No rush to pass judgment on Sweat

Summary

Forward Progress: No Rush to Pass Judgment on Sweat

Podcast: Forward Progress – A Chicago Bears Podcast
Hosts: Dan Bernstein & Matt Abbaticola (312 Sports)
Date: September 16, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode zeroes in on the Chicago Bears’ troubling 0-2 start to the 2025 NFL season, with hosts Dan Bernstein and Matt Abbaticola scrutinizing the underwhelming impact of Montez Sweat, now the team's highest-paid player. The discussion spirals out to address broader concerns about defensive struggles, team conditioning, practice culture, coaching, and the persistent anxieties permeating Bears fandom. They blend sharp analysis with palpable frustration, invoking the legacy of the 85 Bears while expressing exasperation over the team's leadership and direction.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Bears’ Defensive Malaise and Anger of 85 Bears (00:16–01:26)

• The season’s poor defensive showing is evoking rage likened to awakening the legendary 1985 Bears.
• Bernstein and Abbaticola set a tone of long-standing exasperation and high expectations for defensive toughness and accountability.
  • “They have stirred the ancient beast that is the anger of the 85 Bears somewhere buried deep under a glacier…” (00:36 – Dan)

2. Montez Sweat: High Price, Low Impact (01:26–07:43)

• Sweat’s $25M cap hit (the highest on the team and 4th among all EDGE rushers league-wide) is contrasted sharply with his low-impact performances.
• Initial optimism about Sweat has faded, as he’s failed to generate sacks, pressure, or game-changing plays—even when double-teamed:
  • “He has barely registered an impact at all.” (01:57 – Dan)
• Double-teams are considered the bare minimum challenge for an elite rusher, not an excuse:
  • “A double team is not an excuse. Taking up a double team is the bare minimum of a successful pass rusher, let alone an elite passer.” (03:44 – Dan)
• The high contract is scrutinized; the consensus is the Bears paid for the hope of future production, not for an established pass rusher.
  • “He is not an elite pass rusher. He's not. He never has been.” (03:42 – Matt)

3. Comparison to Other Sports and Players (04:40–07:43)

• If Sweat’s performance were mirrored by the highest-paid players in other sports (basketball/baseball), the criticism would be relentless.
• Bears fans and media, curiously, have not kept Sweat in the critical crosshairs as might be expected.
  • “The highest paid player on the team is an afterthought in both his play and the criticism of his play. That’s weird.” (07:15 – Dan)

4. Salary Cap Reality and Roster Standouts (07:43–10:40)

• A rundown of Bears’ highest cap hits: Sweat, DJ Moore, Tremaine Edmunds, Jonah Jackson, etc.
• With Jalen Johnson out (groin injury), the question arises: who is now the Bears’ best player relative to NFL peers? No clear answer.
  • “If he's out, the fact that we can't immediately identify who's next... That we're not saying the three guys at the top... That's weird.” (10:40 – Dan)

5. Accountability of Ryan Poles and Bears Leadership (10:58–12:49)

• Frustration with GM Ryan Poles' roster-building and contract decisions is palpable. Yet, his long extension (through 2029) makes any hope for change seem moot.
  • “He’s the general manager through... currently through the 2029 season.” (12:02 – Matt)
• Listeners’ demands to discuss ownership and the McCaskeys lead to further skepticism—the mechanism of their accountability isn't clear.

6. Evaluating the Decision to Trade and Extend Sweat (12:49–15:11)

• Both hosts thought adding Sweat was a reasonable move but question making him the highest-paid Bear.
  • "A good player that's going to help improve your defense. That necessarily doesn't mean that he had to be the highest paid player on your team." (13:30 – Matt)
• The idea of paying for future vs. past performance is commended in theory, but the practice appears flawed given his ceiling.

7. Bears’ Flawed Pass Rush Philosophy (15:37–18:22)

• The team’s “throw money at the problem” approach—rather than developing pass rushers—has left them with an underwhelming rotation and no true elite threat.
• Bernstein laments failed efforts with past draft picks and free agents compared to the steady veteran productivity of ex-Bears like Leonard Floyd.

8. Sweat’s Cap Hit vs. Peers: Numbers Don’t Lie (16:28–18:22)

• Bears fans should note that, by pay, Montez Sweat sits among the NFL’s top edge rushers—yet isn’t producing near their level.
  • “There are four players making over 25 million in a cap hit this year. Montez Sweat is on that list.” (17:52 – Matt)

9. Ben Johnson’s Comments and Scheme Fit (18:22–23:51)

• New head coach Ben Johnson acknowledges Sweat’s effort but calls out his lack of winning one-on-one matchups, per Courtney Cronin’s question.
  • “He’s brought substantial effort... it's that he's basically, he's not winning the one on one battles that he needs to...” (18:22 – Matt, quoting Johnson)
• Discussion of defensive schemes: Is Sweat best suited to “classic” upfield gap attack, as in the Tampa 2? Current defensive demands may not match his strengths.
  • “This is where individual ability and coaching can meet.” (19:20 – Dan)
• The hosts suggest the coaching staff should adapt more, taking cues from how the Raiders maximize Max Crosby.

10. Practice Culture, Conditioning, and Accountability (24:37–29:49)

• Johnson claims the team isn’t executing their “brand of football” seen in camp; hosts wonder whether camp was too easy or the offense too ineffective (“getting to know the players” is labeled a lazy excuse).
  • “It's bullshit. There's too much money involved in this business that in two weeks... we're still getting to know who our players are.” (28:51 – Matt)
• Conditioning becomes a point of emphasis: is the defense flagging because of poor cardiovascular prep or overexertion in games?

11. Calling Out Effort and Leadership Through the Media (32:41–41:47)

• Johnson's remarks about wanting to “see who practices hard” are considered a damning indictment of the entire practice culture.
  • “We’re going to find out this week at practice who wants to practice hard, who wants to be involved more…” (40:12 – quoted by Matt)
• The vagueness of Johnson’s statements—whether he refers to rookies, specific positions, or the entire team—sparks confusion and further concerns about clarity and accountability.

12. Offensive Execution and Coaching Details (34:40–38:09)

• Lack of full-speed routes when players know they’re not getting the ball is called out as “absolute complete horseshit”:
  • “That's the kind of stuff you teach at the youth level.” (35:26 – Matt)
• Bernstein highlights that at the pro level, such lapses typically surface only late in lost seasons or from players who are tired, pouting, or unconditioned.

13. Leadership Styles: Practice Habits and Positional Meetings (38:17–42:08)

• The importance of coaching attention to detail is underscored—calling out lack of effort in practice, demanding “run it again” when routes are not crisp.
  • “That's what attention to detail is in a practice. You stop it because you see it and you say, run it again. That's unacceptable.” (39:57 – Dan)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Montez Sweat’s Impact:
  “He has barely registered an impact at all.” (01:57 – Dan Bernstein)

• On Pass Rusher Accountability:
  “A double team is not an excuse. Taking up a double team is the bare minimum of a successful pass rusher, let alone an elite passer.” (03:44 – Dan Bernstein)

• On Cap Hit vs. Production in Other Sports:
  “If the highest paid player on an MLB team were this ineffective, healthy and this ineffective... it would be a constant drumbeat of criticism.” (04:40 – Dan Bernstein)

• On Practice Culture:
  “We’re going to find out this week at practice who wants to practice hard, who wants to be involved more with the game plan going into Sunday.” (40:11 – Ben Johnson, quoted by Matt)

• On Coaching Excuses:
  “It's bullshit. There's too much money involved in this business that in two weeks... we're still getting to know who our players are.” (28:51 – Matt Abbaticola)

• On Defensive Problems:
  “The Bears clearly need more defense if they want to hang with the heavyweights in the NFC. The verdict on the Bears: panic now.” (51:58 – NFL.com, summarized by Matt)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Opening; Reference to 85 Bears: 00:16–01:26
• Montez Sweat’s Ineffectiveness & Critique: 01:26–07:43
• Cap Hits and Roster Standouts: 07:43–10:40
• GM Ryan Poles & Ownership Accountability: 10:58–12:49
• Sweat’s Contract and Trade Evaluation: 12:49–15:11
• Failed Pass Rush Philosophy & Roster Construction: 15:37–18:22
• Head Coach Ben Johnson on Sweat’s Performance: 18:22–21:38
• Defensive Scheme Fit for Sweat: 21:38–23:51
• Practice, Conditioning & Excuses: 24:37–29:49
• Effort, Motivation, and Accountability: 32:41–41:47
• Offensive Execution and Route Running: 34:40–38:09
• Attention to Detail in Practice: 38:17–42:08
• External Media Assessment: “Panic Now”: 51:58–53:07

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Tone and Language

Bernstein and Abbaticola speak with the frustration and skepticism of long-time Chicago sports observers. They mix dry wit ("That's complete bullshit"), football-savvy nuance, and emotional investment. The show resists easy scapegoating but offers sharp, specific critique.

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Takeaway

This episode is a masterclass in tough-love Bears fandom—dissecting the disappointing debut of Montez Sweat, questioning Bears' accountability at every level, and calling for more clarity, effort, and honesty from coaches, staff, and players alike. For fans and critics, patience is clearly running thin. The consensus? It's time for panic—unless something changes, and soon.

Transcript

[Dan Bernstein]

Ted 219, 219.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Forward progress a Chicago Bears podcast with Dan Bernstein and Matt Abaticola on 312 Sports.

[Dan Bernstein]

We give you forward progress here on 312 Sports. Dan Bernstein, Matt Abaticola, this is your place to hear all things Chicago bears each day. 312 sports. And we know the Bears are rededicating themselves to practicing harder to figure out who wants to be involved in the game plan. We know the Bears defense is abysmal and the numbers show it across the board. And we know that they have, they have stirred the ancient beast that is the anger of the 85 bears somewhere buried deep under a glacier and frozen something. And then they stir and they get mad and we have to say mystical words to make sure they go back to their places and that they're mollified and that the Bears play is good enough that they can go back and rest.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Yeah, they come, they come out from underground to express their anger over the Bears starting 02 and how back in their day, they may have lost the game, but at least their opponent knew and that they played the Chicago Bears, whatever that means.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes, but the question that I have, why are we so easy on Montez Sweat? Why name another sport? Because last time I checked, he's the highest paid player on a professional sports team.

[Matt Abbaticola]

If you look at, yeah, the Bears salary cap for this year, the biggest cap number for the 2025 season is Montez Sweat at just over $25 million.

[Dan Bernstein]

And he has barely registered an impact at all.

[Matt Abbaticola]

At all.

[Dan Bernstein]

In two games. There was a sack that was called back by penalty that so it didn't happen. And then there was a pass that was batted down at the very end of a game that they lost in miserable fashion to open the season after blowing a huge lead on, on Monday night.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Yeah, no, no, we, we've talked about this though too, because in football and we, we discussed this when, especially when talking about a guy like Micah Parsons, that you don't have to register numbers on the box score to be impactful in his position. Montez Sweat, like we don't, you know, you don't have to have sack numbers to be impactful to do things. Creating double teams where you're creating open opportunities for your teammates to get in there and to create that problem in the backfield. There's opportunities there. Now if a guy's double team should leave opportunities for other defensive linemen, edge rushers to get in there to disrupt the backfield, to make plays, to put pressures and hits and Sacks in a quarterback.

[Dan Bernstein]

Correct.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Now that's not on him if his teammates can't do that while he's being double teamed. But again, you don't have to show up in the box score to be impactful as an edge rusher like he is. But he's also not disrupting the backfield. He's not creating pressure or hits on the quarterback.

[Dan Bernstein]

Let me take one issue with the presumption there and I think you're almost 100% correct. However, if you are in an elite pass rusher, and I think this is sort of begging the question, correct in the truest sense. Because he's not an elite pass rusher.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Correct. He is not.

[Dan Bernstein]

But if you are, I don't care if they're double teaming you at that point. A double team is not an excuse. Taking up a double team is the bare minimum of a successful pass rusher, let alone an elite passer. Put anybody you want on Micah Parsons. He's getting to the quarterback. Put anybody you want a Miles Garrett, they're getting the quarterback.

[Matt Abbaticola]

No, no, you're, you're 100. Correct. And I understand the distinction you wanted me to make there and I get that. But, but that just goes back to the point which I think initially needs to be said, is that he is not an elite pass rusher. He's not. He never has been. The contract given to him was given by Ryan Poles on the basis of what he was going to do. Now we want our general managers to do that. We want our general managers to pay people for what they're going to do, not for what they have done. It's just, you can just add this to the list of another miss by Ryan polls because he is not creating the production of an elite pass rusher.

[Dan Bernstein]

So at this point, if this were a different sport, you would have an entire city up in arms over this. Because think about it, in. And I know basketball, there's fewer players on the field and baseball is much more of an individual sport where you are given individual moments. And. But if the highest paid player on an MLB team were this ineffective, healthy and this ineffective, it would be, it would be a constant drumbeat of criticism. On an NBA team if the highest paid player, if you never heard his name called and he was healthy and out there, people would wonder from what's wrong with this guy, what's going on. These are not, these are obviously imperfect comparisons.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Correct. With different sports.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes, they're obviously imperfect.

[Matt Abbaticola]

But Dan. But even though, even though going to baseball you can have a star player who goes through a slump. That is a 10 to 15 to 20 game slump. And he's criticized, he's booed, Boot. Yes, booed.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, baseball, you get the opportunity. That's the difference. In baseball, this person comes up, this person has a chance, this person does a thing or the ball is hit to somebody. You don't get to see that in football. Nobody can be singled out in that regard. But the difference in football is you got a chance on every single play. You don't have to wait. You don't get only four at bats. You know that, that, that cuts in both directions. An NFL player. If you get. All right, got me that time. You got me that time. Line it up again. Let's run it again. Let's go, let's go, let's go. You've got a chance that very next snap to disrupt, to push your guy into the backfield, to find the ball carrier, to hurry the quarterback. There are any number of ways. That's why I think the idea, while it's a team game, it's hard to measure. All true. But I do think that there is an equal and opposite flip side to that. And that is the number of different way. Even if you don't get to the passer, even a failed pass rush, if you time your jump, you can bat down a ball, which is what he did. We counted that as one of the positive plays. It is because he didn't get to the quarterback.

[Matt Abbaticola]

It's the one pass deflection he's had this year. Pass defense. And so that was that swat. And again, it was the Monday night game and it happened with 12:18 left in the game. The first time that he was mentioned in the broadcast for doing something of note defensively. So 12:18 left of the game. He's had five solo tackles, two tackles for loss this season. Zero.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay, well, two tackles for loss, those are, those are splash stats. Yes, but I don't know any other place where the highest paid Chicago Bear is seemingly not even top of mind. We're spending all this time talking about Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams and Kyle Manungai and Colston Loveland. The highest paid player on the team is an afterthought in both his play and the criticism of his play. That's weird.

[Matt Abbaticola]

All right, let's take a look here real quick at cap numbers. It's not just sweat, but Sweat is number one for this year. 25 million. Just over 25 million. DJ Moore, just under 25 million. Those are the only two players over 20 million. Tremaine Edwards is third at 17. Four Edmonds at 17. Four, Jonah Jackson at 14. Eight, Drew Dahlman at 13. Seven, Jalen Johnson at 13 million. Cole Comet at 11 million. From there it drops under 10 million. But those are your highest paid players. Highest cap hits this year. Sweat Moore, Edmonds, Jonah Jackson, Drew Dahlman, Jalen Johnson, Cole Comet.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay, so here's the question. Forget the cap numbers.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

Jalen Johnson's going to be out for a while.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

We don't know if it's the season. We don't know if it's a month or two months or multiple weeks. Whatever it is, he'll make a decision on surgery. We'll find out.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Although, you know that new injury, not related to what he had before. That's the exact quote from Ben Johnson yesterday. It's a new injury quote not related to what he had before.

[Dan Bernstein]

How is that possible? I don't know. I need to know more. I think as I mentioned on dbu, it just strains credulity to think that a groin injury on the same side of his body has nothing to do with the previous groin injury.

[Matt Abbaticola]

That's what he said. And again, yeah, we need more info, but go ahead.

[Dan Bernstein]

As of right now, I don't quite understand and I'm. At the very least, I'm dubious. With Jalen Johnson out, who is the best player on the Bears? Who's the best player on the Bears at his position in the NFL relative to peers?

[Matt Abbaticola]

Well, I'm looking.

[Dan Bernstein]

Just think. I mean, it's. Who do you think it is? Like, who's brisker? He's a guy.

[Matt Abbaticola]

I'm trying to give you an answer.

[Dan Bernstein]

I mean, because it's probably Toonie.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Oh, yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Probably is.

[Matt Abbaticola]

He's probably Joe Tooney.

[Dan Bernstein]

Is he still a top five left guy? Is he a top ten left guard?

[Matt Abbaticola]

I would say he's. He has to be. I don't want to say easily, but a top 10 left guard. Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

What are we talking about then? What is the state of this roster like? Forget all the stats and forget fantasy. If you're just talking about right now with Jalen J. Because it's clear Jalen Johnson was obviously the best player at his position on the Bears.

[Matt Abbaticola]

On the Bears. Correct.

[Dan Bernstein]

By a mile.

[Matt Abbaticola]

By a mile.

[Dan Bernstein]

If he's out, the fact that we can't immediately identify who's next and the fact that we're not saying the three guys at the top of the. Of the. The cap hits, that we're not saying Montez Sweat, we're not saying DJ Moore. We're not saying Tremaine Edmonds.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Yeah, I mean, you know, that obviously speaks to what we've discussed on previous shows is Ryan polls. And, and I know listening to everything is, is hard at times, but I was just looking at some of our, some of our feedback, Dan, some of the comments and whatnot, some emails, a little criticism that we haven't gone after Ryan polls just enough. I mean we, we've talked about Ryan polls, we've talked about the, the horrible drafting. We've talked about. This is the roster that he's put together that's created some, some really bad play in the first two games. We get all that.

[Dan Bernstein]

I, I think it's understood that, yeah.

[Matt Abbaticola]

It'S understood at this point we don't have to go out and do that every time.

[Dan Bernstein]

They're not going to fire him. I, I understand like if we thought that there was a move that was imminent, if we thought that all of a sudden this was going to allow Ben Johnson to bring in his hand picked guy and that all that there was some power struggle here, that Ben Johnson was going to win and rest control of the team under Kevin Warren. Like we don't have even the first stirrings of that yet. Right. He was just got an extension.

[Matt Abbaticola]

He's the general manager through, I mean currently through the 2029 season.

[Dan Bernstein]

So. Say it all you want. It's almost like lamenting the ownership. And the problem once we get, once we start down that slope is it always ends up the same. I'll tell you what nobody's talking about. It's not Ryan Paul's, it's the McCaskeys. And then if anybod can tell me what and why and how and what the actual mechanisms are. And a lot of those emails have come in too. Guys, you have to talk about the real problem. It's the McCaskeys. Okay, well somebody tell me exactly what, how that makes Kevin Warren bad at his job and how that makes Ryan Paul's bad at his job. I've yet to see how it all connects to make it matter in a way that doesn't all seem like voodoo.

[Matt Abbaticola]

But let me ask you this. Let's stick with Montez Sweat too. How, what was your, your feeling when the Bears made that move for Montez Sweat.

[Dan Bernstein]

I thought he was a solid player who was going to make them better. And players like that, true stars like that usually don't become available via free agency or trade. So when you can get one, you should. That doesn't mean he had to Be their highest paid player. It didn't mean that immediately they had to evaluate him as an elite game. Game changing, game wrecking defensive end. But I think he was a solid addition.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Now they weren't going to make that move for him without the next step of a big contract. Okay, Ryan, so I agree when the move was made, good move. Montez Sweatt is a solid defensive and a solid edge rusher. A good player that's going to help improve your defense. That necessarily doesn't mean that he had to be the highest paid player on your team. That's Ryan Poles decision. And again, I'll credit him for paying a guy for future work, not for what he's done. Because a lot of baseball general managers, we've talked about that a lot do that in an incorrect move. Reward a guy for pass play. We want to reward a player for future performance. And Ryan Poles did the right thing there. But he just may have made a mistake in the amount of money making him the highest played player on the team because he's not an elite pass rusher. He's not going to be the guy that changes the Bears defense. He's not a guy that defensive that offensive coordinators say, all right, we need to find a way to stop Manteswet. We need to scheme in a certain way that prevents him from disrupting our offensive flow. We can single him and keep him occupied. We can double him and make him vanish. That's not an elite pass rusher.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, but it was still, it was still worth trading a second round pick for him. Does that make sense?

[Matt Abbaticola]

No, it, it does, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he needs to be the highest paid player in your team.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, I, I don't, I don't understand why it, it is just sort of presumed that. Okay, well, this is, this is how he's doing and, and that's fine. And let's, I mean, but I mean.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Just because you wanted him to be doesn't mean he was going to be. Yeah, and that's again. And then that's, that's an indictment at Ryan polls, which I think you stated it correctly, is just an understood impression perspective of where we're at with Ryan polls. And it's pointless and it's a moot point to say anything about Ryan Poles in his contract because he's here through 2029 period.

[Dan Bernstein]

And all we're doing is throwing money at whatever is opposite him rather than the drafting and development of somebody out there. Hell, they were, they were showing it the other day. They were showing what Leonard Floyd has done. You talk about just like a, a veteran, just a productive veteran edge player, what he's become. And that was a Bears draft pick. And between Dominique Robinson and then Yannick and Gawk Way and now it's Dio Deng, Bo and then they threw money at Daryl, Daryl Taylor. Was that also a, a second round. Was trying to remember a third round.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Pick, but this maybe a third round pick.

[Dan Bernstein]

You're not going to find a pass rush this haphazardly.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Let me ask you this. Looking at the salary cap hits for this season for an edge defender, edge rusher, do you know who number one is in the league at 38 million cap hit this year?

[Dan Bernstein]

Is it one of the Boses?

[Matt Abbaticola]

No, Raiders.

[Dan Bernstein]

Crosby.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Max Crosby. Number two at 25 million. Just under 25. Eight from Green Bay, Rashawn Gary.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, Rashawn Gary is okay.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Yep. Number three at 25 million, Trey Hendrickson. Montez Sweat comes in at number four for largest cap hit among edge defenders. He's number four at the position in the league.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's not worth it.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Number five, T.J. watt. Number six, Myles Garrett. Number seven, Jonathan Grinard. Number eight, Nick Bosa. Number nine, Danielle Hunter. Number ten, Alex Highsmith from Pittsburgh. Eleven, Khalil Mack. Brian Burns from the Giants is 12, Joshua Hines Allen, 13. We can just, we can stop there.

[Dan Bernstein]

I think, right? There's obviously a name down to 13 million there.

[Matt Abbaticola]

@ that point there's a, there's a.

[Dan Bernstein]

Clear glaring name that doesn't belong.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Yeah. So of the players that are a 20 million or more cap hit this year, there are nine. Montez Sweat is fourth on that list. There are four players making over 25 million in a cap hit this year. Montez Sweat is on that list.

[Dan Bernstein]

And he is in the middle of the middle of his prime at age 29. Because I don't say usually after 30, those numbers start to decrease. The production starts to decrease.

[Matt Abbaticola]

You know, when Ben Johnson met the media yesterday, his virtual media session, he was asked about Montez Sweatt by Courtney Cronin. And yeah, she asked the most important questions. I thought late yesterday of what I've heard. He says, quote, he's brought substantial effort, quote, he's trying to do it the way we're coaching it. There is one area he's hearing from our coaches and he goes on, and I'll paraphrase what he says, it's that he's basically, he's not winning the one on one battles that he needs to do more and produce more. When he gets those one on one matchups because right now he's not doing enough. That's what he's, that's what Ben Johnson said. The one area that he's hearing from our coaches from is in winning those one on one battles.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay, well, that he's getting too many.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Double teams and that those one on one battles come too far, too few and far in between is what Ben Johnson said.

[Dan Bernstein]

This is one of those places where individual ability and coaching can meet. And there's a lot of nuance going on here under Matt Eberfluss and in a classic Tampa 2, the Kiffin, Marinelli, Lovey Smith, Tony Dungy, Tampa 2. You are up the field in that gap. Up the field and then figure out what's in front of you. If there's a running back on your way to the quarterback, knock him down. There isn't a read and diagnose. There isn't a grab and manhandle the person in front of you and throw him this way or throw him that way or try to overpower them. It is get in between two guys and exploit that gap. Maybe his skills are better suited to that kind of line play than what Dennis Allen asked to do, which is a more physical taking on of the blocker and defeating the block, if that makes sense. Yeah, there's all kinds of ways to do this. And there's. There are In A, in A3 4, when you're asking these five techniques and a zero technique to absorb and hold, that's different too. This is a 4:3 that involves defeating a block and maybe that's not in his skill set. Maybe there's, maybe there's a tweak that needs to be made here and maybe it is something to say, hey, Dennis, I know you're asking him to do this, but we've got guys here who are more comfortable doing a little bit less of the physical defeating of a block and more squeezing through a gap, levering through a gap. The whole one is longer than two of using length, quickness, speed, etc. To exploit spaces rather than try to win a physical matchup. And it's not one or the other. There's no absolutes here. But this is the kind of dialogue that happens on the practice field. On a healthy practice field and a healthy positional room. This is the kind of dialogue that needs to be happening about, hey, if you want me to succeed, let me do some of the things that I'm good at, that I'm comfortable doing and that I have confidence doing.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Yeah, no, that, that makes a great deal of sense because if he's being told that, you know, you're not winning these one on one battles enough, but then, you know, Johnson says on the other side of his mouth, but those, those one on one battles are too far and few in between. All right, so he's being double teamed too much. So what are you doing to help that player succeed? What are you doing from a scheme standpoint to make sure that doesn't happen? If he's not making enough production by being double teamed, what are you doing to help that player out?

[Dan Bernstein]

Did you see some of the stuff that the Raiders were doing for Max Crosby last night?

[Matt Abbaticola]

Explain.

[Dan Bernstein]

Crosby is. He is straight line fast and they do some stunts for him. They do some out to in planned timed stunts that allow him to get up ahead of steam, that allow him to have a little bit of extra space. They don't mind him moving laterally and not immediately getting upfield. It's a little bit of a delay, but boy, once, once he gets to that second, third step, he's hard to stop.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

And it's in there because that's what he's good at doing. And then when they have to account for it and if they can do things off of it, and if they can, they can show the same look where they're going to have the tackle and twist or however, whatever they want, whatever football stuff they want to call. Might be time to work with your highest paid player and figure out rather than just saying, oh, either he's single teamed or he's double teamed. You do what you got to do regardless. Say perhaps you're going to make everybody better and you'll have what Eberfluss called his Tez effect. If in fact you start with him and figure out what you have to do to get him going first rather than allow everybody else and allow your opponent to dictate it before the game starts.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Right. Yeah. And if that's what they're seeing, then that exactly is what needs to be done. Again, what are you going to do? What can you scheme to make him the most productive and successful given the fact that you've decided he's your best player based on a salary cap hit?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, there's some of the X and O stuff with pass rushers. Really reminds me a great deal of the angles that basketball teams will use for ball screens, ball handlers and just trying to find if you're. Maybe this guy's. Somebody's really fast going to their left and so they'll draw a screen out a little bit and give them more space in which to work or is somebody who's fast on the dribble, they'll pull everything back to allow more of a Runway. And everything is attuned to the tiniest little angles of the smallest things to say, what do you need to get to your spots? And you can do that sometimes with certain pass rushers who are better at things than other things. So I hope they're, they're working on it.

[Matt Abbaticola]

The media also asked Ben Johnson yesterday. It started off talking more about defense than anything else. A little bit different than what we've heard in, in other, other press conferences, but it's talking about a defensive standpoint. Ben Johnson wanted to talk about how in training camp he really saw the, the brand of football that they want to be about and that in the games so far that they haven't lived up to their own standard of what their defense looks like. You know, so it's interesting because I like, I want to know then, like what's happened between training camp and actual live competition, like what's taken place. I know there were some injuries, obviously. Three starters were down in the first game. You lose a couple starters in game two as well. Then I started asking other questions. Was training camp too easy? You know, was what he saw from his defense, is that just a byproduct of going against an offense that maybe looked like what we're seeing now in training camp as well?

[Dan Bernstein]

Now this dovetails with something that's been a theme of mine early in the season. Okay, Conditioning.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Yeah, true.

[Dan Bernstein]

And it isn't just the plays that you're running. It's. It's also how hard has training camp been from a cardiovascular perspective? How hard are you working them over to have them ready to give their absolute best effort? And that, that may not be just laziness or for lack of a better term, it may be being tired and they may absolutely feel that they're trying to give their absolute best. But you know, we saw it the other day. You got to make sure you're properly hydrated and you have to make sure that you are in your tip top cardiovascular shape. Especially this time of the year where it's warmer near the ends of drives and near the ends of games. And if this defense is going to be on the field as much as they've been out there, they're losing the opportunity to keep rising to these third down occasions when every next one, they've got less energy.

[Matt Abbaticola]

So here's a question that I have. If he said that they haven't brought their brand of football that they want to be about, they haven't lived up to their standard defensively from what he saw in training camp. Okay, so the question that I want to know about what they did in training camp, is it just that they were going against an offense that couldn't get it together? Now here's the thing. We've heard about this catchphrase so far about getting to know the player, still getting to know the player on the offensive side of the ball. Dan. They're still getting to know the player, which is why they're struggling a bit. And that's the excuse we've heard. How come we haven't heard that about defense? Why is this knowledge of the defensive players on the defensive side of the ball? Why don't they have to catch up with getting to know the players there? You know? You know what I mean? Like, like why is it okay on one side of the ball but not the other? Oh, we're struggling on offense because I'm still getting to know the player.

[Dan Bernstein]

Let me said it yesterday, your honest answer to that question. I think it's sort of similar to the difference between pitching and hitting because one is active and one is reactive. That sometimes, you know, a defender has to do certain things based completely on what is immediately seen. You read your keys, you diagnose, you go, you, you, you count who's where, you talk out your assignments and you go the. On offense, it's much more deliberate. The angles. You, you get to choose the routes, you get to choose the number of steps and the drop back, you choose the throwing lanes, you choose where the fakes are. So I do think there's, there are more decisions to be made rather than just saying we're gonna, we want to, this is our primary look, this is our disguise look that we're gonna run pre snap because once the ball is snapped, it's just a trust that everybody.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Has to, to do their follow up their assignments. Yeah, yeah, okay, fine, I'll get that. He was also.

[Dan Bernstein]

I was just offering that. I'm not.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Yeah, no, no, I mean, but that's, it's reasonable. I mean that's a reasonable answer. I just still that it's just, to me it's just, it's an excuse on the offensive side that we're still getting to know the players. I just, I can't buy that when it's, when it's their full time 24 7, it's their job, you know, this isn't the 1950s or 60s again where guys are out selling shoes in the off season to make money. This is all you do all year long. And we've heard stories of coaches that they get in the building at 3am and they leave at, you know, at midnight or they sleep there. I'm not saying Ben Johnson has to do that. He has a family. I don't want him to do that. But like, like the whole idea of it's week two and we're still getting to know the players is bullshit. It's bullshit. There's too much money involved in this business that in two weeks when the games matter in now in the second week that we're still getting to know who our players are. I don't buy it. It's a lazy excuse to me then.

[Dan Bernstein]

Is why I don't know how many times we have to keep thinking that, that, that is a follow up. We. Well, we're still getting to the player. Why, why are you still.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Why don't you know who he is yet? Why don't you know that Montez Sweatt, you know he needs some, some different schemes. If he's being double teamed too much, if he's not winning those one on one battles, why is he not winning them often enough? And then you give me the excuse. Oh well those one on one battles are too far and in between. Too far and few in between.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well here's the thing that's going to fix itself. That is, that is a self correcting problem because if he continues at this pace no one's going to double team him anymore.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Correct.

[Dan Bernstein]

And what's going to happen is if you're right about that and teams like you know what, we can take our chances one on one with sweat. He, I don't think we have to worry about him then he'll prove that you're wrong. That is a self correcting problem in that regard.

[Matt Abbaticola]

You're right.

[Dan Bernstein]

If that's really, if that's really the issue then talk about those other guys who need to defeat their one on ones and or figure out who else you're sending because once you got two hats on one hat there you should have an advantage immediately in the numbers game.

[Matt Abbaticola]

He goes on to. He was asked about being a head coach and you know, being involved on the defensive side of the ball. He says that he's pretty involved, quote, sat in a few meetings, end quote. But here's, here's what I, what I jotted down because this stood out to me. He said quote that's A good group we went against yesterday, they were hungry. They showed that on the tape talking about the Detroit Lions.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, then how about you be a good group and you be hungry, right?

[Matt Abbaticola]

Like, why is it okay that. That they're hungry? They showed it on tape. Then if you're not showing that on tape, which they didn't, they didn't show it in the game live, why is your group not more hungry? Why?

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, he told us that some guys aren't practicing hard enough.

[Matt Abbaticola]

All right, so let's, let's go back to that because I did listen again just to make sure I heard it correctly. So it was the question from Courtney was on the rookies earning his trust, the rookies earning Ben Johnson's trust to get them more involved. And specifically she asked about Luther Burden and Colson Loveland. He goes on to talk about the tight ends. I knew that first game that the tight end position wasn't going to be featured as much. I was hopeful that this game we were going to bounce back a little bit more. Okay. So she asks about Luther Burden, Colson Loveland and them gaining his trust to be involved more. He answers first about the tight ends, which gave a really terrible answer. I thought we knew they wouldn't be featured. But then says, I was hopeful they'd bounce back a little bit more. This game against the Lions, again, you're in charge, the head coach, you create the offense. Why weren't they more involved then? If you were hopeful they were more involved, well, then why weren't they more involved?

[Dan Bernstein]

And why does Cole Comet get dragged into a question about the rookies?

[Matt Abbaticola]

Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Because again, she asked specifically about Luther and about. About. About Loveland. And then he answers with Cole and Loveland and the tight end position.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. She didn't ask about that.

[Matt Abbaticola]

She didn't. She asked about those two specifically. He answered tight ends and then brought Comet into it with. With Loveland. So he then goes on to say that Luther is slowly gaining trust. Okay, that's what he says. Then he goes on to talk about. We're going to find out this week at practice who wants to practice hard, who wants to be involved more with the game plan going into Sunday, what these guys look like now. He said that they didn't like what they saw on tape when the ball was not in their hands. Now, here's what I'm confused about and I wish there was a follow up on. Is he talking about the team in general when he says these guys? Because the Question was asked about two specific players he brings in, Cole Comet. Then he goes on to start using pronouns like these, these guys we didn't like. What, what we saw when they didn't have the ball in their hands. Is he talking about the rookies? Is he talking about the two rookies asked about and Cole Comet, or is he talking about the team in general? So when he says, we're going to find out this week at practice, who wants to practice hard, who wants to be involved more with the game plan going into Sunday, is he talking about Loveland, Luther? Is he talking about those two and Cole Comet, or is he talking about in general the guys on offense? You know, generally speaking.

[Dan Bernstein]

Now, that is a valid and lucid question, Mr. Gambini, but let me also bring this up. When you talk about the ball not being in someone's hands, let's keep it to offense.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Yeah, there's a couple of things. Can I answer?

[Dan Bernstein]

What, What? When we are criticizing play without the ball, we're talking about what?

[Matt Abbaticola]

Blocking.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's one route running. That's. That was the second one I had there. How hard if you know that the moment you clap out of that huddle that the ball's not coming to you, it remains critical that you run the route identically that you would if it were. And if all of a sudden like, well, it's not coming to me, I'm gonna half ass this cut or I'm not gonna go full speed or I'm not gonna try to defeat this press man with the same sort of vigor that shows.

[Matt Abbaticola]

It does show. And if that's the case with a professional and NFL team, it's absolute complete horseshit. Dan, that's the kind of stuff you teach at the youth level. Like if you're Talking to a 12 year old kid who's not getting the ball, yeah, you could see them maybe not run full out because they know they're not getting the ball. And it's a matter of coaching them and saying, yeah, but what you're doing is actually helping the overall plan of the game. That if I'm sending a receiver into this zone where he's not starting out, but he ends up here near you, and I need to make sure you're not in that area to get your defender out. Like, you have to explain that to a 12 year old so they understand it. If that's the kind of thing happening on a professional team with professional players, that's complete bullshit.

[Dan Bernstein]

We know it's happened before and we know that the essence of Putting a zone defender in conflict. And to make it simple, a zone defender is responsible for an area of the field. If to enter his area, he's got to decide who he's going to follow.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Right. Two men enter, one man leave.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's the. Well, really that is the essence of zone offense is how do you create conflict? How do you put too many people to cover in a given area that is defended by fewer people?

[Matt Abbaticola]

Okay, so let me ask you this, because you said we've seen, we've seen that before where NFL players don't execute all they need to execute, offensively speaking. You said we've seen it before. You've watched enough football. You covered the Bears long enough. Why. Why does that happen? Why are players not giving all the effort they need to or executing things that they need to execute offensively. Why does that happen?

[Dan Bernstein]

When I have seen it, it is often at the very end of a lost season.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Okay. Correct.

[Dan Bernstein]

It is often where you're. You're one in nine or whatever you are. Sometimes it is something less than conscious where somebody is gonna feel that I'm really giving my hardest. But you're really not, even though you think you are.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

Some of it is. I've seen it with injured or older players. There is a very sort of animal sense of self preservation.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Correct.

[Dan Bernstein]

Sometimes. Sometimes it's lack of conditioning again, where you're just tired and, and you've run the same route. Maybe you had, you had to run three clear outs in a row on a possession and they didn't sub you out. And sometimes you just, you can't because you're not getting there.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

And the worst one of all that I've seen before is active pouting. Is somebody just being a. And be like, oh, if I'm not going to get it, I'm just, I'm just going to. To half ass my ass over here. We've seen.

[Matt Abbaticola]

So let me ask you this though, then when, when does. There's one I thought we might throw in. And let's discuss this. When. When does coaching get involved?

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, because that's this whole attention to detail thing that we've taken for granted. Because if you see it at a practice, if you have been seeing it at a prag, you call it out in film. You stop the tape. Antoine Randall for everything we've heard. And I'm, and I'm just presuming wide receivers because it's something more visible with wide receivers that Anton Randall. We see him jumping up and down and screaming on the sidelines. And yelling at people and he's Mr. Activity and the camera loves him. I'd love to know what's going on in the positional room when you can walk over to a guy and say, look me in the eye. Why didn't you finish that route? You knew that you were supposed to run a 15 yard dig, pull it straight back five yards and make a good target. And yet you didn't. You made a little cut and you turned halfway and you stood there and you watched the other side of the field where you thought the ball was going. Now, this is all stuff that I'm kind of making up, but stuff that, that happens across football. That. That's what attention to detail is in a practice. You stop it because you see it and you say, run it again. That's unacceptable. That's. That is what we thought we were hiring with attention to detail. And maybe they're doing it and maybe people aren't listening because there's so much we don't know because of what we're not allowed to see anymore. We don't have these, you know, cameras in the meeting rooms. I'd love to ask players, have you been admonished for this? Ask Luther Burton. Ask Colston Loveland. Hell, because he mentioned his name. Ask Cole Comet. Have the tight. Are the tight ends having issues in that room? Are they being told, we need to see you look more active, aggressive, engaged when the ball's not in your hands? I'd love to know.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Yeah, because I really, on that one particular point of questioning, I really would love to know who he's referring to when he says that, you know, because that's a really big thing. And I know you said that. Brad Biggs pulled it out today in his piece.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yep.

[Matt Abbaticola]

We're going to find out this week at practice who wants to practice hard and who wants to be involved more with the game plan going into Sunday. What these guys look like, didn't like what they saw when the ball was not in their hands. Who is he referring to? That's really important. Is he referring to Luther and Loveland? Who were they? Were they were brought up in the question, or did he use it as an opportunity?

[Dan Bernstein]

Did he use that as a springboard as into the entire team, a larger coaching statement through the media to have that heard?

[Matt Abbaticola]

That's what I want to know. Because again, when you have a direct question about two guys, he brings in a third and then makes this big general statement. We're gonna find out this week at practice who wants to practice hard and who wants to be involved more in the game plan going into Sunday. That's a huge indictment, though. Too. A huge indictment for a shitty 02 team right now for your coach to say, we need to see who wants to practice hard this week. Because what he's telling us. What he's telling us is that we're not practicing hard enough in practice. We're not giving it all in practice. And if you want to be involved more, well, then show me now. To me, that that sounds like obviously he's talking specifically about offense. You want to get more involved in the game plan. And that's where the question started. I really would love to know what was in his brain there, who he was thinking about or talking to specifically. Unless it was just a big general statement, which, if that's the case, even worse.

[Dan Bernstein]

I think it's fair under this coach to make the presumption whenever he says something like that that is so seemingly important to his true football feelings, it's always going to be offense. That's how he sees the game. And I don't care how many. Well, I care a lot. I sit in meetings. Whatever. He's probably.

[Matt Abbaticola]

He said. I said in quite a few meetings.

[Dan Bernstein]

Quite a few meetings. Okay. But absolutely. Just as we could say last year that the. The head coach's passion and the head coach's sense of attention when he was breaking down everybody's foot plates. Remember the piece that Kevin Fishbane did last year for the Athletics? Sitting with Andrew Flucent and watching film about the angle at which tackles should be made. That's his passion. That's what he does. Will see it at Soldier Field Sunday afternoon. Another national game, by the way, the big game of the afternoon, for some reason.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Oh, yeah, we get. We get. We get. We get Tom Brady, luckily, when he's.

[Dan Bernstein]

Not sitting in the coaching box. You see that?

[Matt Abbaticola]

No, I.

[Dan Bernstein]

Last night.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Oh, was he really the coaches? Oh, well, yeah, he's. Oh, yeah. Okay. No, I didn't. Yeah, I missed that. All right. One last thing from Ben Johnson that I heard yesterday when he's talking about. About Jared Goff, he says when his pocket is clean, he plays at a really high level. 0 sacks, no hits, very little pressure. Again. And we talked about this on Ford Progress yesterday. Why didn't they, like. I would love to know how they game plan or schemed to go after Jared Goff in this game on Sunday, knowing full well that if he has a clean pocket, he plays at a really high level, knowing full well that he can't. He's not mobile. He's not going to run and beat you with his feet ever. It's just, it's not going to happen. I want to know what they schemed, what they planned to get after Jared Goff and how and why it failed.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's sort of like what he had said.

[Matt Abbaticola]

At least four plays over 30 yards.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's like when he said that, you know, running a DJ reader is tough because he's outstanding in there.

[Matt Abbaticola]

So let's run at him.

[Dan Bernstein]

Why'd you do it twice when you needed a yard? So another thing is we continue to take notes here. You know, more stuff we have to look at. We were talking, we made a couple mentions of, of last night's game. We were talking about Max Crosby and Tom Brady. I just wanted to share a couple things that I saw. First of all, the, the San Diego zone defense is remarkably disciplined. They're really good at it. Now Green Bay is good at it, but that may be the next best that I've seen. I also would much prefer to have Jim Harbaugh as my head coach right now. And we were among those who said it at the time and were dismayed by the fact that either he nor was even spoken to either he or the Bears. It was just the fact that it's a complete non starter. I think with every day that goes by continues to resonate as a really bad look for the Bears culture and for the Bears organization because that, that's, that is a in general a really, really well coached team all over the place.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Yeah, he is, he's an experienced winning NFL head coach that had connection to your organization, was your quarterback and he wasn't even talked to. It's just, it's unbelievable to me. Like Jim Harbaugh would have been. I would have called him immediately or I would have, I would have said hey, where are you? Don't leave. I'm on a plane. I'll be there as soon as I can. We are talking and I'm not leaving that meeting until a contract's done. Like he would have been my head coach period. He is an excellent, excellent head coach.

[Dan Bernstein]

And they, they can really defensively they're however he's put that staff together, they have created a very, very smart reactive defense. It's hard to play the defense that they play just because of the, the it's. That's almost like, like a tight musical group when you have that kind of zone and the proprioception involved in understanding all of your teammates space around you. You know, Lovey Smith Never got enough credit for doing that here in Chicago. Sure, he had several hall of Fame or near hall of Fame level players on the defense at the same time in its heyday, but it is not easy to do, to put that together the way he's done it. They were really, really impressed, you know.

[Matt Abbaticola]

And if the reason behind not looking, even looking at Jim Harbaugh was because he wanted too much power, that, that's insane. If it was like, hey, we can't talk to this guy because we have Ryan poles in place. No, sorry.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I was wrong.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Sorry.

[Dan Bernstein]

A couple other observations. Baker Mayfield's a bad dude, man.

[Matt Abbaticola]

He's. Yeah, he is.

[Dan Bernstein]

I, I really enjoy watching him play. I'm, I'm a fan of his. I think he's pretty cool off the field. I don't, I don't, I don't know all that much about him, but from what I do know, and he's got a pretty good sense of comic timing. He's does a nice job in his commercials and he's keeps plays alive. Never afraid to take off and take it down the field and take a hit. There's been a lot of quarterbacks taking some real shots this year, so I like to see them seeing where that, where the, where the sticks are, where we see the yellow line and being able to absorb a hit and go for it, even though it's probably on the, you know, the continuum of footbally versus reckless. Closer to the reckless side. Watch a lot of how Ashton Genty played in large part because that was. There were the rumors pre draft, remember that the Bears are going to move up and grab Ashton Genty. What strikes me most about watching him, he looks way smaller than his listed height and weight.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Yeah, he does.

[Dan Bernstein]

Absolutely. He's listed, listed at 5, 9 2, 15. And the way he's look, his, his gyroscope internally is amazing. Lateral balance, you know, forward, backward balance, all of it, you know, contact balance is, is preternatural. But he's just so small and sometimes when he does take a hit, looks like he's taking a lot of force. Like he, he, he seems to be lighter than 215 or just the physics of his game at the moment. He might be a good bet for a shorter, brighter, burning career.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Yeah, I mean what, what is the, what's the average running back? Is it, is it five seasons or is it even less than three?

[Dan Bernstein]

Average. But if you talk about like average first round back, I don't know, it just. He, he definitely on, on the hoof out there with NFL guys at full speed.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Looks smaller than I thought he would based on his measurables.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Okay. But I mean, he can, he can really run the ball though.

[Dan Bernstein]

He can, he can run. He's got some moves, man. He really does it just. I think he's going to get hit a lot. He's also 100% effort runner.

[Matt Abbaticola]

Yep.

[Dan Bernstein]

Like everything, he's just, he runs completely on fire and guys like that tend to have shorter careers.

[Matt Abbaticola]

And you know who loves that out of his running back?

[Dan Bernstein]

Who?

[Matt Abbaticola]

The old guy in charge. Oh, yeah, he loves that. Loves that. Oh, by the way, your guy, Baker Mayfield. Yeah. On your team, the Buccaneers. Yes. He's my, he's my quarterback on the, my fantasy league. My fantasy team in the Hubbard. The Hubbard Fantasy league that I'm in that I was forced to play because I'm a sports guy. I'm two zero, by the way, with Baker Mayfield as my guy. So you got any other observations from last night?

[Dan Bernstein]

From last night? Just that I like the booth with Riddick and Orlovsky a lot. I especially like, you know, Riddick is not afraid to talk as if he's in a room full of coaches and I like that. I like that there's a lot of sexy football that booth.

[Matt Abbaticola]

So it's a smart broadcast that makes you smarter as a football fan?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Yeah. I tended to learn a lot the way. How very interesting too. I think their, their truck is feed. It's at a three man booth is really difficult, a three person booth. Really difficult to do. And it's, it's very difficult to make everybody sound good and smart because the truck is feeding one highlight to somebody and then another highlight to somebody else and trying to identify all the names involved. But I thought that they did a very, very good job of making the broadcast interesting and helping us be smarter about football and blowing past the minimum standard of just not making us dumber.

[Matt Abbaticola]

There was something written on the, on NFL.com and it was an article written about the current 02 teams. The 02 starts, whether it's, you know, panic or patience time real quick here. I just want to share this with you about the Chicago Bears. Anybody who looked at the Bears schedule knew the first two weeks wouldn't be easy for a young team trying to ascend in the ultra competitive NFC North Chicago had to start the year by hosting the vikings that won 14 games 2024 before traveling to Detroit to meet the same Lions squad that has owned the division the last two seasons. Two defeats to start the season. Were reasonable to expect. The problem in Chicago is how those losses have come. The Bears had the Vikings in a chokehold last Monday night before blowing a 176 lead and allowing Minnesota quarterback J.J. mcCarthy to score three fourth quarter touchdowns. What happened in Detroit on Sunday was even more unsettling. The 52:21 beat down revealed even more holes in the Chicago defense as the Lions generated several explosive plays and quarterback Jared Goff finished with five touchdown passes. There's been so much discussion about new head coach Ben Johnson, how he can help second year quarterback Caleb Williams and that offense evolve, but we're witnessing firsthand how suspect that defense might be all season. The Bears don't get many breaks with their schedule over the next four weeks either. For the next six games are on the road with three of those next six are against teams that have shown the ability to light up the scoreboard. Chicago had better find a way to slow teams down real fast. There are other areas to address the penalties, the inability of Williams to play a complete game. But the Bears clearly need more defense if they want to hang with the heavyweights in the nfc. The verdict on the Bears patience or panic is panic now.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes, we choose panic now.

[Matt Abbaticola]

It's not incorrect and that's a national perspective. That's not. Not a Bears person, not a Chicago person. Yet here it is two weeks they've seen with their eyes what they've seen and it's fair. That is an accurate assessment. Stop telling me that. It's only been two games. If you're local in town, stop telling me that. That's enough. Then you have multiple injuries preventing starters from playing on a bad defense. Already 32nd in points allowed, 28th in yards allowed, 9.9 yards allowed per pass. Stop telling me it's only two games. This is not a very good football team and there's nothing you could tell me that says hey, they're going to turn it around because of X, Y and Z. They may tighten it up offensively and commit less penalties on the offensive line. They may be able to run the ball better. Caleb Williams may be able to play a complete game more than just the opening drive. But but defensively they're not going to stop anyone. Particularly the teams in our own division, that is.

[Dan Bernstein]

Matt Abbaticola, I'm Dan Bernstein. This on 312 Sports is forward progress a Chicago Bears PODC.