Chicago Bears - Philadelphia Eagles | Can Caleb deliver in a hostile environment?

Summary

Forward Progress - A Chicago Bears Podcast

Episode: Chicago Bears - Philadelphia Eagles | Can Caleb deliver in a hostile environment?

Date: November 26, 2025
Hosts: Dan Bernstein & Matt Abbatacola

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Episode Overview

This episode gears up for the crucial Bears vs. Eagles matchup, focusing on quarterback Caleb Williams' development, the challenge of facing Vic Fangio’s complex defense, and what it means for both teams at this critical stage. Dan and Matt dive deep into schematic expectations, culture-building, player development, and the psychological toll of high-stakes "island" games, blending technical insight with the humor and candor that have built their reputation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. The Anticipation: Bears vs. Eagles – A True Test

[02:09 – 06:00]

• Excitement and Stakes: Both hosts express excitement and anxiety about the national spotlight. Bernstein emphasizes:

  "I think it's going to show a lot that there's a lot of things that we've debated that are going to be in front of us and we are going to see all of the things we're talking about tested in real time in front of the country." (Dan, 02:15)

• Vic Fangio’s Defense:
  The challenge is the deceptive, post-snap movement of Fangio's scheme. Williams faces the most complicated looks he’s seen yet.

  "What they're going to show Caleb Williams is the most movement post snap of what he's going to see this entire football season." (Matt, 03:16)

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2. Caleb Williams’ Growth and Offensive Evolution

[03:41 – 06:56; 11:14 – 12:59]

• Playing Under Center: Williams took more dropbacks under center last week than ever, building comfort as part of Ben Johnson’s evolving approach.

  "They want him to get more comfortable...turning his back to the defense...and focus in on what he sees." (Matt, 03:49)

• Faking and Play Action: Improved play fakes, body movement, and rhythm—an essential half-second advantage.

  "Give him credit and praise him for his body movement in those fakes...it's all you're talking about. Half a second or a second makes all the difference to a play." (Matt, 05:29)

• Big Stage Nerves: Matt’s honest Bears-fan anxiety over being on national display—emotional stakes beyond Xs and Os.

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3. Island Games, Bears History, and the Weight of Prime Time

[06:56 – 09:45]

• Past Prime-time Dramas: Bernstein recounts a disastrous Trubisky outing vs. the Rams (2018) and the infamous 1985 MNF loss to Miami. These stories exemplify the feeling of being "exposed" on national TV for both team and fans.
• Anecdote:

  "My grandfather was watching with us...just kind of cackling to himself and sitting on the couch going, the Bears suck. The Bears suck." (Dan, 10:02)

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4. This Game as a Litmus Test for Playoff Contenders

[11:14 – 12:59]

• Growth Opportunity: The matchup doubles as a progress report—how far is Caleb, and how does Ben Johnson recalibrate from here?

  "For Ben Johnson to be able to gauge and say, this is where he's at. This is what our next steps are." (Matt, 11:14)

• Tape for All: Other playoff teams will study this tape, searching for "best practices" against the Bears.

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5. Defensive Challenges: Injuries, Cross-Training, and Culture

[13:10 – 25:49]

• Kevin Byard on Stopping Philly: The Bears' immediate focus is containing explosive weapons (esp. Smitty) and winning with "culture versus culture."

  "You talk about Saquon Barkley...he's still a threat every time he touches the ball...AJ's still that guy. If you watch the film, Smitty's been the guy that Jalen, I think Jalen Hurts probably has the most chemistry with..." (Byard, 13:10)

• Disputing "Culture vs. Culture":

  "It's still blocking and tackling. And I've never worried about the Bears effort." (Dan, 14:32)

• Cross-Training Defensive Players: Listener insight into Dennis Allen’s strategy of prepping DBs to play across positions, ensuring depth and adaptability when injuries hit.

  "In the spring he cross trained a lot of guys on this team...taking reps at safety, at nickel, at corner." (Byard, 20:16)

• Coaches on Rotations:

  "Everybody's going to have a role to play...but we'll have a plan in place." (Dennis Allen, 23:34)

• Buy-in Concerns: Not all players handle shifting roles (CJ Gardner-Johnson called out for needing to adapt).

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6. Offensive Philosophy: Ben Johnson and "The Tush Push"

[28:46 – 30:58]

• On the "Tush Push": Johnson doesn't employ it; prefers every play/formation has explosive potential, not just "one yard and no more."

  "The reason why he's not a tush push guy was because he said he wants every play and every look to be able to go 10 plus or 20 plus to score..." (Dan, 29:32)

• Compliments Off the Look: Both teams must be ready for wrinkles off this staple formation.

  "But to have compliments that you run things off that type of formation..." (Matt, 29:26)

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7. Caleb Williams’ Self-Assessment and Development

[34:41 – 39:37]

• Feet and Footwork Flaws: Williams admits early-game accuracy issues stemmed from a too-wide base and not getting his "legs under" him.

  "My base got a little wide and then...my legs weren’t fully under me yet early in the game..." (Caleb, 34:44)

• Warmup Adjustments: Wants to improve his pregame readiness to avoid starting slow.
• Coach Praise: Declan Doyle highlights improvement in Williams' eyes, feet, and willingness to fix small errors.

  "His eyes have improved, his feet have improved. They've gotten better every week...he's very hungry for growth." (Doyle, 50:28)

• Ball Placement as 'Premium': The need for consistency and accuracy, especially on structured pocket throws, doesn't demand perfection but capitalizes on key opportunities.

  "It's all about ball location at the end of the day." (Doyle, 52:02) "Try to eliminate the variation there...but the biggest thing is that the ball location is premium." (Doyle, 52:41)

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8. Coaching, Player Development, and NFL Realities

[45:14 – 53:33]

• Making Players Better: Dennis Allen praised for focusing on actual football improvement, not vague "life lessons."

  "We're going to make you a better football player." (Dan summarizing Allen, 45:14)

• NFL Practice Squad to Pro Bowler Pipeline: They discuss how many Patriots starters under Vrabel were cut elsewhere, showing talent development and roster churning are league-wide constants.

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9. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Facing Vic Fangio's Defense

“What they’re going to show Caleb Williams is the most movement post snap of what he’s going to see this entire football season.”
— Matt Abbatacola, 03:16

On Play Action's Importance

"But being able to do that out of play action with your back to the defense is critical."
— Matt, 04:24

On Nationally Televised 'Island Games'

"I don't want the Bears to be exposed... Let us watch and let the team..."
— Matt, 06:56

On Ball Placement

"It's all about ball location at the end of the day. ... Try to eliminate the variation there... the ball location is premium."
— Declan Doyle, 52:02 & 52:41

On Football “Culture”

"The culture is really just the full encompassing aspect of what the organization is. That's the process, the game planning, the work..."
— Matt, 15:04

On Adaptive Coaching

"When [Ben Johnson] mentions them publicly, what happens? There's a change."
— Matt, 16:39

On Belichick's Coaching Tree

“Not enough.”
— Dan, 46:47 (on successful head coaches)

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10. Timestamps for Reference

• [02:13]: Setting up the national test against Fangio’s defense
• [03:16]: Spotlight on the post-snap movement challenge for Williams
• [05:29]: Praise for Williams’ improving ball fakes and mechanics
• [10:02]: Bernstein’s family story on Bears prime-time pain
• [13:10] – [14:32]: Kevin Byard talks about stopping the Eagles, framing the “culture battle”
• [20:16] – [23:15]: Dennis Allen and Byard on defensive cross-training and adaptability
• [28:46] – [30:58]: "Tush push," offensive philosophy, and game-planning wrinkles
• [34:44] – [35:40]: Caleb Williams on self-diagnosed footwork issues
• [50:28] – [52:53]: Doyle on the granular mechanics and improvement trajectory for Williams

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Flow & Tone

• Conversational, analytical, passionate—hosts blend serious football talk with relatable Bears-fan anxieties and sharp humor.
• Memorable, lively banter (e.g. the "penis punch" rules update at [58:56]) and frequent callbacks to Bears history for context and comic relief.
• Honest about the Bears’ progress—clear-eyed about both advances and areas for concern.
• Defensive rotations, evolving culture, and play design are treated with both skepticism and optimism.

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For Bears/NFL Fans & New Listeners Alike

This episode provides a comprehensive, clear-eyed prelude to a pivotal Bears-Eagles showdown:

• Explains the technical schematic matchup (Fangio's defense vs. a rookie QB)
• Tracks Caleb Williams’ improvement and the coaching methods spurring it
• Frames the broader narrative: where the Bears stand in the NFL, both on the field and as an organization
• Offers behind-the-scenes, context-rich insights into player development, adaptation, and what’s really at stake in prime time

Whether you want detailed schematics, player psychology, or just the pulse of Chicago sports radio, this episode delivers.

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Next up:

• Friday morning show: Top 10 Eagles of all time, Feedback Friday
• Live Postgame: Immediate reaction to Bears vs. Eagles

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Transcript

[Dan Bernstein]

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[Matt Abaticola]

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[Dan Bernstein]

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[Matt Abaticola]

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[Dan Bernstein]

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[Matt Abaticola]

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[Dan Bernstein]

You'Re thinking Forward progress. Come on 10219219.

[Matt Abaticola]

Forward. A Chicago Bears podcast with Dan Bernstein and Matt Abeticola on 312 Sports.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's what you have right here. We give you Forward Progress a Chicago Bears podcast every day here on 312Sports. We're brought to you by Beer Church Brewing New Buffaloes Brewery Pizzeria in a historic church wood fired Neapolitan pizza small batch craft beer brunch every day. Visit beerchurchbrewing.com Bernstein of Atticola hello.

[Matt Abaticola]

Hey. Are you excited for Friday?

[Dan Bernstein]

I am. Well, I'm excited for Thanksgiving.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, well of course. But I'm talking Bears Eagles, man.

[Dan Bernstein]

I am. I know. Genuinely.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. I'm very, very much serious.

[Dan Bernstein]

I am really excited. I think it's going to show a lot that there's a lot of things that we've debated that are going to be in front of us and we are going to see all of the things we're talking about tested in real time in front of the country.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, it's going to be a very, very hard test for Caleb Williams going against Vic Fangios defense as we've discussed already, Dan, Vic Vangio's defense.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, I'M trying to clear my throat out. Yeah, no, I'm good. I'm good. It wasn't like you earlier.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, it's bad.

[Matt Abaticola]

With a giant thing in your throat.

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't know what that was. I don't know.

[Matt Abaticola]

Whatever you coughed up, like, ran away.

[Dan Bernstein]

The pits of despair.

[Matt Abaticola]

Opened the door of the studio and ran out down the hallway. Knocked Foster over on the way down.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's hard to do, too. Great contact balance.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right. They say, like a heavy base.

[Dan Bernstein]

You said that.

[Matt Abaticola]

No, that's what I thought you was a big dude. He'll kick your ass.

[Dan Bernstein]

I know. He's bigger than I am.

[Matt Abaticola]

So any Vic Fangio's defense, he. What they're going to show Caleb Williams is the most movement post snap of what he's going to see this entire football season. And we discussed why. Last week against the Steelers, Caleb Williams was under center more times in dropbacks than he has been in his entire NFL career. So more times he went in drop backs under center than in the shotgun formation.

[Dan Bernstein]

We did a lot of this. Also, if you were listening to DBU today, also, if you plan to listen to dbu, spend some time talking about this particular coaching matchup, too.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. And I think that it's. It was part of getting Caleb ready for this game on Friday, part of the evolution and how Ben Johnson is talked about week after week. They add things to what they do to the game plan, and they wanted to get. They want him to get more comfortable, and they're going to continue doing this. In his development and his growth as an NFL quarterback in playing under center, being able to turn his back to the defense, being able to make that adjustment, get his eyes in place, and then focus in on what he sees. It's going to be hard. It's going to be hard for Caleb. It's tough for any quarterback to turn your back to the defense, turn back and say, all right, this was the picture I saw pre snap. Now I turn back around, what am I seeing post snap, where do I go? What do I do? But being able to do that out of play action with your back to the defense is critical.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's important to staple to what Ben Johnson wants to do.

[Matt Abaticola]

What it also does, it helps against a defense like Vic Fangios and the Eagles, and the fact that it's going to make them pause for half a second and it's just that half a second that helps quarterbacks make the proper read to stay in that rhythm and then. And then deliver the ball in good Timing.

[Dan Bernstein]

And part of it is anticipating what that reaction to play action is going to be. It isn't a full read of, oh, where's everybody now?

[Matt Abaticola]

Right.

[Dan Bernstein]

You're keying on a linebacker, a safety.

[Matt Abaticola]

Because you're looking at your main guy and who's your number one.

[Dan Bernstein]

And then you're understanding if either that's there or it's not. And then you go down the. The chain. But to know, to assume, okay, somebody bought this fake enough. And I also think there's room for growth in the quality of those fakes. Yeah, you know, I really do think there's a. He's getting better.

[Matt Abaticola]

No, you're right. And we pointed it out on Sunday's game and then on Monday, too, on DBU and forward progress. Give him credit and praise him for his body movement in those fakes. I thought it was one of his better games in executing the required body movements to have those fakes look real and realistic, to actually have someone stop for half a second again, it's all you're talking about. Half a second or a second makes all the difference to a plate.

[Dan Bernstein]

Not even.

[Matt Abaticola]

Right.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's just opening your hips.

[Matt Abaticola]

But I thought his body was great. He moved well. I thought he showed the ball well. I thought he pulled the ball back, the ball back in really well. I thought he just. He moved really well in the face. That's very important in being able to be successful in executing what they want to do. But it's going to be a great matchup. It's going to be a fun game. I love when the Bears have these island games. Everyone's watching. It also terrifies me, though, because everyone's watching. It's all there for you.

[Dan Bernstein]

Why does that terrify you?

[Matt Abaticola]

I like that everyone watches my team, and I want everyone to see what I, you know, what I see in my team and how. I love watching the Bears play football, but I also don't want everyone to always see my team. You know, the execution isn't at the level that. That we want. It's not at the level that Caleb wants. It's not at the level that Declan Doyle wants, that Ben Johnson wants.

[Dan Bernstein]

But we're.

[Matt Abaticola]

We're getting there.

[Dan Bernstein]

You need to. It's okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

That I like there. You're a top five offensive team in a lot of categories right now. If you can't show them now when you're eight and three, when can you?

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, and I'm still living in the. The pre Ben Johnson era. You know, when my mindset. I know and it's those. It's those island games. Like, I don't want the Bears to be exposed. Not do the entire country. Let us watch and let the team.

[Dan Bernstein]

We'll tell you when it's time.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. Like you don't. Everyone doesn't need to watch this. Like Matt Eber flew.

[Dan Bernstein]

You know what's really funny? That when I really felt that way. Do you remember was it a Monday night or a Sunday night game when the Bears strangled the Rams and Trubisky was awful. It was 2018.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

And I think they won 15 to nothing. You can look it up.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

I think he threw three picks and he had a rating of like 26. He could not have been worse. And the Bears, it was the. It was the peak of that defense. The absolute peak of that. You couldn't get anything. And that was Vic Fangio.

[Matt Abaticola]

It was 18.

[Dan Bernstein]

It was 2018. I think it was against the end. It was one of those national. Hey, these. These Bears are an interesting team. I don't remember exactly where in the season it was, but it showed you everything. It showed you everything the defense could be, everything that they could do, everything that Vic had envisioned with how to screw up somebody across the line of scrimmage. And Trubisky just threw in a double coverage three times.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. It was a 15 to six game. 15 to six, December 9th. So later in the season, they ended up going nine and four.

[Dan Bernstein]

So it was around the same time.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. And you had so six. Six at halftime. The Bears then get three more field goals in the third quarter. Blanked the Rams in the second half. They win 15. 15 to 6.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yep. And look at Trubisky's numbers, if you have them on there. And I just. I remember one of those games that you're talking about. I remember as excited as everybody was, what a win. What a win. What a signature win. He just like. But they're. The warning signs were all there of what it was going to take and what they could do and what they couldn't do and what they had and didn't have in their quarterback.

[Matt Abaticola]

100 net passing yards, total yards. 294 for the. The Bears. Where is it Was bad.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. And everything they did was in spite of their quarterbacking. I'm not saying that's going to happen. And before you. Before you start trying to light me on fire, I'm not comparing this situation to that one as apples and apples. I'm just remembering when we had that feeling.

[Matt Abaticola]

And I. Yeah, I know 16 of 30, 110 yards, one sack for 10 yards, three interceptions. Yep. And I remember just bears long of 17. A rating of 28.3.

[Dan Bernstein]

28.3. That's what it was. So it's worse than spiking it every time. But there are Bears fans of a certain age that are also going to talk about the Monday Night Football island game against Miami in 85. That was the worst night of Bears fans lives.

[Matt Abaticola]

Terrible.

[Dan Bernstein]

It was so bad. It was so bad because I had. My grandfather was watching with us. He was from Buffalo, just a huge Bills fan. And realized.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, did he. Was he.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, my God. He realized everybody was miserable. This is my mother's father.

[Matt Abaticola]

And he sat giving it to you guys.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, relentlessly. And not even in witty fashion. He was just kind of cackling to himself and sitting on the couch going, the Bears suck. The Bears suck.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, time to leave, Grandpa.

[Dan Bernstein]

He just kept saying it.

[Matt Abaticola]

Time to go. Was he staying with you guys or just visiting?

[Dan Bernstein]

He was staying with the blacks. He was. I believe he was staying. No, wait, were they staying with us? We were watching over at my aunt and uncle's house, but. And everybody was completely miserable.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, time to leave.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

Or Grandpa's got to shut up. One of the two.

[Dan Bernstein]

Grandpa. The Bears suck.

[Matt Abaticola]

So it's gonna be.

[Dan Bernstein]

I can hear it clear as a bell.

[Matt Abaticola]

It's gonna be a great test for Caleb Williams. I'm really excited to see what he can show, how he's developed, how he's grown, how he's improved throughout this. The course of this season under Ben Johnson and. And, you know, the tutelage of Declan Doyle and, you know, they're going to be able to take the tape then. And this is also what I'm really excited about, is Ben Johnson be able to take the tape and say, all right, this is what you did really well. Here's where we need to improve. And for Ben Johnson to be able to gauge and say, this is where he's at. This is what our next steps are. This is what he'll get to as they keep that progression moving and going so well.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's taped for everyone.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. Oh, yeah, but of course. But again, every potential we're looking at here is. Is Caleb.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's.

[Matt Abaticola]

That's our focus and what we've been talking about. But yeah, of course, for everyone. And every.

[Dan Bernstein]

When I say everyone, I don't mean just everyone who's on the tape. I mean all the other potential playoff opponents who are watching this tape, looking for best practices and saying, we're going to. So similarly, Jalen Hurts hasn't been great against zone coverages.

[Matt Abaticola]

No.

[Dan Bernstein]

And you're I do think that there has been enough tape there to understand you're better off in zone versus man and as undermanned as you are waiting for the injury report to come out with all of these inexperienced linebackers that you have zones hard.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. And I'm, you know, I'm excited for Dennis Allen to be able to and his staff be able to take that Cowboys Eagles game that just happened on Sunday with The Eagles up 21 nothing, losing 24, 21 to see what the Cowboys did in that second half of that game. It's also going to be a good time for Thursday's game. The Lions and Packers, not only for us as fans, be able to watch two division opponents the day before, for us to watch them tomorrow while we're enjoying Thanksgiving with family and friends, but for the staff people to say, all right, here's an opponent coming up. We have two games with the Packers. Let's get a good look. We have one more game left with the Lions. Here's their most recent tape. Be able to dissect that and get ready and game plan for those games. So yeah, a fun, fun game. Looking forward to that Friday. Of course, As a reminder, DBU will be on Friday morning. We'll have our top 10 Eagles of all time feedback Friday, Friday feedback as well as maybe some other stuff as we get into it. And then our forward progress show for Friday will be our live post game show following Bears Eagles.

[Dan Bernstein]

Can't wait. Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

Have all that. All right, let's get into some audio. As we first start off with Kevin Byard, he was asked about the challenge of playing the Philadelphia Eagles.

[Kevin Byard]

Yeah, I mean, it's a huge challenge. You know, first and foremost, you talk about Saquon Barkley. Like you said, he hasn't had the year that he's had last year, but I mean, he's still a threat every time he touches the ball. He's a guy we're gonna have to corral. And I think when you talk about game plan against a team like that, I think he's definitely priority number one to stop him. And then you talk about AJ and Smitty. AJ's still that guy. You know, I spent four years with him just watching him on film. He's very, very talented. But honestly, if you watch the film, Smitty's been the guy that Jalen, I think Jalen hurts, probably has the most chemistry with receiver wise. He's making plays down the field. He's finding them in the slot option routes on third down. I think he's kind of going to Smitty first. So I think if we can eliminate those big plays down the field, that'd be good. But then also, obviously, Jalen, he's still a great quarterback. You know, like you said, stats for the entire offense has been down, but they're finding ways to win. I mean, look at us, you know what I mean? Like, our stats hasn't been great on defense, but we're finding ways to win. Rapids creating takeaways, getting off the field on third downs and stuff like that. So, you know, stats is something that we can all look at and judge, but at the end of the day, you know, they're finding ways to win. And I think that's just the testament of their culture and our culture. So it's definitely going to be a challenge for us. Just culture against culture. Whose culture is better?

[Dan Bernstein]

I'm not sure I buy. It's culture against culture. It's still blocking and tackling. And I've never worried about the Bears effort.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

And I think. I don't think when you say finding ways to win, the ways find themselves, however it is, whether it's a blocked kick or whether it's Jake Moody.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, the ways don't find themselves. They find ways to present opportunities for you.

[Declan Doyle]

Right, Right.

[Dan Bernstein]

You're not sitting down planning and discussing what stre way you're going to win the game.

[Matt Abaticola]

But I think with culture, though, too, and I'm kind of picking up on this, hearing other players talk and a lot of the key words, the buzzwords that Ben Johnson clearly uses, because they all repeat, culture being one of them. The culture is really just the full encompassing aspect of what the organization is. That's the process, the game planning, the work, you know, the practice time, the work outside of team structure and what you're doing to. To put into the actual game itself. So I think, you know, when he says culture versus culture, like it's. It's more. It's more to it than. Than that.

[Dan Bernstein]

You know what I've been watching closely as a. A gauge of that. It's something Ben Johnson talked about as soon as he took the job. And I do think they've been much better at it. Body language. Yeah, I really think so. I think the way they carry themselves during a game, the way they approach the line of scrimmage, the way they come out of the huddle, little things like that, the way guys leave the field and enter the field. I know that it's real easy to make fun of that and about what it means, but because Ben Johnson says it's important to him. Had he not, I wouldn't. But because he defined it and pointed that out about we are not going to be a palms up team. We're not going to be a woe is me. We're not. We're not going to be oh, what the hell. And we've seen it and we've seen where the rubber meets the road. That Caleb Williams, if there's a drop, if he misses a. It hasn't. If there's a bad penalty, they play over it.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. And it's interesting that that's one of the things that Ben Johnson's pointed out and we can go back through and look at a few things he's pointed out in the media about his team. When he mentions them publicly, what happens? There's a change. They change, they change their behavior. They change their attitude towards something. If he calls it out, his team responds.

[Dan Bernstein]

When he's talked about penalties, he's talking.

[Matt Abaticola]

About penalties and you know, go clean it up. It's on the leaders now. We've done all we can as coaches. See something, say something. We've talked about that. What's happened? They've cleaned up the penalties. He talked about body language. What's happened. They've cleaned up their body language. So that's great. And that is part of what Kevin Byer talks about with culture. And it starts at the top. And that's why we haven't seen anything like this, because we haven't seen a real NFL head coach around here in a very long time.

[Dan Bernstein]

True. However, the culture, if you want to do that and you want to put what the Bears are doing, what the Bears are not that they've removed all. They're scraping away the bad to create what can start to be good. There's still sort of scraping off that stuff where the, I mean, the Eagles got. There's a ring there.

[Matt Abaticola]

Right. I know it's. You're talking about different levels because at the. But at the end of the day though, Dan, it's about talent.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, it's about making the most of your talent, sure. Yes.

[Matt Abaticola]

But still, you can make the most of, of a second tier talent. You're going to lose to a top tier talent.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's playing hard.

[Matt Abaticola]

It's going to happen. Yep, it's going to happen. And I like the idea of scraping away. I immediately thought of a broat, you know, with like the stuff? Yeah, barnacles. And scraping away the barnacles to get to what it's supposed to be.

[Dan Bernstein]

Have you ever watched one of the videos of like a dry aged quarter of beef or a whole dry aged quarter? Like a time lapse, like a rib roast, where you see it, it's controlled spoilage. And then the reveal is when they take the huge machete and just start carving all that stuff off and what's left is this impossibly perfectly marbled piece of meat that probably, I mean, that they're selling for $100 a month or whatever it is. Yeah, everyone wants to be stronger. Not just physically, but in every part of life. But between confusing workout advice, complicated equipment, and trying to figure out nutrition, where does anyone even start? Well, to get stronger mentally and physically, go to Anytime Fitness. You'll get a personalized training, nutrition and recovery plan all customized to your body, your strength level and your goals. You'll get expert coaching to optimize your results anytime, anywhere in the gym and on the Anytime Fitness app. And you'll get anytime access to 5,500 gyms worldwide, all with the right equipment to level up your strength gains and your life. So get started@anytime fitness.com that's anytime fitness.com did you know you can opt out.

[Matt Abaticola]

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[Dan Bernstein]

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[Matt Abaticola]

Book your warm getaway at vrbo.com all right, more with Kevin Byard.

[Dennis Allen]

Next man up is something that, you.

[Matt Abaticola]

Know, we always hear in sports when you guys deal with injuries. But how do you actually go about.

[Kevin Byard]

Building and making sure the guys prepare.

[Matt Abaticola]

To be the next man up? Especially as banked up as you guys.

[Dennis Allen]

Were in that pitch right now.

[Kevin Byard]

Yeah, I think you got to give credit to the coaching staff. I spoke about this before, but da, even in the spring he cross trained a lot of guys on this team, right? If it was just use a random example like Kyle Gorn. He was taking reps at safety, he was taking reps at nickel, taking reps at corner. And he's done it for a lot of guys. Whether it was Tremaine and TJ flipping sides.

[Matt Abaticola]

That's really interesting. That's a really interesting that's why I wanted to highlight that really interesting process that Dennis Allen started before the season began with the whole idea of cross training. I've never heard that from defense coordinators. You know, when it's I can see maybe linebackers, you can. You kind of. You move different roles at times to see in case there's injuries. But to have guys go out of position to do things, hey, man, talk.

[Dan Bernstein]

Talk to a Broadway director. Talk to a director of a play. How many people understudy multiple roles. It's incredible. Like people will memorize. You have actors, you've got your glue actors there who can memorize an entire script. Who, if somebody's sick or somebody gets hurt or whatever reason, is ready to step right into that play on Broadway and has repped multiple roles in the play.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, I just thought it was very cool that Byard brings up Dennis Allen doing that. And here's more of that answer.

[Kevin Byard]

So everybody kind of got, you know, different reps at different spots that kind of really understand the schematics of the defense. So I think now that guys have been able to come in, you know, right. If they was practice squad guys, whatever it may be, has been able to come in and play is because I think just the job of the coaching staff has done to prepare everybody. But then obviously it's easier said than done. You know what I mean? Guys have really came in and took advantage of opportunities. Right. If you look at a guy like Shawnee who wasn't projected to be a starter this year, or you talk about DeMarco just this past week, the trust that the coaches that have those guys guarding that execute, but then at the same time those guys going out there ball and not making plays.

[Dan Bernstein]

Shawnee is Nishan Wright.

[Matt Abaticola]

Correct. All right, so I want to jump ahead real quick here and just bring in and tie in an answer from Dennis Allen.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

Along those lines because Kevin Byer just said, all right, you know, we cross trained. He had guys, different positions, you know, about the next man up. Why were the Bears successful against the Steelers? Now I know the Steelers offense isn't quite quarterback sucks, isn't quite what the Eagles are going to present to the Bears. But you're successful with next man up. Even so, so deep to the point that your three reserve linebackers, one goes out, another guy has a step up.

[Dan Bernstein]

Mid game and plays with Jordan, goes out and amen. A core specialty and had a great game, double digit tackles.

[Matt Abaticola]

So. So I want to go to Dennis Johnson because he. Or Dennis Johnson, Dennis Allen and he uses A really cool analogy of an offensive coordinator with a lot of offensive weapons only having one ball. But it's, it's valuable here, what he does, what his mindset is with defense. Kevin Byard gave us a little, a little glimpse of it in this cross training of different, different roles, different positions for guys. And here's what Dennis Allen said.

[Dennis Allen]

Next man up is something that, you.

[Matt Abaticola]

Know, we always hear in sports when you guys deal with injuries, but. Oh, sorry. How do you actually go about. Yep, I was like, he didn't say that.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, I don't think he did.

[Matt Abaticola]

Hang on, hang on, hang on.

[Dan Bernstein]

I'm hanging on. It's no different than the offensive coach that you've got all these offensive weapons.

[Matt Abaticola]

There's only one football.

[Dan Bernstein]

How do you distribute the ball to all of them? You know, at some point, you know.

[Matt Abaticola]

Everybody'S going to have a role to play.

[Dan Bernstein]

What that role is going to be.

[Matt Abaticola]

From week to week, may, may change.

[Dan Bernstein]

And, but we'll have, you know, we'll have a plan in place.

[Matt Abaticola]

So that also goes in line with what happens when you get Tyreek Stevenson, you get Kyler Gordon, you get Jalen Johnson back. He's going to, you're going to see different combinations, he's going to fit those guys in and you're going to see guys play different spots. So they're all on the field, maybe not all at the same time, but different combinations of guys, maybe in different roles in different assignments based on what's presented in front of them from the offense or the game situation. He's going to work guys around and you think at first, you think, well, how can, how can that be successful in just like a week of preparation? But this is something they've been doing since going back to the spring, working different roles, not just linebacker, shifting sides or moving interior to exterior, but corner. Nichols going to safety, safety's moving into cornerback. He's been doing different things to get guys ready. So be able to have these combinations is going to be a great problem for him to have with all these guys back. But I'm not concerned at all as.

[Dan Bernstein]

Long as the buy in is how.

[Matt Abaticola]

It'S going to work.

[Dan Bernstein]

As long as long as somebody like C.J. gardner, Johnson, who is great when things are going well and he's got a history of being not so great when they're not. If indeed he's evolved and he can deal with maybe a little bit of a lesser role and just be pleased that he's on a roster. I'm not saying that he's not going to have a role. But Kyler Gordon's a better player than he is.

[Matt Abaticola]

Right. But he's also is a guy that makes plays. He's going to find ways to have him on the field.

[Dan Bernstein]

Fair enough. But it's not without deficiencies. He's too small to be a full time rundown linebacker and I don't know that he's fast enough or has the skills to be a boundary corner or safety.

[Matt Abaticola]

And maybe Kyler Gordon is off and it's just a rotation for a player too, where he comes in, where it's going to benefit him most. I'm not concerned at all and I trust Dennis Allen to make those, those right decisions. But I just love the idea that this started months ago and it, and you know, not, not with not planning in advance like, all right, when most of our starters are out and they're hurt, here's how this is going to work. But doing that in advance and just saying, all right, we've already worked through this. We know what we're doing in case these things happen.

[Dan Bernstein]

What it reminds me of. Do you remember in training camp when Ben Johnson had all the offensive linemen catching passes? Yes. And we thought, ha ha, that's cute for his little trick plays and stuff. It's so much more than that. Yeah. And they do more than that. This I actually had a really interesting conversation with with former Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner when he was the head coach of the Illini about in college and this was the old college football before transfer portal and before re recruiting your own guys. Everything that goes on. When you knew you'd bring guys in and have them for a while every year they would decide about position switches. They'd throw everything open and they would say, especially looking at freshmen, they would just say where do we want to play this guy? Once he was there, it didn't matter where he played. In high school, they had their scattering report, they had their ideas, but it was always about fresh eyes. Maybe like, you know what, he's a running back. You know what, this wide receiver, I don't like his hands, but I think it could be a corner. Maybe this tailback also has some safety. And they would think that way and they wouldn't always act on everything, but they would have those conversations and they would have those meetings. So what I trust about this coaching staff, not at the same level. You can't do that when you've signed a contract. And I'm not asking for that. But there may be, no matter what your scheme is no matter what you came in with, say, oh, you know what, when he was running scout team, I saw him do something. I'd like to see more of that. I want to see. Can we just get him a couple reps? I'm going to move him to the running back room. Hell, the Bears tried it with Valis Jones. Right. And Bears fans, you know this. They had to figure do something going back to Devin Hester, that there are times when you are. You're looking for ways to create value. And I think they do more of that than we know about.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. And I think one way to avoid trying to find ways to find value and create value is just make better picks.

[Dan Bernstein]

That helps. Well, you can do both, but I don't think they're mutually exclusive skills. But yes, I would agree that picking somebody who's really good at what he does at football. Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

Kevin Byard will continue with him. He was asked about Ben Johnson.

[Kevin Byard]

Chicago's got the right guy in place. Just the type of culture he's been able to set from the beginning since he's been here. I know he spent a lot of time on the offense as far as game planning and stuff like that, but his meetings and just what he always is preaching, he's going over a lot of situations in the meetings, whether it's on Fridays and things like that. Man, he's been awesome. He's been great for this culture. And like I said, I don't think, you know, we could have pegged to say, hey, we're going to be 8 and 3 to start this year. But I just knew just from the process that we had from the spring up until this point, you know, it's a winning culture and it's a winning process. So winning, you know, basically has to proceed. That for sure.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right. He was asked about defending the Tush pushes. Of course it will come up and I thought was interesting. Dennis Allen, when asked about the Tush push, he said the best way to defend it is not allow them to get in that situation.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, they got burned by a fake one, too.

[Kevin Byard]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

And I thought it was interesting to hear Ben Johnson talk about that. And like, as a casual fan watching the NFL, you never think that there are compliments off the Tush Push. Like the alignment that's set up, the formation that set up. You think, all right, Tush push. And because we've seen it with the Eagles for years now, you just do it. They go forward and they're successful with it. But to have compliments that you run things off that type of formation.

[Dan Bernstein]

What gets back to why Ben Johnson says he doesn't use it, Remember?

[Dennis Allen]

No.

[Matt Abaticola]

What did he say?

[Dan Bernstein]

He said, when is the last time a tush push was an explosive?

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, he said Sunday.

[Dan Bernstein]

You can find his quote. Yeah, but you can find his quote. The reason why he's not a tush push guy was because he said he wants every play and every look to.

[Matt Abaticola]

Be able to go 10 plus or.

[Dan Bernstein]

20 plus to score, to have the possibility of having something out of it that scores. That's exactly what he's talking about, is what was done to his team, to.

[Matt Abaticola]

Them, where they had what, 50 some yards.

[Dan Bernstein]

55.

[Matt Abaticola]

55, yeah. 6. All right, so Kevin Byard's asked about defending the Tushbush.

[Kevin Byard]

No, honestly, I think we did a good job defending it personally, especially the first one. You know, there's a lot of commentary about the tush push. I think the way DA kind of preaches it is really good. Like, you know, you see a lot of teams, especially defending it, trying to jump over the pile and stuff. That never works. He kind of looks at it like a rugby play where the guys behind. If your man is. If you're in man to man and your man is behind the guy on offense is pushing, then you push your guy. You push the defensive line. I think we did a really good job of stopping it. Now the other part of it is just defending, understanding what's the plays off of it. And, you know, they was able to kind of get to the edges and we were kind of really bunched up in there. So I think this time around, DA Obviously talking about kind of our short yardage day tomorrow, we'll have a. You know, obviously I think we'll be a little bit more disciplined on the edges, but I think we did a good job actually defending the actual tush push play. But, you know, obviously Philly's the best at doing it. So we'll see. We'll, you know, we'll see how we do, you know, on Friday.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. So the Bears put on tape, hey, this is a weakness. A deficiency they exposed got exposed on that play. Now, you got to be ready for that. Got to be ready for that. And what the Eagles could possibly put as a compliment now off their tush.

[Dan Bernstein]

Push, they could fake the fake, right? See?

[Matt Abaticola]

See, Fake the fake and then. But still do it and fake the fake. That's fake.

[Dan Bernstein]

Sounds like the people fake the fake.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right, so Kevin Byard. Last one for Kevin Byard. Asked about being satisfied with our 8 and 3 record. How they're not satisfied as a team.

[Kevin Byard]

Now we've been able to, you know, get some great results, but at the end of the day, man, we still have a lot of things to improve on. You know, this isn't. We're not playing the super bowl tomorrow. You know what I mean? Like, it's a great game. It's another game to obviously show our culture, show our team, but, you know, we're still trying to get better, and that's always what it is. You know, I mean, at the end of the day, we're happy with where we are, but we're not satisfied whatsoever. So I think that's just the mantra for this team for every player. You know, as you watch the film and you grade yourself, it's like, you know, we're happy, we win. You know, you're never going to apologize for winning. But at the same time, let's not get too caught up in the results because there's a lot of things on the tape from a team aspect and also a personal side that we continue to get better. And as long as you try to continue to get 1% better, eliminate some of those mistakes, you know, I mean, that's just what you can focus on. And the rest of that is just going out there trying to play good stuff.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. All right, we get into Caleb Williams. There's a cut that I want to play with Kevin Byard and Caleb Williams. So I put the two cuts together because Kevin Byard was asked about being eight and three winning games later in the season, how the next game, how each next game is bigger than the last because the position that you're in. So he goes on to answer it. Then Caleb Williams was asked the similar question, and then we have his answer.

[Dan Bernstein]

So it's juxtaposing these answers.

[Matt Abaticola]

It's fired's answer the question to Caleb, then Caleb's answer.

[Declan Doyle]

Got it.

[Kevin Byard]

Multiple games and you get.

[Dan Bernstein]

Hang on, hang on, hang on.

[Kevin Byard]

Sorry. There we go. Start. You know, as you win multiple games and you get to this point where, you know, you're eight and three. You know what I mean? Like, every game is. The next game is the biggest game of the year. Because the more and more you win, the more important each of these games are. So we're going to treat it as such.

[Matt Abaticola]

The next game is the biggest game of the year.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right.

[Matt Abaticola]

But regardless of who you're playing, do you feel like each of these games, as you're winning, continue to feel bigger and bigger?

[Dennis Allen]

No, you don't. Put as a team, at least you know, we don't put that type of energy, that type of effort, that type of pressure on any other game. You know, we go into each game, focus on being one and, oh, you know, you don't look over there, compare yourself to their record, their team, their coaches, their players or anything like that. We focus on us, we focus on ourselves, we focus on our details. We focus on when we're in between that 53 and 120 execution, scoring as many points as possible and then obviously, you know, defense trying to stop them from scoring as many points as possible. And, you know, when you do that consistently, you'll come out with the right outcome at the end of it. And so that's what we focus on.

[Dan Bernstein]

They're both right.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, yeah. I just thought, I thought it was interesting how they, how they both answered the same question to it.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's one thing for Caleb to say I, but he said we.

[Matt Abaticola]

We.

[Dan Bernstein]

It may be the royal we. It may not be talking about like this is how the team looks at it. He might have just broadened his own philosophy rather than saying as a captain, as a representative of the Bears, necessarily. But I'm not going to get, I'm not going to pick a fight in this and parse everything they've said because I get where each one is coming from.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right, one more with Caleb here. You talked to us after, after the.

[Declan Doyle]

Game Sunday about some of the throws you're usually surgical with that just weren't.

[Matt Abaticola]

There when you watched it. What kind of irked you? What did you notice when you rewatched some of those plays?

[Dennis Allen]

Yeah, my feet were, I mean, I was exactly where I should have been in the sense of, you know, dropping back and all of this. You know, I think my base got a little wide and then, you know, my legs weren't, weren't fully under me yet early in the game, I would say for some reason. And so just doing a better job in warm ups and things like that, making sure that I'm, you know, my legs are a little bit more warm if I do ever feel that kind of feeling I felt early in the game and just focus on that. And then other than that, my base got a little wide and then, you know, things started getting high on me. And so just circling back to the small, small details that go into it. And, you know, we started, we started. I think coach said he called 18 passes in a row at one point. So, you know, just focusing in, honing in on my details. And that's every single detail. When it comes to come to my position. And so I think it was my footwork and then, you know, my legs just not been under me.

[Matt Abaticola]

Did you notice that he'd called 18 year old?

[Dennis Allen]

I didn't notice. I didn't notice. You get, you kind of get into a flow and I didn't, I didn't, it didn't feel like it was 18. I don't really mind too many, too many of those. You know, those are always fun going 18 pass in a row. But no, I didn't actually notice my.

[Dan Bernstein]

Legs not under me.

[Matt Abaticola]

So he talked about his legs not being warmed up. My legs weren't warmed and I need to do a better job of getting warmed up.

[Dan Bernstein]

It was 54 degrees.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. I don't think he necessarily means literal temperature. Right. I think, I think he means like, I don't, I don't, I don't know if it was being loose, being ready to go. But here, but here's, here's the, here's the question for you. He said that he has to make sure. You know what, I'm just going to go back to it because.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. That he does a little extra in warm ups.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay, but hang on a second though. Hang on. You talked to us after, after the game Sunday about some of the throws.

[Declan Doyle]

You'Re usually surgical with that just weren't.

[Matt Abaticola]

There when you watched it. What kind of irked you? What did you notice when you watched.

[Declan Doyle]

Rewatch some of those plays?

[Dennis Allen]

Yeah, my, my feet were, I mean, I was exactly where I should have been in the sense of, you know, dropping back and all of this. You know, I think my base got a little wide and then, you know, my legs weren't, weren't fully under me yet early in the game, I would say for some reason. And so just doing a better job in warm ups and things like that, making sure that I'm, you know, my legs are a little bit more warm if I, if I do ever feel that kind of feeling, I felt early.

[Matt Abaticola]

In the game and okay, so doing a better job in warmups to get his legs under him. And he said, if I ever feel that way again, I know I need to do a better job. But here's the thing. If you feel that way again while the game's already started, it's too late.

[Dan Bernstein]

The last time I heard that phrase and I asked the player what he meant, it was when Richard Dent came back to the Bears for under Wanstead. They signed him off the street. He, he like unretired and came back and we were watching him in Practice. And he looked old and slow.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, I think in his case it would just be being old.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, but. And he's like, he's like, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine. I just got to get my legs under me. I just got to get my legs under me. And I said, what do you mean by that?

[Matt Abaticola]

It's like being in shape.

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't know what he meant, but.

[Matt Abaticola]

He was, for him, it's not about being in shape.

[Dan Bernstein]

He wasn't moving his legs for him. By, I mean, Dent wasn't, he wasn't at his usual, you know, 45 degree angle when he's making some of these, these cuts on the sides of his feet. And I never quite, to be frank, I never quite understood.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Exactly what he was saying other than, you know, you got old legs Now.

[Matt Abaticola]

I would love to know what Caleb meant when he said that. But like, like I said, if he's, if he's back in a game again and he's feeling like his legs aren't underneath him, it, it's too late then at that point.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right.

[Dennis Allen]

Yeah, my, my feet were, I mean, I was exactly where I should have been in the sense of, you know, dropping back and, and all of this. You know, I think my base got a little wide and then, you know, my, my legs weren't, weren't fully under me yet early in the game, I would say, for some reason. And so just doing a better job in warm ups and things like that, making sure that I'm, you know, my legs are a little bit more warm if I, if I. Do you ever feel that kind of feeling? I felt early in the game.

[Matt Abaticola]

And you know, one thing though, I do want to praise. And Declan Doyle talked about it as well too. We'll get some cuts from him in a second. Caleb is, is getting better at being where he's supposed to be on that given play, which is good. That's a, that's a big step in the right direction in not only being in the right place.

[Dan Bernstein]

His eyes.

[Matt Abaticola]

But his eyes also being in the right place. Which is more important.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes.

[Matt Abaticola]

Now. Yeah, we just need to work on the footwork a little bit. His base does get a little wide and he's talked about it. You even heard him say it. When his base is wide, the balls fly. That's when he, that's when he gets high.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right shoulder can drop.

[Matt Abaticola]

Right. And he drops and the balls go high. But the fact that he's in the right place, both foot wise and vision is what's valuable.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's the same. It's the same as a hitter over striding. It's very similar to the backside and the firm backside that a hitter needs. That when you do over stride, there is a tendency to sort of drop and scoop and you can get a loop in your swing rather than staying tall as long as you can on the backside and being at an optimal place to move the bat into the strike zone, into the hitting zone. Same deal? Yeah, same deal. Same reason why you'll often see baseball hitter hitting coaches, you know, putting a band in between a guy's feet and saying, this is the end of your stride. This is where you stop. This is. By the time this foot hits here, your hands have to be loaded. Same kind of deal with talking about his mechanics, delivering that ball.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right, one, one cut here from Dennis Allen. How would you characterize the two plays that Nayshaan's made the last two weeks and the interceptions? You don't even see Pro bowl receivers making those type of catches in a regular basis.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, look, I mean, I feel like I stand up here every week and say these things like it's a credit to the player. I mean, the player is really. He comes here every day, goes to work. You know, he's always positive. He's always, you know, trying to do exactly what we're coaching him to do. Again, I think, you know, our assistant coaches do a great job with these guys. But, you know, I think if you're smart and you got some talent and you're willing to work, then I think us as coaches and the staff that Ben's put together, I think we can help you become a better football player. And I think he's exactly that. I mean, he's smart, he's got athletic ability, and he works extremely hard. And when you put those three things together, you tend to improve. Before we get to the substance of that answer, can I just express a pet peeve of mine and explain why it's a pet peeve? Sure. I've done this before. That question came from Larry Mayer. It's a perfectly reasonable question. Larry Mayer, longtime guy. He ran Bears Report for a long time. Years ago, he was hired by the Bears. He works for the Bears. He runs Bears.com. he's in charge of the editorial component of their public relations department. He works for the Bears. His job as the editorial director, essentially, of their PR department is to create content about the Bears that puts the Bears to positive light.

[Kevin Byard]

Yep.

[Dan Bernstein]

As an employee of the team, his questions, his access can come on their time, not the media's time. There's a finite number of questions that can be asked by a properly adversarial media trying to do their job. And as George Orwell said, that journalism is reporting things that someone doesn't want reported. All else is public relations. You can get what the team wants on team time, but in the precious opportunities that the rest of the media has, none of those questions should be taken up by the PR department. The PR department is running it. The PR department. They could say one more question. They can end the interview at any time. And to have one of those questions be asked by the PR department is perverting the entire process. I like Larry a lot. He's a super guy and I respect he has a job to do.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, it's got nothing to do with Larry. It's just about the dynamics of that role.

[Dan Bernstein]

I hear this all the time because people don't know who works for the team, because people don't understand where the content is coming from. When you know who's working for whom, there should be a time and a place where the team paid guy on the payroll, an extension of the PR department could have access to whatever he wants. Whatever he wants. That's up to you. You're the team. But when it does come time for other people and outside media to try to find out things by asking pointed questions and following up and trying to find out things you don't want out there, that's a different opportunity, a different time and place that should not be taken up at any point by questions from the PR department.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right, so there was, I'm done.

[Dan Bernstein]

With my, my, my old man rant.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, no, it's fine. And that was the, the, the question about Nishan Wright and Dennis Allen's answer about, about your guy, Nishan Wright. If you, if you're smart, you got some talent, you want to work hard, we're going to make you a better football player. I just, I just like this answer, you know, And I think what stood out to me about it was we're going to make you a better football player. And he doesn't go into the hole. We're going to make you a better man. The whole, this whole idea with football coaches, throw the man. Yeah, yeah. Just, hey, you want to become a better player? We're going to make you a better player. That's what's going to happen. And that's what we've seen with Sean Wright also, you know, third round, third round draft pick, but now getting opportunities to be successful on the field and taking full advantage of those opportunities. And like we talked about with, with one of our football friends, Kevin Fishbane, is he playing himself into a bigger contract outside of the Bears organization? He certainly has.

[Dan Bernstein]

One of my favorite little trivia notes of this season and one that I think is illustrative of the NFL in ways that maybe people don't appreciate. Look at the Patriots defense under Mike Vrabel and look at how many of their starters have been cut by another team. It's something like seven or eight or so.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, yeah. And on top of that, look, look at the guys that he's got rid of, guys that were staples in the regimes before him. And he said, yeah, but that is.

[Dan Bernstein]

Like that story, I think, has been underplayed. And if, when you sell that across the league and we go into these drafts and we look at draft pedigree and all that. But when you can consider, when you can sell a practice squad guy, when you can be one of these guys at the end of Hard Knocks, that we see him get cut and he goes back to his apartment, he's packing up and then he gets a text and we want to put you on the practice squad or whatever it may be because somebody got hurt. The fact that that guy could, could. There's a reasonable chance that guy could become a Pro Bowler is really cool. It's a really cool thing about the league, and it does talk about variance and situation and nature versus nurture, but I would love to know sort of where they are now and what it says about the job that Vrabel's done and the developmental ability and the pro scouting ability to find guys who've been cut where other teams said, we don't want you on our team. And another team can be leading a division with a defense populated by those guys.

[Matt Abaticola]

Do you know, off the top of your head? Because I'd have to look outside of Rabel. Guys that have come off the Bill Belichick coaching tree that are actually good. Good at coaching.

[Dan Bernstein]

Not enough.

[Matt Abaticola]

Right. I mean, not as many as you would think.

[Dan Bernstein]

Or head coach, I mean, like Josh McDaniels, I think, is clearly a good offensive coordinator.

[Matt Abaticola]

No. Guys that have gone. Yeah, I think by, by that, I mean head coach, the coaching tree, guys that have. That have left. Left the nest. And now you become a head coach and you're actually good at what you do.

[Dan Bernstein]

Matt Patricia?

[Matt Abaticola]

No. Right.

[Dan Bernstein]

Eric Mangini.

[Matt Abaticola]

No.

[Dan Bernstein]

Charlie.

[Matt Abaticola]

Is it. I think it's just. Was Romeo Cornell there with New England or.

[Dan Bernstein]

I'm Making that up might have. I mean, I just.

[Matt Abaticola]

I think he was, wasn't he. Wasn't he there with Charlie Weiss?

[Dan Bernstein]

I think that's probably right.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

But there's a lot of people that were just sort of. It's like what happens with any great coach, where people just aping the demeanor and the weirdness rather than the genius. They just don't have what he's got.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, also. Also not. Not being your own person, where Vrabel is who he is instead of taking on. This is the guy that I came from. Yeah. Cornell was head coach for the Browns Bengals. No, because Bangles was. Who was the longtime guy there? Because that was during Cornell's time as head coach?

[Dan Bernstein]

Romeo. Hold on, Romeo.

[Matt Abaticola]

And why can I not think of the Bengals head coach now forever?

[Dan Bernstein]

Was it Hugh Jackson you're talking about? Because they. No, there was. Romeo Crinnell was the Cleveland Browns coach from 2005. He was a coaching assistant to Parcells. So his connection was the Parcells connection.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

Crinnell was.

[Matt Abaticola]

He was never with the.

[Dan Bernstein]

He was with the Patriots from 93 to 96 as defensive line coach. Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

Marvin Lewis is the Bengals coach I'm thinking of. Yeah. All right, so let's move on to Declan Doyle.

[Dan Bernstein]

Let's.

[Matt Abaticola]

And just a few cuts from Declan Doyle.

[Dan Bernstein]

He says stuff, by the way, he's very good. There's one thing I've noticed about Declan Doyle is when you go back and read some of the stuff he says, you look at it like, oh, that. That is more significant than it sounded when I heard it.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. No, he shares a lot of stuff. And the first stuff he's going to share is on Vic Fangio's defense.

[Declan Doyle]

Vick has done a great job just over the years. I mean, he's really changed the way teams play defense. You've seen a lot of teams structure kind of the way they're built off of how he's built his defenses in the past. You know, it's. It's principled. They do a really good job of understanding, you know, what their scheme, where the issues are, you know, how. How they use their players is really advantageous to them. They do a good job of holding the shell and trying to disguise and make things cloudy on the quarterback. And so the main thing is really, it's still about us. It's still about his process and being able to, you know, see the defense and make sure that his post snap picture is, you know, either the same as what he saw pre snap or very quickly transition into, hey, I need to move on or move my eyes or my feet somewhere else.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes. Now that he's describing Friday.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, yeah, that's what he's talking about.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

He is describing the defense tries to make it look cloudy for the quarterback. And then when you get that picture.

[Dan Bernstein]

The essence of it turn back around. The overlay, the overlaying those two photos and drawing the right conclusion from them is the essence of success or failure for him in this game. That and delivering a ball where it's.

[Matt Abaticola]

Supposed to be delivered well, again, that's. That's like the third step in the process. That's why. I mean, yeah, it's going to. It's going to be a good test for that young quarterback.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right.

[Matt Abaticola]

He was asked to talk about Caleb's improvement from the start to where they're at now.

[Declan Doyle]

His eyes have improved, his feet have improved. They've gotten better every week. You know, you go back to the tape every week and there are plays where you're like, man, this is what it looks like. You know what I mean? This is what we want all the time. And then there are still plays that you're like, okay, this isn't what we want. Okay, this is how we want it. And he's very receptive to all that, and so that's been awesome. It's been great to work with him. He's a guy who's very hungry for growth. He's very hungry to hear feedback, and he wants to improve, and that's really the first step in a lot of steps.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right, more with Declan Doyle, where.

[Dan Bernstein]

Peel's eyes weren't in the right place.

[Matt Abaticola]

And is that tied to some of the inaccuracies?

[Declan Doyle]

No, I wouldn't say that there was any specific time where he wasn't looking at the right spot. And, you know, he would have to answer that better than I could. As far as, you know, where that's leading, there's certainly plays that we want back from that game. We felt like, you know, we had some further down the field throws that if we had brought the ball down just a little bit, may have been explosive plays for us, but that's something that, you know him, J.T. you know, coach, we're all working to get corrected, and, you know, we'll continue to do that.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right, then, Last one with Declan Doyle. There are times during the game where you see Caleb use different arm angles to get the ball around. Defensive lineman. While that's a great skill, it seems.

[Kevin Byard]

Like sometimes that puts the ball behind the receiver.

[Matt Abaticola]

How do you improve.

[Kevin Byard]

Not taking that away, but improve.

[Matt Abaticola]

You're using that talent that you have, but you have to still lead your receiver.

[Declan Doyle]

Yeah, I think every quarterback is different. It's all about ball location at the.

[Kevin Byard]

End of the day.

[Declan Doyle]

And so we want him to play within the rhythm of what we're asking him in the concept. At times there are going to be off platform throws where there's a guy in your face or I'm on the move or something like that. You're trying to limit those as best you can with the protection being clean and giving him a pocket to operate from. And yet at the same point in time, that's why, you know, he's a guy that gets taken first overall, is because he does have the ability to play from some different arm slots. But that's something that, you know, every snap it's again, it's different. Like, we want to try to try to eliminate the variation there. And yet if he has to step up and make a funny body throw, the biggest thing is that the ball location is premium.

[Dan Bernstein]

Wow. Eliminate the variation.

[Declan Doyle]

We want to try to try to eliminate the variation there. And yet if he has to step up and make a funny body throw, the biggest thing is that the ball location is premium.

[Matt Abaticola]

Premium.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's twice. He started it by saying it's all about ball location. He finished it by saying the ball location is premium.

[Matt Abaticola]

Has to be premium.

[Dan Bernstein]

Has to be. Try to eliminate the variation, the variance. If he needs to make a funny body throw, that's a window into Ben Johnson there. Yeah. Because this is kind of his mouthpiece. That is a window into how he sees it.

[Matt Abaticola]

Right. Because this offense wasn't created for Caleb Williams. This is Ben Johnson's offense that Caleb Williams is being asked to execute.

[Dan Bernstein]

There it is. It's. It's all about ball location, premium.

[Matt Abaticola]

And that's why I get, I get frustrated with, with Caleb when, when they do present opportunities for him to have a clean pocket and he has a firm foundation to throw. And I've said that his footwork has gotten better, his vision has gotten better. Declan Doyle just said that areas of.

[Dan Bernstein]

Improvement, this is another step that he's.

[Matt Abaticola]

In the right place, he's in the right spot, he's seeing the right things. And you have all the opportunity to get a premium throw made. We need to be more consistent with those opportunities in whether it's a big play opportunity that's down the field that could maybe put a game away earlier, or it's an opportunity to end a game where you're not giving a team that shouldn't be in the game with you an opportunity to come back and either tie it or take the lead to close that game out. Those are the opportunities that frustrate because. Because I know that he has the ability to make those throws and do that. Like, it's the great throws that are. That are. That are off schedule, that are the secondary playbook that are just like. Those are the ones you, you. You shake your head and go, how did he just do that?

[Dan Bernstein]

And whatever you got to do, do it.

[Matt Abaticola]

But ideally, it's the ones that are there in the structure of what they're creating. Hit those throws and stop being inaccurate with those throws. Now, again, I went back and watched the Steelers game and I've talked about the missed passes and how it's frustrating and people are saying. And I've seen some comments, Dan, of like, do you want him to be 50 for 50? You want to be perfect?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

No, no. I mean, I take it that's not right. But it's not reasonable, right? He was like 19 of 39 or whatever. 1935, whatever it is. All I'm asking for is five different passes. There were five passes in that game that he had opportunities with a clean pocket and a firm foundation and an open receiver to make a good, accurate throw that gets a first down or keeps a drive moving or ends a game.

[Dan Bernstein]

There was at least one bad throw that was caught, too.

[Matt Abaticola]

So all I'm saying is I'm not asking for perfection, but hit those opportunities that are there, and instead of being 19 of whatever, you're 24 of whatever.

[Dan Bernstein]

He'd agree with you, right?

[Matt Abaticola]

Of course he said that.

[Dan Bernstein]

He said it.

[Dennis Allen]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

But great stuff, though, from Declan Doyle. I mean, I just. He really shares a lot of great insights.

[Dan Bernstein]

He said it.

[Kevin Byard]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

If you are looking for a party that everybody's gonna actually remember, I got the place for you to do it. It's beer church brewing in New Buffalo. It is just a hop and a skip from Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana because at their pizza making school private party, it's everything you think it is, but better. I kind of thought it was like being at Willy Wonka's Pizza Factory. All the stuff that I was learning and the passion with which they describe everything, because you and your crew get hands on. They've got these awesome wood fire kitchens. It's real Neapolitan pizza. You learn how to stretch the dough properly. I tried to actually toss it up in the air a couple times. I didn't quite.

[Matt Abaticola]

It Was all right, that's hard to do.

[Dan Bernstein]

One kind of spun on me.

[Kevin Byard]

Yeah, it's hard.

[Dan Bernstein]

And I had almost hit the floor, but I grabbed it. But I think given time, I could probably get okay at it, but I was too hungry. So I'm like, fine, this is enough. Now can we stretch it out? Can we get it?

[Matt Abaticola]

You're still eating the uncooked crust, the dough, I mean, kind of nibbling, still hungry.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, don't tempt me because it is that good. And then you top it with the ingredients. You dig in. You. When you do one of these parties, you can eat every pizza on their menu. No joke. Every one, they can just keep bringing them until you say stop. Because the fire's so hot they only take two and a half minutes to actually cook.

[Matt Abaticola]

Even if you're not doing a party there, you can go eat every pizza on the menu. Just go order one after the other eating them.

[Dan Bernstein]

And they make their own craft beers. They've got wine packages or cocktail packages with the party. If you want to do a pairing with the beer church, small batch brews, they can do that too. It could be a lunch party, it could be a dinner party. It's private, it's exclusive. Friends, family, your whole office. It's like nothing you've done before. And it's memorable and different and incredibly delicious. You can book it [e-mail] to let the pizza party begin. Beerchurchbrewing.com and if you just want to go hang, this is a great weekend to do it. If you want to just take a little bit of a drive and find yourself a spot on the patio. The heated patio. All the games are going to be on. So watch and nibble and nosh and drink and enjoy and say hi to John.

[Matt Abaticola]

Ask with John. Tell me you love his sauce. And then, you know, tell them, hello, I. On Sunday during the Bears game, I didn't tell you this. I ordered pizza. I'm not going to say where I got it from. It wasn't like a chain place.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right.

[Matt Abaticola]

And it's a Neapolitan style margarita. But why I ate one slice.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, because you know, you know, you know it's not.

[Matt Abaticola]

I'm so disappointed.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. Because you have, you have a. Something in your head that it's going to satisfy, but only the realness is going to satisfy that. And that's certainly what you get at beer church. So visit beerchurchbrewing.com I have a really important update for you.

[Matt Abaticola]

Wait.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait.

[Matt Abaticola]

Hang on. Hang On. Hang on. Hang on. I got something. When you have updates. Hang on. Yes, hang on.

[Dan Bernstein]

This is a penis punch update.

[Matt Abaticola]

Breaking news. We. We now go live to reporter Dan Bernstein standing by. Dan, what's happening with the penis punch?

[Dan Bernstein]

Details at this point, Matt, are sketchy. I am standing outside the NFL offices. We have been waiting all day for an update on how they are adjudicating the penis punch. What we are hearing is that Carolina Panthers safety Trayvon Merrig was suspended one game by the NFL for what is being called an act of unsportsmanlike conduct. Merrick hit Niners receiver Juwan Jennings in the groin after a play of the fourth quarter. Now, the NFL, this just handed to me. The NFL said that Merrick has violated Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1, which applies to quote any act which is contrary to the generally understood principles of.

[Matt Abaticola]

Sportsmanship and touching another man's wiener, including.

[Dan Bernstein]

Among others, throwing a punch or a forearm or kicking at an opponent. Now, Matt, I have got a copy of the NFL rules here and I have looked at Rule 12, Section 3, Article 2, that says stop punching people in the dick. And it's been in there for a long time. So he's also in violation of the stop punching people in the dick rule. So Trevon Merrick is going to appeal the suspension, but he has been suspended. It is possible that while Jennings action after the game is under review for a fine, only Merrig will be suspended. This has been your forward progress. Penis punch update. Further bulletins as events warrant.

[Matt Abaticola]

Nicely done. Nicely done. Thank you. Good job. Thank you, intrepid reporter Dan Bernstein.

[Dan Bernstein]

I'll be heading back out there soon.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Just in case. I'm staking it out, just in case there are more penis punch updates.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right. When I saw it on the rundown, the penis punch, I thought again, you were going to share a recipe from Grandma.

[Dan Bernstein]

Pour yourself a big old ice cold tall boy, a penis punch, right?

[Matt Abaticola]

One of their big bag of dildos and penis punch and you're good to go. Thanks, Grandma. Happy Thanksgiving.

[Dan Bernstein]

Happy Thanksgiving, Grandma.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right, real quick here as we take a look at tomorrow's games for us, Dan, while you're enjoying your Brussels sprouts and your served soup and your inconsistency, I don't think we're doing soup. No soup. Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't think. No soup for us.

[Matt Abaticola]

No soup for you, at least.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, I'm. I've got my plan. Just leave me alone. I told you what my plan was.

[Matt Abaticola]

You should bring like a can of Campbell's and be like, hey, can you pop this open for me since we're not doing soup. In all seriousness, cuz, like, hey, what's up, cuz? Where's the soup?

[Dan Bernstein]

Beth has in the past brought a can.

[Matt Abaticola]

Is this gonna get you in trouble?

[Dan Bernstein]

No, she. She loves. We'll just cut it out. She loves the canned cranberry sauce. Oh, like Ocean Spray or even, like Kroger brand.

[Matt Abaticola]

Who doesn't?

[Dan Bernstein]

She loves the canned stuff.

[Matt Abaticola]

So does my wife. She loves it.

[Dan Bernstein]

She's brought it in the past because we've got, like, the. Some they make. They make cranberry sometimes. Sometimes one is a sage cranberry sauce. Sometimes one is sweeter than the other.

[Matt Abaticola]

I made one one year.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yep.

[Matt Abaticola]

And in addition to having the canned stuff.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. She says if it doesn't actually have the lines from.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, so count. Yeah, I. One year. I made it one year. I'm like Johnny Dangerously. I did it once.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. My mother hung me on a hook once.

[Matt Abaticola]

Once. Yeah. And I won't. I won't do it again.

[Dan Bernstein]

That movie's bad, by the way.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, but it's. It's great bad.

[Dan Bernstein]

So bad.

[Matt Abaticola]

Bargain Ice Hole. Don't say that.

[Dan Bernstein]

I saw that in the head. Sons of you Fargo Ice Holes.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, it's a great movie. It's a great movie.

[Dan Bernstein]

Bargain War. And then the newspaper spins out.

[Matt Abaticola]

And it's such a good movie.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, it's not.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yes. It's so good. All right, while you're enjoying all your food tomorrow, Dan, for Thanksgiving, you get packers lines first, which is great.

[Dan Bernstein]

What time does that start? Noon.

[Matt Abaticola]

PM Noon.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. Noon start. All right.

[Matt Abaticola]

Then you get the Chiefs at the Cowboys. That's your. That's your great uniform match at your tree charity game.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

Do you like when the Cowboys wear the helmets that have the red stripe on it? No, not. Not the bottle of beer. They don't, like, run around with a red stripe on. Take the beer off your hammock, man. No, it's like the actual red. I don't like that either.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, I don't like it.

[Matt Abaticola]

It looks like it looks like something they forgot to take off. Yeah, I don't like.

[Dan Bernstein]

Looks like that. They would be the evil cowboys in the movie.

[Matt Abaticola]

The Cowboys with the red stripe, man. So Chiefs, Cowboys are your midday game, and then. Oh, my God, I'm so excited. The Digestion game is what the Digestion game is. Hang on.

[Dan Bernstein]

This one. I'm going to be having some pack.

[Matt Abaticola]

Bengals at Ravens. Yeah. It's not a strong way to end. Yeah. How long I mean, you don't know this off the top of your head. Like when they added this third game. Yeah, that's a. NFL network added a third game. And it like at first it was exciting and then. But the matchups always haven't been good.

[Dan Bernstein]

You know that. That is one that's perfect for. I'm not going to want to go seek out a television during the meal. I don't think it'll be on.

[Matt Abaticola]

Like, if there's one in front of you, you'll look at it, but you're not gonna go.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, no, I'm not gonna be like, there's a game going on and I'm missing it. That'll be like by the time I.

[Matt Abaticola]

7:20. What time do you eat?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, probably around six. Okay, so we'll be right in the middle of it.

[Matt Abaticola]

Do earlier. We're doing like a four o' clock start.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, we'll be nibbling around five is when the cheese plate comes out and we're just kind of hanging. But yeah, we don't, we don't usually sit down till a little bit later.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay. Yeah, no, ours is. Yeah. Post that afternoon game.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Then it's like, you know, the top button gets undone and then maybe I.

[Matt Abaticola]

Circle back of your blouse or your.

[Dan Bernstein]

Pants, all of it for a sliver of maybe a little bit more pie. Because we'll have pumpkin and pecan and sometimes I like to do two rounds of pie.

[Matt Abaticola]

How many candy bars are you having tomorrow?

[Dan Bernstein]

No candy bars.

[Matt Abaticola]

You're not going to bring any?

[Dan Bernstein]

In my pocket. You should just slip out of take.

[Matt Abaticola]

Five or something up your pocket.

[Dan Bernstein]

I brought my own candy bar.

[Matt Abaticola]

It was really good. And then tomorrow when you're with your cousins, you should ask them this. Who is the first big time rare boat rambler? Who cares? Probably some hunk who said wombats. Yeah. And then you do.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

You can get them all signed up on my bookie and have some fun, play some games.

[Dan Bernstein]

We'll hang out there. Yeah, I think some of the nephews are already enjoying my bookie. My bookie, my bookie. Wherever I go, I know he goes.

[Matt Abaticola]

There was Hank had a. Hank and Jack both had tournaments, basketball tournaments this past weekend at Elk Grove. Elk Grove Village High School. Okay, so we're out there and walking up to. Through the field house to go to the court. The first game, one of Hank's teammates, he was like, hey, hey, was this. Listen to Ford Progress? I'm like, you were like, why do you. Why do you listen to Ford progress? He's like, well, I hear it when I'm in the car and my parents listen like, oh, so your dad listens? He's like, no, my mom and dad, they both listen. So if I'm in the car with them, they're listening. I listen to it too. I listen to a lot.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

I'm like, thanks, man. I appreciate that. You 12 year old seventh grader.

[Dan Bernstein]

I got an email from a guy or we got an email from a guy who said that his little kid likes to listen to music. And at one point the kid was disobedient and he said, look, if you don't shape up, you're not going to listen to your songs on the way home. And the kid actually said, don't make me listen to Dan Bernstein.

[Matt Abaticola]

No, he didn't. Seriously? Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Which is, I love him. I want to send him a special something, I think.

[Matt Abaticola]

Do you think that parent uses that as punishment now?

[Dan Bernstein]

He better.

[Matt Abaticola]

You better finish your food. Otherwise you're listening to the Dan Bernstein unfiltered.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, that's right. And nothing but at a lot of volume is absolutely the proper way to raise your children is to threaten them with having to listen to me.

[Matt Abaticola]

So instead of maybe reading bedtime stories like put in Forward Progress and listen.

[Dan Bernstein]

For a few minutes or play the lullaby that was already made for Aaron Rodgers.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right. Happy, happy. And do not forget that on Friday, immediately after the game, we are going to be on this show live with immediate Bears post game. So make sure you're subscribed, make sure you set your alerts, make sure you're ready.

[Matt Abaticola]

We'll be talking about a Bears victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday as the Bears will jump to nine and three and take over the second seed in the NFC playoff picture.

[Dan Bernstein]

You think so? I want that to be the case, but I definitely wouldn't bet on it.

[Matt Abaticola]

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