← Forward Progress - A Chicago Bears Podcast
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- [00:00]
A
Why choose a Sleep number Smart bed?
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B
Can I make my site softer?
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C
Can I make my site firmer?
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B
Can we sleep cooler?
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A
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C
I mean, if you're a Bears fan, you're thinking forward progress. Come on. Forward Progress, a Chicago Bears podcast with Dan Bernstein and Matt Abeticola on 312 Sports.
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B
Oh, we're going to give you Forward Progress today. This is a Chicago Bears podcast and today's special episode of Forward Progr is presented by our good friends over at FanDuel and by Giordano's. Giordano's is celebrating Chicago sports moments big and small this week. Da Pizza is the real MVP. You can order yours now@giordano's.com well, this is going to be our last forward progress before the post game, and I gotta tell you where I am mentally on this. That's in a weird place because I'm freaked out, to be honest with you. I'm freaked out thinking about how you stop Matthew Stafford because you really don't. And that's what I'm trying to deal with here is the fact that you can't presume that you're going to keep this team from scoring. So it's a weird place to be to say the Bears are going to maybe need 35 points, I don't know, 40 points. It doesn't. It doesn't matter how you win the game as long as you have more points than the Rams.
- [02:04]
D
Right?
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B
And I'm just not going to do this where I have to feel that every single drive has to be a three and out. You know, holding him to a field goal is going to feel like a turnover to me. And I'm going to presume that they're going to get a touchdown on every drive unless otherwise proven, and that the Bears are just going to have to match them.
- [02:23]
C
Yeah, Dan, we looked at the numbers the other day with the rams and their five losses during the regular season. They averaged 28 points in those losses. Pukinakua is going to get his yards and his receptions. He gets a lot of targets. Matthew Stafford is going to get his yards. This team is going to score points. The Bears are going to have to score. For me, what's important is not getting derailed or out of your game plan right away and staying with what you think is going to be an effective game plan to win this game. 60 Minutes is a lot of time and a lot can happen. And the Bears do get yards in chunks and they get big plays at times from Caleb Williams. I really would love to see, and we talked about this a lot this year, a nice quick start. We saw the Bears come out last week and they had an opening drive field goal after not scoring on their previous nine opening drives. The they need to score. They need to score in the first quarter and I don't want that. I just don't want them to panic and get into a place where they have to feel like they need to reach or step outside of what they plan to do against the Rams. Now, the steady eddy nature of Ben Johnson hopefully keeps them on track and I hope he does make a commitment to the run game because you're going to need to run the ball if you're going to be successful in this game. You're going to have to run the ball. And, and like we've talked about all week too, Dan, even with some of our guests, your runs may not get you those big chunks, but you've got to be committed to the run to keep their defensive front aligned and also aware that you're not going to get away from the run and then take advantage of what you have in those opportunities with Caleb Williams and his arm and fields and plays downfield.
- [04:01]
B
I think the game is going to be decided with how the Bears can defend the dagger concept. And it's something we've brought up. It's something that Tim Jenkins talked about. It's something that Carmen Vitale, Matt Miller, our guests in this space have all talked about. And just to refresh, the dagger concept is relatively simple. It tends to work against man and some zones it is a deep clear out, sometimes right along that hash mark, sometimes outside of it. It's a deep clear out route and a dig underneath. So you put defenders in conflict, you put the hook curl linebacker or the shallow linebacker in conflict, you put a safety in conflict and there's often a shallow cross that comes in opposite the direction of the dig. So, so you've got, you've got three levels here where Stafford is incredibly effective at finding the layers in the defense. And usually what they want is not necessarily that deep clear out. You can throw it if you have it, but they want to pull the safety out of there for that underneath middle crossing, dig. That's basically the dagger concept. And other than having a great front four, there's no real good way to consistently defend that with the exception of committing to it with quarters coverage, having four guys across the back, having four guys where people dropping into zones where everybody's responsible for a fourth of the field at that point, which I know this is oversimplifying, but I don't know how they stop that. I really don't. Based on all the problems that they have and based on their inability to generate a rush with their front four.
- [05:55]
C
No, I can't disagree with any of that. And it does. It's alarming to think about how can they prevent big chunks and yards happening because it's going to happen. They just need to limit what the Rams do. You know, it's really interesting to look at both offenses and what we've talked about this week as well, too, and Karman brought it up a lot yesterday because we mentioned the 13 personnel for the Bears as a Bears advantage with those three tight ends and of course with Colt, with Colson Loveland, who really runs like a wide receiver, and she had mentioned how the rams are in 13 personnel almost 40% of their snaps this year, which is the most of any team, and what they can do with their three tight ends to see those two pieces of the offense moving both ways, you know, with 13 personnel, how can they prevent those big chunks from happening? Now for the Bears, we've seen it in the last few weeks. They can't. They can't go man to man. They just don't have the ability, at least for what we've seen the last few weeks. Now, we don't know what progression has been made for Kyler Gordon, for Jalen Johnson, mentally and physically over this last week after being in games where they're at as far as their ability and their levels concerned. But we know that the Bears have had trouble all year long and, and one area that we've seen open up is that middle part like you've talked about. And the Bears have been getting, they've gotten killed with that. And you can't cut, you can't counter that with man coverage because you're just trailing the whole time. And what I, what I think, what I think Sunday's going to look like, Dan, for the Bears, particularly on defense, is very busy. I think it's going to look very busy.
- [07:31]
B
Why?
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C
With showing different fronts and then seeing who Drops out. The different movement, the different shifting, the. They're showing different things. And then really, when the ball snapped, where guys go, I think it's going to be really busy. Like that second half of that packers game, to me, got really busy. There was a lot of movement defensively, and I don't think defenses want that. I don't think Dennis Allen wants to do that. But that's what you need to do with this team. You need to try to confuse the quarterback as much as possible. Now, Jordan Love, they were able to have an impact on. Even without getting to him or getting hands on him, they still impacted him. Matthew Stafford, you're not going to impact him without getting hands on him.
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B
I was just going to say that this isn't Shedeur Sanders. This is not J.J. mcCarthy.
- [08:19]
C
It's not Jordan Love either.
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B
And it's not Jordan Love either. This is somebody who has seen everything that is watching film as we speak to try to figure out what indications the Bears didn't even know that they were giving in some of that movement. And he's also a guy who can't wait for you to try to send extra people. Because I know when we say the front four's gotta do it, and any Bears fan has been watching games is gonna be saying, well, their front four can't do anything. They haven't done anything all year. And why should we all of a sudden expect in this game that they're gonna be able to generate a rush? Therefore, you're sending others. Well, you're. Do you want the numbers on Stafford against the blitz?
- [09:01]
C
Yeah, let me hear him. I know what they are, and it's not. I don't. I literally don't want to hear it. But it's valuable to put it out there because it is frightening.
- [09:11]
B
All right, I don't. Because he has been blitzed 33% of the time by opponents this year, and I don't know why that number stayed that high. Because Matthew Stafford's rating against extra rushers or blitzing.125.4.
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C
That's his rating against the blitz.
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B
When there's at least one extra rusher. When there is a. When There is a fifth rusher, his rating is 125.4. And it gets worse. He has 32 touchdowns and one interception. 32 touchdowns, one interception against an extra rusher.
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C
Didn't he have, like 48 or 50 touchdowns in the season? So 46.
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B
So 32 of 46 were against the blitz. And if you say, well, let's subtract that one from his total of his eight interceptions. That is when they only rushed four. When opponents rushed four is when he threw seven of those. And his passer rating is down to a meager 94. Little scary.
- [10:28]
C
Like I said, he's going to get his yards, they're going to get their points. The Bears have to be able to sustain drives and be effective and efficient on their drives. They can't go a stretch where they're going three or four possessions in a row with three and out. They just can't. One area that you can get to the Rams is on third down. Dan, we've talked about this. They are one of the lowest teams in, in all the league to have to see the number of third downs. They're like 30th in the league in third downs scene. So they don't get to third down very often. They also convert third downs very poorly. So when they do get there, they're generally not converting their third downs. So whatever Dennis Allen and the defense has come up with, whatever that is that they do on first and second down, they need to keep the Rams. And this isn't just the Rams. This is any team you play, but in particular the Rams, you need to keep them at third and long because they don't see third down often and when they do, they don't convert generally very well. Where the Bears have been a better third down defense against most teams in.
- [11:29]
B
The league, I've also been thinking too about where the defensive backs are going to play in their assignments against the various permutations of wide receivers and tight ends and, and back splitting out. And if you know that your front four can get home and maybe they just need a little more time, we've got to give hand more time. He'll have those shields down that you, you would think get a good jam at the line, be physical, press them at the line of scrimmage and be physical against some of these receivers and knock them off their route stems, let them, don't allow them ease to, to ease into their stuff. But the problem with that is I don't want him missing. I just think you're playing with fire there too, because then you get the mailbox throws where the hand is in the air, somebody stumbles or somebody gets thrown to the ground. You're choosing a little bit of higher risk there. But this is all stuff that Dennis Allen's trying to figure out. It's all about risk management. It's all about what you do. If you say, look, Montez, sweat has Been close. He's been so close. All he needs is a little bit of extra time. One. One more hitch from Stafford that's going to allow him to. To disrupt a play, to wreck a play for a strip sack fumble. Then. Then maybe you would do some of that. But then I'm thinking he's really not all that close, despite what they've been saying. And you might be better off picking that receiver up a little bit later to make sure your footing is a little bit better. You can stay in phase that you can mirror some of these patterns better. I don't. I wish I had a right answer for you. I wish I had an easy way where stand on the table and say, this is what the Bears should do. But maybe it's my natural fear that when I think about it there, there's always like an equal and opposite reaction that makes me want to throw up. Right.
- [13:23]
C
And because when you look at it, when you look at Adams and Puka, Nakua, I don't like anyone's chances pressing and trying to jam because all it takes is one step. One step and that. And that's not a first down. It's not a chunk play. It's a touchdown. That's what that is. And I would rather give a little space, like as you said there to be able to mirror the route and maybe, you know, guess where they're going, what the play looks like. You know, again, this goes into preparation. You know, I have to agree with you, too. I know. Ben Johnson said it the other day. He was asked about Montez Sweat and he said that he's having a great year and he's just. He's been there. He's been there and he's creating a lot of issues. And I didn't. I haven't seen the same things that Ben Johnson has. He has played the run game well. And again, we've talked about this all year long, Dan. I'm not going to begrudge a guy for whatever someone wants to offer him for a contract. And this is what Ryan pulls offered him, hoping that he would project higher than where he's at. And he hasn't. He hasn't met what the money was offered. Not angry at Montez. If someone wanted to give me $50 million to do this, I'm not going to say no to it. I wouldn't deserve that, but I certainly wouldn't say no to it. Montez Sweat was given this money. He didn't demand it. They gave it to him.
- [14:35]
D
He took it.
- [14:36]
C
He's not he's not living up to NFL standards for what that money deserves. He's a very good player, but he's a number two edge rusher on a team. He's not the main guy and it's as unfortunate that Ryan polls paid him as the main guy. And you know, you've seen better play from Dominique Robinson, we've seen better play from Grady Jarrett as he's getting healthier and that knees getting stronger.
- [14:55]
B
Saying better play is such a low bar. You know what better play is? Multiple sacks.
- [15:01]
C
I know, Dan.
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B
I know the game. It's taking the ball away.
- [15:05]
C
No shit. I would love that. But getting better at least is better for this team because this team has got zero pass rush ability. They really don't on a consistent basis. And maybe with, you know, with the way that Austin Booker's been playing, he's been playing better. And I know it is a low bar. I'm not going to disagree with you on that. But that's where it's at right now. You can't fix this thing on the fly and you're getting guys back to C.J. gardner Johnson, he'll be back from concussion. Obama Miga is back. You have Joe Tryon Shayinka is back from concussion. So you're getting more bodies and if it means a more of a rotation and guys like on the sideline ready to go in and out, to use those disguises and use those different fronts to show and then pull back whatever it might be. All hands on deck for this game. You have to. You have to.
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B
Chicago, it is playoff time and there is only one way to do game day, right? And it's Giordano's. Giordano's is celebrating the big game this weekend with their limited edition pizza. It's called Da Pizza. Inspired by one of the most iconic teams in Chicago history. And Da Pizza is packed with the city's favorite flavors. Pork and beef meatballs, pepperoni and jardinera. And I'm, I'm pulling the pizza over to me as, as we speak here because it's been, I'm so jealous. It's been a Giordano's festival already here so far this morning and throughout the day. So it's pork and beef meatballs, pepperoni and jardinera. That's an over the top combo. A fitting tribute to a team that is remembered for power, for personality and swagger. Order yours now@giordano's.com. get the whole crew ready for Sunday. Let's keep the run going. Chicago football hometown pride. Giordano.com. now.
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C
What do you got? Let me see. Let me see. Oh, my God, dude, I'm so hungry. I'm so. I'm so jealous of you. How good?
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B
It's perfect. It's the jardinero. Excuse me.
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C
What's the heat level on the jardiniera?
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B
I'd say it's a medium.
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C
Okay.
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B
It's just ripe. It's not overpowering.
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C
So it's great flavor.
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B
Well, you already have the pepperoni. That gives it a little bit sort of baseline heat. The jardiniera gives it a little more of that. That acidic kick to it that balances out the. The creamy mozzarella. Oh, that's so good.
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C
I'm heading there later today, pal.
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B
I'm gonna go grab one.
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C
Yeah, I'm gonna. I'm gonna sit on the couch just in my underpants, watch movies, and eat.
- [17:47]
B
Eat. Giordano's cool thing is when you do order in, when. When you order it in the restaurant, they will do a stenciled 85 for Da Pizza in Parmesan in a way that makes a great photo. And it's actually in the Bears uniform number font.
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C
Oh, nice.
- [18:08]
B
There's 85 right there. It looks super cool. That's really good.
- [18:11]
C
Very good. Well, I'm very jealous of you. Let me tell you this. That Buddy fanduel is. They are turning on playoff mode. And all customers get a profit boost pack every NFL playoff game day. So each game day during the divisional round, you'll find a pack loaded with multiple profit boosts waiting for you in the app. More boosts means more ways to level up your playoff bets. So pick the matchups you believe in or take a shot on an upset or build a parlay that fits the moment. And you know what I'm doing. I've already told you this. I know I'm. I'm. Maybe I'm crazy, but I'm taking three road teams and a home team that are all the underdogs. So I'm going with Buffalo one and a half, San Francisco plus seven. Houston's getting three at New England. And of course, I'm taking the beloved the Bears at three and a half, getting three and a half at home against the Rams. And I'm also on the Bears Rams game, I'm going under the 48 and a half. So that's what I'm playing. I'm playing those four together. Doing an extra, doing a separate one too, on the bears plus three and a half and the under 48 and a half. I think the weather is going to have a big factor in what happens at Soldier Field on Sunday.
- [19:22]
B
I saw this number and I said, I'm taking it. And that is for an anytime touchdown, Colston Loveland is plus 210. I thought that was a mistake. But no, Colston Loveland is plus 210 for an anytime touchdown in this game.
- [19:40]
C
And I think his receiving yards are lower than they should be, too. So that might be a good, a good option for you as well.
- [19:50]
B
Yeah, they are. You can get for Colston loveland to be 60 or more receiving yards. You can get plus 110 on that. Yeah. For 70 or more, you can get plus 178, 80 or more, plus 265. If you want to bet on Colston loveland to have 100 yard receiving game, you're getting plus 580.
- [20:12]
C
All right, let's go. Let's go. So those are. I'm taking the three road teams and the Bears. So Buffalo, San Francisco, Houston, all getting points, bears getting three and a half and I'm going under 48 and a half. So then you apply your profit boost and go after even bigger payouts while the playoffs keep rolling. So visit FanDuel.com podcast and grab your profit boost pack every NFL playoff game day. But wait, there's more. This huge sports weekend in Illinois deserves something extra to celebrate. Starting right around noon tomorrow. That's noon on Saturday. FanDuel is removing the tax on all bets through Sunday night. So save 50 cents on every bet. Once again, that's FanDuel.com podcast and grab your profit boost pack every NFL playoff game day. More action. No fees this weekend, the weekend of all weekends only on FanDuel. So 21 and older president, Illinois opt in required bonus issued as non withdrawable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply including any token expiration and max wager amount. See terms@sportsbook fanduel.com gambling problem. Call 1-800- GAMBLER I got a little.
- [21:26]
B
Bit of bad news I want to pass on here regarding the injury to Ozzie Tropillo. Yes. And this. Take this for what it's worth. But I had there was an emailer who actually wanted me to ask about this because the email that came in asked a very specific question. It was a guy named Mike and he said, is the Ozzy Tropillo injury potentially career altering? So the patellar tendon can be very fickle. And he said something like only 55% of players in the NFL return after a rupture. Said age is on Ozzy's side, but height and weight are not. And it's a really good question. And I got back to the email and I said I would ask, so I did. And I asked a prominent sports orthopedic surgeon about this particular injury. And I'm just gonna give you the response because I thought it was certainly a reasonable question to ask. And I asked in just that way. My question was, is a torn patella tendon career changing for a left tackle? Only 55% of NFL players return after a rupture. Is that right? Here's the response I got. Yes. Really tough one for that position. And here's the explanation for why. The demands of the position, plus the size of these dudes, explosive demand with a lot of eccentric force across the tendon. The repairs are great for getting back to regular life, so to speak, for most folks. But for people who need to push that amount of weight dynamically, it is a tough one.
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C
So that's not good. Not good at all. Don't like hearing that. But you know, Dan, we have talked a lot about this week about the Rams and the Bears and their tight ends and 13 personnel. And I think it'd be really a great time right now to bring in not only a guy who understands the tight end position, but a nine year NFL veteran. NFL insider. This guy knows his stuff when it comes to, to playing the tight end position. Dan, so really excited to have Clay harbor join us here on forward progress. Clay, how you doing, man? It's good to see you.
- [23:52]
D
I'm good, man. It's, it's a beautiful brisk day here in downtown Chicago. I live right here in River North. Cold. And let's keep it getting even colder for this game because I don't think these boys from Los Angeles want to play in this. It's. There's something to be said for this cold weather, guys. You know, some people might overstate it, but I think it's going to be a factor in this game.
- [24:14]
C
You know, I'm glad you said that because get your opinion on it. You played in Jacksonville. I mean, you're, you're a Chicago guy. So you know, the weather. What and really how much of a factor is that when there's a warm weather team going into a cold weather climate? When these guys have played college ball all over the country and they've been playing in the NFL, They've played everywhere. Inside, outside, cold, warm. How much does it really impact a team that generally doesn't play in this cold weather?
- [24:40]
D
Okay, so I'll give you. I'll give you a quick story. You know, I was born in Libertyville. I'm from Dwight, Illinois. You guys probably don't know where that's at.
- [24:48]
B
Doesn't show up on St. Louis. I've driven to St. Louis and Clay.
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C
I actually, I live in Libertyville now. So. Very familiar with Liberty.
- [24:57]
D
Yeah, that's where I was. Birthplace, Condell Hospital out there in Wrigleyville. 9 pounds, 10 ounces. I'm sorry, mom wasn't my choice. That's a big old baby.
- [25:09]
B
That's a big baby there.
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D
And my parents are pretty small people. People are like, wait, that's your mom and dad? My dad's 5 9, not. I mean, not short, but for being 6 4. Me and my brother both. Both 6, 4, 2, 5 0, guys. My mom's 5 5, and, you know, my 9 pounds, 10 ounces. Poor lady.
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B
What's any mailman look like?
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D
Yeah, exactly.
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C
Mailman, six, five.
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D
Yeah. And then being mixed doesn't help that either because my mom's a redheaded Irish lady and my dad is blacker than my shirt. So when they see us separately, they're like, who are these people you're walking around with? I do not see the resemblance here. But for those listeners, I'm wearing a very black shirt right now. Sorry, dad. We'll give him grief about that. Anyway, so my dad, smile. We can't see you when the lights. When the lights are down. Like a movie theater. But anyways, dad jokes aside, to get back to your question, yes, I'm from the Midwest. I played college football in the Midwest. I haven't went to Philadelphia Eagles for my first three years in the league. It's cold up in the Northeast. Go four years in Jacksonville. It's different down there. It's sunny. It's always. It doesn't go below 70 degrees. I remember after playing in Jacksonville for a couple years, the first thing I would do and when we get the schedule, I'm just turning the back end. Do we have to play any outdoor games in the Northeast and the Midwest or it's going to be cold? Because there's no way to simulate that in practice. I'm a guy that. I want everything to be the same as the game, right. In practice. The feeling, the stretching the ball, how it feels when it's catching at the wind. You can't go inside that bubble and turn the AC down to 30, 20 degrees and get used to the cold. It was 82 in LA today. 82, okay. And then you show up at Soldier Field. I know you're like, you're from here. You're used to this. Guess what? I'm used to Jacksonville now. It was something that does affect you. And I think you can see Matt Stafford's career splits at Soldier Field. The guys in 12 games, the guy's thrown 16 touchdowns, 15 interceptions at soldier Field. It's a difficult place to play. It's a different environment. I think there's something to be said for that.
- [27:23]
B
Looking at the Rams running a 30 front and how that's going to match up against what the Bears like to do has been interesting for me, particularly with their use in of with outside zone run and how they've been able to stretch and cut back to find things on the backside. And hell, a lot of times on the front side too. When you've got people winning their individual matchups, however they may end up in the zone. How is it different against a 3, 4? How is it different when you know that you're you may be forcing some of these linebackers? You know, there's four of them now who are going to be making their way down into each of these decision points.
- [28:06]
D
Well, there's just less double teams and I think this isn't necessarily a disadvantage for the Bears because I think they got two tight ends, I mean three tight ends actually that can really block. Colson Loveland is a guy that, you know, we knew the athletic ability and I looked at him in college and I said this guy can block. But I'll tell you from a tight end perspective, I thought I could block in college too. My first three years in the NFL I learned I couldn't block. It took me about four years to actually be able to go, okay, there's a three, four edge overhang linebacker out there. I can hold the point, but you're going to have to count on the tight end to hold the point in some one on one blocks because that nine technique is basically what it is. The outside linebacker is going to have outside leverage. You won't be able to double team. The tackle is not going to be able to help you. So you'll have to lean on some of these tight ends, which I think Cole commencement one of the better blockers in the league. I don't care what the pro football focus grades say, he can hold a point against an outside linebacker, a defensive end, one on one matchups. Most tight ends don't even get put in those situations. So Cole is a guy that can do that as well. And I think what we've seen with the Bears run game recently, it's had that dip in production. Last three games are 27th in the NFL in rushing football, 84 yards a game after finishing the season a third with 144 rushing yards per game. The double teams and obviously when you're playing as a team like the packers that see your tendencies, they kind of know what you're doing. It's harder in my experience to go out and run the football when you're seeing the same teams over and over again. They come up with little tricks. They kind of get used to your schemes, how you block them, whatever. So I think that with the Bears tight ends that overhang 3, 4 defense won't be as much of a problem as it is for a lot of teams because these guys can play in every aspect of the game. Ben's even got the wide receivers blocking out there. So I think that's something they can overcome and I definitely think it's something that they need to do because what's the best way to stop Stafford and Puka Nakua? Keep them on those heated benches. Keep on those heated benches, I was going to say. Or.
- [30:11]
B
Or have. Have a front four that doesn't need help in the pass rush, especially with the concepts that they run. We've spent time looking at the dagger concept with which they're. And a lot of NFL teams use it. The. The packers are just. Excuse me. The Rams are uniquely successful where they're sending the deep clear out. They've got the hard dig underneath and then they have the opposite direction shallow cross. If you were the Bears right now, I know you don't want to necessarily be in man and trailing all these things. You're not going to play quarters deep coverage. We haven't seen them do a lot of that. How do you make sure that your assignments sound in a way that you're not just running behind Puka Nakua? Running behind devonte Adams?
- [30:59]
D
Yeah, that's the problem, right. And the Rams are so good against the blitz. Matt Stafford is really good against the blitz he's got. Has a 125 passer rating against blitz. 30 touchdowns, one interceptions. When you blitz this guy, he loves to be blitzed. I played out one year in Detroit, the Lions with Stafford. We made the playoffs. We got bounced the first round at Seattle. He likes it when you blitz them because quarterbacks like that are just really fast processors. He studies more tape than anyone. He's going to know where to go with the football. So like you said, Dan, you got to hope to get pressure with that front four. And I know the Bears are 29th and pass first win rate at least in the regular season. I think Austin Booker and I. This is going to sound crazy, but I think he's going to be a pro Bowler someday. He might not have had a huge production this year. When I look at that film, this guy's relentless. He's got great pass rush moves, he's quick, he's stronger than you think. For a guy that's not the biggest edge rusher in the league. In league history. And you could just see it by the amount of snaps he's playing. He played almost every snap last week. You got to hope him and sweat can get some pressure. But with the dagger concepts, I mean you saw it with the same thing with Jordan Love, really good against the blitz. But in the second half the Bears came out there, they started blitzing them. You had some corner blitzes. You had you. You started throwing a bunch of different things at them and you got them off, off balance. I think it comes down to stopping the run. Rams are really good against play action. In play action, no team has more touchdowns out of play action. The rams do at 20. I thought this was an interesting stat. There are fourth in EPA in play action in the entire NFL. The only team that has allowed more touchdown passes out of play action is the Bears. So come in, stop this run game. Which Rams have the seventh ranked rushing team? People don't realize that. Blake Corum, Kyron Williams, they have the seventh best rushing team in the NFL this year. And that offensive line, I mean it's Bears Rams for me. I mean they're interchangeable. That this. The tackles are stalwarts, they're good. The guards, they get Dotson back this week. Really good. Coleman Shelton would be their only weak link. Weak link at center. And he's not the same guy as he was last year when we were watching him get beat for interior pressure with the Bears. So really good offensive line as far as stopping Nakua. I'm sorry, I mean he's probably going to get his. He averages. This was something I also thought was crazy. Just doing like research throughout the week. Pukinakua averages 108.3 yards per game during the playoffs. That's the most in NFL history. This guy is not only averaging 95 yards per game in the regular season, which is the most in NFL history so far in his career, he's averaging even more and the most passing yards per games in the playoffs. I think Tyree Stevenson, I think Some of these bigger receivers are better matchups for the Bears than the quick, shifty guys. So that's something you can help. But he's so tough. Great hands, big body. It's going to be hard to stop him.
- [33:58]
C
You know, I want to talk about Colson Loveland just a little bit with you and use your experience at the position, Clay. So let's say you're, you're lined up as, as Colson Loveland going into this game. You have the Rams defense that you know and you have the weather that's going to be a factor. It's going to be cold. What, what don't you want to see from the Rams defense as Colson Loveland lined up anywhere on the field? What don't you want to see as Colson Loveland?
- [34:25]
D
I think the same thing goes with Sean McVeigh as Ben Johnson is it doesn't matter what they do to us because these guys are so good. You saw last week, Pukinakua caught a touchdown as a running back out of the backfield. They will move these guys around. You saw Colson Lovell line up the backfield. He'll line up in the slot. They'll come out in a jumbo formation. That two point conversion to where you have an extra offensive lineman, three tight ends. Then you shift out Colson Loveland and he's playing against some linebacker that's, that's runs down the field on special teams. He's trying to guard Colson Loveland one on one outside as a cornerback. It's not going to work. I don't think this Rams defense right now is very good at all. First 11 games of the season, best defense in the entire NFL averaging 16 points a game. Given up number one the last seven, they're 27th in the league giving up 28.3 points per game. The defensive backfield here with the Rams and they got Quentin Lake back last week, which was their. Is their slot defender. He's a safety place slot. He's a Where's Waldo guy. To me he just, he's not great at guarding it. He's like Chauncey Gardner Johnson, like if. If lately later in the season he's just not very good at covering in the slot. If you can find whatever matchup Loveland, if it's burden, if it's DJ Moore on Quinton Lake who gave up 90 yards and six catch last week to the Carolina Panthers. That's the guy you attack for Loveland, there's nothing really.
- [35:53]
B
He.
- [35:53]
D
The guy is too big for cornerbacks if you want to put a cornerback on me, fine. I'm too big for this guy. If you want to put a safety on me, fine. I'm gonna, I've run better routes. Linebacker. Thank you. I am way too fast for this guy. So I don't think there's, there's anything that they're going to be able to do with the way Ben moves these guys around, is able to motion shift. The number one motion team in the league, Los Angeles Rams. The number two motion team in the league, the Chicago Bears. A lot of similarities in this offense.
- [36:22]
B
The Rams like to use primarily zone defense. I want to say Chris Shula is something around like 74% of something like that on the back end. If you're not going to have the time for multiple vertical routes, if your obvious classic zone beater is just going to be all verts. But how do you use the running game then and pick your spots? Perhaps out of play action of getting, getting the linebackers to creep up a little bit, maybe changing the shapes of some of these zones with, with play action as needed. But I, I'm just a little concerned with all of their eyes facing Caleb Williams. You're not going to have some of these bailout scrambles that may have the same effectiveness. What does it mean if they're all facing in that direction for the Bears?
- [37:10]
D
Yeah, I mean once you these extended plays. Right. It's not man to man like you alluded to Dan, that where you can that their backs turned to the quarterback where you'll see Caleb scramble. What I wouldn't mind seeing though is some zone reads. I'm not saying to run, go out there and run 10. But Caleb is one of the fastest guys, most athletic guys on the field. And I'm not, I'm not just saying that like he is that type of athlete. Next gen stats put out this number for the 20 plus mile an hour runs for players this year. There's a list of 10 top 10. Nine of them were running backs. The number five player and the only other player that wasn't running back in the list, Caleb Williams, you kind of utilize that but, but zone defense makes it harder to scramble. But the thing you gotta love about Caleb and I mean sometimes he could run some of these balls and I think he does like to look down the field is that he is that guy that wants to keep his eyes downfield and I think in the zone with him creating the extra time. This defensive backfield is not great with their, with their, their zone schemes. They're not great with their zone discipline with, with their execution in zone. So the longer these plays are extended, the more you're going to start finding some holes. And I think that's where the Bears really take advantage of this. Rams team up front. Jared Verse. I turn on the tape, I look at as a tight end, I don't want to block that guy. I look at the other side. Let's go Byron Young man, I don't really want to block that guy either. And then you got Theo Benedict coming in going against Byron. He's going against Jared Verse this week. He'll play on the side with Jared Verse. That's the matchup that I think could get sticky. And I know Jared Verse only has seven and a half sacks this year, but he's second in quarterback hits in the entire NFL and he's fifth in quarterback pressures. This guy's a game wrecker. He's extremely physical. He has a great speed rush, he has a great power rush, bull rush. And I think those are the things that Theo Benedict struggles with. So you want to get the run game going. I'm say run a good run blocker. Let Theo pin his ears back and run right at him. Because in the pass rush, Ben will have a, will have a plan to help him out. I don't think he's get too many one on ones, but he's a guy that scares me when I look at the film.
- [39:24]
C
You know, talking about Caleb, what has stood out to you the most in his progression from the start of this year to where he is at now?
- [39:33]
D
I would say his comprehension of the offense. I mean, I was out there for OTAs and minicamp and these guys weren't breaking the huddle right a lot. I mean, I mean there's get back in the huddle, the twos. You're up. Yeah. I'm like, wow, man. I mean, I know it's tough to learn a new offense, especially for a young quarterback. Second year in the league, I'm like, man, this year might get ugly. Then obviously they go and they, you know, the first two games aren't pretty. You lose to Minnesota. But the way he runs this show now, you can see that they're going to the line of scrimmage with two, three plays. Sometimes based off where the safeties are run or pass based off where the three technique is. You see the opposite, opposite. You want to run to the guard bubble. So you're going to go up there now. He's going to identify. Okay, where's the three technique? Where's the guard bubble. Which way do we want to run? Where do we have the numbers? And he's a guy that not only is getting in and out of the huddles, getting the play out there, getting the line on time. Like I said, second in motion rate, tons of shifts. It's a tough offense to get. And for him, obviously, we see all the. The crazy throws, the throwing left, the Jumpman throw to Rome, just the touchdowns and all that. Great. But to comprehend this offense, the moving around, the moving aspects, the shifts, the motions, everything that he's able to do pre snap is probably where I've seen the most growth and how he can identify coverages and getting into plays that work for him. And I think that's something that you need to do when you got a guy like Ben Johnson to be able to kind of utilize the aspects that that Ben brings gives you. It's the fact that he is so good at putting his team in good situations.
- [41:11]
B
Why are the Rams bad at special teams?
- [41:14]
D
That's something I tried to figure out. I mean, how often do you see a special teams coach get fired that late in the season? And then I'm watching this, this Panthers game, like block punt, there's having trouble even catching punts out. There wasn't even that windy of a game. And I think that's somewhere the Bears can. Can really thrive. And people talk about the weather for the. Obviously the aspects of tackling the ball's a little bit harder. You're cold, you're not as loose. You know just how it feels to get hit generally. But I think the biggest thing is Kyro Santos is used to this. HT will take them out to Soldier Field. They'll get practices in on the field extra. And just to make sure they're used to the swirling winds of Soldier Field. You don't want to come kick here? Yeah. I've heard people tell horror stories like just being friends with kickers about certain places they play. Guess what? Chicago was one of them. No. Kickers like to come into Chicago, especially when it's 20 degrees. Feels like negative something. And try to kick a football. And then Cairo. Santos is used to that. And the crazy thing is this guy's Brazilian. Man, I've been to Brazil. I've been to Rio and Sao Paulo. It's warm out there. Okay.
- [42:22]
B
And are you allowed to be friends with kickers? See, I thought that was frowned upon. And I thought kickers didn't have any friends except the long snapper.
- [42:31]
D
Yeah. So the kickers, they don't practice that. But they go snap and they kick. They go back in the locker room. But for some reason the kickers and the long snappers are usually pretty good at ping pong. And I was a ping pong guy. So I'm getting some, some really big matchups with these guys thinking we're Forrest Gump, you know, hitting the, you know, hitting the pad back and forth because these guys will go practice. Yeah, remember Jason Myers? I still think he's kicking. Was really good ping pong player. I had Josh Goby, David Akers with the, with Eagles. I mean, I've had a number of good kickers. Matt Prater, I mean, that guy was old when I was playing with him and he's still playing. I'm like, what's going on out there? How's Prater still in this league? And still.
- [43:10]
B
Because they let him mess with the kicking balls again. Because they're kicking soccer balls out there. I saw it, I saw the contraption the Bears used to have when it was Jeff Jaeger and Mike Haran and they had that thing they had like these two by fours and they would put the ball, they put in the dryer and they'd heat it and they'd soften it and then they would push on the ends until it was round. And they were using that and they're letting him do it again. That's why these guys are making it from 70.
- [43:40]
D
I haven't see, I haven't got to touch or like feel one of these kick cables they call. And why you're seeing these guys kick the 70 yard field goals, Cam, Little Elvis, he can kick a 75 yard field goal. The guy can't kick a 54 yarder at the end of the half. Sorry, I'm a little bitter about my Jaguars still. They're lost there. But anyways, you know, yeah, that cable. I haven't got to see him up close and personal. But that's funny. I didn't even realize that that's what they're doing.
- [44:06]
B
They had a time, I think the kickers used to. They were all in cahoots with each other that the opposing kickers would call to the other, the home team and be like, hey, are we good on the kicking balls? What are you guys doing? And by the way, have you done the thing where you soak it in water and then you let it air dry and then you heat it up? They're.
- [44:26]
D
No, no, we got it.
- [44:26]
B
We're all good. And everybody, they were all conspiring to make sure they could make all these kicks.
- [44:31]
D
Oh, that's funny. I was. I had a cup of coffee, more like a shot of espresso with the Patriots. I mean, I was there the whole off season. I played six games, wasn't long at all. But that happened to be during Deflategate, you know, so the ball, like, was. You couldn't mention it. You couldn't say it out loud. You had to make sure you're in, like, a closed door. Don't let Bill Belichick hear you say anything about Deflategate, about a football. Obviously Tom Brady, he was out the first four games of that season. Don't say anything about a ball. Or you might, you know, get a pink slip in your locker. You know, come see Bill, bring your playbook. But, you know, that was something that was interesting, too.
- [45:09]
C
Well, Clay, this has been, you know, tons of fun. Really appreciate you taking the time. Would love to catch up with you before the super bowl as well, if we could, too.
- [45:17]
D
Yeah, absolutely, man. That'd be great.
- [45:19]
C
All right. Thank you, Clay. Thanks for your time. We'll talk to you soon. But take care of yourself. Enjoy the game this weekend.
- [45:24]
D
Yeah. Let's go, Bears.
- [45:25]
C
Get that W. That's right, bud. Thank you, man. That's Clay Harbor. NFL veteran, nine year NFL veteran, tight end position.
- [45:33]
B
Playoff weekend calls for pizza. And Giordano's is celebrating the big game this weekend with their limited edition pizza. It is called Da Pizza. It's inspired by one of the most iconic teams in Chicago history. Now, you want to know what this is? Tell me more, Bernstein. Well, it's got their pork and beef meatballs, pepperoni and giardiniera, an over the top combo. It's a perfect tribute to a very specific team, remembered for their power, for their personality, for their swagger. I have now sampled both the thin crust and the deep dish. You can also do it in their new tavern style and it's awesome. It's spectacular. When you are in a Giordano's, they will do this pizza with a Parmesan stenciled 85 on it. So if you are a creature of Instagram and it is important to show the world what you're eating and if it's the most in most fashionable possible Bears pizza you can get is at Giordano's. And I can tell you firsthand it tastes spectacular. Having that pizza for both breakfast and lunch today, that has been my day.
- [46:52]
C
It's not a bad day.
- [46:53]
B
It has been wonderful. So order yours now@giordano's.com you can get the whole crew ready for Sunday. You want these to show up right before kickoff, hot and ready, I'm there and everybody is diving in. And then you can keep this run going with Chicago football and hometown pride.
- [47:10]
C
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- [48:54]
B
I know we haven't really gone through this yet. I got. We got to figure out what's going on with the sweater because we last week I mentioned that I had the the Bears sweater. My old 1984 I believe the Ditka sweater. And it was in the same drawer in the dresser of my childhood bedroom. And I, I texted my dad, I said hey, see if it's there. So my dad found the sweater and he sent me the picture of and it's in. It's. I thought it might have been all moth eaten and all messed up, but it's not. And you know, here's the shot of that. That's the sweater. That's and he apparently I found out after the fact. He had it on. He was wearing it for the first half.
- [49:43]
D
Okay.
- [49:44]
B
He took it off before the second half. He said it was not on during the great second half. And he said this. This is. He's left it up to forward progress. He said, you and Matt must decide if I should wear it anymore. Maybe my taking it off was lucky. So I want to make that call right now. I think fold it up and put it back in the drawer where it was.
- [50:09]
C
Yeah. I think never touch it again. So if he had it on the first half, took it off at halftime, is that. That's what he said?
- [50:15]
B
Yep.
- [50:16]
C
And then we saw what happened. Yeah. I would say just leave it alone. Put it back in the drawer. Don't touch it. Don't bother it.
- [50:22]
B
He's.
- [50:23]
C
I don't know. He's. He's got some bad mojo by pulling something. Yes, he did.
- [50:28]
B
Right. I agree with that. It's meant to be back in. In the drawer with God knows what else is in there. So that's. Is that our official recommendation?
- [50:38]
C
Correct? That is our official recommendation. Put it back in the drawer, pretend like you never saw it and leave it there.
- [50:43]
B
All right. Fold it up, put it back and back away. There's no special incantation that we need to.
- [50:51]
C
I don't think we need to make him do that.
- [50:52]
B
I mean, we could make him dress like a Druid and do some sort of invocation. Okay. All right. No chanting of any kind because he'd do it if we told him to.
- [51:05]
C
I know. I was thinking we only mean, like, be mean and have him do something. Spin around four times. Do a push up. Yeah.
- [51:12]
B
Then chant something like a scavenger hunt where he has to go to the four corners of the earth to find the Horcruxes or whatever it is to make sure that this thing isn't. Isn't throwing off the Bears opportunities.
- [51:25]
D
All right.
- [51:25]
B
Okay, good. That's. That's decided. Just wanted to make sure when we reconvene on forward progress, it is going to be after we have an outcome between the Bears and the Rams, which is going to be around 8:30. So just. You know what the plan is on Sunday. First of all, your plan obviously is going to be to arrange to get that Giordano's pizza and get that pizza delivered. Or you go pick it up or you go. You eat it in before the game. So we're going to open up our post game chat room. What, just before kickoff?
- [51:57]
C
Yeah, dude, just before kickoff.
- [51:58]
B
So What?
- [51:59]
C
Kickoff's at 5:30 well like 5:15ish somewhere around there.
- [52:03]
B
And the YouTube link will be under the Live tab. If you do have the 312 sports app and if you do not have the 312 sports app yet, I don't know what's wrong with you because it's absolutely awesome and they made it just for us. And you can get it in the Apple App Store and Google Play. You can register your account to win all kinds of prizes. We just are now added the Giordano's prize in there. So if you want to go in there and use the promo code eat, you can try to win or Giordano's also Morton's, the Steakhouse and the Smith right now. But once you are registered for you will get a notification that says we're going live. And that way you'll be able to tune right in when we're on. But even before we're on, you can go in there and people are chatting. You can hang out. It gives you a place to commiserate. It gives you a place to celebrate. And if you are a loner, you want to walk away from the annoying party and actually talk to our people. Particular brand of 312 sports folks that are in there. It's a fun place.
- [53:06]
C
Absolutely. Yeah. Look forward to it. So make sure you join us live for the postgame show right here on Forward Progress as we celebrate a Bears victory and talk about a NFC championship game at Soldier Field. Because that's what we'll be doing on Sunday night.
- [53:19]
B
This special episode of Forward Progress has been brought to you by Giordano's celebrating Chicago sports moments big and small this week. The pizza is the real MVP order yours now@giordano.com and by our friends, our good friends over at FanDuel. So we will talk to you Sunday night.
- [53:45]
D
Forward Progress has stopped.
- [53:53]
C
Forward Progress, a Chicago Bears podcast with Dan Bernstein and Matt Abeticola on 31 2, sports.