← Forward Progress - A Chicago Bears Podcast
Forward Progress - A Chicago Bears Podcast
Chicago Bears BACKUP plan at QB | Coaching Hires | NFL Reply Review
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A
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B
I mean if you're a Bears fan.
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C
You'Re thinking Forward progress. Come on. 10. 219. 219.
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B
Forward progress a Chicago Bears podcast with Dan Bernstein and Matt Abeticola on 312 Sports.
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C
You want forward progress? You have it. We award it to you right here on 312 Sports. And we talk NFL and Chicago Bears this time of the year, at least for the most part, we have been used to it being not necessarily Bears centric because it is now super bowl week and it's a big day today. A little bit later on, Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, is going to be taking questions. And in the past, people have have lost jobs because of questions that were asked of Roger Goodell. And one of those guys who we know about and comes into play when we're talking about what some of the topics of discussion are today is Jim Trotter, who used to work for NFL Media. And we know that on this day in the previous year, he spent some time peppering Roger Goodell with questions regarding the way the NFL Network had gone about hiring in their newsroom. So this was a tangential piece of NFL business. We're not talking about the sidelines and the headsets and the helmets. But even then it was interesting that they didn't renew Jim Trotter's contract. Trotter, of course, has since filed suit and nice job by Mike Florio here quoting Trotter as saying the NFL has claimed it wants to be held accountable regarding diversity, equity and inclusion. I tried to do so and it cost me my job. I guess that case has been settled, but now it's it's front and center again, Matty, after a weekend in which we now know the Raiders appear to be ready to hire Clint Kubiak. And that makes it official. That is 10 head coaching jobs filled in this cycle and none by a black person.
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B
Yeah, with the addition of Mike lafleur, who is now the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, I didn't think he was even on a significant radar to become a head coach in the NFL.
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C
I didn't either. I didn't.
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B
I mean, he wasn't. I mean, he wasn't an everyday name associated with. Keep your eye on this guy. As you know, I get he's part of the. The LA Rams, but you think of the Rams and the offense and it's. That's all Sean McVay. Sean McVeigh, and has been Sean McVay for years. But to have this guy come up and become a head coach because of the ability of his brother to make the seven seed and get in the playoffs and get bounced, I mean, I don't. I don't get it. That was. That was really a surprise to me. And then Clint Kubiak becomes the Raiders head coach. Yeah. So the 10 openings filled by 10 white guys and I think the most significant moves by any black coaches. I think Eric B. Enemy goes back to Kansas City as their offensive coordinator. Raheem. Raheem Morris got a job also, didn't he?
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C
He did.
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B
Where? I can't. I. I can't remember. Off top of my head. I don't know if you have it there in front of you.
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C
Raheem Morris is the defensive coordinator of the Niners.
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B
Niners, that's right. Yeah. So, again, another significant job, but I.
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C
Think he replaces Robert Sala and we should mention that. That Saleh is. Does technically constitute a minority hire, even though it's. He's not black. He is the new head coach of the Tennessee Titans.
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B
Titans. And did you see all this stuff over the weekend of all the, you know, poking fun at all the, the coaching staff he hired. Every guy to. A man is bald. It's an entirely bald coaching staff that he's hired. It's really funny.
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C
Well, they could all get hairpieces. Like the boxer who got his wig knocked off. Did you see that over the weekend?
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B
I did not.
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C
You didn't?
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B
No.
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C
You didn't see it? Yeah. A boxer took a. Took up and his wig flew off into the, into the crowd. And then he joked about it. He said, well, I was. I tried some product on my hair and it burned my hair off. So this was a temporary solution and nobody really believes him because this looked like a very professionally done thing. I just. I don't think it makes sense to get in the ring with a bath mat on your head.
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B
That's one way to go about it. But I think. I think Erlocker tried that first. The bath mat didn't work, and then he went and did his thing. Yeah. Yeah. So Robert Sala. Yes. A minority. Higher but, yeah, so I think B Enemy and then Raheem Morris, the most significant hires of, of any black coaches in the league this time around. But, yeah, I'm curious to see how Goodell answ it today. Among other things, at his, I think, two or three o' clock press conference that he, that he holds for super bowl week.
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C
And especially because of what we know is the NFL has said on the record and how important it is to them. It isn't necessarily say, well, why do you care? Why do you care? It's because they have said that it mattered to them. They cared. A lot of this came out because of the Brian Flores lawsuit. But it was Troy Vincent who had a quote that was added to that civil complaint. Again, it was Mike Florrier doing a pretty good job cataloging a lot of these quotes here. And Vincent said that there's a double standard. You talk about the appetite for what's acceptable, and then he lists, you know, Dungy and Wilkes and Caldwell and what it takes for a black coach to be let go, which is a different standard than it is for someone who's not. And he said, we want to hold everyone. He said, why does one get, say, the benefit of the doubt to be able to build or take bumps and bruises in the process of getting franchise turnaround? Others are not afforded that latitude. We've seen that in history at the professional level. So this is, again, some choppy waters for the NFL to navigate because they have said it's important to them. And if I remember correctly, it was the NFL itself that put together what they called the accelerator program to try to make it easier for some of these owners and general managers to expand their. Their groups of familiarity, to expand, for lack of a better term, their comfort zone when it comes to hiring people who don't look like them. So the NFL has invested a lot of time and money in this. So it'll be interesting if now they pretend it doesn't matter to them because of the way the winds have been blowing nationally.
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B
Yeah. And I think that's a really important point to reiterate that you brought up that the NFL said this was important to them. And it's not just about the media or reporters or, you know, beat people talking about, you know, oh, why is this happening? It's a story because, again, the NFL made it a priority to them. And now to have a cycle where 10 coaches who, you know, and, you know, I've already looked at those, those 10 names over the weekend, and it was like, all right, which you Know, six, seven of those guys are gonna be fired within the next two or three years, you know, when the cycle starts all over again. And then also on the Bears front, too, with the Declan Doyle hiring by Baltimore becoming official offense coordinator opening. Obviously we know what Ben Johnson does for the Bears and the offense and what role the OC plays. But interesting names have popped up over the weekend. One that I saw was Joel Lombardi, who was recently fired by Denver for no good reason other than Sean Payton. Wanted to blame someone for the loss. There were some other names that were out there, too, but I think Lombardi was the biggest one that stood out as far as recently having a job, too, in the same will. And we also don't know what Will Long is. It is Will Long, right? Yep. The hire from. From bc, what role he'll play specifically on Ben Johnson's staff, either.
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C
Yeah, I was thinking that that would be a natural to slide him right into the coordinator spot. But I give the Bears credit and Johnson credit, that even though it is a nominal position, that you're not really coordinating the offense as long as that head coach is there, that they did allow the coordinator to be there on coordinator day, that would. He would talk. And I, I was impressed with what I heard from Declan Doyle that his. His fearlessness in answering some of these questions the way he did.
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B
So, yeah, and, you know, we. We'd made the point of that when we did play his comments a few different times throughout the course of the season and just both thought that maybe it was a year or two away before he would move up into a job of this level. But the Baltimore Ravens obviously saw enough and heard enough. I would say through Ben Johnson and the rest of the staff that Declan Doyle is a guy ready to take that. That leap into calling plays and becoming a offensive coordinator for a team that has some potential to know, get some wins next year with Lamar, Derrick Henry and that staff as well. Too. So, yeah, good for him and yeah, always impressed by what he had to say. So we'll see how that. That plays out for him. But really, again, really curious this afternoon on several fronts of how Roger Goodell handles this media session today. We talked on DBU today about Steve Tish and his name and the involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. What's asked and what is, you know, how. How Goodell responds to that. And really what it boils down to is the other owners in this private club, what they really want Roger Goodell to do. They may not do anything, you know, but we, you know, we both Agreed that at bare minimum and investigation should be opened immediately into what his involvement was with Jeffrey Epstein. And you want to talk about protecting the shield, protecting the brand, this certainly isn't the guy you want as part of your private club.
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C
No. And if in fact there is going to be an investigation open of any kind, there should be a concurrent suspension just like you would a player and you put the player on the commissioner's exempt list. That you absolutely should treat everything in your policy, in your actual stated policy does not differentiate between owners and players, owners and employees, owners and coaches for anything regarding the personal conduct policy. So they have an obligation to treat it similarly whether or not they find some way to fudge that and some way to ignore it or say, oh, well, we haven't read it or we don't know what's real and what's not real. Nothing would surprise me at this point. But I, the only thing that would surprise me is if the NFL did just that. As if they said, we are, we are suspending him for the time being. He's going to be on the commissioner's exempt list while we investigate. And if he's found to have been in violation of this, there is a, a possibility that he could be forced to sell his investment in the team. That would surprise me.
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B
Yeah. No, I agree with that. And then just looking at these, these 10 head coaching opportunities that were available, is it, is it normal, I thought it's weird that not one, I mean to have all 10 field before the super bowl without any of the super bowl staff being interviewed or have an opportunity to get one of those jobs.
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C
No, for that. Maybe they'll hold out some possibilities. Some of the lower staff getting. We don't know what agents have already agreed to. Just because we haven't heard names doesn't mean some of those aren't filled.
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B
Yeah, I just mean like that, like the head coaching jobs. I mean all 10 head coaching jobs are filled and no one from the super bowl, you know, the super bowl teams will be.
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C
Yeah, Kubiak, I mean that's. Yeah, you know, you're going to have to have that opportunity. But it's those poor Cardinals. They did it again. Isn't this. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Jonathan Gannon also one of the last hires and then couldn't put a representative staff together? This is the problem with the timing of the hire is when you're last that you've got a bunch of people who nobody else wanted for other jobs to fill all of your Jobs. Yeah.
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B
Yeah, I think. I think you're right. I'd have to go back and double check the timeline of. Of him. Of his hiring. But that sounds right off the top of my head that he was. He was a late guy and kind of was kind of behind the eight ball as far as putting people together. And it certainly did show.
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C
Yeah. I just remembered how long it took for the Bears to put their staff together when they were forced to hire Dick Jaron because of the Dave McGinnis fiasco, and they end up doubling back on Geron. And that's how he's like, I guess this Gary Croton out of Louisiana Tech might work. And they. They had to just go kind of picking around for possibilities. So it was. It was not exactly how they wanted it. God, look at these names. Look at. I mean, it's unbelievable. Keith Armstrong, Vance Bedford, Greg Blosh, Jim Bowman, Mike Borich. Gary Croton. Wasn't.
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B
Didn't blush. Didn't he put, like.
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C
Wasn't he maybe.
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B
Am I making this up? Something about guns or bullets.
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C
Didn't he put. Yeah, that was my. That was my story.
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B
Yeah, that was. He put bullets in lockers or something.
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C
Or he. Greg Blosh gave. And this was right after the whole Ray Carruth thing had happened.
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B
Yeah.
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C
And he was giving out live ammunition for big hits. It was called a bullet hit. And if anybody on his defense made a big hit, he would give the player a bullet. And I remember asking questions about that because I saw a bullet in a locker. Like, what is that a live round? Like, yeah, this coach gives these out. Oh, boy. And I just. It's one of these things where it's just asking the simplest questions. Why does he give them out? How often? Who else has them? How many bullets are in. How many live rounds of ammunition are in this locker room right now, and why? And I just kept asking, kept asking, kept asking. And then people started to get mad at me.
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B
So I did something similar two years ago on my. My youth football team for. For a big hits where you killed a guy. I would give out a loaded six shooter. Like an old, like, western cowboy six shooter. It was fully loaded. I would hand it to the kids after the game, sometimes toss them. Yeah. I'd be like, here you go. Here's a good hit. You killed that guy. Here's a six shooter. Yep.
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C
Yeah, that's smart. That's good. That's a. That's how you treat them.
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B
Like men.
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C
I like that.
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B
Oh, we were going to battle, man. We were in war. Yeah.
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C
You made him grow up fast.
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B
Hey, I saw this article on CBS. They had the. The top 25 storylines of the 2025 football season. Now, I don't want to go. You know how much I love my list. I don't want to go through all 25, though. That's a lot. So I'm gonna. I just want to read for you the top 10. These are the top 10 storylines of the 2025 season.
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C
All right. You're not going to make me guess.
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B
No, I'm not going to make you guess.
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C
Good.
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B
Thank you. Number 10 is the Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers. Week 18. Steelers win the AFC north in thriller and John Harbaugh fired. They have that as number 10.
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C
Okay.
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B
Pretty significant story. And now John Harbaugh has, you know, he's part of the New York Giants football family, so good luck there.
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C
You know what I was thinking about this. Do you think the Giants maybe saw the Epstein stuff coming and figured, look, we need to hire a coach who can be a figurehead frontman, stability, creator, as stuff is going on above him?
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B
You know, it's a really good thought that you have, and probably from a. It does make sense.
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C
But gravitas hired say, look, we've got this 18.
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B
You have a guy in charge of the organization for sure, and John Harbaugh fits that bill.
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C
Bill.
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B
But I think it also shows some forethought on Steve Tish's and the Giants thought process, giving their credit. Yeah. Their ego wouldn't get in the way and be like, oh, nothing's going to happen to me.
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C
Okay.
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B
I mean, because nothing has happened to anyone really, from the Epstein stuff. So. Yeah.
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C
But except in other countries. Except in other countries, when government officials are even hinted at, they immediately are actually embarrassed and ashamed and resigned.
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B
Yeah. I saw some prime minister somewhere, was at a party, maybe like walked past Epstein or had a drink with him at the bar at the same time and his name showed up. Oh, he was at the bar. And then that's it. And then the guy was like, I'm done. I shouldn't be involved.
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C
Yes. He actually was ashamed.
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B
Yeah.
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C
Amazing.
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B
All right, Number nine is Philip Rivers returns to the NFL after Daniel Jones tears Achilles. Okay, put a. Put a pin in that one because I want to come back and have a conversation about that.
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C
Okay.
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B
Number eight, Patrick Mahomes. Micah Parsons tears ACLS on the same day. Chiefs missed the playoffs.
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C
To stars every year.
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B
But yeah, I didn't think. I realized it was the same. Same day, though.
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C
I didn't either.
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B
Yeah, like it Was planned by the football gods. Number seven, Buffalo Bills at Broncos AFC divisional round. Controversial interception, devastating injury and surprise firing. Pretty big story. Sean Payton comes out, ends the game, has his postgame press conference, has another one that says, oh, the guy broke his foot, he's gonna have surgery. He's done. And then that controversy takes off on its own. The coach and the quarterback are mad at each other. The aging quarterback. And then they. You know what? We're gonna fire Joe Lombardi just because. Number six, Shador Sanders slides eventually. Starts with the Browns in roller coaster rookie year. So slides in the draft. That wasn't a surprise to me at all. That's not a surprise that he slid in the draft.
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C
No, I didn't think it was. It was still that huge a story. I thought once it kind of. And everything got started, it was kind of over it. And.
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B
Yeah. Not to be 6 in the top 10. Number 5. This is a big one. I was on this one early. Miles Garrett sets the single season sack record. Big story. Number four, Ben Johnson. Caleb Williams lead Bears in thrilling campaign.
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C
Cool. So made the top five Bears actually good Bears quarterback not awful.
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B
Yep, surprising story. The NFL Bears don't suck. Look at this.
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C
My goodness.
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B
Number three, Mike Vrabel. Drake may lead Patriots in historic turnaround.
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C
Okay, fair enough. They're a bigger name than the Bears because of the Patriots.
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B
Number two, Sam Darnold stars in Seattle as J.J. mcCarthy struggles in Minnesota. So much so the GM got fired. And how about that story?
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C
How about the fact that he. Apparently there were whispers that it was held against him, that he took paternity leave.
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B
Yeah, that's what I was saying. That's.
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C
Even though there was nothing officially that was said and they were very publicly supportive, but supposedly that there was grumbling about why is this guy taking two weeks for the birth of his child? We don't do that in football. We're. We're football people.
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B
We.
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C
We don't have feelings or care about our families. Don't you know that?
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B
Yeah, like. And he was. He was still working during that, that two week period too, taking zoom calls. But yeah, that. That's. That's pretty shady, man. I mean, they support it publicly, but if that really is part of the reason or something they held against him.
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C
Oh, it's. It's. It's actionable. It's actionable. But you can't prove that there's.
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B
Yeah. And then when you have trail. Who was it was it. Wasn't it Mike McDonald MacDonald who said he sees his kid like 30 minutes a week.
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C
Maybe he doesn't like his kid.
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B
Okay. All right.
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C
I don't know. Did he really say that?
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B
Yeah. Like, one angle is maybe you work too much, but you. You want to take the immediate angle. He doesn't like his kid.
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C
Okay.
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B
That's funny.
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C
Is he. Is he like bragging of how. How hard he works?
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B
I guess. Dude, I saw that.
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C
You don't think I'm a good coach. I never see my kids.
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B
Right. That's. That's ridiculous, dude. That's really. Yeah. When that becomes a point of a badge of honor. Yeah. My kid didn't know me for the first 12 years of his life and now he hates me. How good of a coach I was. Yeah. All right, dude. All right. I am going to make you guess, though. The number one storyline. This is CBS Sports. What do you think they had as the number one story of 2025?
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C
Too close to it. It's not Matthew Stafford.
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B
If you can guess it, you're. You already owe me one steak dinner for something where we'll call it even on the steak dinner. If you can guess this.
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C
It's that difficult?
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B
I don't know. We'll see how smart you are.
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C
Who is it? 10 coaches fired? Nope, it's not. 10 coaches fired. The number one story, is it bigger than. I'll just ask. Is it. Is it. Oh, bad bunny?
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B
No. Good guess, though. The number one story is the Dallas Cowboys trade Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers.
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C
Okay. Yeah.
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B
Kind of underwhelming for number one. Yeah. Yeah, I agree.
- [22:20]
C
Yeah.
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B
It is 100% very underwhelming.
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C
I don't know. I kind of thought the bad bunny thing would.
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B
That's definitely, I think, a bigger story. I also think some of the lower.
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C
Hugely. It's a massive international story.
- [22:32]
B
Yeah. I thought like the. What Sam Darnold has done is bigger than Parsons being traded. I mean, the dude won 14 games in consecutive years for two different teams and is going to the Super Bowl. I think that's bigger. I think, I think what Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams has done in the season with seven, like late two minute victories, I think that's bigger than a guy being traded. Yeah. You could argue the best defensive player in the game, but that stuff happens. That's not, that's not completely out of the, out of the, the, the ordinary.
- [23:05]
C
I love that the fact that the Bears were actually good is so. Is so newsworthy that it is the league's number four story. Whoa, look at this.
- [23:18]
B
Yeah. According to cbs. Yes. Yeah, that's funny. And speaking of Bad Bunny too, you saw him last night in the Grammys.
- [23:24]
C
I did, yeah. I did. I thought it was awkward. I thought the way they handled that was extremely awkward with those little like, sit down talk show breaks trying to do an overextended comedy bit.
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B
Yeah, it's funny I said that. I know we didn't, we didn't get into it on, on dbu, but we were watching and I just, I turned the Natalie at one point and like Trevor, Noah is, He's fine. I'm not, I'm not like a huge fan. I wouldn't go out of my way to see him. But I don't need comedy at the Grammys. Like, I just, I need you to facilitate the show and just keep it moving because it should be about the music whether you like it or not. And I caught myself a few times being the old man yelling at the kids to get off my grass. Didn't quite understand some things, but like, I don't need a stand up monologue and don't. You don't need to point out some of the artists in the, in the, you know, sitting down in the, in the audience.
- [24:16]
C
I need a scorecard, I need a lineup, I need a roster. I need numbers. I don't know who anybody is.
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B
Well, when it comes to this. Yeah, some, A lot of this, like the new artist thing, I think I've heard of one that Olivia Dean. Natalie loves her. So I was familiar with, with her music. And then I've heard the one. Dude, something. Warren. Alex Warren, maybe. Yeah. So I know that one song, but the, the rest, I mean, the rest of the, like new artist stuff, I don't.
- [24:42]
C
And I knew Lola Young because I, I knew that song.
- [24:45]
B
I. Yeah.
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C
Never heard of her before because she's big. XRT1. Like, I know a lot of that stuff, but what I need is like in the, some, some of the network hockey games when they have the little identifier of the person with the puck that I like when people kept coming out and singing, like, what was the name of the, the new artist? The, the. The black guy who was also playing the guitar and singing.
- [25:07]
B
It was like an R B. Leon Thomas.
- [25:10]
C
Leon.
- [25:12]
B
I think it's Leon Thomas.
- [25:13]
C
Leon Bridges. Is that what it was? Leon Thomas?
- [25:16]
B
I think so. I think that's. Yeah, he's good too.
- [25:18]
C
Yeah, I, he is good. I liked him.
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B
Yeah, he's good.
- [25:21]
C
And so then I wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing him in anything else. And I think then I recognized him when he Came out later to do part of the montage, but it just would have been helpful to remind me. This is so and so. This is so and so. This is the person you're never going to hear of because they're on, you know, a radio station that isn't playing the stuff you're listening to, but it might be an interesting artist. You know, I just.
- [25:42]
B
It would.
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C
It would help to be reminded. Otherwise, my wife gets mad. Who is that? Who is that? Who's that guy? I'm only half watching. I'm playing word games. I was like, okay, someone's got to help me out here.
- [25:55]
B
Yeah, that's. That's me. I kind of half watch because a lot of. A lot of that's not music I listen to. But, you know, I do enjoy seeing people perform. I thought the Justin Bieber performance was like, comes out in boxers and a pair of black socks and that's it. I don't know, dude. I don't know. Like, just. Yeah, and I like his music. I've always liked his music. I think he's really talented, dude. But, like, what are you doing, man? Literally, a pair of boxes, black socks.
- [26:21]
C
I was half watching, and then Jason texted, what's with naked Bieber? And I was like, what? So I looked up, and indeed it was. He's just wearing boxer shorts. And then he came out to turn his pedal bank off.
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B
Yeah, the beat was still going. And he walked out and walked back on and turned, and then there was like a full length mirror on the stage with him. It was just weird. It was. It was weird.
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C
Weird thing, but.
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B
And I didn't realize, like, Kendrick Lamar. I'm not a huge Kendrick Lamar fan. I don't know much of his music, but he's kind of like a nerdy guy. I didn't realize he was like a. Like a nerdy kind of artistic poet kind of guy. Yeah, I didn't know that about him. Yeah.
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C
And I wasn't quite sure what was going on entirely in the Tyler the Creator epic with the car, and the car runs somebody over and he gets out of the car. But it. It was interesting to look at.
- [27:16]
B
Yeah, I get. Maybe that's the. The point of it. I do. I. I will tell you this, though. If you ever need a live performance, number one on my list for me is Bruno Mars.
- [27:28]
C
Oh, I said that when. When I was on. When I was on with Sherman and Tingle this morning. It's exactly what I said. I said if you told me that the Grammys are on and everyone's song is going to be performed by Bruno Mars.
- [27:41]
B
I mean, I'm good with it 100%. Yes.
- [27:44]
C
Just.
- [27:44]
B
Absolutely.
- [27:45]
C
Just have him perform everything.
- [27:48]
B
I would. I would make him the permanent super bowl halftime show. I think he is exceptional to watch and super entertaining. And I love. I love everything about the guy.
- [28:04]
C
I 100% agree that there is. He's. He can play guitar, drums. I don't know what other instruments he can play, but it's. It's the closest thing that we have right now going to somebody on the level of. Of. Of Prince or somebody like that.
- [28:23]
B
All right, I told you to put a pin in. I think it was number eight. It was Philip Rivers goes back to the NFL. And it got me thinking about backup quarterbacks in the NFL. And here's a team, the Colts, that got off to an unbelievable start. I think that what they started off, 7 and 1. Jonathan Taylor was like the best running back in the first half of the season. And they get an injury to Daniel Jones where they struck gold with Daniel Jones. And you thought, this guy's never going to do this. And off to an unbelievable start. He gets hurt. And what does an NFL team do? An NFL team with all the resources and scouting ability to bring in backups and fill your roster, they pull a guy off his couch who's a high school quarterback and bring him in to start NFL games as a quarterback. And it just. It got me thinking about, first of all, reason for no reason. It got me thinking, first of all about the nature of backup quarterbacks in the NFL, what the NFL thinks of their backup quarterbacks. And number two, it got me feeling really good about the Bears because I know if the Bears were in a situation where Caleb Williams got hurt, they're not pulling a guy off the couch who hadn't played in three years. They're not. They're not trying to resurrect somebody and say, hey, hopefully this guy can, you know, do a few things and manage the game for us.
- [29:44]
C
They.
- [29:44]
B
They have. Whether it would have been Tyler Bagens or Case Keenum.
- [29:48]
C
Tyson.
- [29:48]
B
I'm Tyson. Tyson Bagen or Case Keenum. I'm confident in Ben Johnson and the coaching staff to have guys prepared to play the position.
- [29:58]
C
Yeah, this gets lost sometimes. And I'm glad you brought it up because as much as we make fun of the Tyson bent fans, like the, you know, for. Who are Tyson bent fans for reasons other than football, and they've been loud and annoying and I think probably misrepresentative of a lot of Bears fandom But the fact is I think having Tyson Bagen as a backup quarterback who you know you can trust to run the offense well and to understand the offense, he doesn't have the best arm. He's not going to win a Super bowl for you, might not want to playoff game for you, but to get you through a two game stretch, a three game stretch, the inevitable period in a season, I'm fine with that. I. And then they showed it by signing him to that deal. I agree with you that I think it kind of goes unsaid and certainly last year with all of Caleb mania, that there's a really good chance that it's going to happen this year that Tyson Ben is going to have to start a handful of games. Okay.
- [31:02]
B
At some point.
- [31:03]
C
Great. As long as everybody agrees to not be stupid about it.
- [31:07]
B
Right. And that's. I think that's the point of it. That got me feeling really good as a Bears fan that if that were to happen, the Bears wouldn't respond in a stupid way. The Bears wouldn't be so desperate as to, you know, look and see who's out there on the street and say we can bring this guy in and hopefully he can manage through a few game stretch.
- [31:24]
C
Or in this case, it would be the equivalent of getting Cutler out of retirement.
- [31:27]
B
100%.
- [31:28]
C
That's exactly what that would be.
- [31:30]
B
Great. Comp to it. Yeah.
- [31:31]
C
We need Jay Cutler to come back. No, you don't.
- [31:33]
B
And I know the Bears wouldn't do that because they have their guys prepared and ready to play. And it just made me feel good. Like add this to the list of feeling good about Ben Johnson and the coaching staff and just having Ben Johnson there in place that they wouldn't respond in a desperate, stupid way that you know, like how does an NFL organization have a starting guy that they get off the scrap heap from somewhere and then not have an NFL level ready backup?
- [32:05]
C
Well, because what's happened is the. You can't really develop somebody anymore. And what happens is they say that the starters reps and they'll blame practice time and they'll blame the collective bargaining agreement. They'll say we really only have time for this or this or this. We can't really develop a guy anymore because once the season starts, blah blah, blah, blah blah. And there are other teams who work harder at using other times to develop and finding other ways and outside ways to say, look, we trust this young talent and we can build this person into somebody who can get us through a couple games.
- [32:50]
B
Yeah.
- [32:50]
C
And that's Better at that than others.
- [32:52]
B
And you're not wrong when you say that. But that's a really lame excuse. Like, be better in your coaching staff. Be more efficient with your time because it is a valuable, valuable thing to do. Yeah, you can't invest 80% of your time in your backup quarterback, but you've got to be efficient and find ways to understand what he can do. So when he does play, yeah, maybe I get it, you're going to have a drop off from your starter to your backup. That's going to happen in every case, in every team, regardless of who the starter is. But you have to, you have to have a good understanding. And I think this is where Ben Johnson's preparation and his attention to detail comes into play, that he realizes that, yeah, if Tyson Bajan has to start, maybe I have 30%, maybe I have 40%, maybe I have 60% of what's available to my team to use with him, you know, but he knows that. And that's why I trust Ben Johnson. That's why it just made me feel good. Add this to the list of why you feel good about Ben Johnson, because the Bears wouldn't have a knee jerk reaction of we've got to call Jay Cutler and see what the hell he's doing, you know, and bring him back because we don't have anyone else right now.
- [33:57]
C
That was a panic move to that. That because they were where they were to start the season. I think they felt that they were kind of like, I don't know the poker term, like pot committed or whatever it is. Like they've, we've got to see this through to the end to get it. Had this been a middling season without that kind of play early on, they might not have panicked in quite the same way.
- [34:23]
B
You're probably correct on that. But I'm also the backup quarterback saying, all right, talk on the phone, my agent and say, hey, just get me out of here.
- [34:30]
C
What am I doing here?
- [34:31]
B
Yeah, get me out. Like, I don't, like, get them to.
- [34:32]
C
Release the whole next man up. Next man up. Not you, backup quarterback. What do you mean? You kept saying, I'm taking mental reps and I have to be ready because I'm the backup and I prepare every day as if I'm going to start. Well, that was stupid because you never really were a possibility, you weren't an option.
- [34:53]
B
So, yeah, I just, again, it just, I just, it stood out to me. And something I wanted to mention about Ben Johnson and the Bears. One other item I saw over the Weekend. I don't know if you, if you saw this about what the NFL is possibly going to do with replays. They're considering allowing replay review to issue player safety penalty flags after plays. So the NFL is discussing a potential rule change to allow throwing flags for player safety files, including face mask roughing the passer, unnecessary roughness helmet use and hip drop tackles after replay review.
- [35:32]
C
What's the downside? Why not do that? I hate when they miss face masks and they miss them too many times.
- [35:40]
B
Or when quarterbacks take a hit to the head.
- [35:42]
C
Yeah. Go back and say, look at that. Tell me that is not forcible contact to the head and neck area right there, there in the court. If the quarterback is not a ball carrier, if there aren't any of these mitigating factors, I am, I am off. The NBA does it. The NBA, once you review something, you can find things that you didn't expect to review and they can change a foul on them to a foul on your guy. They can do that. Everything's open once. Once you open it, they can act as if they're seeing the play for the first time.
- [36:15]
B
Well, and what's interesting too about that point you bring up and I wonder like the other side of the argument might be. Well, sure, in the NBA it's, it's a foul and it cost a guy a file on his stat sheet. In the NFL that's 15 yards. That could be, you know, first. 15 yards and a first down principle is the same.
- [36:32]
C
The principle is absolutely the same because that could be somebody's sixth foul and they're out of the game. It. I don't, I absolutely. If you look at the, the final two minute reports in the end game reports that the NBA does in the interest of transparency and especially because as if the NFL is going to mean what they say regarding the embrace of a properly managed product with legalized wagering. You've got to be transparent. You've got to get it right. And if this helps you get it right. And if you get it right with your fine system, which you do. How many times do we have a play that was not flagged?
- [37:08]
B
Oh, that's fine.
- [37:09]
C
It results in a fine.
- [37:10]
B
Yeah. No, you're, you're 100. Correct. I didn't think of that angle.
- [37:13]
C
Yeah. And if you can do that and say, well, you didn't get a. Austin Booker didn't get a penalty on this play, but he's got a, he's got a paid, you know, $10,000 for an illegal helmet to helmet Hit. Get that. Some kind of consistency. See it then. And, and, and don't have any disparity. If something is wrong or findable, it is flagable.
- [37:32]
B
Yeah, that's. That's a great point. I didn't even think about that. I didn't take it one step further and look at it that way. That. Yeah, because you, you have guys every week that are fined sometimes substantial amounts of money that weren't flagged in the game. Initially, my first thought was, yeah, you know, as a Bears fan, it's like, oh, yeah, all those hits to Caleb that weren't called. But then it kind of. There's also plays that are missed for the Bears and it's like horse. And we see those. I don't want those called though, too. I mean, now those are called. Oh, now, now Austin Booker get called and even though he wasn't. Yeah. So. Yeah. You know, but you're right, though, I think to have it consistent during the game and then after the game with the fines that come for flags that weren't thrown. I think the NFL has to have that. So, yeah, they're considering doing it. They'll talk about it next month and then it would go in. It would be implemented as early as next season. The 2026 season.
- [38:26]
C
Yeah. Why wait? Why wait? Go ahead and do that. Get it right. And if I don't see what the downside would be, other than an angry coach who didn't think somebody would have his hand in the cookie jar or maybe it. All it does is put the onus on coaches for some challenges that maybe now whoever is in charge of saying yes or no on the challenge now has to take that into account. So we may see some mistakes made, I do think, because usually that's going to be a young assistant coach and they're asking in the moment, right away, do I challenge? And one of those guys is going to make a mistake. And they're going to say, well, we challenged, but there was. One of our guys was guilty of something. Now can. Can they. As you have it in front of you.
- [39:15]
B
Yeah.
- [39:15]
C
Can they also find a garden variety penalty? Can they go and say we should.
- [39:21]
B
No, this is only for player safety penalty flags.
- [39:26]
C
So they can't say there was a hold.
- [39:27]
B
No, they can't say there was a hold or that guy was lined up in the neutral zone. We missed that.
- [39:32]
C
But they can say horse collar.
- [39:34]
B
Right. It is only for player, player, player safety penalty flags. It is not for the garden variety penalties.
- [39:39]
C
Okay. All right.
- [39:39]
B
Yeah. Which I think is the right Approach to it.
- [39:43]
C
Maybe. Or maybe there's eventually a way to just make sure, no matter what, you get it right. So everything is reviewed and any penalty should be. Yeah, but you can't just review everything If. If it happens that the process does reveal something. I just. I don't want an official, be they in front of a screen or on the field. I never want an official to be in the position to ignore an infraction.
- [40:10]
B
All right, so. You know what I mean?
- [40:11]
C
Like.
- [40:12]
B
Yeah, so there's. There's a challenge and the guy goes to look at the play and. All right. Yeah, you're right. You know what? I missed the face mask on this defensive player. I missed that. We should have called that, and we're going to.
- [40:22]
C
But there's also. But the way he swings his leg over, that's a tripping penalty.
- [40:26]
B
Or before the play even started, his teammate was lined up in the neutral zone, which we missed. Exactly.
- [40:31]
C
Like I.
- [40:32]
B
So offsetting penalties that, you know, you.
- [40:34]
C
Don'T stop every play to exam, but in the process of examining whatever is at issue in the moment, there should never be an order to ignore any infraction. If.
- [40:49]
B
Yeah, no, that's. Yeah. Yeah.
- [40:51]
C
Because.
- [40:52]
B
Yeah, I think what I started off saying about reviewing. Yeah, you can't. You can't review everything. That would be completely impossible just to review every single play and make sure.
- [40:59]
C
If it so happened. If it so happened, in the process of a review, you identify something that if it came up in your meetings and if it came up as. As you're grading the officials, if this is something that would have been expected to have been called, call it.
- [41:14]
B
Yeah.
- [41:15]
C
And if that means offsetting and you run into an offsetting, you do. But that. That's what always has bothered me where they say, well, yeah, he clearly ripped his head off, but you can't review it. Or he clearly. He stepped out of bounds, but now you can't do it. Now that stuff like that always seems to. To multiply unfairness rather than settle things fairly.
- [41:37]
B
Yeah. So, yeah, I like that approach to it. I wonder if they would ever take that next step and get to a point where if in the actual process of what we're doing, we see something else that is not a player safety issue, you have to call that, too, because it's there. Yeah. I wonder if they ever would get to that point.
- [41:55]
C
I don't know. I don't know. But it's. I would hope that with everything at our disposal and with so much riding on every single call, just get it right. Just get it right. Find a way to get it right.
- [42:08]
B
Yeah.
- [42:09]
C
Yep. All right.
- [42:10]
B
Yeah, that's about it.
- [42:12]
C
Okay, cool. We're good, then. All right. That's forward progress. And we do this every day and. Yes, yes, yes. Every day. Talking about the NFL and the Bears here on 312 Sports for progress is stopped.
- [42:35]
B
Forward Progress, a Chicago Bears podcast with Dan Bernstein and Matt Abaticola on 312 Sports.