QB’s legs by design, preferring explosive chunk yardage through passing.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

Ben Johnson’s Press Conference

• On simplifying the offense:
  “We wanted to play fast...we had a little bit less shifts and motions going into that game plan than what we've had probably since the bye week.” (Johnson, 07:12)

• On Tyrique Stevenson’s benching:
  “We felt good about where Shawnee and where Jalen were and we wanted those two guys to take the bulk of the snaps.” (Johnson, 08:39)

• On defense giving up yards but limiting points:
  “The number one objective is to limit their points. And so I'm going to keep that the main thing with our defense.” (Johnson, 12:55)

Hosts’ Takes

• “Don’t make the offense dumber. Yeah. Not now.” (Matt, 08:17)
• “All the onus is on the offense, because he knows what the defense is.” (Dan, 22:17)
• “If you want to survive...you’re a four down offense...give yourself so many shots...” (Matt, 24:04)

Fun/Anecdotal Bits

• Matt riffs on the “Ben, don’t break” defense: “I like the way you pronounce that. Ben, don’t break. Ben, comma, don’t break.” (Matt, 20:00)

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NFL Talk & Memorable Moments

Stopping Play for Miles Garrett's Sack Record

• Dan and Matt debate if the NFL should have stopped the game when Myles Garrett broke the sack record:
  • “This isn’t baseball where there is no clock. You know where there is, you know, you’re stopping a drive in the middle... Do it during your possession, do it after that drive ended. I don’t agree with it happening right in the middle of your opponent’s drive.” (Dan, 41:26)
• Soundbites from Zach Taylor (“playing for our lives”) and Ja’Marr Chase complaining about the stoppage. Matt notes, “They will stop the game if you top Michael Thomas’s 149 catches. Do you think?” (Matt, 39:43)
• Both agree the celebration should have been better communicated to both teams.

Michael Strahan’s Reaction to Losing His Sack Record

• Strahan initially seemed sour; later issued a gracious (but unconvincing) congratulatory video. Matt jokes, “He was trying to be gracious, kinda. He's pissed.” (Matt, 44:28)
• The hosts reflect on athletes’ attachment to records and suggest honesty in reactions would be respected, even for a high-profile TV personality like Strahan.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Playoff Setup & Ben Johnson Mood: 00:21–02:55
• Importance of Loss, Locker Room Reaction: 02:55–04:00
• Bears-Packers TV Discussion: 04:00–06:18
• Ben Johnson Press Conference Audio & Analysis: 06:56–08:23, 08:34–12:43, 12:43–13:39
• Defensive Philosophy & “Bend But Don’t Break”: 13:39–22:38
• Fixing the Offense (Penalties/3rd Downs): 22:38–25:52
• Second-Half Inefficiency & Turnovers: 25:52–27:46
• Next Gen Stats (Drops, Speed): 30:09–34:37
• QB Usage Debate (Running vs Passing): 34:25–37:02
• Myles Garrett Sack Record Celebration Debate: 37:12–44:28
• Michael Strahan's Reaction: 44:28–49:10

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Conclusion

This dynamic episode reflects the intersection of hard-nosed Bears analysis and irreverent football banter. Dan and Matt probe deep into Ben Johnson’s headspace as a coach under pressure, plumb the reasons behind the Bears’ defensive and offensive issues, and critique both coaching decisions and NFL spectacle. For diehards and casuals alike, this installment balances insider knowledge, passionate fandom, and the humor that Chicago football always demands.

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For more Bears breakdowns and NFL talk, catch Forward Progress on 312 Sports.

Transcript

[Dan Bernstein]

I mean, if you're a Bears fan.

[Matt Abaticola]

You'Re thinking forward progress. Come on. 10, 2, 19.

[Dan Bernstein]

2, 19. Forward progress. A Chicago Bears podcast with Dan Bernstein and Matt Abeticola on 312 Sports.

[Matt Abaticola]

What more do you want? If you're a Bears fan, it is playoff prep. They are getting back at it. Hitting the practice field, a grim faced Ben Johnson with his hat pulled down over his eyes is overseeing his team, his offense as they will take the field at home against the packers on Saturday night.

[Dan Bernstein]

I can't wait. How exciting is this, huh?

[Matt Abaticola]

Let's do this.

[Dan Bernstein]

Bears.

[Matt Abaticola]

Packers. Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

I think it's what, the third or fourth year in a row the packers have come in as the seventh seed.

[Matt Abaticola]

And we've had a suggestion that for DBU this weekend, we've done best packers of all time.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

We have done bottom packers, bottom Packers. Could we do the most mediocre that has been requested? The most mediocre packers of all time?

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't know. I didn't even think about that.

[Matt Abaticola]

I'm not committing to it.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, yeah, we'll have to. We'll have to work through that. We'll have to whiteboard that.

[Matt Abaticola]

That action plan, literally in fact, on our whiteboard that there. Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

I didn't even think about Friday's show with top whatever packers or bottom or.

[Matt Abaticola]

Middle it might be. I don't know. 10 packers playoff Packer memories.

[Dan Bernstein]

Most forgettable Packers.

[Matt Abaticola]

I don't. Well, we've got all kinds of latitude. It's our show. We can do whatever we want.

[Dan Bernstein]

Damn it.

[Matt Abaticola]

We're going to come up with something that is compelling and rich. I think.

[Dan Bernstein]

We'll see.

[Matt Abaticola]

We shall see.

[Dan Bernstein]

We'll see how that goes.

[Matt Abaticola]

So here we are. And Ben Johnson has put it down. Ben Johnson has the performance unacceptable. He's unhappy. He has carried this dissatisfaction from his initial postgame press conference into yesterday's comments. And he is taking on this burden of making sure his team is ready for this game in a way that they weren't for the last one.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. And I think from reading things and talking to people around the team that this was the most disappointed and most angry, not just Ben Johnson, but locker room that the media has experienced over the 18 week season.

[Courtney]

Good.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Oh, no, absolutely good. They came out so flat and just so unprepared to play. It seemed like.

[Matt Abaticola]

I never think it's good to lose a game, but I'll always point out when I think a coach isn't all that unhappy that it gives them the opportunity to get after it a little bit with a bit more attention.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

And this could be one of those times. This could be one of those times where the coach has realized, oh, okay, oh, you think you can just roll out of bed and play football against a team that had nothing to lose and you thought that you would just be able to walk through it. And so now I got your attention for this week and here's what we're going to do. Listen up.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. And I think I was reading it somewhere. I can't remember what the. If it was the last time whenever, whenever it was this happened or if this was the first time ever you had a full division end up above.500 while in the same season a full division end up below.500 in the NFC south, in the NFC North. Just very interesting. So the Lions were definitely playing for more than just final game of the regular season. They had a point to prove, I think to Ben Johnson, to the Bears, to the rest of the league. But hey, great, you got the win. Enjoy the off season.

[Matt Abaticola]

Maybe they did the Bears a favorite.

[Dan Bernstein]

Maybe they did. Who knows. I mean the Bears lost the first two of the of the season and then went on a little streak there to win. That's what they're going to need to do now.

[Matt Abaticola]

11 and 2 is their little streak.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well I think what they go four game win streak, four or five game win streak after that, that back to back loss. But yeah, certainly in those middle 13 games the Bears go 11 and two and they're going to need to do that four run for a game win streak as well as Ben Johnson pointed out here starting on Saturday. And I did hear earlier today that all of the partners for the NFL were all fighting for this Bears packers game. All they all wanted the Bears packers game.

[Matt Abaticola]

And I actually am glad it's on Amazon because I think right now total product, Amazon's doing the best job.

[Unknown Reporter]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

But it's interesting that it is also going to be on Fox locally and I think the whole point of putting on streaming to show what streaming can do and what it looks like, what it feels like on streaming and that's kind of like the future of it. Then why have it locally where your biggest markets gonna ding that streaming broadcast.

[Matt Abaticola]

It's just the rule.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, okay. Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

But because they can't presume they're not gonna hold viewers hostage.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

They'd rather make sure you're there than try to prove a point.

[Dan Bernstein]

So I'll watch, I'll watch the prime broadcast.

[Matt Abaticola]

I will too.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

It doesn't matter. It's the same broadcast.

[Dan Bernstein]

It is. But I mean like the pregame stuff. Well, that, that'll get me like I'll, I'll choose to watch prime pregame.

[Matt Abaticola]

Isn't that going to also be on 32 here?

[Dan Bernstein]

No, they wouldn't have like the prime people on 32, would they?

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, once the games start, I don't know technically how much they'll give them.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, I think they'll, they'll have to allow their studio shows to do their own pregame and post game show. Otherwise, what's the point of doing it.

[Matt Abaticola]

Right up to kickoff?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, there's no point then otherwise.

[Matt Abaticola]

But would they do. Would FOX get everybody in there just to do a pregame for a game they're not covering?

[Dan Bernstein]

They've got to have some studio show, wouldn't they?

[Matt Abaticola]

Unless. Would it be. Would you. Would have local Fox, Would it be like Luke and Ellis and Anthony Heron and Cassie Carlson doing it?

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, I'd rather watch that than the.

[Matt Abaticola]

I don't know what the answer is. Yeah, I'm not sure if they're going to convene their pregame for a game they're not carrying.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I would, I would think, though, as an NFL partner, you've got to, you want to have your people out there, don't you?

[Matt Abaticola]

I like the Amazon broadcast.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I do too. No, and I think, I think the studio stuff is really good too. Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

Their panel, they seem, they're well directed. They're not shouting over each other. They seem to genuinely like each other. It's not, it doesn't seem like they're forced into. You're going to be the guy who says this. You say this thing, you disagree with this person. Because I, I hate that it gets like espn, NBA.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, if you hate it, why do we do it here?

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, with all of our scripting.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes. Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

All of our fake opinions and everything we have to write down to remember what we think about stuff. Yeah, I know. Well, you insisted on it and you said, look, we're going to have to every. There it is. Every word, completely scripted. Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right, I want to play some Ben Johnson audio for us here. And this first one, there's only three cuts today. The first one, he was asked about the simpler game plan. Remember we talked about that yesterday as well and what that meant and thankfully there was a follow up to it.

[Courtney]

We ended up going into that one wanting to play fast and we knew that their defense created a lot of multiplicity and so we wanted to be sound. And because of that we had a little bit less shifts in motions going into that game plan than what we've had probably since the bye week. And that's really what the simpler game plan was talking about.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, stop doing that because I like the shifts and the motions that can catch teams off guard or make them think or. And. Or tell you stuff.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Because doesn't that help the run game and then your play action, passing opportunities?

[Matt Abaticola]

Is that what you were brought here to do?

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. That was not what I was expecting to hear.

[Matt Abaticola]

I expected he was going to say something like, we had a handful of plays that we were going to get right every time we knew that they worked, we were going to concentrate on what we do well. And instead they just made it dumber.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. So less. Less motion, less shifts. I just, I didn't. Yeah, I didn't understand that.

[Matt Abaticola]

I mean, they cut down on their penalties, but don't make the offense dumber. Yeah. Not now.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I agree with that. Yeah, I was surprised to hear that. But I'm glad there was a follow up to it, at least. All right, and then here is one. And this is a. There's a question here on this one, too. So we'll provide that for you.

[Unknown Reporter]

Tyreek Stevenson didn't play at all yesterday. That's obviously a change. What prompted that?

[Courtney]

We felt good about where Shawnee and where Jalen were and we wanted those two guys to take the bulk of the snaps.

[Dan Bernstein]

It wasn't just bulk.

[Matt Abaticola]

It was all, ooh, something else might be up there.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. So what's going on? Because how. I mean, that was looking at the, at the timeline here of Tyreek Stevenson's season and remember how celebrated he was the start of the year, and he's the best guy on the roster right now at the cornerback position and how he was going into that Washington game, how he handled himself, how he came out of the other side of that Washington game as well with the media. And now week 18, he doesn't get any looks because he felt good about Nishan Wright and Jalen Johnson, who both, by the way, didn't look very good in the game.

[Matt Abaticola]

That was a brusque response. He couldn't wait. We felt good about. Okay, well, I don't know what happened.

[Dan Bernstein]

But I don't know if something happened during the week that we weren't made aware of. If there was. You know, I'm just speculating here and not. I don't.

[Matt Abaticola]

Somebody ask, was it disciplinary?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Did he miss meetings? Was there was a meeting? Was it practice? Just didn't look good. I would have loved to know more about that, because this was a guy that you were counting on, somebody that was playing at a high level for.

[Matt Abaticola]

The first half of your season, somebody with a history.

[Dan Bernstein]

So I thought that was odd.

[Matt Abaticola]

That is odd, you know, because I.

[Dan Bernstein]

Kept questioning myself during the game, was he hurt? Is that why he's not out there? Like I kept saying, why am I not seeing Tyreek Stevenson? Why am I seeing the same two guys trail wide receivers with the ball? Why are we trying something else? Especially after Jalen Johnson was sat last week in the second half for Tyreek.

[Matt Abaticola]

And McLeod was out.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes, McLeod was out, which is why you saw Jonathan Owens in the game.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's because when I saw him and I saw 36, I was like, when's the last time we saw him on a defensive snap? Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

This should be a bad time for there to be something going on with Tyreek Stevenson we need to figure out.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. So it wasn't just my spidey sense. You feel it too, right? Because something doesn't seem right.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. Can we hear that again?

[Dan Bernstein]

Sure.

[Matt Abaticola]

Absolutely. I'd like to just hear how the speed with which he answered it.

[Unknown Reporter]

Tyreek Stevenson didn't play at all yesterday. That's obviously a change. What prompted that?

[Courtney]

We felt good about where Shawnee and where Jalen were, and we wanted those two guys to take the bulk of the snap.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right. Just don't look into that, though, because there was a longer space.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, you cut it out.

[Dan Bernstein]

And I edited because there was a longer. Longer gap. Yeah, it was a much longer gap. Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

Thank you for saying that, because it seemed like he, like, was.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, no, no, no, no. Yeah, no, that was just. That was edited.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

Because. So it's actually so. I normally. I normally don't edit spaces like that. I'll edit out if guys stumble over words if we like them, because I don't want them to sound dumb. If we don't like them, we leave it in.

[Matt Abaticola]

Or we change their words around completely.

[Dan Bernstein]

I'll edit them since the sentence doesn't make sense. Like, what is Trump asking questions for? But this one was a longer. Longer space than normal, so he was giving it more thought. And I didn't think about that until you made a question about it. So maybe he took longer than normal to think through his answer. But, yeah, it was quicker because I edited it.

[Unknown Reporter]

Tyreek Stevenson didn't play at all yesterday. That's obviously a change. What prompted that?

[Courtney]

We felt good about where Shawnee and where Jalen were. And we wanted those two guys to take the bulk of the snaps.

[Dan Bernstein]

So after the game, how did you feel about where they were, Coach? Like they, it's not like they played a great game?

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, no.

[Dan Bernstein]

And to not give him.

[Matt Abaticola]

Jalen Johnson was particularly challenged.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes. I mean, neither guy had a very good game. So like Tyreek Stevenson couldn't get in.

[Matt Abaticola]

Any place when you're already down a corner.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. It just doesn't seem right.

[Matt Abaticola]

Something seems fishy about it that's worth further exploration.

[Dan Bernstein]

It sure is.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right, and then last one from Ben Johnson and the question here from Courtney. Is there any way to identify the most correctable thing on defense right now on a short week?

[Courtney]

I mean, we got, we got a number of areas that we could play better, but at the same time, I mean, the number one thing is that we're looking to limit the opponent with their points. And you're saying you left that game with a good offense and they only scored 19 points. 16 up until the last two minutes of the game there. And so I thought our defense played well enough for us to win that ballgame. And I know we want to clean up the yards and we want to get off the field faster and we want to create more possessions for our offense. Those are all part of it. And there's ways to get that done. But at the end of the day, you know, the, the number one objective is to limit their. Their points. And so I'm going to, I'm going to keep that the main thing with our defense.

[Matt Abaticola]

You know, I'm not sure I like that.

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[Matt Abaticola]

I think you're making excuses. You allowed 430 yards, Danieled 1300 yards.

[Dan Bernstein]

The last three games.

[Matt Abaticola]

I know. And to say that I don't know how much you're going to control the red zone stuff, a lot of that's variance. You're not all of a sudden better because you're in the red zone.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, you're not.

[Matt Abaticola]

I'm sorry.

[Dan Bernstein]

The Green, like the Green bay game, they were 055 and then the Niners game, they were 5 for 5.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, that's not.

[Dan Bernstein]

And you limited the Lions in this game.

[Matt Abaticola]

No, I did. Well, we'll clean up the yards and stuff. I don't like the flippancy with which is, oh, yeah, the yards, and you're only looking at points. I understand what he's saying, but. No, it may just be that he knows they can't get better. That I think if I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt as I think this through, I'm thinking maybe he's. He knows this is his defense this year, that there's not. There's no wand he can wave, that even Kyler Gordon coming out is going to make that much of a difference, that he might as well just fluff them up a little bit and say, we'll cover you. I got this one.

[Dan Bernstein]

And we'll.

[Matt Abaticola]

We'll. We know that we got to score 40.

[Dan Bernstein]

See, I think there's. There. But they. But he doesn't think they have to score 40. I think. Here's the thing. We talked about this yesterday, and I think this just confirms it for me in what he said here. He knows that this is his defense, and that's how it's going to be. And they're going to give up yards and teams are going to move the ball, but the main focus is limiting them on points. And he's not wrong. They scored 19 points, Dan, a team that normally. What are. The lions normally score? 28.3 points a game.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, but they helped.

[Dan Bernstein]

They held them the 19 points.

[Matt Abaticola]

I know they did, but a lot of it. It's still their ability to get up and down the field. I don't trust that the next opponent is going to struggle in the red zone similarly, because that stuff will ultimately come out in the wash to averages. You don't have any special talent that only appears if you were. If you were really, really good in that part of the field consistently and always, you'd. It would show you'd be a better defense overall.

[Dan Bernstein]

But that. But that's their. Their scheme. That's their game plan. It is, Dan. They. They give up. They don't mind giving up yards, but.

[Matt Abaticola]

They'Re blitzing more than ever.

[Dan Bernstein]

I know.

[Matt Abaticola]

Like, it's not a Tampa to.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's not a Tampa 2. You're correct. But. But they don't mind giving up those yards.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, I do.

[Dan Bernstein]

I know you do, but yards. Yards don't go on the scoreboard at the end of the game. Points do. And he gets it. He gets it. This is what his defense is. He's not going to be able to fix the pass rush before the season's over. He knows that.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right, so. Which is why I hope I Hope that he's not saying this is his ideal defense going forward.

[Dan Bernstein]

He's not saying that he recognizes what this defense is, which is why then he's talking about offense, offense, offense. You want to know why he didn't lash out at the defense after that game? Because he knows that the offense has to carry this defense. And if the defense can do for him, which is, and I've talked about this, 24 points or less. They are 9 and 1 in those games. They are 9 and 1.

[Matt Abaticola]

That's almost all turnovers, but great but.

[Dan Bernstein]

And that's, that's something they execute. Teams are walking over and handing the Bears the ball. The Bears have to make the plays. It's not a strategy.

[Matt Abaticola]

But Dan, I know it's not the.

[Dan Bernstein]

Time you realize is he realizes that's what the defense is, that he can't.

[Matt Abaticola]

Say the things I can say then, right?

[Dan Bernstein]

Correct. He can't.

[Matt Abaticola]

He can't.

[Dan Bernstein]

He can't go to the podium and say that my defense is horseshit and I Wish I had 12, 12 other guys on the team.

[Matt Abaticola]

Doesn't have to do like that.

[Dan Bernstein]

I know, but he can't do that.

[Matt Abaticola]

But I would it just from the accountability perspective, it sounds weird to be, to just sort of be a faded complaint like, okay, this is what we're dealing with.

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't think it sounds weird. I think it sounds reasonable. I think it sounds. He's locked into the reality of what his team is. And so where does he put the onus on what he can control and who can play better right now, the offense of the defense, who can play.

[Matt Abaticola]

Better, Given you're not changing personnel, the offense, given what I've said about that. Kyler Gordon is not a magic wand. He's not a panacea in the condition that he's in. And like you made the great point, you can't even trust that if he says he's okay all week, that he isn't going to get hurt in warmups again, which you can't have happen.

[Dan Bernstein]

So what can they do better? Yeah, they can play offense better and they can be more efficient than offense, which is why that's where his focus. Well, they can also can't fix the defense.

[Matt Abaticola]

They can also have the ball enough to keep their defense off the field, which is why I think the game plan has to be run it. Throw the occasional play action pass, but control the clock, run the ball.

[Dan Bernstein]

And I, I don't think that that's what he, how he thinks though. He doesn't think about Time of possession.

[Matt Abaticola]

He thinks chunks, and he thinks about.

[Dan Bernstein]

Chunks, and he thinks about SC efficiency. All right, he wants the ball.

[Matt Abaticola]

Then you're going to need to have another one of these Bengals games.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, you don't have to have a Bengals game. They beat the Packers 22 to 16 again, if. If the. If the defense can allow 24 points or less. They're nine and one. He knows. And he believes his offense can score more than that. And he's disappointed, and he was pissed because they lost and the defense gave up 19 points. My defense should score more than 16 points. Or by offense, I mean that's why he was pissed.

[Matt Abaticola]

I get it. That's how he sees the game, and I think that's the prism through which he sees the game.

[Dan Bernstein]

And I don't know if that's truly how he sees the game or if he sees this season that way. This is how he's viewing the 2025 season. Now, I know he wants his team to be more efficient and scoring more points as they go on through his contract as the Bears head coach, but I think he's looking at it this year because all he can do is work with what's within this year.

[Matt Abaticola]

He's also the head coach of the defense.

[Dan Bernstein]

He is.

[Matt Abaticola]

He's the head coach of the team. He's not the offensive coordinator.

[Dan Bernstein]

He is. But what can he do for this defense this year? There's not much. So you know what, Ben, don't break. I know it's not the Tampa 2. Don't give up a lot of points.

[Matt Abaticola]

I like the way you pronounce that. Ben, don't break. Ben, comma, don't break.

[Dan Bernstein]

So don't give up a lot of points. Limit the points. Give up field goals, look for turnovers. Let's try to execute those. And our defense will carry you guys. We're going to score enough points to win games. Will carry the off. God damn it. The offense will score enough points to carry us. You need to limit the points. We can't give up 42 and 52 and 38 and whatever else. We gave up 24 points. There are nine and one.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay, well, then you got to have a conversation. If that's the case, you've got to have a conversation with your defensive coordinator. Stop blitzing.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, that is so that. That is one thing.

[Matt Abaticola]

There's a component of this that as the head coach, you got to sit.

[Dan Bernstein]

Down and say, hey, man, explain to me why we're doing this so often. What's your. What's your. What's your.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, if we are, Ben. But don't break. Play it right. Play a Matt Eber flu's defense. Give me split safeties, drop into coverage, go to your landmarks, break on the ball. The problem with that is they've been a shitty tackling team, too. And if you, if you want to rally up and deny, run after the catch, they're really not designed to do that.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, they. They haven't been a shitty tackling team. I mean, overall, you look at their numbers, they haven't been a shitty tackling team. They're. They're down towards the. Well, they're up towards the top. As far as tackles, as far as missed tackles go. As far as missed tackles. Yeah, well, if you're looking at missed.

[Matt Abaticola]

Tackles, they're kind of in the middle.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, middle, low middle. I mean, they weren't that far off. The packers that we praised two weeks ago for being an excellent tackling team.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, they did well against the Bears for some reason, a way that belied their. Their overall ability. I just want them. If you are playing, if truly embracing Ben. But don't break and too high safeties.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

And you can play man underneath. You can play zone underneath. But if that's what you're doing, stop sending extra people.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, stop doing that. And you know, and then do. I mean, those guys in the front four, I know they can't and they haven't done it. You've got to. You've got to give me a play here and there at least. Like stop running into a guy's chest and start. And your feet just die.

[Matt Abaticola]

They get locked.

[Dan Bernstein]

Do something for me. Get unlocked somehow. Try something different. But I think that's why all the onus is on the offense, because he knows what the defense is. What I can do is improve the offense. We can be more efficient. We can score more. And so I wanted to look at that. I wanted to look at the Bears throughout the course of this season. And I looked at the number of possessions their opponents had and what the Bears had for each game.

[Courtney]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

It came out to about basically an average 11 possessions a game for the Bears. For the Bears. And if you're looking at the defense giving up 24 points or less, where the Bears are 9 and 1 in those games, the first one being the Lions game that they lost. Obviously you're asking your offense to have four to five scoring drives a game with more touchdowns. Obviously. So if you're. If you're asking for four touchdowns or three touchdowns and a couple field goals, four or five scoring drives out of 11. It's not even half of your possessions. He wants his offense and he needs his offense to be more efficient, ready to go from the start. And I think there's a couple of things. So on the defensive side, you mentioned it already, blitz less. Okay. If that's not what you're going to do, if this is how you're going to play, then blitz less. Be more impactful. When you do do it limited and be more impactful. And then on the offensive side, I'll.

[Matt Abaticola]

Tell you what my first thing is that I wrote down.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. On the offensive side though, let me say this, what they need to do and I know and you can start fresh now. Season's over. You're in the playoff season now. And I know that they led the NFL in pre snap penalties. That shit has got to stop. And it's got to start Saturday. That has got to start Saturday. Well, you need to clean up your pre snap stuff because if you want to talk about being more efficient, you can't keep hurting yourself.

[Matt Abaticola]

Here's what I wrote down.

[Dan Bernstein]

What did you write down?

[Matt Abaticola]

Third and short.

[Dan Bernstein]

You have to get into third and third and short.

[Matt Abaticola]

I want you to spend the day like the Bears defense spends its day. It's always third and one. It's always third and two. You've got to if. If you want to survive and gives you so many shots because you're a four down offense.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yep.

[Matt Abaticola]

It used to say we're second and one. Now that's third and one, two the way. The way they think. All those chances count equally. All your downs and they use them. And modern coaches understand that. So when you are pushing, when you are trying to ask some of these things that you get a couple of shot downs when you're talking about second and two and third and two and third and three and third and four. Just stay at a third and. Damn. Eight and nine.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. One other area on his offense I know that Ben has looked at and I'm sure he wants to improve on. The Bears have had eight possessions this season where they started the second half. So come out of the locker room. You have. You have the ball.

[Matt Abaticola]

I think they were 9 and 8 in coin tosses, right?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

Didn't they finish the season with a winning coin toss record? They did.

[Dan Bernstein]

So eight possessions coming out of halftime, three touchdowns, one field goal, four punts. And I know that that's got to irritate him. You can't come out of the locker room and go three and out and they did it four times.

[Matt Abaticola]

How many times was that a blown double up opportunity where you had it at the end of the first and you get it at the start of the second? Because that's the model. Ideally, that's where you take a game over.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's funny you asked that because it was the first two games of the season.

[Matt Abaticola]

That's so funny.

[Dan Bernstein]

Last possession of the first half. First possession of the second half, three and out. Lions game. Last possession of the first half. First possession of the second half, three and out. That was the only opportunity, huh?

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay. Because that should be. Ideally, if you set it up properly, that's, that's your time to squeeze a game by the neck.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. And they. He talked about that throughout the course of the year, the four minutes before, the four minutes after, where they just weren't very efficient. And I know that that's got to drive him nuts.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yar.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yar. So I think, I think it just comes down to what we started this conversation yesterday. He realizes he lives in reality with his defense. He can't do anything with his defense this year.

[Matt Abaticola]

That's an off season problem.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. And so in order to really fight against that, their deficiencies on defense, my offense, which I control, needs to get better. We need to be more efficient with our possessions. And it's really not asking that that much of this offense, with the ability they have with the play calling that he has with his, with his game planning, his scheming, limit them to 24 or less, 9 and 1.

[Matt Abaticola]

And so much of that is contingent on them taking the ball away.

[Dan Bernstein]

It is. Oh, it is, it is. And they, they did it once the last three weeks where they went one and two. I mean, and those are against good teams. I mean, you know, two of those teams are playoff teams. The Lions are a playoff quality team. I mean, they're better than any team in the NFC South.

[Matt Abaticola]

They outplayed the Bears this year, right?

[Courtney]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Beat the Bears twice and they would kick the shit out of the NFC South. There isn't a team that's going to beat them there. Don't tell me that. So, I mean, those are three. Quality, quality like playoff teams. They took the ball away once against good quarterbacks. So I think that's just where it's at. We talked about this yesterday and I think that's where, where Ben Johnson realizes why it's all about the offense because you can't do much with this defense right now. But we can play better on offense, which is why he gets pissed when they waste possessions, which is why he gets pissed when there's pre snap snuff. There's pre snap stuff that puts them.

[Matt Abaticola]

In a hole and step snuff. Yeah, all of it.

[Dan Bernstein]

And then, like, get rid of all of it. The intentional groundings. You can't have that stuff. You can't go from, you know, first and 10 to first and 20 and second and 20. You can't do that to yourself because our defense doesn't allow us to do this. You need to be better. That's really what it comes down to. So that's what I looked at and thought of for. For Ben Johnson. And as far as the offense and defense is concerned, one other area I looked at to the seven playoff teams in the nfc. Do you know, Daniel, in the course of this season, which of those seven playoffs team, seven playoff teams, has the best road, the best home record? The best home record of those seven playoff teams?

[Matt Abaticola]

The Bears.

[Dan Bernstein]

They do not. It's The Rams at 7 and 1. Rams were the best at 7 and 1.

[Matt Abaticola]

That's right. The Bears. Bears had a better road record than home record, didn't they?

[Dan Bernstein]

No. Oh, no, no, no. They were. Yeah. Seattle and the Bears were six and two at home.

[Matt Abaticola]

Six and two. Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

Seattle was eight and one on the road. Best road team.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, they're probably the best team.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Bears were five and four on the road.

[Matt Abaticola]

They were.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I guess that's right. Eagles, Panthers, 49ers and packers, all 5 and 4 at home. Eagles on the road were 6 and 3. The Panthers were 3 and 6 on the road, so they're lucky they get a home playoff game even though they're going to lose to the Rams.

[Courtney]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

I'll say it again.

[Matt Abaticola]

I don't want to see Seattle. I don't want anything to do with Seattle.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I know. And we talked about how that happened. So 49ers and Rams win, and so then 49ers go to Seattle, they beat Seattle, and then 49ers come to Soldier Field for the NFC championship game after the Bears beat the Rams. Because the Rams aren't very good on the road.

[Matt Abaticola]

And the last time I was at a Bears 49ers NFC championship 84 field.

[Dan Bernstein]

84.

[Matt Abaticola]

No, it was 87.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, it was 87.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

That was bear weather. Bear weather. We'll get these sissies from California into bear weather. Okay. Not great.

[Dan Bernstein]

How'd that work out?

[Courtney]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

Those of us sitting in the north end zone waving hi to Jerry Rice too often. Oh, hi again. Hello. Hi. Hello there. Yes, you Seem very happy today.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right, here, let's. Let's jump into that. That stat from Next Gen Stats.

[Matt Abaticola]

There were a couple. Yeah. Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

That you had. Do you have them with you?

[Matt Abaticola]

Seriously?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. You brought them up to me.

[Matt Abaticola]

No, I said we'll talk about the show.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I know. Why didn't you save them? I said let's talk about them during.

[Matt Abaticola]

The show because I thought you had them.

[Dan Bernstein]

You had them on your screen.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, I've got one here.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. What's the. I didn't know you had more than one. There was just the one I wanted to get into.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay, well, there's this. There was the most passing yards lost due to drops.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes.

[Matt Abaticola]

Is that one or did you want the most?

[Dan Bernstein]

No, I want. I want both of those. Let's talk about both.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, I got to get the other one then.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay, then you should have saved it.

[Matt Abaticola]

No. Did you retweet it?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I think I did.

[Matt Abaticola]

I didn't save it. Well, I only got this one. This is the most passing yards lost due to drops during the 2025 season per Next Gen Stats. There are eight names listed here. Cam Ward is eighth with 256. Justin Herbert seventh at 266. Jordan Love with the sixth most pass yards lost due to drops at 287. Bo Nix at 317. Dak Prescott at 319. Number three, Trevor Lawrence at 320. Number two, Matthew Stafford at 363. Number one, most passing yards lost due to drops. Caleb Williams, 404. There you go. So that matches up with the eye test.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, for sure.

[Matt Abaticola]

That syncs with the eye test.

[Dan Bernstein]

Now imagine if.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, let's say.

[Dan Bernstein]

Let's say conservatively, half of those. Let's just give him another 200 yards.

[Matt Abaticola]

That does it.

[Dan Bernstein]

And then let's. Also, it's not just on the passes that were dropped to his quarterback completion percentage. Let's just add. We did this exercise last week. Let's add one completion that he missed on. So you're adding 16 completions, and I think it was about like 185 yards.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, we did this already.

[Dan Bernstein]

So that's another 385 yards that he would have added on from drops and from just his own poor accuracy.

[Matt Abaticola]

I wonder, does yards lost due to drops presume that the receiver falls immediately where he catches it, or does it bake in any yards after the catch?

[Dan Bernstein]

I would say it doesn't bake in. It can't. Because you just never know.

[Matt Abaticola]

Right.

[Dan Bernstein]

Because you could have.

[Matt Abaticola]

It has to be.

[Dan Bernstein]

You could have Jordan Battle out there tackling and they're going to miss him and then he's going to go 65.

[Matt Abaticola]

It could. So that realistically could be considerably more.

[Dan Bernstein]

Could be. It could be for sure.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay, well, that. I don't know if that's going to make people feel good or bad. It's. It's great for the knee jerk Caleb, people out there for whom he can absolutely never do any wrong.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right.

[Matt Abaticola]

That still exists out there.

[Dan Bernstein]

It also explains away some of the completion percentage being the lowest of all, you know, quarterbacks who started 17 games. Now, it's not going to take him up to 68 or 69%, but, you know, he might be in the low to mid-60s now with his own inaccuracy issues and then some of these drops. He could have a little bit of a better season. All right, here's the other one that I saw. The next gen stats. These were the fastest players in the NFL this season in terms of the amount of 20 plus mile per hour runs.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. Top six right here. I have Saquon Barkley. Number five is Derek Henry, who had five of those. Caleb Williams was fourth with five. Jameer Gibbs had six, Jonathan Taylor had six and Keaton Mitchell had seven.

[Courtney]

Wow.

[Dan Bernstein]

So running back, running back, running back, quarterback, running back, running back. So Caleb Williams fast. Yeah. Caleb Williams fourth overall with five runs of 20 plus miles an hour or more. So it has got me thinking about Ben Johnson and how he schemes, his plans and his game plans and his playbook and his calls. Do you think a different coach would utilize that more in their schemes and their game plans with Caleb Williams?

[Matt Abaticola]

Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yet Ben Johnson doesn't.

[Matt Abaticola]

That's okay?

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, no, it's more than okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

I mean, that's what I want.

[Matt Abaticola]

I think the temptation is too much for some.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes.

[Matt Abaticola]

I think the temptation to use more read option principles. And I get it. I was thinking about that when I was watching the AFC north championship a couple nights ago and thinking how tempting it is with Lamar there. It's always like, ooh, boy, what do they. What would they do with Reed option here? Like you spring it on him like here, have him and Henry out here and show him, show him that pitch and watch him read the defensive end. If we don't get numbers, we might be in trouble. But if we do have numbers, they're in trouble.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right.

[Matt Abaticola]

And that temptation, especially now when you're not worried about the injury sort of accruing over an entire season, that it might just be now it's got a YOLO where if we're ever going to.

[Dan Bernstein]

Do it, do it now.

[Matt Abaticola]

I don't have to hold back now.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, but that's not. That's not what he wants to do. He wants the quarterback to get the ball in the hands of his playmakers for those chunks. I get it. Yeah. No, and I like it. And we had this discussion throughout the course of the years, I think, as the fan base was getting to understand and know Ben Johnson, because we had that debate, not you and I, but with, you know, on the show and with the outside world about, oh, no, Ben wants him to run more. And we were saying, no, he didn't want him to run more. He wanted him to say. Until it got to the point where Ben was even saying, we want him to stay in the house when it's on fire a little bit longer.

[Matt Abaticola]

The only look down field because they. They see, man, every once in a while. And that's where you get your big passing opportunities.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right.

[Matt Abaticola]

It's also when that decision can be there. If I get through the line, I've got 18 yards and a slide.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right.

[Matt Abaticola]

Because they're all turning their back to me.

[Dan Bernstein]

Or you can get 40 yards and a touchdown because your guy beats his guy one on one. Correct. Which is what he wants.

[Matt Abaticola]

Exactly.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right.

[Courtney]

That's.

[Dan Bernstein]

So it was good. So I loved seeing that stat, and then it made me work into Ben Johnson's mindset with what his quarterback does, regardless of his athletic ability, his speed, what his legs can do now. Yeah. There's times when he turns into the Great Houdini or whatever he called him.

[Matt Abaticola]

Dooney.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, the Great Houdini. And he uses that to manufacture time and space to maybe look for a. Throw it on field. But even then, he still wants him to get the ball on field. So I love it, and I love that mindset, and I love what we've learned about Ben Johnson and, you know, the Bears head coach for the foreseeable future, which is great.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right.

[Dan Bernstein]

Last thing I have for you. And I think this. This was fun stuff that I was. Came across on social media. So Miles Garrett breaks the sack record. He gets 23.

[Courtney]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

During the Bengals game. And I don't know if you. Did you see the actual highlight of it? Did you see the play? Did you see what happened afterwards?

[Matt Abaticola]

I didn't look at it closely.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay, so he gets the sack and the game literally stops.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. And people were mad about it.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, I saw that. Like, understand what's going on here.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. I'M glad you have that take on it. So here I have a couple audio bites to play. This first is. This is Zach Taylor talking about it.

[Matt Abaticola]

A long conversation with the officials after the Garrett sack. What was going on there?

[Zach Taylor]

There's five minutes left in our season. We're playing for our lives here. And I was never told that we're going to stop the game. And in a critical moment like that. And the refs just said that they made a decision that they were going to stop the game and they said they tried to do it as quickly as possible. I didn't feel that we didn't sub. We're trying to be on the ball and go and play with tempo. And the umpire just held the ball so that we couldn't do anything. And I'm yelling at Joe, get on the ball. We didn't sub. We're going. And we couldn't play. And so again, trying to get an answer was not easy. They just said that they made a decision as a crew to stop the game. When that happened, I guess it didn't matter when it happened. It just they were going to stop the game and let it happen.

[Matt Abaticola]

And you weren't informed of that?

[Zach Taylor]

No, I was never informed of that. They didn't say one word. We meet with them in the 90 minute meeting before the game. They never said one word about that.

[Matt Abaticola]

Wait. Playing for your lives.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right, hang on. Before you react, let me play one more.

[Matt Abaticola]

How are you playing for your life?

[Dan Bernstein]

Hang on.

[Matt Abaticola]

What life? Unless you actual life.

[Dan Bernstein]

Hold on to it.

[Matt Abaticola]

What are you talking about?

[Dan Bernstein]

Let me play one more. This is Ja' Mar Chase. In the locker room.

[Interviewer]

There were some people who upset you seem to be one pointing down the field when the Browns were celebrating the sack. That was during the middle of the game.

[Ja'Mar Chase]

I never knew you could let the whole team get on your field. That's like. That's like me catching my 10th pass and the whole team running on the field. We're gonna get flagged.

[Courtney]

You can't.

[Ja'Mar Chase]

You can't do that. You know what I'm saying? But congrats to him and everything. But, you know, they gotta call the flag on that play.

[Interviewer]

I mean, you guys were trying to go win the game.

[Ja'Mar Chase]

We was trying to hurry up too. We couldn't even hurry up. The refs was looking at us like we did something wrong the whole time.

[Matt Abaticola]

So.

[Dan Bernstein]

So it was.

[Ja'Mar Chase]

I don't know what was going on in that play.

[Interviewer]

Did they give you any kind of explanation of why it stopped without a flag?

[Courtney]

No.

[Ja'Mar Chase]

I mean, Did y' all interview the refs?

[Interviewer]

Apparently, Zach said the refs told him after the fact that they had decided they were going to stop the game, but never informed the coaching staff. Stop the game to let them celebrate the moment.

[Zach Taylor]

Well, I hope.

[Ja'Mar Chase]

Oh, well, they better stop the game when I do something in my back end. That's all I got to say about that one.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay, well, you.

[Dan Bernstein]

So now you can react.

[Matt Abaticola]

They will stop the game if you top Michael Thomas's 149 catches. Do you think? If you want to do that, yeah, they can stop the game. Michael Thomas had 149 catches in 16 games. If you are on pace to break that, you're damn right they're going to stop the game.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right, so let's go back to Zach Taylor first. Playing for our lives. Little. Little overboard there.

[Matt Abaticola]

We're playing for our lives out here. Trying to run tempo.

[Dan Bernstein]

Really not. You're eliminated. You're not really playing for much. But I will say this, and also Jamar Chase saying, oh, they're going to stop the game if I make my 10th catch. No, that's an extreme example.

[Matt Abaticola]

No, you're going to need to break Michael Thomas's 2019 NFL record.

[Dan Bernstein]

So I wasn't angry about it, not upset about it. But I do think it's complete bullshit that they stop the game. I really do. I mean, you're. This isn't baseball where there is no clock. You know where there is, you know, you're stopping a drive in the middle of a drive to celebrate. Do it during your possession, do it after that drive ended. I don't agree with it happening right in the middle of your opponent's drive. It's a great accomplishment then. It was so great. I've been tracking it for weeks. When did I first bring it up? I think you have 15 sacks and I go, this dude's on pace to break the record. He's going to break the record. I've been following it since then, so I wanted this to happen. I deliberately would put on fucking Browns games if they were available.

[Matt Abaticola]

We talked to our Browns reporter who was mentioning he was also going for the tackles for loss record.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. So, yeah, I was excited about it, but I don't. I don't agree with that at all. In the middle of your opponent's drive, you let people come out on the field. I think it's. And to not even communicate it.

[Matt Abaticola]

Now, that's different. They should definitely say, hey, listen.

[Dan Bernstein]

Say, hey, if this happens, your season is. No, yeah, this is what we're going to do, just so you're aware of it.

[Matt Abaticola]

I agree with that.

[Dan Bernstein]

I think the whole thing is poor shit. And whenever. Whenever the Bengals drive ends, you want to have a fucking party in the middle of field with margaritas and chips and salsa, great, go for it, Go for it. But not right in the middle of their drive. I don't agree with that at all. Wait till the drive ends. The Browns get the ball. Get your stadium announcer, make a big announcement, you know, as the Bengals do the right thing, okay? And say, hey, congratulations, the Miles Garrett let. I'll let the entire crowd get into it.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, I guess I. I don't feel strongly about it. I just think it's funny that an eliminated team is saying they're playing for their lives.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, I didn't feel strongly about it until I heard Zach Taylor talk about fighting for their lives, and I was like, wait a second. You were eliminated, right, bro?

[Matt Abaticola]

And I will tell Jamar Chase that If you get 150 catches in 16 games, trust me, they'll. They'll stop the game.

[Dan Bernstein]

So I didn't like it, and I think they could have done it better and certainly communicated it for sure.

[Matt Abaticola]

I just want justice for Al Bubba Baker.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, you do.

[Matt Abaticola]

That guy had 23 sacks.

[Dan Bernstein]

Got. If I had a dollar every time.

[Matt Abaticola]

You brought that up. Sixteen games, that man, that Al Bubba Baker had 23 sacks in 16 games. The very first year of 16 games, as a matter of fact, 1978. He had. He had a lot.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right, one other cut about this Miles Garrett sack record sack machine, Michael Strahan. So I told you what he did in the studio when they cut to him, and he was not happy at all. And he starts off by saying, well, I did it in 16, he did in 17. So that's how he started. His face didn't look happy. So he goes on to social media. And I'm not sure who made him do this, but he had a special message for Miles Garrett that NFL on Fox posted on their Instagram. And this was it. Okay.

[Michael Strahan]

Congratulations, my friend. Welcome to the elite class of the NFL. NFL all time season sack leader. And you know, I'm how I feel about you. I've always been proud of you. I always love watching you. Always been the biggest fan of you. I know one day you're going to be the hall of Fame, and I'm going to be right there sitting behind you, listen to you give an incredible speech. I know you still have a lot of football left in you, man. So even though this record is what it is now. I, I do have a feeling you actually could break it in the future, but hopefully when you do it, I'm there to watch in person.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right, So I know he didn't come off looking, looking good in the studio when the way he reacted to it, I know he didn't. I mean, if I'm a producer, I'm like, ooh, yikes, that's not good. That's, that's not good. So like, I thought so. Someone, someone grabbed Michael and was like, hey, listen, we're gonna make this like, and we're gonna post it on social media. It'll go viral. You know, people will pick up on it. You know, this is your official statement. It'll look great. You can deliver message right to Miles. And I didn't believe a fucking word he had to say just now. No, I think not one.

[Matt Abaticola]

He was trying to be gracious, kinda. He's pissed. Well, who was it? Was it Calvin Murphy? Who. When Michael Williams of the Timberwolves was breaking his consecutive free throw record.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

And he could easily have said, records are made to be broken. I was proud to have held it and I'm rooting for him to break it. He sat courtside and like, did the weather on him. Don't you remember? Yes. I want to say it was Calvin Murphy and he was following him around at games and be like, ah, miss it, Miss it, Noonan, Miss it.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. And I also like the production staff with the NFL and Fox, like someone needed to get ahead of this and realize, listen, what a like Neanderthal football player is going to do and how he's going to react and get ahead of it weeks ago and say, hey, you know, start working with Michael and being like, hey, bud, this may happen.

[Matt Abaticola]

How much of your self esteem is wrapped up in that? Like, is he introduced at speaking engagements as, oh, dude, the record holder?

[Dan Bernstein]

It's gotta be. It's got to be. You saw what Mark Gastineau did to Brett Favre.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, I put Mark Gastono is not Michael Strahan. Mark.

[Dan Bernstein]

I know, but still, I mean, that dude is ready. He was ready to throw hands on people.

[Matt Abaticola]

I know he's had other issues and maybe what's more important to him because.

[Dan Bernstein]

It'S all he's left. But yeah, of course Michael Strahan wanted that.

[Matt Abaticola]

But wanting it and, and being a penis about it are different things.

[Dan Bernstein]

So someone should have said, hey, listen, this is going to happen. When it does happen, like something, someone has to know these guys personally on this set and be like, dude, I know you're going to be pissed. I'd be pissed too. You know, like. And you know what?

[Matt Abaticola]

But you're not diminished.

[Dan Bernstein]

As a matter of fact, no one's taking your. But, but still, it doesn't matter. It's not his title anymore.

[Matt Abaticola]

I'd love to know what.

[Dan Bernstein]

Welcome to the elite class. No, I'm sorry, bro. There's only one elite who broke. Has the record.

[Matt Abaticola]

Who broke Tom Dempsey's field goal record? Was it Matt Prater? Did Matt prater kick the 64 yard sounds right? Or 63 and a half yarder?

[Dan Bernstein]

That sounds.

[Matt Abaticola]

And now they're up. That's what I'm saying. Like if you're Tom Dempsey and somehow this job chose you because of what many believed was. Was a disability that you turned into a superpower, you only had half a foot, right? And you were super jock kicker guy. And for that to be broken and for it to be that much a part of you to say, look, only because of the way I was born was I able to do something no other human being on the planet could possibly do. And they're like, well, see, I could kind of get it if he felt bad.

[Dan Bernstein]

Like, hey, just wait till guys are kicking 70 yarders, right? You couldn't do that. Old square foot.

[Matt Abaticola]

Call him old square foot. Is he alive? I don't think so.

[Dan Bernstein]

I think he's with Chubby Checker.

[Matt Abaticola]

But Chubby Checker's alive, right?

[Dan Bernstein]

He's with Chubby Checker at that old people's home this weekend.

[Matt Abaticola]

Like there's.

[Dan Bernstein]

He's kicking field goals while Chubby sings the twist.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, he died in 2020. He was only 73, but that would be the.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, just 10 years away.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, well, I. Strahan should know better.

[Dan Bernstein]

You would think. I mean this, this is a veteran now. Like polished TV figure as well. I mean, years and years.

[Matt Abaticola]

Good Morning America, right?

[Dan Bernstein]

That's what I'm talking about. Like it should have been handled a little better. That's. That's all I'm saying. And I wouldn't even brought it up until I. Unless I just be honest about his reaction.

[Matt Abaticola]

Or what if he had done this? What if he had done this? Just said, hey, I'm not gonna lie, I'm pissed. I like Myles Garrett a lot. He's a really good dude and I would never wish any ill upon him. But this record meant a lot to me and I had a great deal of pride in being introduced as the all time single season sack leader. And now I don't have that anymore, and it's going to be an adjustment for me to understand that, so give me a little bit of time to deal with it right now. He could have said that, and it would have been great.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay, I disagree. Because given his place in culture right now as a TV host, he's a studio guy. Every week he's so. I mean, is he still on Good Morning America?

[Matt Abaticola]

I don't know.

[Dan Bernstein]

I mean, I just. I think it's not some guy that you're taking a camera crew down to his house in Louisiana, and the guy hasn't been on TV in a decade because he's retired and be like, right.

[Matt Abaticola]

Your record was just like, the 72 dolphins, right?

[Dan Bernstein]

You just knock on his door and be like, well, yeah, that guy would. That guy can be. I'm pissed about it. I wanted to have that. I got nothing here. I got crocodile.

[Matt Abaticola]

Seriously, just be honest. Just have him. Have him say no. I think it's not easy for me to watch this happen.

[Dan Bernstein]

A guy in his position. In his position needs to be a little more prepared for it than. Than just that. Like. Like he was caught off guard by it.

[Matt Abaticola]

Wait a sec.

[Dan Bernstein]

What happened?

[Matt Abaticola]

What's going on out there? Who's that?

[Dan Bernstein]

Like, there's a producer. It's like. All right, guys, we're back in 15. Michael, we're gonna go to you. Miles Garrett broke your record. Five, four, and. Right. What? Huh?

[Matt Abaticola]

Right? Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

He wasn't. Wasn't surprised.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well.

[Dan Bernstein]

Anyway, I thought it was all fun. Zach Taylor's mad. He's fighting for his life. Jamar Chase, he wants a recognition when he gets his 10th catch in a game.

[Matt Abaticola]

Maybe he was fighting for someone else's life. I don't know exactly what Tech Taylor thought they were doing out there. Maybe he was worried about getting fired. Maybe he was fighting for his job security. They did announce he's coming back.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Maybe everybody is.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

No one. No one got launched. Well, in the front office or. Yeah.

[Courtney]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Any other firing since we've been on the.

[Matt Abaticola]

I'm at Eber Flutes this morning.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Matty. Anybody else?

[Matt Abaticola]

Flooy's out. I still don't have my powdered Toast man. He's over in the other tower. Oh, no, I can see the other tower. I can see. I can. Like, if I look down, I could probably see it sitting there still.

[Dan Bernstein]

Hobbit movie. The Two Towers.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, yeah, I know. They took Powdered Toast man from. Sorry.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right, well, that's all I got for today. Let's.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay. Well, that's forward Progress here. On 312 Sports. Forward progress has stopped. 10, 2 19, 2 19.

[Dan Bernstein]

Forward progress, a Chicago Bears podcast with Dan Bernstein and Matt Abaticola on 312 Sports.