← Forward Progress - A Chicago Bears Podcast
Forward Progress - A Chicago Bears Podcast
Is this the best offensive rookie class in Bears history?
00:51:31
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- [00:00]
A
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.
- [00:22]
B
We give you forward progress on 312 Sports as we cover your Chicago Bears and their pursuit of a Super bowl championship this season. There isn't much left to be determined, but there are some possibilities that we will go through all the playoff permutations once again for this last game of the season. The Bears will be kicking off 3:25 same time as the Eagles and the Commanders, a game they will be watching. And we got our first injury report of the week you yesterday. It's an estimation because they only had a walk through and Joe Tryon Shoinka and Roma Dunze were the only DNPs. They did not participate. Josh Blackwell limited participation with a shoulder injury. Luther Burden with his quad also limited. Same goes for Nick McLeod with an illness and Ozzie Tripillo with a knee injury and a quad injury listed full participation for wide receiver Lamide Zacchaeus coming off the illness that kept him out of the last game. So things look okay and I don't know where you are on how they make some of these decisions and where Ben Johnson's we're playing to win edict falls on how they decide who's going to go and who's not.
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A
Yeah, then jts by the way, he had a concussion. I don't remember the incident in the game. Do you recall that? Maybe I just, it just slipped my memory.
- [01:48]
B
No, I think that that was in between plays they had mentioned something that he had been taken out. I don't know remember seeing a specific Neither do I.
- [01:57]
A
Okay. But yeah, he's dealing with concussion and then on the lion side of things, the three well for me the most significant guys that were still active and playing your guy anal zone with a concussion, Sewell with an ankle and then St Brown with a knee and ankle were all DNPs. And just another note from our previous game here against the Niners. CMC and Williams were out Tuesday and Wednesday from their walkthroughs. Normally they sit out Tuesdays as veteran rest days, but they were actually listed with injuries. So CMC with the back and then Williams obviously with the hamstring. So that was a little significant change in their injury report for the Niners who were playing a big game against the Seahawks this weekend, battling for the number one seed in the nfc. So as far as, as far as I'm concerned, Roma dunes a even if he can go shouldn't go. There's no, there's no reason for him to be out there. I'd give it another week and let's get ready for the playoffs. One one area and this might be controversial or maybe even stupid on my part, but Jalen Johnson, we've talked about his performance. We've talked about how we can all recognize that he's just not quite there yet and we can't without being inside his head. We don't know if it's active, that he's just not putting the effort there or if he just doesn't have the ability right now to put the effort forth that we're used to seeing him on the football field. Obviously the coaches have seen something in that he was sat last week in the second half for Tyreek Stephenson. Then afterwards he was didn't seem happy. The tone that in the response he gave about being benched that he's 100% healthy doesn't quite get it and I don't know if they would be able to pull this off without losing the player further mentally if he's not quite ready. I'd rather sit him too. I would rather sit him and give him another week of not having game participation just because of trying to get back to it. But does that slow down that timeline of the reps and the time on task, as Ben Johnson always says in playing the game itself to get back to where we're used to seeing him play? Is that even possible this year?
- [04:04]
B
Well, he has to be hearing from trainers and strength conditioning staff and everybody to make that call. I don't know how hurt or not Jalen Johnson is. I also have a have a tough time when you see it on the tape and you can say, well, you know, he didn't really stick his nose in there in the run game the way he has in the past or the recovery speed isn't there. And there are any number of things you can nitpick on the tape that would explain why he was benched at halftime in favor of Tyreek Stephenson. But I always struggle to call out a player's effort. It may just be that despite what he said when he said I'm 100% that maybe he is hurting and maybe maybe he knows it and he just doesn't want to say it if he is 100% and he's not going to hurt himself further and you've got some more difficult decisions to make when you're in a one and done situation after this week. Part of me kind of wants to know for sure, I'd rather have a little more data. And maybe you don't. Maybe that's the answer is, yeah, if you play him a few series, it's not, it's not binary. Maybe I kind of talk my way into the answer, and that is start him, see what. And if you got to take him out, take him out if you feel like he's being targeted, if they see something that'll tell you something and you got to listen to what he says and then look at the objective evidence in front of you because that would, that would really hurt if they have figured out that he's not what he was for the remainder of this year.
- [05:42]
A
Yeah, I think. No, that's, that's a good approach. I like that you said that. And maybe having a rotation or situational rotation between he and Stevenson and getting some more data and some more opportunities and that, more time on task to see what they can evaluate going into a one and done situation. I like that approach to it. So see there you convinced me that maybe he should play and just. And if it's not working out, then. And maybe they walk into it with an approach of rotating guys through and that's just, that's just how it works. And you know, at the end of the day, you're the player, they're the coaches, and they dictate the playing time. Sorry. You know, and if that's a problem for you, then we'll see how that works out for being a part of the team.
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B
And the most important thing you can do is just have him be as honest as he possibly can be.
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A
Right.
- [06:27]
B
It's like when a manager walks out to the mound to talk to that starting pitcher and you just, you know, don't, don't be a tough guy in that regard. If you say, hey, I got to come out, I got to rest up for next week. And if you're told, if whatever diagnostics, whatever imaging says that, yeah, another week would, would help him get back to who he is. You know, it's sort of like the decision when we were talking about with, with Trevon Diggs, the Packers liked what they saw, so he's in there practicing, running around right now.
- [06:57]
A
They put that claim in.
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B
It did not take them long. And, and you may think, I don't know that if, if the Bears thought that Johnson were in a worse place than we believe, maybe that's a move they would have made.
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A
Yeah. And you know, we talked about that at length a little bit yesterday with, with the brothers digs, but I just think if Trayvon, to me, isn't playing a high level of football right now at this time.
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B
No.
- [07:21]
A
And that's why I didn't think it was worth the risk, because financially, it wasn't even a question. And I just don't think he was there right now at the level of football. And with Johnson, though, too, we still, and we won't know, maybe until after the off season or after, you know, who knows when. Don't know what the exact injuries that he was dealing with. Don't know if it was one side, if it was both sides of the groin, if it was a hernia thing, because we heard core, and so we just don't know what it is. He just, to me, hasn't looked very fluid in his motion and his activity and very unlike what we've seen from him in previous years. So I just, I. I want the best possible situation for Jalen Johnson to be on the field. And if he's not quite there and if a rotation is a better move for Dennis Allen, if sitting him this week is better, as you mentioned, I don't know. I don't know. But, you know, maybe having more data if he's not going to do more damage would be great. But it is. It is an area that needs to be addressed and figured out. And I just don't like the initial bubblings of some controversy that we saw after last week. Being benched and then saying, you know, I'm 100% healthy. I just. I don't like that for this team.
- [08:29]
B
Because we haven't had the timing, any of those issues.
- [08:31]
A
Well, we haven't had any of those issues for this team. This has been a very good, clean locker room for the entire season. And I just don't want stuff like this to be an issue that we're talking about outside of football.
- [08:41]
B
Yeah, I don't. I think it's still football. I do. I think. I think something like this is still football. And I think the decisions. I trust, put it this way, I trust that the decisions these coaches make are not about ego or about veteran standing or trying to play political games in the locker room.
- [09:00]
A
Oh, no, I agree with that. I saw that. We saw that displayed when he was taken out. I mean, if you're looking at Tyreek Stevenson or Jalen Johnson, you're going to say, you know, he's healthy, he's cleared to play, he's on the field. You're always going to play Jalen Johnson over Tyreek Stevenson. But they didn't do that. So clearly they.
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B
Do you expect that Jalen Johnson is going to make noise about it? Do you expect that he's going to be. I. Because I don't. I don't have reason to believe that.
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A
Well, then I guess I didn't like the response then the other day about being asked, about being benched. I was 100% healthy. I don't get it. Well, if he's part of it and he's on board with it, he would say, yeah, you know, I'm getting my legs back underneath. This is what a veteran guy, a leader would say. I'm getting my legs back underneath me. And Tyreek is. You know, Tyreek's a hell of a football player, and we're just as confident with Tyreek out there as having me out there. That's what you would say. And I think saying. And in the moment, that's easy for me as the outsider to step back and say, this is what he should have said. And in the moment, if I'm the player, I'm probably saying, yeah, I don't get it. I'm fucking healthy. I want to be out there and play well.
- [09:57]
B
Well, saying one is 100%, we've got to be careful with that. Being said it right. But he could mean I'm 100% at capacity. It doesn't mean I'm playing my best football. Mm. You know, at this time of year, everything is. Is nuanced because everybody's got something.
- [10:20]
A
Yeah. Oh, yeah, for sure.
- [10:21]
B
You know, everybody's a little hurt. Every. No, nobody's healthy. There isn't a single dude in there that feels fresh as a daisy, like it's the first day of camp. Not one. So 100% for a lot of these guys just means if I'm playing, if I'm out there, if I'm in uniform, consider me 100%.
- [10:40]
A
Right.
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B
Because that's how I want to be judged. So what? Again, it comes down to how honest they are with themselves. If he said, I'm as healthy as I'm going to be, I'm not playing my best football right now. My body's not responding the way I want it to for whatever reason. And that's why Tyreek's playing. And he. He may, in certain situations, give us a better chance to win. You know, that's. That's the hard stuff. That's the hardest thing for a player to recognize, is I might be healthy enough. I might not be in terrible pain. I'm just not playing well.
- [11:11]
A
Yeah, well, I mean, how would you feel if a player said that, I mean it's not like they're giving away secrets because other teams could actually watch the film and say, yeah, he's clearly not 100. We know what this guy can do. This is not that guy right now.
- [11:23]
B
I don't say, you say, I'm going to do the best I can and the coaches decide who plays. But, but if it is, again, you get into this, this gray area of effort, you can not be playing well but still be fair finishing plays and still be trying to move the pile, still be racing in at the end of a play. You see that?
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A
Yeah.
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B
And if you're, we see that, then.
- [11:51]
A
We see that not happening. Right.
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B
If you're, if that is for physical reasons or you're conserving yourself or you're making business decisions this time of year, I don't know that we're going to know that because nobody really would say that. It's. I just, I hope he's okay because he's one of their best players when he's right and he's not one of their best players right now.
- [12:15]
A
No, you're absolutely right.
- [12:16]
B
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- [12:32]
A
You know we've talked about the secondary, but there's another issue I want to talk about defensively with this team. And going into the season we said the secondary was going to be the significant strength of what this defense was going to be all about with Jalen Johnson being the best player on the team going into this season. But the other issue, and I think a more significant issue because we focus a lot this this year, Dan, on the pass rush and the lack of pass rush, the lack of getting pressure on a quarterback, making a quarterback uncomfortable, being able to see downfield make throws and reads. And we saw it a lot with Brock Purdy. The Bears rushing defense has just been atrocious all season and it's something we really haven't focused on because it's been taken away by Caleb Williams development, the growth of the offense, Ben Johnson and the offense and the lack of pass rush and where you have a lot of money spent in the off season and in current contracts is in the front getting after the quarterback. 12 times this year in 16 games, the Bears have given up 100 yards rushing 100 or more yards rushing 12 times, 10 times. Dan, they've given up 120 or more seven times this year in 16 games. They've given up 150 or more rushing yards seven times the last two games. Do you know how many yards have given up rushing the last two games?
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B
Well, they've given up 880 total in the last two games and I would say 4, 300 of that is rushing.
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A
392. Boy, those are the last two games in rushing yards. So it's something that we really haven't addressed enough because we really have been focused on Montez sweats and the lack of pass rush and pass pressure that they've given opposing quarterbacks. But this, this rush defense is just, is just as bad and has gotten a pass for whatever reason. Not, not a pass as we're okay with it, but a pass as far as our focus and shining a light on it and talking about it more than, more than we need to. And you know, even two weeks ago when we had Matt Miller on his weekly, his weekly hit with us, we asked about increasing what can the Bears do to have more of a presence in the pressuring opposing quarterbacks. And his answer was immediate and said be better against the rush. That's the first place to start. So what can the Bears do and why has it been this bad the entire season?
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B
The Bears are giving up five yards per attempt and that is fourth worst right now in football.
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A
And I want to say that's increased because I believe they were, they were in the fours.
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B
Well, they are at five right now. So they're 2165 yards in 430 attempts. The Giants average 5.3. The Bills just under that. Also 5.3. The Bengals 5.2. And then the Bears. That is not good company.
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A
No, it's not.
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B
Then the Commanders, then the Matt Eberfluss led Dallas Cowboys. Not good. The best team against the rush, the Seattle Seahawks.
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A
Okay, Seattle Seahawks. Where's Cleveland at? Up there?
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B
Cleveland is there the 24th, which is good. 30, you know, 32nd. Obviously we're going by fewest here.
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A
Yeah.
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B
So Seattle is best. And then Denver, then Indianapolis, the Jaguars, the Raiders, interestingly enough, the Chiefs, the Vikings, the Texans, the Browns.
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A
Okay.
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B
It's got to get better. And you're not going to fix everything right now. Certainly. And you're not going to fix everything between now and next year either.
- [16:16]
A
No, you're not. But I didn't realize it was that significant. Where I mean, dude, seven games of 150 more.
- [16:23]
B
That's why our guy Big Bill is not long for this team.
- [16:26]
A
Yeah. Yeah. You know we've had some, a few people have commented to us in email and then on YouTube as well about Big Bill's effort in the 43 yard run that CMC had and I could have sworn we've talked about it in the post game show because I called it out and said that he ran 40 yards downfield and you said. Yeah, because they told him there was gravy at the end of the run.
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B
Yes, we did.
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A
We definitely did say it on the post game show. I knew we did. I knew we wouldn't ignore Big Bill. Yeah.
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B
Because there were some people who were expressing disappointment that we hadn't mentioned and they're also. We also said that they didn't say so on the broadcast because it was right there on our screen that Christian McCaffrey was pinned underneath Andrew Billings.
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A
Yeah. No, that was a different play where he got ignored. Then Sewell got all the credit for it. That was the tackle behind the line of scrimmage play where Big Bill sat on top of him and he got zero recognition for the tackle.
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B
Yeah, come on.
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A
Yeah. No, the 40 yard played outfield. Yeah, yeah. So we definitely talked about it. Maybe the people commenting.
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B
Right.
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A
Don't listen to the postgame show. So my question would be why are you not listening to the postgame show?
- [17:31]
B
Well, because that's, that's the most fun. And we're going to be on again. I have confirmed, by the way that you do indeed. We have a person in charge of sending out the notification of on the app. So when you get the app for 312 sports and you should get it because it's right here and you hit the app and it looks like this. See, See how neat that is? And there's all sorts of cool stuff on here and then right here where there's this little bell that's going to be. When you set that up, when we go live, your phone's going to buzz and say hey, go tune in live to YouTube and they're doing the post game show and then you can be a part of that.
- [18:11]
A
And I'm going to set it up early again. So last week I set it up around 7pm for the 7:20ish start. So the 3:25 start this week against the Lions. I'll have the show posted and so the chat room will be open at like 3 o'. Clock.
- [18:27]
B
So the link in the chat in the lie and if you are on YouTube, you have to go in the live tab. Yes, because people say I couldn't find it. I couldn't find it because it wasn't in the shows. There's a tab that says, like videos, shorts, live. If you hit live, that's where the link is going to be.
- [18:46]
A
Right. And then you can go and because we had people hanging out in the chat room throughout the course of the entire game. So I'll have that available early again and we'll monitor and check the. The level of either joy or anger as the game is going through.
- [18:59]
B
Yeah, I don't know that this is one that we're going to get too crazy about because again, the. So much is. Is already decided. A lot of it's going to be determined by whatever this. This representation of the Philadelphia Eagles is ready to do against Josh Johnson and the Commanders. So if we're going to see Tanner McKee.
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A
Tanner McKee? Yeah. They're going to unlock him and he's going to be the key to their Success.
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B
Dan Tanner McKee. And as of right now, the packers starting quarterback, correct me if I'm wrong, is Clayton Tune.
- [19:36]
A
Have they made a decision on that? Because I know that Clayton Tune. And then they. They signed another guy. And Jordan Love was also throwing, though, too. So yesterday in practice, Malik Willis was the only quarterback of the four that was not throwing during practice.
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B
They signed Desmond Ritter. Right?
- [19:53]
A
Desmond Ritter. Correct. Yeah. So Ritter was throwing. The cartoon was throwing. And then Jordan Love was throwing and participating in throws, but Malik Willis was not.
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B
Okay.
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A
And then as far as the playoff picture is concerned, so the Eagles and Niners are playing for the NFC west as well as the number one seed. So the winner will get the number one seed. The Bears, if they win, will retain the number two seed. Now, there is a possibility the Bears could drop to the three seed. If the Bears lose and the Eagles win, they would have identical 12 and 5 records. No. 11 Bears would be 11 and 6. The Niners. The Eagles would be 12 and 5. So the Eagles would jump the Bears and go to the two seed and.
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B
Then the Bears would play.
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A
The Bears would play a home game against the Rams as the six seed.
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B
Okay.
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A
Is that right? Yeah.
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B
So that's right.
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A
Yeah. 2 and 7. So Eagles would play the packers, the Bears would play the Rams, and then the four seed would get either the Niners or the Seahawks, depending on the outcome of that game.
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B
Well, I don't mind. If I really had to decide and pick an opponent for that first playoff game right now, for sure it would be the Packers. Okay. Absolutely Would be. They've beaten them. They have the muscle memory of knowing they have beaten. Beaten them.
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A
Yeah.
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B
They're at home. The packers are hurting. They're hurting.
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A
That's correct. And they have. They have some issues at quarterback. We don't know what that's going to look like. But does the. Does the familiarity with the teams. Does that bother you at all? Does that. Does that make you.
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B
No.
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A
No. Okay.
- [21:43]
B
No. Because.
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A
Because it benefits the Bears, but it also benefits the Packers. And being familiar, this is.
- [21:49]
B
Again, this is the new world for some of us as fans. I think if you believe you have the better coach, familiarity makes you more likely to win.
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A
And then looking at the two games they've played, the packers have pretty much dominated all of. I don't know, what is it, 115 minutes out of 120.
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B
So. Yes, I mean, it's true. But in both games, the Bears observed and played and observed and found an answer. It wasn't enough in the first game, but they had their chance, and in the second game, it was enough. So it's very, very new for me to have this level of trust in a Bears coach to say, if you give him. If these teams play, the more they play, the more I like the Bears chance.
- [22:52]
A
The Bears chances. Yeah. No, that's. That's smart. I get it. The thing for me is. And I don't care who they play, I don't care what team they play. I have the Bears winning and going to the super bowl and winning it all. So it's fine. I mean, I. My. My official bet is there on my bookie, so it's done. The Bears are going to win. I don't care who they play in the. In the wild card round, they're going to win the game.
- [23:13]
B
Wait a second. If you're looking. If it's fatalism now that. That sort of screws everything up, if you've already decided, look, it doesn't matter because you've picked them to win, therefore they are going to win, then that renders a lot of what we're doing at the moment kind of moot.
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A
No, it doesn't. Here's the whole point is that my anxiety level is going to be so much higher if it's the Packers.
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B
Why?
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A
Because it's.
- [23:38]
B
You don't want to lose to him. Is this like the Cubs playing the Brewers?
- [23:41]
A
I don't want. Yeah, that's not even close. The emotional investment is not even close. Not even the same. Even though it's huge for the Cubs But I know you're right. I don't want to lose the Packers. I don't want to lose the Packers. I don't want to hear those motherfuckers come back next year and say, oh, yeah, whatever. You won the division. We beat you in the playoffs. I don't want to hear that shit.
- [24:02]
B
But don't embrace it. Don't be scared of it.
- [24:05]
A
I'm not scared of it.
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B
Trust that the Bears will win.
- [24:08]
A
They're going to win. They're going to win.
- [24:10]
B
Well, which is it?
- [24:12]
A
Shut up. Stop trying to make sense.
- [24:14]
B
Then you shouldn't have any anxiety.
- [24:17]
A
Oh, okay. All right. Let me get a mirror real quick, and I'll throw that right at you.
- [24:24]
B
But look, I copped all my anxieties, but I'm saying, well, therefore, I picked them. So now I've proved that I'm certain they're going to win. This is like, Terry. Remember when Terry's like, that's my pick. I made my pick.
- [24:39]
A
So now I'm Terry again all of a sudden. Oh, boy.
- [24:42]
B
Do you remember that whole thing? Of course. I thought they were gonna win. I picked them.
- [24:45]
A
I do. Terry a lot of times, he contradicted himself a lot. It was really sweet. But, yeah, it's just. It's the meatball in me, Dan. I can't help it, you know?
- [24:56]
B
Got the magic power of the meatball in me. I'm young, I'm wild, and I'm free. Did you hear they're getting Triumph? Yes, I was told. Keith Hastings, the program director of the Drive, told me. Told me that Triumph is getting back together.
- [25:20]
A
Okay, well, geez, we've all been waiting for that.
- [25:23]
B
Have we?
- [25:24]
A
Yes. I mean, we talked about it last week. Don't you remember on DBU episode.
- [25:28]
B
Guess what the name of their tour is? 2026, 50th anniversary. It's Triumph's first major tour in over 30 years. The Rock and Roll Machine.
- [25:46]
A
No, it's not. No, it's not. Okay, now it's okay. So clearly they're listeners. And it's a bit. This is just a bit now.
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B
The rock and roll Machine reloaded.
- [25:56]
A
All right, so Triumph's doing a bit for. From dbu. I love it.
- [26:00]
B
It's original members Gil Moore, Rick Emmett, and Mike Levine. And Bruce Levine is actually playing with him, too. Then special guest April Wine.
- [26:18]
A
Oh, good stuff, too. April Wine. This is cranberry wine.
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B
All right, well, they're coming to Rosemont Theater. Oh, wow. On May 13th. So we should see if we can get Triumph tickets in the app. If we already have Guns n Roses.
- [26:33]
A
Tickets with Public Enemy.
- [26:35]
B
With Public Enemy, we should. We should definitely have triumphant April Wine tickets in there. I'm gonna talk to some people.
- [26:41]
A
Okay. See what we can do. Two things I'm gonna share with you real quick. So I went to the Google machine. Mike Levine is the brother of Maroon. Fine. Singer five singer Adam Levine. Did you know that?
- [26:53]
B
I did not.
- [26:54]
A
Yes, they are brothers. And the Google machine here didn't tell me that they were brothers because they hate they shared parents either.
- [27:02]
B
Oh, because that's what. They only do that with black people, right? Yes, that's what it says.
- [27:06]
A
Racist Google.
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B
Right. Racist Google. They don't bother by telling you that the white people share parents.
- [27:12]
A
So I never knew that. I never knew that they were related.
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B
I never heard of Mike Levine, so how would I know they're related?
- [27:20]
A
Okay, I'm gonna go there too. Because I've never heard of Mike Levine, so therefore I could have never known they were related. I didn't know he existed.
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B
But you picked him to win the Super Bowl.
- [27:29]
A
And just on the off chance, because he's a singer and his last name is Levine, I thought, I wonder what the chances are of them being related. And sure enough, they are brothers.
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B
What about Avril Lavigne?
- [27:41]
A
She is not. She's not their brother.
- [27:42]
B
What about Zach Levine?
- [27:44]
A
Zach Levine is not their brother either.
- [27:47]
B
Okay, are you sure? Because now you gotta check racist Google. Now, the answer might be different, but I think. I think it would be great if their 30th anniversary rock and Roll Gene tour also involved Bruce Levine somehow playing music with him. But that's it. But that's just me. He can cover the tour, and that's not why.
- [28:07]
A
He can do like. Like an almost famous documentary type thing. Type thing.
- [28:11]
B
I am a golden God. I mean, I'm absolutely in for it. The Bears have four players from this year's draft who not only are good right now, but might be good for a while. Do I have this right? I just want to make sure as I'm looking at the Bears drafts and do not do that, by the way, if you don't want to throw up.
- [28:43]
A
Wait, what are you doing? What did you. What did you just do?
- [28:45]
B
Here's.
- [28:45]
A
Here's.
- [28:46]
B
Here's what I did. I'm looking at Bears drafts.
- [28:50]
A
Okay?
- [28:51]
B
I just want to make sure I have this right. This is just. This year, the first round pick, Colston loveland, he's got 48 catches for 622 yards and five touchdowns. And we have every reason to believe he's a potential star. Right.
- [29:08]
A
Okay, wait. Before you go on any further. Hang on one second. I need to correct something.
- [29:12]
B
Am I bothering you? Am I distracting you?
- [29:14]
A
No, I need to correct something because I was. I was. I was putting the ages together in my brain here, and they're not related. Adam Levine does have a brother named Mike Levine. It's not Mike Levine from Triumph, though.
- [29:25]
B
You're worthless.
- [29:26]
A
Why am I worthless?
- [29:27]
B
Wait, hold on. Wait, hold on. That makes sense, because Triumph is. How long have they been. Sorry, how long? Yes, Triumph has been around. How long?
- [29:35]
A
A long time. I mean, it's been 30 years since they had a tour.
- [29:39]
B
Right.
- [29:39]
A
So there. Well, you immediately went with it too.
- [29:42]
B
Dude, I don't know if maybe they were. If you don't use racist Google, Maybe they were brothers from another mother over a long period of time.
- [29:53]
A
It didn't say that, so it didn't clear. But yeah, I started thinking as you started talking about the draft classes, I was like, wait a second. There can be big age gap there between. Between Mike and Adam, so let's take a look a little further. So I did a little deeper dive with. With Google's. And yeah, sure enough, they just. They happen to have the same name, but they're not related.
- [30:12]
B
All right, well, I've got more information because they've expanded their lineup for the Rocket. For the Rocket Machine.
- [30:18]
A
Yeah. We'll get to the draft classes in a second.
- [30:20]
B
Expanded lineup includes Todd Kearns and Brent Fitz from Slash's band. And. And Sweet. And.
- [30:29]
A
But not Slash.
- [30:30]
B
No, not Slash. You got guys from his band. And Phil X from Bon Jovi.
- [30:37]
A
He used to be Phil Twitter.
- [30:39]
B
Phil X. I've never heard of any of these people. Yes. Canadian musician Phil X. His real name is Theophilos Zenitis.
- [30:51]
A
He's Greek.
- [30:53]
B
He is Canadian, and a songwriter who plays lead guitar for Bon Jovi, officially replacing Richie Sambora in 2016. Okay, but he's gonna be playing with the Canadian power trio. That isn't Rush. It's Triumph.
- [31:08]
A
Triumph. And not related to adam Levine of Maroon 5.
- [31:11]
B
They can't sing. We're young, We're Wild, and We're free because they're old as hell.
- [31:19]
A
Right.
- [31:20]
B
Are they still gonna sing it, though?
- [31:22]
A
They're gonna. Well, I mean, what do you expect the quality of. Level of singing to be anyway? And the rock and roll. The rock and roll machine. What is it?
- [31:30]
B
It's a rock and roll machine. Reloading roll machine. Gilmore is 72.
- [31:35]
A
Oh, so then how old would the Levine parents be. If Michael and Adam were related, they.
- [31:43]
B
Probably slowed up a lot. Rick, Emmett is also 72.
- [31:48]
A
Like they call him in one day, he's like 42 and they call him in. Hey, we got some news. Mom's pregnant.
- [31:56]
B
What? I hope they name it Mike. Oh, Mike Levine, 76.
- [32:02]
A
Okay.
- [32:06]
B
Yeah, yeah, he looks every bit of it too. He looks like.
- [32:11]
A
Okay, so if Michael Levine and Adam Levine were brothers, it'd just be a 30 year age gap, that's all.
- [32:16]
B
Yeah, well, you know, maybe it's an accident.
- [32:19]
A
Which one?
- [32:21]
B
The later one I think would be more likely. Unless your. Your family planning sucks.
- [32:26]
A
You know, I was definitely an accident. Did I ever told you this?
- [32:29]
B
No.
- [32:30]
A
My parents won't cop to it, but now My brother is 9, 8, 6 and 7. 9, 8, 7 and 6 years older.
- [32:37]
B
Oh, completely.
- [32:37]
A
Yeah, I was total accident.
- [32:39]
B
There's no question.
- [32:40]
A
Yeah, 100%.
- [32:42]
B
Wait, Mike Levine was a contestant on The Christmas Eve 1996 episode of Wheel of Fortune.
- [32:49]
A
Oh, Jesus Christ. This is getting better and better.
- [32:52]
B
Seriously, we gotta go to this concert.
- [32:56]
A
Where's it at?
- [32:57]
B
Rosemont Theater.
- [32:58]
A
Okay. Oh, done. You want to go?
- [33:01]
B
No.
- [33:02]
A
Okay. Either do I. I don't like concerts.
- [33:05]
B
I like. I like the concerts we used to have at in the other tower. Four songs, five songs maybe.
- [33:12]
A
Oh yeah, because they are too long. But also my favorite concert ever, and we talked about this, was at Wrigley and it was Elton John, Billy Joel, because I was able to sit the entire time.
- [33:21]
B
That's nice too.
- [33:22]
A
Yeah, I didn't have to stand. I'm just not, I'm not interested in it.
- [33:24]
B
Yeah, I just think most concerts, it's just too much. It's. There's too much music.
- [33:33]
A
So you should be a reviewer for concerts.
- [33:36]
B
But no, it was good.
- [33:38]
A
But they played too much music. There were too many songs. They're just too long. It's too long.
- [33:42]
B
It's too long. Like Beth asked me to go see Springsteen. Hell no, I'm not going to see Bruce Springsteen. He plays for three hours.
- [33:52]
A
Yeah. You know who I would never see is. Who's the guy, real popular guy that I don't like and he dumped his like the tour bus toilet water into the. Yeah, Dave Matthews. So I would know, I mean, if they were playing, you put them with U2 if they're playing in the backyard. I'm not, I'm not watching. But I went and saw Dave Matthews cover band here up at Austin Saloon in their fuel room here in Libertyville.
- [34:17]
B
And we did a shoot shows from.
- [34:19]
A
There before We've done a lot of shows there and like the COVID band, like the song, the songs themselves are 12 minutes long. Like. Yeah, I'm not interested in sitting through a song that's that. That's that long. Yeah, it's too much.
- [34:31]
B
It's too long. That's why those. Those concerts at.
- [34:34]
A
Give me like 90 seconds of 2 minutes tops. Get your. Get your song. I'll tell your story and finish it up. I'm good.
- [34:40]
B
Yeah. That's why the Ramones are great. You know, it's like, oh, I know this song. Oh, it's over already. Okay. That was fun.
- [34:48]
A
So Mike. Mike Levine. Mike Levine. When the band. When triumph disbanded in 1993, he continued to merchandise the band's recordings and songs. He then went into business and began living part time in Jamaica.
- [35:02]
B
That's not bad. Yeah.
- [35:04]
A
And what year was he at? And wheel of fortune?
- [35:06]
B
1996.
- [35:08]
A
Okay. So then three years later, so he moves to Jamaica. He's living down there for a bit, and then three years later, he goes on Wheel of Fortune sounding like a very interesting man.
- [35:17]
B
Not particularly.
- [35:18]
A
76. You think we should get him on?
- [35:20]
B
Have him on. Have him on from the 50? No, he won't even remember turning 50.
- [35:25]
A
Too old. Yeah, way too old. I'm having on DBU from the 70. And you can just do a, like, in depth, one on one interview.
- [35:35]
B
I'm here with Mike Levine. His name may be pronounced Levine, but I haven't done the research. Don't know.
- [35:42]
A
Maybe we could ask Bruce to come on. You could do the whole Levine clan. We get Adam, Bruce, Mike, Avril, Zach.
- [35:50]
B
Zach. Yep, they're all there.
- [35:53]
A
Yeah.
- [35:54]
B
So speaking of the Bears and the Packers, Beth and Jason were at the Hawks game two nights ago.
- [36:01]
A
Okay.
- [36:02]
B
Reported a spontaneous Green Bay chant started up at the Hawks game.
- [36:07]
A
Really?
- [36:08]
B
Yes. Okay. What is that for? How did that.
- [36:14]
A
Was there.
- [36:14]
B
I don't know.
- [36:15]
A
Was there a Bears player at the game? Did they drop the ceremonial first puck? I mean, I don't know them were there.
- [36:22]
B
I don't know. I just know that there was a. There was. It just started up. It was. It was like a Detroit sucks. But they were. Everybody was talking about Green Bay. I don't know what. What the reason was for it. Oh, and speaking of hockey, I watched the first two episodes of Rivalry. Yes, yes.
- [36:40]
A
And it's.
- [36:41]
B
It's the first two. They're good. It's a good show. It's exactly what it is. Softcore porn close to bordering on hardcore.
- [36:52]
A
Okay.
- [36:52]
B
And then it is very graphic. Whoever was the intimacy coordinator.
- [36:58]
A
Yeah.
- [36:59]
B
Their work cut out for them.
- [37:00]
A
When I texted you what I texted you. Did that ever occur or. No. No. Okay.
- [37:05]
B
No, not yet. But it is. It's good. It's. It's a. It's a really interesting idea and I'm invested in it. I'm gonna go. Apparently this is. That's sort of the end of the first act of the first season. There's two episodes and the next two. And the next two. And probably tomorrow I might finish it all up.
- [37:24]
A
Surprised that you only watched two.
- [37:26]
B
That's all we had time for. We had to.
- [37:28]
A
Oh, that's right.
- [37:28]
B
You had dinner, shower. We had to go out and, you know, I had to get myself together to leave the house and go out in public and all that.
- [37:35]
A
All right. Before I derailed everything with the. The Levine brothers.
- [37:38]
B
Yeah. I was getting to the draft.
- [37:39]
A
We were talking about draft classes for Bears draft. So let's get into that. So that's a good conversation to have.
- [37:44]
B
Loveland is good. Might be great. Agree.
- [37:48]
A
Correct. Yes, I agree.
- [37:50]
B
Luther Burden. Good. Might be really good.
- [37:54]
A
Agreed.
- [37:55]
B
Ozzie Tropillo. Good enough. And we have no reason to think his arrow isn't also pointed up.
- [38:03]
A
Agreed.
- [38:04]
B
Kyle Manungai, Definitely good and should get better or at least stay good.
- [38:11]
A
I agree. So that's four arrows pointing up. Yes.
- [38:13]
B
Four. That's one draft. Yes. And Shemar Turner, another second round pick. Hurt. Done for the year. We have no idea. Reuben Hippolyte, probably Meh Zay Frazier, we don't even know. He hasn't reported yet. And Luke Newman in, you know, he's been active for multiple games, has played and has looked. Okay. If these guys pan out on this trajectory, it would be by far the best offensive Bears draft class in their history.
- [38:52]
A
I agree with that 100% and I will say because when I originally kind of framed it, it was looking at the impact on this year and it is by far the most significant offensive draft class to impact rookie season. They are not where they are right now without. Without those guys.
- [39:12]
B
All four. And you would have to start comparing this to, dare I say, other better teams to look at an impact like this. And sure, the Bears have had great drafts before. Not for a while, but they have had a couple of great drafts and. But it wasn't mostly offense. Just going back and looking at some of these names like in 2004, Tommy Harris, Tank Johnson, Bernard Berrien, Nathan Vasher.
- [39:42]
A
Right.
- [39:43]
B
That's a really good draft.
- [39:45]
A
Great. But defense. Yeah.
- [39:46]
B
And Berrien mattered for Them, he made some huge, huge plays for them. If you look at the draft that they had the year before, that was the year they had Michael Haynes and Rex Grossman in the first round. The second round pick was Charles Tillman and the third round pick was Lance Briggs.
- [40:07]
A
Right. So defense again. And yes, Rex Grossman was the quarterback when they went to the Super Bowl. I understand that. But those Lovey Smith teams, they weren't successful because of offense. All right, so they were successful because of defense.
- [40:21]
B
Brian Urlacher and Mike Brown in 2000, it was really all that. I mean, Dez White was in that draft, Dustin Lineman, remember that.
- [40:31]
A
But it was, I mean, to go back, you have to go back to 2001 to find an offensive player that was drafted that had a significant impact on that season. That was Anthony Thomas, a train was rookie of the year. He had over a thousand yards. But again, those teams were successful because of their defense.
- [40:49]
B
All right, let me argue this.
- [40:50]
A
You had.
- [40:50]
B
The Bears had two of the best players in their history at their positions in the 98 draft. Their third round pick and their sixth round pick in 98. That was the year they got Olin Kreutz and Patrick Manley.
- [41:09]
A
Okay. But I mean, look at that 98 season, though. What was the 98 season?
- [41:13]
B
Bad.
- [41:14]
A
Right.
- [41:14]
B
So their first two picks were Curtis Enos and Tony Parrish. So. But you got to, if you really looking at just offense, you've got to keep going. You've got to keep going back to, you know, Curtis Conway and Chris Gedney in 93. And then I'm, you know, we're scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and I can't believe how many of these feel relatively recent to me. Said 88, they had two first round picks, Brad Muster and Wendell Davis and RoboCop James Thornton, who were all, you know, productive players. But the fact that I'm, I'm already looking at 1983, where you had Jimbo Covert and Willie Galt, who were both number ones.
- [42:00]
A
Yeah. And then went on, obviously, you know, two years later, they win the Super Bowl. But that 83 season, they were a.500 team.
- [42:08]
B
And that draft, again, you had Richard Dent in the eighth round and you know, Tom Thayer in the fourth, Dave Duerson in the third, Mike Richardson in the second, Mark Bortz also in the. God darn it, man. So it could be the answer could be that this might be the most impactful first round for our for or draft for offense since 75 of Walter Payton. Reevy, sorry. And Bob Avellini.
- [42:42]
A
Yes. I mean, you have to. Yeah. You're going back 50 years, Dan.
- [42:46]
B
Oh, I know.
- [42:47]
A
To find that. Yes.
- [42:49]
B
And I kept looking at all this until I ended up back in 1961 and 61.
- [42:57]
A
That's. That's Ditka's rookie year.
- [42:59]
B
That's Ditka's rookie year.
- [43:00]
A
Right.
- [43:01]
B
And he was maybe the. For a long. It's one of the greatest rookie years a tight end has ever had.
- [43:05]
A
Yeah. He had almost 60 catches, over a thousand yards. He had 1212 touchdowns in 61.
- [43:12]
B
65 was the Butkus Sayers draft.
- [43:15]
A
Yep.
- [43:16]
B
It was great draft. He's never won anything.
- [43:18]
A
Correct.
- [43:18]
B
Ever. I don't think they didn't make the playoffs.
- [43:22]
A
65. They were nine and five.
- [43:25]
B
I thought. I thought Butkus never made the playoffs, did he?
- [43:29]
A
I think you're correct. I think you're correct. You skipped over 62, though, where the. Where the Bears drafted a running back who was Rookie of the Year for the NFL. Ronnie Bowl.
- [43:39]
B
He was rookie of the year.
- [43:41]
A
Yeah, dude. And you got to see his numbers. His numbers are like. This was unbelievable. I think he finished with. He had over 300 yards receiving, had 360 yards rushing. He had one rushing touchdown. He had five fumbles, and he was the NFL's rookie of the year.
- [43:58]
B
Well, they didn't have stats back then or televisions, and nobody went to games.
- [44:03]
A
And they didn't have eyes.
- [44:05]
B
No one had eyes, man. They couldn't actually watch what was going on.
- [44:08]
A
Yeah.
- [44:08]
B
I don't know how they determined it, but.
- [44:11]
A
Yeah, I think. I think if you look at this draft class from an offensive perspective, it is the. It is by far the most significant offensive draft class for a Bears general manager impacting that rookie season.
- [44:24]
B
Okay, now, can I edit what you just said?
- [44:29]
A
You can do whatever you'd like.
- [44:30]
B
Because you said for a general manager, technically, it's the GM making the picks. What I would argue back to what we said earlier in this program about trust in the coach. I think not just the decision on whom to pick and why to pick them, but their eventual success is due to Ben Johnson, Loveland, Burden, Tropillo. That Johnson had a hand in the selection, in the vision, in the development, and in their current success. Congratulations to Ryan Poles. But it may be the best thing that ever happened to him and the best thing that ever, ever happened to Kevin Warren to date is the hiring of Ben Johnson.
- [45:21]
A
Yeah, no, I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna disagree or argue with that, as he is clearly the most in this early early year I mean, you know, through one, one season, 16 games, NFC north champions, one game to go, the most important coach hired since Ditka.
- [45:40]
B
Lovey.
- [45:41]
A
Yeah, no, Lovey. Lovey's right there. I mean, Lovey, it's. I mean, you're looking at overall for an organization that's one of the oldest in the NFL. George Hallis, Mike Ditka, Lovey Smith, Ben Johnson.
- [45:53]
B
I have a more important question. Is there anything. I just want to provide you the opportunity to abridge or amend any. Anything else you've said about the band Triumph that may be wrong, just in case, because I know we had to, we had to make that, that big. Mike Levine.
- [46:16]
A
Yeah, I made a mistake. But what else, what else was I wrong about? Because I'm like, if I'm like, I don't care about Triumph, I don't give a shit.
- [46:25]
B
So, yes, I successfully rage baited you. You didn't rage me. I just.
- [46:30]
A
I don't care. No, I just don't care. Like, what else did I say wrong about tri.
- [46:34]
B
It was nothing. I'm just making sure you didn't because I know it'll just eat at you. You won't be able to live with yourself.
- [46:39]
A
No, it's not gonna eat. No, I'm wrong, buddy. I'm well over it. I don't give a shit.
- [46:43]
B
It's not important. The second best Canadian power trio. Hey, who are you guys? Well, we're the well known Canadian power Trio.
- [46:52]
A
Really?
- [46:52]
B
You're Rush? No, no, we're not Rush.
- [46:55]
A
We're the Rock and roll machine.
- [46:58]
B
Yeah, I mean, we're the other Canadian power.
- [47:00]
A
Yeah, like it's not, it's already forgotten, man. I'm not, it's not going on my headstone that you made a mistake about Triumph on, you know, January 1, 2026.
- [47:07]
B
Oh, you think it's not.
- [47:09]
A
Unless you're buying it, then maybe it will, but. Yeah, I don't know.
- [47:14]
B
I don't know why it's so funny. It just.
- [47:17]
A
Yeah, because it was funny because you, you moved on to draft class talk. And I'm thinking they've got, they've got to be a real big age gap between those two brothers. Let's take a look at that. Sure enough, went to Google and nope, not related. But, but what are the, you know, what are the coincidence there that Adam Levine does have a brother named Mike just happens to be younger, that he's just.
- [47:34]
B
He's not a 76 year old former Wheel of Fortune contestant, not part of.
- [47:39]
A
A rock and roll machine.
- [47:41]
B
As far as we know, reloaded the rock. They had the rock and roll machine and then the rock and roll machine was unloaded. So now it's rock and roll machine.
- [47:50]
A
And I got one other thing for you. I always look at on ESPN at Bill Barnwell, he always writes NFL stuff here. He has his. He came out with his NFL all pro team.
- [48:04]
B
Okay. So he's tuning on it.
- [48:06]
A
He did first and second. All probably. Can you name the Chicago Bears Air Bear? The Chicago Bear. Can you name the Chicago Bear that made his all pro? First or second team? Toonie Tunis. The only one. Yeah, that's it.
- [48:26]
B
Okay. Who else? I mean, everybody loves their hometown players, but there's always guys around the league who might be a little bit better. And who. You else. Who else you'd put on there?
- [48:37]
A
Yeah, I don't think there's anybody else really. I mean, like look at these edge rushes, the four edge rushers he has. So there's the two in the first team and then two in the second team. Miles Garrett, Will Anderson Jr. Nick Bonito and Adam Hutchinson.
- [48:49]
B
Aiden.
- [48:50]
A
Oh, I'm sorry, Aiden. Aiden Hutchinson.
- [48:53]
B
Yeah. I mean, who's the Bears?
- [48:55]
A
Don't even be close.
- [48:57]
B
Come on.
- [48:58]
A
Wide receivers.
- [49:00]
B
Jackson Smith and Jigba.
- [49:02]
A
Correct. Pukinakua and George Pickens.
- [49:08]
B
Our first team, say Jamar Chase is Jamar Chase.
- [49:11]
A
Nico Collins and Olave. Our second team, see, Olave's out with a blood clot.
- [49:18]
B
Oh, not good.
- [49:19]
A
Yeah, it's not good.
- [49:20]
B
No. Okay.
- [49:21]
A
Yeah, so he'll miss. He'll miss the game on, on Saturday. I think they play his running backs. Two running backs, first team and then second team. Who are they?
- [49:30]
B
They're Bijan Robinson.
- [49:32]
A
Correct. And.
- [49:37]
B
Who was the next running back?
- [49:40]
A
Seemed like a no brainer. The first eight games of the season. Nobody.
- [49:45]
B
The first eight games. I would have to. I'd have to think about this. Oh, Jameer Gibbs.
- [49:52]
A
No, Colts.
- [49:54]
B
Oh, Taylor.
- [49:56]
A
Yep. Taylor. Who are his two. His two quarterbacks are.
- [50:01]
B
This year? They are. Stafford is one or two. And is it Darnold?
- [50:12]
A
He is Drake May, first team. And Matthew Stafford, second team.
- [50:16]
B
Yep. Drake May. Wow. Drake May. He can pass it, man. And he. His release is so smooth when he takes a little off, like it just. He just feathers that thing in there, man.
- [50:31]
A
You know, one, one area I looked at too, because I. Obviously the first thing I looked at was was guard because I wanted to make sure that Joe Tooney was first team, which he was easy. The second area I went to was safety, given Kevin Byard wasn't on there wasn't any. It wasn't one of the four.
- [50:47]
B
Yeah, all right.
- [50:50]
A
Yeah, whatever.
- [50:51]
B
Yeah.
- [50:51]
A
I'm not mad about it. I thought that was. Oh, yeah. No, no.
- [50:53]
B
I don't get protective of Bears guys. Yeah, you do.
- [50:56]
A
You get very protective of 4,000 passing yards, too. You fucking want it. You want it. You hope that he gets there. 270 is all he needs.
- [51:04]
B
That's going to do it for today's edition.
- [51:08]
A
I'm gonna leave it on that lie.
- [51:10]
B
Well, no, I'm just gonna let you buy time so you can have the. The clothes loaded up here. Yeah, I'm good.
- [51:15]
A
I got it.
- [51:16]
B
Are you sure?
- [51:17]
A
Yeah. What show is this?
- [51:18]
B
This is Forward Progress.
- [51:21]
A
It has been.
- [51:22]
B
It has been. As far as you know, this has been Forward Progress, a Chicago Bears podcast here on 312Sports.
- [51:28]
A
Forward progress has stopped.
- [51:30]
B
10, 2 19, 2 19.
- [51:37]
A
Forward progress. The Chicago Bears podcast with Dan Bernstein and Matt Abeticola on 312 Sports.