← Forward Progress - A Chicago Bears Podcast
Forward Progress - A Chicago Bears Podcast
Caleb Williams and the offense need to play much better if Bears want to win
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- [00:01]
A
I mean, if you're a Bears fan, you're thinking forward progress. Come on. Forward progress. Chicago Bears podcast with Dan Bernstein and Matt Abeticola on 312 Sports.
- [00:24]
B
We give you forward progress here on 312 Sports. And when we last left you, it was yesterday even, and the Chicago Bears had wrapped up the season with a disappointing comeback loss to the Lions. 1916, the final all kinds of places to question and recriminate and figure out why it took them to be down 16 nothing before they decided it was worth their time to come back and start playing. And that seems to be why Ben Johnson was understandably peeved as they close out a terrific regular season.
- [01:04]
A
Yeah, absolutely. It was a terrific regular season. And just looking overall at the, at the entire year for this Chicago Bears team, thoroughly unexpected 11 and 6. They finished first in the NFC North. They are the number two seed in the NFC playoff bracket. So it was just a remarkable, entertaining, fun season and quite the season to launch a Bears podcast when they win a division for the first time since what, 2018. They haven't won a playoff game since 2010. So we're on the verge of hopefully, you know, beating the packers, our oldest rival, and putting that stat away forever. Caleb Williams, he breaks the record despite doing it in 17 games. As a Bears passer, you have a numerous amount of rookies that step up and really perform well above expected levels for the season. You have Colson Loveland, Kyle Menungai, Luther Burden, Ozzie Petrillo, Theo Benedict, Tripillo. Tripillo. What did I say?
- [02:11]
B
Petrillo. Like the Petrillo band shell.
- [02:16]
A
Oh, well, that's what we're doing the show next Tuesday. Did I tell you?
- [02:19]
B
Awesome.
- [02:19]
A
Yeah, awesome. So I see Trapillo and then Theo Benedict. DeAndre Swift has his most productive year as a pro. Caleb Williams certainly takes significant strides and steps in his second year as a, as a head coach. Even Jade Walker, an undrafted rookie wide receiver, contributed here in the final month of the season with significant touchdowns to help the Bears secure the spot they earned in the NFC playoff picture.
- [02:47]
B
And it also looks like that Olamide Zacchaeus, after a series of bad drops despite Walker having won in the last game, it looks like that that chunk of reps has in large part been given to Walker. So we'll see if maybe that was just an end of season little wake up call for, for Zacchaeus or if he's not healthy from whatever this bug has been knocking everybody out around the team or if this is the a move, if this is something that we're seeing as a roster change this late in the season. We're not going to know until the next game or until Ben Johnson is asked about it and talks about it. But he said they were going to be playing their best football in December. It looked like that was going to be true. But if you trace the arc of this season, two losses and then two more losses at the end, the way this thing has been shaped, it may, it may indeed call into question what, whether or not that's true. We wanted it to be true for a while. We thought it was true for a bit. I don't know if it still is. I don't know if they're playing their best football in December.
- [03:58]
A
Well, I can say for sure, Dan, and we'll get more into this as we go into the show, that they certainly have not played their best football defensively in the month of December. And we can look at those numbers and we'll do that in just a bit. But what I wanted to kind of recap our first segment here is just talk about. Despite all the great things and the, you know, exceeding expectations for this year, there's, there's two things that I'm disappointed with with this team and to think that we can go through a 17 game season with the struggles that Caleb Williams had in passing the football at times and his accuracy coming into question throughout the year and having Ben Johnson as a first year head coach. There's just two things that really stand out to me. That, that when I look at the schedule, I'm really irritated about. The first being that Vikings loss in week one, unacceptable performance in the fourth quarter that should not have happened. That's not a game that the Bears should have lost. Disappointing. And then week 18 with this, this Lions loss to not show up for the first three quarters was really disappointing. Knowing that other teams were resting players. The packers were resting players for the playoffs. The Eagles, who were still competing for the number two seed, who, you know, I get it. The number two seed.
- [05:17]
B
Yeah.
- [05:17]
A
Still you're not the number one seed. You don't get a buy. But all it takes is a divisional round loss for that one seed for Seattle to lose. And as the two seed, you could be hosting the NFC championship game. And the Eagles said, you know what, we're just going to rest. We're going to rest our players and see what happens.
- [05:32]
B
Nick Sirianni's reasoning for that, I don't know if you buy it or not. He just said it was something they could control. He said we can't entirely control what seed we're going to have. We can control how rested we are for the playoffs.
- [05:48]
A
Oh, no, that totally makes sense. I mean, you can control how well a guy, how much a guy rests by not playing him. And that makes perfect sense. I get it. But Ben Johnson said that's not what we do. We play football. He said that. And they went out and they put out a real stinker for the first three quarters and they had to come back with great urgency and two two point conversions in the fourth quarter to even tie the game. That was just really disappointing with so much on the line. And the fact that you made that decision as a head coach to put your guys out there when other teams weren't. The team you're facing didn't do that. The team you were competing with for the number two seed did. Didn't do that. And you did and still came out there with that. That's really disappointing. Now, all that being said, they still went, you know, 0, 2 to start, Owen, 2 to end. And in the middle you have those, those 13 games that the Bears went 11 and two. You know, I'm not going to complain about that. Not going to be upset about that. Overall, this was a spectacular season. One that the, I mean I was on full meatball display for most of this year and I love it. I'm here for it because I haven't had this opportunity in quite some time. So it was fantastic. So just those two things and I think that the way they showed up for this Lions game was just really disappointing going into the playoffs. And I want to see, need to see much better effort and energy coming out at the start for this packers game on Saturday night.
- [07:11]
B
Now the good news here, and by the way, we might as well just recap this being whacking day and how the Bears aren't really a part of whacking day today, which is nice. The following teams now need new head coaches. The New York Giants, the Tennessee Titans, the Atlanta Falcons, the Arizona Cardinals, the Cleveland Browns and the Las Vegas Raiders. At the moment, as of recording time, they're all in the market for new head coaches and of the fired head coaches to next get a job. I would be very interested if I'm any of these teams in Kevin Stefanski.
- [07:49]
A
Yeah, I think, and I said this to you earlier and I think you said Jets. I think Stefanski is going to end up in the Giants with the Giants. I really do. I think he'll, he'll go back to New York with the Giants and end up being their head coach. What is the most favorable situation you might ask? I mean you could look at the Raiders. They have some young talent there and they got to figure out the whole thing with. With. With Crosby and they have the number one pick. But they have the number one pick. The, the. The Jets. Now there's no one fired there. I don't know if Aaron Glenn will remain as he shouldn't.
- [08:20]
B
He shouldn't. That that's a move I would definitely make you. You would have seen it if there were progress there that. Did you see the numbers that they showed last night? About what? The. The stats for the jets opposing quarterback.
- [08:35]
A
No, I didn't.
- [08:35]
B
Oh my God. I believe would be leaving leading the league and everything. Something like a 110 rating, 20 or 30 touchdowns. No, they didn't have an interception.
- [08:45]
A
Interception. Yeah. Then this Jetsy and I know they're the second pick and the Raiders were the worst team by record wise in finishing with the number one pick. But the jets, this is an all time worst NFL team. I mean they are there with some of the worst NFL teams. When you look at the numbers, the stats, something that you mentioned there and the fact that you couldn't fall into one interception in a 17 game NFL.
- [09:10]
B
Season is one should stick in your face mask.
- [09:13]
A
Yes. One should be thrown right at you to not get a tip, to not get anything. Like you don't have to make a spectacular play as a defensive player to get an interception and to not get one. Just remarkable. One of the worst you have the Cardinals who are now without a coach with the three, the third pick, the Titans with the fourth pick, the Giants with the fifth pick. You know and then you look at the Giants, you have some questions. There is Jackson Dart the guy they want to move forward with. Some other teams that really stood out to me is we're looking at whacking day here and just looking at order of the 20, 26 raft. The Browns Dan are picking six and have the 28th pick. So they have two first round picks. The Cowboys have two first round picks. They're at 12 and then they would be at 25 with the pick they got from Green Bay. There might be another team that has two. Oh, the Jets. The jets at number two and number 16 with their pick they got from Indianapolis. So there's some teams there that need a coach that have multiple picks. Teams that were really disappointing in the Cowboys in the year that they finished offensively but defense was bad. So I'm sure Eberfloosh will be fired today. If not. If that hasn't already happened. Just not announced.
- [10:22]
B
Yeah, they said they were waiting a day that they're not going to. Their whacking day is going to be tomorrow because they want to do player interviews and exit stuff to today. And then I imagine that we'll have a Powdered Toast man back out on the streets tomorrow.
- [10:36]
A
They'll sit with the defensive players and be like, hey, was he good? And they'd be like, no. All right, next question. Hey, was Matty good?
- [10:42]
B
No.
- [10:42]
A
All right, next question.
- [10:43]
B
Yeah, and have you gotten back my. My Powdered Toast man figurine yet? Have you?
- [10:46]
A
I haven't yet. I. I'm working on it. I'm getting. I'll get.
- [10:49]
B
You said you would. You said that you were going to find a way to free my personal items for. You're going to rest them from the iron fisted control of Odyssey Corp. Oh.
- [10:58]
A
If I have to break in and steal it, I will.
- [11:00]
B
Oh, I know you will. I know. You probably still have the codes or everything. You probably have the old ID card that's still working.
- [11:05]
A
I do. I have those. I have all the. Oh, and I actually have the launch codes now, too. They just dropped those off this morning, so. Sweet.
- [11:12]
B
Here's the good thing, too, that as disappointed as you are in the way the season ended, and as disappointed as many may be, Ben Johnson is as peeved or more so than you are.
- [11:27]
A
You should be.
- [11:28]
B
I think that's clear. It just. I definitely want to get into a matter of how he. How and where he's directing some of this disappointment, because I'm not.
- [11:39]
A
Yeah, no, we'll get into it. So let's.
- [11:41]
B
Let's do this first.
- [11:42]
A
Let's. Let's listen to Ben Johnson. It was only like five minutes yesterday after the game. Okay, let's hear from Ben Johnson and then let's get into that, because I think it's a really interesting angle we want to get at here, going off of what Ben Johnson had to say after yesterday's loss. So here's Ben Johnson meeting the media after the 1916 loss to the Lions at Soldier Field.
- [12:01]
C
Of note one was Ty Summers. He had a foot, and then C.J. didn't finish the game there with a concussion. So, you know, disappointing to lose that one in that. In that fashion. There. Guys were battling. They fought their tails off, but came up ashore, you know, so, you know, we got to play better. We got to play better going forward. We got to coach better going forward as well. And, you know, we're Turning the page, though, you know, we got the number two seed, we got a home game next week, and we got a new season on the horizon. And so our guys should be reinvigorated by that. I know I certainly am. I'm looking forward to the opportunity and all that that entails and the opportunity to go one and, oh, this next week. So with that being said, I'll go ahead and open it up.
- [12:47]
D
What about today's performance grabs your attention most?
- [12:50]
C
Yeah, we just. We can't dig ourselves in a hole like that, you know, and was disappointed with the offense as a whole. Let those guys know that and we'll be better for it. You know, we'll address it, we'll get those things cleaned up and we'll be better for it.
- [13:06]
D
Ultimately, as you mentioned, this doesn't cost you its seating. What was your messaging for the guys.
- [13:10]
C
That we're quickly turning the page here? Everyone's disappointed. I appreciate, like I said, their effort. You know, some teams, they rest their starters. We don't. We play football. And, you know, and we felt like it was really important that we were playing our best ball here today and we didn't get that job done. And so we're quickly turning that page. And now we got a home game coming on up and there's a way to win this game, this next game, and that's what we're going to be.
- [13:36]
D
Solely focused on.5 with 155 left. Did you consider going for it?
- [13:41]
C
Yes, I did.
- [13:42]
D
Why did you punish?
- [13:43]
C
Because we had three timeouts and we felt like we're going to get the ball back.
- [13:48]
D
Ben, you guys had two. Two games against Green Bay that were just as tight as you could possibly have. How did you feel about the way.
- [13:55]
C
That series went this season, the two games against. Yeah, good opponent and, you know, I think we're fairly evenly matched. Got a lot of respect for how well they're coached. I have a lot of respect for the talent level that they have in that building and. And, you know, I'd expect it to be another exciting game.
- [14:14]
D
And what was your sense for why the offense took as long as it did to get rolled?
- [14:18]
C
Yeah, that's a great question, and that's one that we'll have to take a look at the tape and figure out why that was. I didn't feel like it was one of our more elaborate plans. I thought it was one of our simpler plans. And so we knew a better job executing it and coaching it up without.
- [14:32]
D
Having a chance to review Caleb's interception. What did you see on that?
- [14:35]
C
Yeah. Guy made a heck of a play.
- [14:38]
D
How do you switch the flip the script so quickly to a new season? I mean, this is a brand new season here.
- [14:44]
A
I'll pause it there for a second. He didn't make one heck of a play. He looked more like the receiver more than DJ Moore did.
- [14:50]
B
Yeah, he didn't make a heck of a play. He broke on the. He broke on the ball better than.
- [14:55]
A
The receiver did, who gave up and stopped running.
- [14:58]
B
Yeah, he tracked it better than the receiver and he finished the play unlike the receiver.
- [15:04]
A
Yeah. And also to ask about the 155 left. Why did you punt? Did you consider going for it? I did. Three timeouts. Thought we'd get the ball back. So he expected the defense to stop them and get the ball back.
- [15:16]
B
I didn't.
- [15:17]
A
I didn't either. I didn't either. And does he sound the most irritated and angry to you than we've heard him in any press conference?
- [15:25]
B
Oh, by far. Yeah.
- [15:26]
A
Not even close, right?
- [15:27]
B
No, by far, yeah.
- [15:30]
C
Yeah, that's. That's the. That's the name of the game here, though. I mean, we're quickly transitioning. We're locked in. The stakes are a lot higher here going forward. We can't afford to have a phase, one of our three phases play like we did today, and so we're gonna have to pick it up. And like I said, I get fired up just thinking about it right now, and I know our guys are, too.
- [15:58]
A
So what do you think? A phase can't have one of the three phases.
- [16:02]
B
He's talking about offense.
- [16:05]
A
He is.
- [16:06]
B
He's talking about offense. I want to just keep this going because this. This, I think, is a window into the Bears power structure a little bit. Just. I'll flesh that out.
- [16:17]
A
Keep that in mind there. We'll flag that. We'll. We'll put a pin in that one, Dan.
- [16:21]
B
Or you know what else we'll do? We'll circle back.
- [16:24]
A
Oh, no, we will circle back after we put the pin in it.
- [16:26]
B
Good.
- [16:27]
A
Yes.
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B
Say the one phase.
- [16:28]
D
The offense.
- [16:29]
C
Yeah. In particular, I did not. I was not pleased with the offense today.
- [16:32]
D
When you say simpler game plan, were you holding back at all?
- [16:36]
C
Nope. Nope.
- [16:39]
D
What were you least pleased with offensively.
- [16:41]
C
When you think about it, initially, the points scored. 16.
- [16:47]
D
How much time have it been? Do you even spend correcting this game because you have such a turnaround?
- [16:53]
C
Yeah, we got. We don't know when we're playing yet, but it's a normal game week, and we always have plenty of time to make our corrections.
- [17:01]
D
And we spent a few weeks talking about Colson and the way he's come on. He's clearly become a big down guy for you when you're in those moments. Third down, fourth down. What have you seen from him that's made him so reliable?
- [17:10]
C
Yeah, he knows what to do. He's got outstanding hands. He works his tail off. He's usually the first one on the practice field, he's usually the last one to leave. And so there's just been an immense trust level and his route tree has grown accordingly.
- [17:25]
D
Swift's DeAndre Swift's season was one of the big success stories for you guys this year. How rewarding was that for you as a coach to kind of make that work and get him back into this move?
- [17:36]
C
Yeah, yeah. No, he. I mean, he had a great year for us and we're going to need more from him here going forward, so I'm not surprised whatsoever. It's. It's kind of. I think I've been championing that. Cause every step of the way, you know, I felt. I felt from the outside a need to or a desire to bring more into the running back room and I felt like our guys were pretty darn strong. You know, both him and Mananguy have turned into a pretty formidable unit there. So he's playing like he's capable of playing and I think he can take it up even another notch and we're going to challenge him to do so here.
- [18:12]
D
Going forward defensively, was Sweat fully available and full go at the end of the game or was he?
- [18:18]
C
Yeah, yeah, our guys were good to go. Yep.
- [18:20]
D
With as fast of a start as you guys got off to in San Francisco. Can you pinpoint just kind of what was holding you back in the first half tonight?
- [18:28]
C
Nope, Nope. We'll take a look at the tape then.
- [18:31]
D
With that fourth and five, what's the process there? Obviously it's very quick of making that decision and coming down on one side or the other.
- [18:36]
C
Yeah, those are things we talk about. And especially coming off a two minute warning like that, you know, we got plenty of time to make those decisions.
- [18:44]
D
Did you have any method of monitoring what was going on with the Eagles commander's game? No.
- [18:49]
C
Nope.
- [18:50]
D
You talked about trying to avoid two losses going into the postseason. What do you do this week to flip the script in and to get back on track here?
- [18:58]
C
Yeah, I let them know that it's a new season. So we're starting fresh right now and if we want to make the most out of this new season, we need to go on a four game winning streak, which we've done twice already this year. Good.
- [19:13]
B
All right.
- [19:14]
C
See it.
- [19:17]
A
All right.
- [19:18]
B
See ya.
- [19:19]
A
Yeah, he's pissed.
- [19:20]
B
He's super.
- [19:21]
A
Rightfully so. I'm not questioning that at all. I would love to hear how he presented himself to the team after the game. Like, if he's still that Steady Eddie guy and just talked with like, you know, more of a fatherly tone. Disappointment, where that's like, you know, that that hurts worse sometimes than getting yelled at.
- [19:40]
B
Disappointed in you.
- [19:41]
A
Yeah. Or was he like, take the shirt off guy, but an anger and like frustration and pissed and yelling and screaming. Love to hear how that went out in the, in the locker room.
- [19:53]
B
He's mad. It's this, it's fun to hear him. Like, here's the thing, though. He's the head coach. He's not the offensive coordinator.
- [20:04]
A
Correct.
- [20:05]
B
You're the head coach of the whole team. Call out that defense. Yep. Unless, and this is what I'm trying to figure out, is it possible, as we try to do this intelligently, is it possible he believes the defense is giving absolutely everything it can, that he believes this is the best the defense can play? Because if not, then you're, then you're not coaching the whole team. Right now he's talking about the offense because he's in charge of the offense. That's his side of the ball. And we've always wondered, how active are you on the other side? Does he feel he can't cross Dennis Allen? Is he worried that, that he's going to insult Dennis Allen by saying that the defense is horseshit in whatever way he has to?
- [21:01]
A
I would like to think not, because he is the head coach and he's in charge and he's comfortable being in charge. I, you know, that's a really good question you ask because I haven't thought of it that way. He's obviously very smart in evaluating, understanding who his team is. And maybe Dan, maybe that's just it. Maybe he realizes this is just. And then given some of the injuries, this is just the best that this defense can do. Therefore, our offense, not only. They've played at a very high level this year as an offense. And if you look, you look at their offensive numbers, they were ninth in scoring at 25.9. They were sixth in yards per game at 369.2. Dropped out of the top five with that Lions game yesterday. And the yards that they put on to just beat the Bears. And then they are third in rushing yards per game. He expects more from his offense. Even though they accomplished a lot this year in his first year with a lot of rookie players. He expects more because I think that might be the case. He might just look at this defense and say, you know what? This is the best this defense can do. This defense isn't getting better. Now, success can trump expectations, but expectations can't trump talents. And your talent can only take you so far.
- [22:17]
B
Well, at some point, this defense that has been creating turnovers, that has, you know, who are the. You got Kevin Byard makes the Pro Bowl.
- [22:29]
A
Oh, I also real quick, I misspoke yesterday on our post game show and I mentioned Kevin Bayard not making the Pro Bowl. He certainly did make the Pro Bowl. It was Sean Wright who didn't make the Pro bowl, who leads in creating turnovers.
- [22:40]
B
Correct.
- [22:41]
A
Kevin Byard leads in interceptions, did make the Pro bowl, someone pointed out on, on YouTube. So thanks for doing fair enough.
- [22:47]
B
Yeah, we do that often. Thank you for correcting us. That's, that's what we do. But it was. I just found it to be a little strange that that entire post game conversation was all about offense. When your defense has given up 1300 yards in the last three games. When, when. And this is. This needs to be said because this is. This matters. What Jaquan Brisker said after the game. Jaquan Brisker called out the coaching. He called it out. He said it. One of your veteran leaders said it. This was our former colleague Mark Grody who quoted Jaquan Brisker. We were playing a whole bunch of man today. No help in the middle. A lot of picks and rubs. Just like you pointed out yesterday, Maddie. Really. They schemed us up and we had to do a better job covering. They got us in the right call. They just out schemed us. Just being honest. Now they. I want the record to show they were bad in man and they were bad in zone. It looks worse in man.
- [24:07]
A
Oh, 100%. When you're, when you're chasing a guy down multiple times on the same drive, it does not look good.
- [24:14]
B
It looks worse when you're in the, what they call the trail technique. When you're.
- [24:21]
A
That's not happy trails either.
- [24:23]
B
No, that's, that's. Ooh, I better chase this guy down and hope I get him before he goes in the end zone. Trail technique. It looked bad in both ways. But some of the man to man stuff, when they were taking the entire middle of the field, whether it was C.J. gardner, Johnson or Jalen Johnson, who both got burned multiple times, Brisker said it, they just out schemed us. If you're the head coach of the team, and I know that you're only answering the questions that are being asked of you, but when he said one phase, you're talking about offense, right? Yeah, I'm talking about the offense. His job is to see everything. And I've got to know, I've got to be reassured that the head coach also understands that his defense let him down.
- [25:17]
A
See, Dan, I, I think he does.
- [25:20]
B
And I think I do too. I do too. I just want him to acknowledge it.
- [25:24]
A
Right. I think he implicitly trusts Dennis Allen, otherwise he wouldn't have brought him in. Okay, well, I think, I think you answered your question. I really, I really do because we hadn't talked about this at length and he is, he's depending more on the offense to step up and play more, to carry the weight more for this team because I think he realizes what the defense is and who the defense is and where they're at with some of the injuries and players right now. I think he gets that. I think his self scouting and his evaluation of his own defensive unit is pretty spot on and pretty clear and he realized that, which is why he's getting more pissed with the offense and expecting more from the offense because he needs the offense to carry more weight if they're going to win a playoff game. Dan, you Talked about the 1300 yards the Bears in the last three games. So you're talking about Green Bay, San Francisco. Detroit gave up 1,313 yards total total offense allowed by the defense. 514 rushing yards, 799 passing yards. Now the defense did create one turnover per game, which is great because I think the Bears only had one. Right. They didn't have any turnovers in the Niners game today or the Green Bay game, unless I'm mistaken. But the defense created one turnover a game in those three games. And here's the thing too. Do you know how many touchdowns the Bears offense scored in those three games total?
- [26:49]
B
Off the top of my head, no. But eight.
- [26:53]
A
How many touchdowns did the defense give up to those three offenses?
- [26:59]
B
Ten.
- [27:00]
A
Eight.
- [27:02]
B
Okay.
- [27:03]
A
The Bears actually had more touchdowns scored in those previous. Those last three games with the T.J. edwards interception return. They had nine touchdowns scored to their opponents. Eight touchdowns. He. He realizes. I think you answered. He realizes what the defense is and why he's so pissed with the offense and singled them out in that press conference yesterday because he expects more for them. He expects them to carry the weight of that defense because he realizes there's more talent on that offense right now than there is defense.
- [27:35]
B
I also think part of it is independent of talent. I think part of it is just he is, in his mind taking the blame because that's what he controls. He doesn't have as much influence over the defense, and that's by choice. He could. He definitely could. He's the head coach. So I don't know what it is going to take for him other than direct questions. I think is the answer. I think he should be asked directly. Do you think that this is the best you're going to get out of your defense? If there is improvement to be made, where can it be made? What are you saying to Dennis Allen?
- [28:14]
A
He works for you, right? While I agree with that, no one's going to ask him that. No one's. And he's not going to answer. What are you saying to Dennis Allen?
- [28:21]
B
But you know what I mean. But you can.
- [28:22]
A
I know. Oh, I know what you mean. But he'll give you a coachy cliche answer.
- [28:27]
B
Dennis Allen is not. Is not the co. Head coach.
- [28:30]
A
I know, I know, I know. I understand that. And I also think he looks at it because he can look at the same things that we look at and they even have more to dig into and evaluate. But I mentioned this to you before. When the bears give up 24 points or less, they're nine and one. Now with that loss yesterday, they're nine and one. And you can look at it. And he can look at it as the head coach and a brilliant offensive mind and say, all right, my defense can allow three touchdowns and a field goal and going into that game, we were 9, 0. I need to get my offense to elevate beyond that level and we can win football games. I can allow three touchdowns and a field goal and be 9 and 1 in the season. So I think he's looking at the defense and saying this, this is where we're at defensively, but we can do more and accelerate and exceed what we've done offensively.
- [29:24]
B
Okay. I would like to ask him the following. I would like to just simply present him what Jaquan Brisker said. Here's. Here's what you're starting safety and what a veteran leader of your team said. Is he right?
- [29:42]
A
You know, and it's, it's interesting hearing what, what Jaquan Brisker had to say. I want. I know.
- [29:47]
C
He.
- [29:47]
A
He said that they were. It was more of a simpler game plan this week. Did you hold anything back? No, we didn't. But it was more of a simpler game plan. So I'd like to rectify those two things because either you're holding back and it's simpler. I. I don't. My brain doesn't understand being more simple and holding back at the same time because.
- [30:05]
B
Well, I guess I'll answer that because he can say, every week we do the same thing. Every week we come up with what we think is the best roadmap to victory. This week it turned out that it ended up being simpler since some. Some weeks end up more complicated than others. Some weeks we have a more convoluted way of reaching where we want to go. And this week, when we looked at it ended up being simpler. We don't decide ahead of time this is going to be a simple week or a complicated week. We go through the same process every week to determine where our advantages are, where our disadvantages are, how we maximize one and minimize the other. And this week it just ended up looking simple. When we got done with it.
- [30:50]
A
Okay, I can. I can understand that. I just. It sticks out to me for him to call it out as simpler. And to me, that just seems a little. A little more basic in what was put out in the game plan. And I want to think that that was deliberate offensively and defensively. Like, why would you go into so much man coverage this week against team, against Williams, against I'm on St. Brown. Like, why would you. Why would you choose this week to go more man against those guys when not only you're just. You're not playing very well, but you're also injured in those areas. You don't have a cornerback that can shut down either one of those guys, so why choose that? So I want to hope that it was just an idea of being able to scout a little bit your own team and put them in different situations and see what you can put on tape. I can't imagine it was like, oh, we're trying to, you know, be deceptive to the Packers. The packers aren't that dumb. Matt LaFleur is not that dumb. I just want. I wonder if they did it deliberately just to kind of take a look at more of a basic approach to their own team. What do we have? What can we do going into the packers week for the playoffs? I don't know. Unless we hear from Ben Johnson. I just don't know.
- [31:59]
B
Yeah, I don't.
- [32:00]
A
Those answers are.
- [32:00]
B
I don't think so. I think that is. That's playing with fire. When you're presuming that you.
- [32:06]
A
Why so much man against the Lions? You can't keep up with the Lions. You can't, you can't keep up with those wide receivers.
- [32:14]
B
But, but for them to actually come forward and say, oh yeah, you know, we were just testing some things out. That's not good enough. That's not good enough. Because I could have told you before that game that, that the man defense isn't the way to get it done. You, you don't, you know, blitzing against good quarterbacks is going to get you killed.
- [32:34]
A
Right. And we, and we told you that yesterday in the post game that Jared Goff and Jared Groff, they were 13 of 16 over 200 yards and a touchdown. When the Bears blitz in those two games, like, you just, you, you're. They're, they're not going to be successful doing that.
- [32:49]
B
And the stunting, you want more stunts? They did it. They had one successful end tackle twist. They had one unsuccessful end tackle twist. But I don't think that the tactics are going to make players better necessarily. You know, you mentioned maybe moving sweat inside is. But all this stuff, we're just kind of throwing stuff at the wall.
- [33:11]
A
Yeah.
- [33:12]
B
That's all there is at this point. And it really is the front four. Because some of these defenses, some of these man defenses even don't look so bad when the quarterback tucks and runs. They don't look so bad when the quarterback's eyes drop when all of a sudden you got somebody exploding past his guy. Watch what Seattle does to people. Watch what, you know, the differ. Guys like Brock Purdy and guys like Darnold and guys like Goff is just that. And if you give him time, they'll cut you to ribbons.
- [33:47]
A
Yeah, they will. And it's something. We've seen an acceleration in Caleb's game in that regard too, where he's getting better at spotting those, those hot reads and seeing where the pressure is going to come from and getting the ball out quickly. He's gotten better at it and that will continue to progress in his career.
- [34:05]
C
Yeah.
- [34:05]
A
You know, and I just, I wonder too, about, about the game plan yesterday. I just, I would love to know, I really want to know, like, what the decision was to do that though. Like, why are we going to play more mad against these guys knowing that we haven't generated a significant pass rush all year long? So we're going to allow a veteran guy who can read the field well, get the ball out quickly, know where to go with it before the ball snapped against Those receivers we can't keep up with.
- [34:34]
B
I don't know. But I, and I don't want to have to wait until Thursday, which we do, to talk to the guy responsible for it.
- [34:40]
A
But he's not going to talk about it though, Dan. He's not going to talk about the Lions game. He's going to tell you that we've turned the page. They turned the page four days ago. We're done with that.
- [34:47]
B
That's the other part that bothers me here too. If you are going to have a head coach who essentially abdicates defensive responsibility after a game like that, it just isn't really even talking about. It isn't even really acknowledging the defense. Then bring Dennis Allen out right after. See, it's that the, the discrepancy there is. What bugs me is you have an offensive minded coach who knows his investment is in the offense, his responsibilities over the offense. He's taking the all, you know, the, the Arrows and saying my side wasn't good enough. Well, you know what? Dennis Allen's side wasn't good enough either. And if you're not going to talk about it and if you're not going to take responsibility for it, bring him out right now and don't wait until Thursday for him to say, oh, that game, we've forgotten about that game already.
- [35:40]
A
Oh, dude, it's not even forgotten about. It's the deliberate. Hey, we've turned the page. Don't ask me any questions.
- [35:44]
B
Yeah, we don't, we don't talk about that anymore.
- [35:47]
A
Right, and you should neither.
- [35:50]
B
Well, I have a lot of questions about it and these are all the questions that we're asking right now.
- [35:56]
A
And I know the reporter in you just gets real fired up with that because it doesn't make sense.
- [36:01]
B
It doesn't. I at least was on the beat at a time where you would immediately walk into the, that guy's, walk over to his locker, his office or whatever you got and say what the hell was that? What are you doing out there? What was that? And you could do that. And he'd say, well, you know, let me explain. But that to have to have him be able to just be, be covered for four days.
- [36:27]
A
Right. And then, and then to not have to answer anything.
- [36:31]
B
As much as they talk about accountability, that's one area where it's just lacking in the NFL. You're right now they're hiding people, they're.
- [36:39]
A
Hiding with that at all. You're 100% correct on that. And it's interesting too, with the Saturday game so that, that shortens your, your preparation week by a day, you know, so you, you accelerate things by a day as well as now was we've learned this from camera which, which one of our, our Bears reporters told if it was fish bane or maybe it was, it was pat about the extra padded practice they get now. So like where, where does that fit into your like somewhat of an accelerated week as well playing on Saturday. Do you utilize that, get that in or do you not utilize that as much because you have so many injuries and guys dealing with things?
- [37:21]
B
That's a great question.
- [37:22]
A
Physically as well too.
- [37:23]
B
That's a great question. And I think the answer is maybe if you're putting in something new, if you're putting in a wrinkle that you think has to be practiced at game speed for them to get it, maybe you do use it now, you know, it's kind of a YOLO thing because do you presume that you're gonna have another game in which to use it and do you say look, we're, we definitely want to. The only thing that would keep us from doing that would be the amount of bodies that we have healthy. Yeah. And the truth is I was asked this this morning about when I was talking to Sherman and Tingle, which by the way, I'm on with Those guys on 97.1fm the Drive, Chicago's classic rock every Monday and Friday at 8:15. And just reminding people who don't wouldn't otherwise be aware no team is healthy right now that you may not have listed injuries, but you've already called 30 guys up to your from your practice squad.
- [38:32]
A
Right.
- [38:32]
B
Usually 25 to 30 or 35. It's usually for the bears. I think it's around 30 people to get elevated the practice squad at this point, the amount of man games you've had. Lots, lots of bodies because you've had lots of injuries, lots of people on ir. It's a matter of how hurt, the difference between hurt and injured. Just because guys aren't on the injury report doesn't mean they aren't hurting. And we never know. And sometimes it takes multiple seasons. Did you hear some story at a bar or on a podcast many, many years later? I played the last 10 games of that season with a broken back. I mean it's like, I'm not kidding though. You don't really learn about that until later. So I don't know. I don't know what's going to make them decide whether or not they want to hit people in practice in a week.
- [39:23]
A
Yeah, we'll see they get the one this week. See if they. If they use it. One. One last thing on this Lions game, too, I want to mention is I love that Dan Campbell used some trick plays and they didn't work. It made me very happy. Like, it made me very, very happy that they pitched it and try to throw it, and then the quarterback goes out for a pass and Brisker's like, I'm going to hold on to your jersey and jog with you the entire way because you're not getting away from me. I love that he tried it, that he was so arrogant and that he wanted to try it. I'm going to show you. I'm going to show Ben Johnson and the trick plays that we used to run together when we were dating. I'm going to show you, and I'm going to get. I'm going to get back at you now for leaving us, you traitor.
- [40:04]
B
And.
- [40:05]
A
And then they didn't work. I loved it. It made me so satisfied.
- [40:08]
B
Is that like taking. Is that like taking a different date to your previous couple's restaurant?
- [40:16]
A
Like your restaurant? Absolutely. That's a very good analogy.
- [40:20]
B
Yes. So, like, this. This was our place. And then you're in there with someone else, knowing you'll be seen there.
- [40:26]
A
Yeah, that. Because the bartender knows you and the servers know you and the manager knows you, and it's like, oh, Dan, you're back. Oh, hey. Yeah, 100%. Well, look at you with two really good analogies, the restaurants and the dating. And then the. The airport. Airport analogy was a good one about being forced to buy something regardless of the price.
- [40:45]
B
So I was talking Cubs cocking Cubs.
- [40:47]
A
Yeah, that was good stuff. But. Yeah, so I just loved it. It made me very happy. I was very satisfied as a Bears fan that those didn't work and he tried putting them in.
- [40:57]
B
I just. I wonder if the atmosphere Saturday night can come close to the previous Packers Saturday night. If they can get that energy, buddy.
- [41:09]
A
It'S going to be higher.
- [41:11]
B
You think?
- [41:11]
A
Oh, 100%.
- [41:14]
B
Okay.
- [41:14]
A
The Bears, first playoff game since 2018. They haven't won a playoff game since 2010, and you're playing the Packers. That dude who sells those cheese graters. I hope he's got a whole warehouse full of them, because I guarantee he's getting a rush on orders right now.
- [41:30]
B
Yeah, if somebody's sitting in front of you wearing one of those, that would be pissed off.
- [41:35]
A
Yeah, yeah, I know it would, but.
- [41:36]
B
Take that off.
- [41:37]
A
But I. But I'm. Oh, I think that the Bears fans are not going to match that, but they're going to exceed that energy that they brought to that last packers game.
- [41:45]
B
Okay.
- [41:46]
A
100%.
- [41:48]
B
So I want to talk just a little bit about the football day yesterday about sort of taking in the games as we did and I don't know what Chicago did to anybody to get those two games when there were some other more meaningful activities taking place in the NFL. And we get that packers and Vikings. What are we doing? What are we watching?
- [42:12]
A
What do you think of. So packers are leading or vikings are leading 16 nothing. Packers have the ball and Matt LaFleur waits till 1 second left to call a timeout and they kick a field goal to not get shut out. But I also think that the, the packers were. Or the, the line on it was 13 and a half.
- [42:35]
B
So.
- [42:35]
A
Okay. Well, it just, it seems odd that you run your. Like really. Are you, are you that desperate to not be shut out because it hasn't happened in however many games. You don't want to be shut out against the Vikings. So you kick a field goal with one second left. A meaningless field goal. I don't know. It just, it stands out. But what, what a ugly game you got. What's his name? Clayton Toon or. Yeah, Tyler Clayton.
- [43:00]
B
Clayton Toon. And then Tanner McKee was quarterback.
- [43:04]
A
We didn't get Eagles, but then. And then J.J. mcCarthy leaves the game injured again and. And your guy Max Brosmer comes in for the Vikings.
- [43:13]
B
That's not my guy.
- [43:14]
A
Oh no. Well, we've assigned him to you. We did assignments a couple weeks. I didn't know that. I didn't know. Oh yeah. You weren't in the team. Sorry. You weren't in the.
- [43:20]
B
Okay.
- [43:20]
A
Yeah. Sorry.
- [43:21]
B
And. And now we'll wait and see which of these teams is going to start poking around at. At who's available when it comes to, you know, some coordinator possibilities. While there are teams would be short of firing their head coach and or general manager, we have the six openings. As it stands, a lot of these fired head coaches are going to make perfectly viable, successful coordinators back on whichever side of the ball from whence they came.
- [43:50]
A
Do you. Do you still. I think. I think we were in alignment and agreement on Bears coaching staff not being, not being pilfered at all. Do we still hold to that? Because I don't know Al Harris, anyone leaves maybe Al Harris might be the top of my list.
- [44:08]
B
I do think there will be interviews. I think absolutely. And there should be. And I don't think we should get worried or territory editorial that I certainly think that whether it's Eric B. Enemy or Antoine Randall, L. Go ahead, take those interviews. Get involved in the process. Put your name out there a little bit. But when you're talking about Kevin Stefanski, if he doesn't get a head coaching job and you're talking about Jonathan Gannon, who has a defensive reputation that there's there Pete Carroll probably done, I think.
- [44:44]
A
I would think so. I don't think anyone rolls their dice with Pete Carroll again, certainly as a head coach.
- [44:49]
B
No, he's. I think the best thing for him would be one of these consultant roles, one of these special assistant to the something taken emeritus position of some kind.
- [45:01]
A
And I can't recall is he a talker? Would he be a good. Okay, so he would be a good TV guy, too, maybe.
- [45:07]
B
I heard the debate about the loser of last night's NF or AFC north championship game heading immediately into a booth, be it Harbaugh or Tomlin, I think was our guy Florio that was was starting that rumor.
- [45:23]
A
But that's if Matt Ryan's. Matt Ryan's on cbs, isn't he?
- [45:26]
B
And so if he's right, Matt Ryan.
- [45:28]
A
Is role or whatever.
- [45:30]
B
Role.
- [45:30]
A
Yeah.
- [45:30]
B
If he's going to be like the Tom Brady guy of the Falcons and be. And, and by the way, it has now been announced that Brady and John Spytak are going to be the people involved in this Raiders search.
- [45:46]
A
Oh, they are.
- [45:46]
B
Yeah. So it was. It was very clear. There's boy, a lot of these letters coming out from owners today that have been that were written long in advance, I guess. Mike Brown sent a letter to Bengals fans talking about why they're sticking with their their entire brain trust after this year that we had the Colts ownership talking about why they're sticking with Steichen and Ballard and then you got somebody like Arthur Blank. We've let you down. It's going to be better. Here's all that we're doing and we brought in this consulting group to make it all better. So it's just so nice of the. It's not the Bears.
- [46:22]
A
It's not the Bears. It does feel good looking at the the NFL playoff picture, though. I just want to look at the brackets here real quick.
- [46:28]
B
Yeah, let's do that.
- [46:29]
A
In the AFC, Denver ends up with the buy as the 1 seed. You have the Patriots at 2 hosting the Chargers. The Jaguars, who just had an unbelievable season, I mean just a really quiet, unbelievable season, finished with the three seed and will host the Buffalo Bills as three six. And then The Steelers get to host, with their win last night, the Houston Texas in the 4, 5 game. Then of course, in the NFC, Seattle gets the buy Bears and Packers are 2, 7. Eagles host the Niners at 3, 6, and then Panthers and Rams. The 4 or 5 game with the Rams traveling to the Panthers for that four or five matchup. Well, so, you know, I mean, it's, it's. So if you look at it, Dan, I know we're not into predictions, but just to do something fun, I was just, I wanted to look at it. So Seattle gets the buy Bears, Bears over Packers, Eagles hosting the Niners. Who do you, who do you think in that game?
- [47:26]
B
Do I know? Is everybody healthy?
- [47:28]
A
Let's just say it was healthy. Let's just try to play a scenario out where see who Seattle plays in the divisional round.
- [47:37]
B
I actually like the Niners in that game.
- [47:41]
A
I do, too. And then what about Rams, Panthers?
- [47:43]
B
Rams.
- [47:44]
A
I like the Rams too. So I have Seattle Bears, Niners and Rams. So that's your 1, 2, 5, and 6 seeds. That means the Rams would go to Soldier Field and the Niners as a six seed would go to Seattle.
- [47:57]
B
Okay.
- [47:58]
A
And if the Niners were somehow to beat Seattle in Seattle and the Bears beat the Rams, you would have the Niners going to Soldier Field for the NFC Championship game.
- [48:07]
B
Okay. I don't know who, who you put on Puka Nakua, except.
- [48:12]
A
Oh, you just leave them open every, they're gonna try that.
- [48:14]
B
I don't know.
- [48:15]
A
I, I, maybe if he's open, they don't throw to him. Boggled.
- [48:18]
B
If you told me that Jalen Johnson was anything looking like himself, I would feel a whole lot better. But right now I'm not even, I'm not sure who their number one corner is at the moment. Might be Tyreek Stevenson, because they were attacking Nishan Wright yesterday, too.
- [48:32]
A
Yes, he had a, he had a tough game. Everyone in the, in the defensive backfield had a really tough game. It was just, it was not good overall. One, one last thing I want to point out to you. I saw something, and it was like a meatball Bears fan post, and it was about Drake May and Caleb Williams, and it was comparing stats about their performances and their statistical numbers against teams with winning records this year.
- [48:57]
B
Okay.
- [48:57]
A
And it looked very favorable for Caleb Williams because he had a lot more yards than Drake May against winning teams. So my brain said that's interesting stat. How many games did each guy play against winning teams? Because that would really dictate the possibility of getting more yards. So real quick yeah. Drake May. Now this is interesting with the. Because what did I say? They're two seed. Right. The pass with a two seed. Yep. Drake May and the Patriots played four games this year against teams with a winning record. Just four. The Steelers, the Panthers and the Bills twice. Wow. Yeah. Wow is right.
- [49:34]
B
Wow. Okay.
- [49:35]
A
Whereas Caleb Williams and the Bears ended up of their 17 game schedule playing nine games against teams with winning records. You had the Vikings twice, the Lions twice, the packers twice, the Ravens, the Steelers, the Eagles and the 49ers. Now in those games, the Bears went 3 and 6. No bueno. The PAT. The Patriots went 2 and 2 in those four games. But you have to look out by averages and the average. The whole idea that Caleb Williams had over 1,000 yards passing against these teams at winning records and Drake May only had.
- [50:11]
B
Yeah, these are counting stats, right?
- [50:13]
A
It's counting stats and had like 600. It was trying to prove some point that Caleb is better than Drake.
- [50:16]
B
You got to use rate stats if you have to. Yeah. Okay.
- [50:19]
A
So here's how it breaks out. Drake May, while not very good, finished with 174 yards per game in those four games. And Caleb Williams finished with 129 yards.
- [50:30]
B
Yeah. Okay.
- [50:31]
A
So I mean let's just pump the brakes on it. Drake Mays had quite the season and he's not my pick for mvp. I would give it to Matthew Stafford and. And what that dude accomplished. I know that they were finished only as the 6 seed in the NFC, but that was one hell of a division with the Niners and Seattle. But what he did, almost 50 touchdowns passing and the coach of the year too. Who is. If you. If you had a vote for it, who would you. Who would you give it to?
- [50:58]
B
I think it's overwhelmingly variable.
- [51:01]
A
See, I don't like that it's variable as a. When you have so many successful first year head coaches. I mean I think one of those guys.
- [51:07]
B
Liam Cohen. Liam Cohen has done great work for a team that nobody really cares about and nobody even really thinks about.
- [51:17]
A
No. And he would be my pick if I had a vote is Liam Cohen. Because I wouldn't give it to variable being a previous head coach, of course, Ben Johnson. I'd love Ben Johnson to get it. But I think, I think Liam Cohen deserves that. The fact that not only they're not even an afterthought. The Jacksonville Jaguars.
- [51:33]
B
Yeah. But I think, I don't think being a. Being a former head coach should ever take you out of the running. I think if anything, unlearning things and Reinventing yourself deserves as much credit as being a rookie head coach thrown into it. I think sometimes it might be harder to be that and we may learn if Matt Nagy ends up with a Tennessee job or a different one. I just, I think that's sort of an arbitrary criterion to remove when it comes to who's done the best job.
- [52:02]
A
Yeah, I totally get what you're saying, but I just looking at it and evaluating it and doing it for the very first time and trying to understand everything that goes into it. More than just game day stuff. I think there's a lot of extra burden on a. Not Luther but on all first year.
- [52:16]
B
Coaches and the Nick Sirianni rule. If you're, if you can overcome a terrible first press conference which Liam, Liam Cohen did.
- [52:25]
A
He sure did. Wow. That was a, that was an all timer.
- [52:28]
B
Hey man, Sirianni won a Super bowl so it kind of, if you can, if you can lose that day and win the super bowl, it has been proven that one can do that. We're going to have a hell of of a week here on 312 Sports getting you ready for the biggest game the Chicago Bears have had in a long, long time and following everything else and we're going to dive into all things NFL playoffs and Bears related on this very show. Forward progress on 312Sports.
- [52:58]
C
Forward progress has stopped.
- [53:07]
A
Forward progress a Chicago Bears podcast with Dan Bernstein and Matt Abeticola on 312 Sports.