← Forward Progress - A Chicago Bears Podcast
Forward Progress - A Chicago Bears Podcast
Scott Bair - Marquee Sports Network | The Chicago Football Show
00:44:27
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- [00:01]
Commercial Announcer
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- [01:30]
Matt Abaticola
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.
- [01:50]
Dan Bernstein
We award you Forward Progress a Chicago Bears podcast on 312 Sports. I'm Dan Bernstein, is Matt Abaticola your Chicago Bears nine and four and are powering their way toward what they hope will be a playoff appearance. A must win game on Sunday at home against the Browns. How must win? Well, how about a 29 percentage point difference due to the outcomes Win the game, your playoff possibility stays right around 71% according to PFF. You lose the game, you're underwater. You lose, they lose this game, they're down to 42% possibility of making the playoffs.
- [02:31]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah and you look at the NFC north with the packers at Denver, the Lions at the Rams. A good opportunity here for the Bears at home against a two or three win team in the Cleveland Browns to make some pace here in the NFC north as as well.
- [02:44]
Dan Bernstein
So let's talk about the state of the Bears with our guest joining us for the first time from Marquee Sports Network he is Scott Baer. You can follow him on Twitter at Scott Bear NFL he of the Chicago Football show that airs Mondays and Wednesdays on the Marquee Network. Scott, welcome for being here.
- [03:04]
Scott Baer
My first time. Was so excited to get that email in the inbox yesterday. Let's talk some football, man. It's going to be a fun final month of the regular season.
- [03:14]
Matt Abaticola
It certainly is. And looking at this game, we've talked about it this week in preparation and the cold weather. You have a rookie quarterback in Shador Sanders. You have the Bears coming off the loss from Green Bay up in Lambeau. Their playoff spot goes from the number one seed down to the seven seed. We're hanging on for our playoff hopes. What do you what do you hope to see from the Bears at at and and Cleveland at Soldier Field this weekend?
- [03:38]
Scott Baer
Yeah, I feel like I need to see some resolve from this group and then I believe that we're going to get it because I talked to Jalen Johnson, one of my favorite conversations in the entire Bears locker room right after they lost to Green. And look, you could hear a pin drop after that game because they understood it was a winnable opportunity that they let slip at the end. A pick to seal the game is a tough way to go. But Jalen Johnson was already saying, hey, look, we're not an outfit that loses two in a row. That that's something that they take pride in. It's something that hasn't happened since weeks one and two. And that's something that has been preached because nobody's going 17 and 0. But when you hit the roadblock, when you stumble, can you get back up and maintain your previous pick pace? That's what the Bears expect from themselves. And look for as much as they are getting asked about two packers games in 13 days, I think that internally, Ben Johnson and this locker room leadership, guys who have been to and won Super Bowls understand what it takes to get to the postseason. And that involves a victory at home where they've been really good against the Cleveland Browns.
- [04:41]
Dan Bernstein
And I know we're going to get into a lot of the specifics and plenty of details, but I want to pull back for a second and just look at the story of the 2025 bears that when NFL Films does its season retrospective that they do for every team is the headline. I expect the headline is going to be new coach, new energy, new culture, new leads to a winning Bears season that came up short in the playoffs. That's, that's sort of where I think is a reasonable way of looking at this. And yet they're, they can't think that because that's not their job. That's our job. And their job is to be thinking about, let's go win the Super Bowl. What is the distance between those two realities?
- [05:35]
Scott Baer
Yeah, I mean, I would list everything that you did except the fall short in the playoffs and I would add a year ahead of schedule. Right.
- [05:43]
Dan Bernstein
Well, I don't think they're mutually exclusive.
- [05:44]
Scott Baer
No, no. And I definitely think that that's also true. I think the fascinating thing about what this season is, is that kind of getting up to this point, it was about all those things that you were saying, the new coach and developing this quarterback and building this defensive identity and, and making the Bears relevant and prominent and interesting in the autumn and in the winter. What I think has changed now, right, is when you get to these last four games, now it's about what can we do with this little pocket? And I think that the opportunity is there that we can take the previous kind of storyline out. And now you have this, this unique opportunity here. And because I said a year ahead of schedule and losing in the playoffs, you're 100% right. They are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they can be the exact same thing. Whether they're a year like ahead of schedule or not. They're here right now and the teams they need to beat are remaining on the schedule. Packers, you cannot go, you cannot get swept. You need the tiebreaker against San Francisco and you need to go at least one and one against the Lions. So all these opportunities are in front of them. And when you look at the roster, right, how much of the talk mid season was about, well, who would they be? Or they're winning one score games, that's not sustainable. Okay, well, what have they shown us in the last two weeks against Philadelphia, albeit a stumbling Eagles team and a darn good packers team. Best defense I've seen on this schedule. If they have shown that they can compete with the best teams in the nfc, that's what they're going to do down the stretch. Health is somewhat improving. And I think that again, you look at this month as its own unique thing, maybe independent of all these things that we're talking about, what can they do with it? I think that's going to be the fascinating thing as we go down the.
- [07:37]
Matt Abaticola
Stretch now, Scott, you're up at Hallis Hall. You're around the coaches, the players, and you pick up on things that you hear and see and witness with your own eyes. We've talked A lot this year about as everyone has about Caleb Williams and his progression and his ability to pick up Ben Johnson's offense and to play at a, at a high NFL level. What are you hearing, what are you picking up on with regards to Caleb Williams from the coaches, from his teammates about not only this year, but where Caleb can go as a quarterback?
- [08:08]
Scott Baer
I think that's the fascinating thing and that's where the optimism comes from because go back to July and we're talking about can they get to the line of scrimmage on time? That every. That early in September we are looking at the play clock being like me and who I sit next to is. Is Adam Johns from chgo. And we're certainly. We're watching the play clock being like three. Oh, right. And then think about where we are now in terms of the operation and where we are now in terms of Caleb being able to play within structure and he's not there yet. I think if you look at what Jordan Love has done and you look at how he plays within the structure of that offense, I think it's dramatically different. But I think that there's optimism about what comes next and that comes from the coaching staff, which has been steady and steadfast and demanding of their quarterback and continuing to push him forward. He throws for four touchdowns. Not good enough. He throws for 53% or something like that. Against the Eagles there were good moments. Let's extract those and realize how we can be better. So I think that this offense was never meant to be mastered in the first year. Let's go back to the summer again. Ben Johnson says that the expectation is for Caleb Williams to have a 70% completion rate. We're nowhere close to that. But guess what? Jared Goff didn't crack 70% until his third season and then he hit 74. Now he's a different quarterback at a different part stage of his career with different teachings. But my point is, is that we see the potential there. And the tough part about it that I think coaches are trying to navigate is you have this special player who can do unbelievable things, right? Who can make throws that three people on this planet can make. But then. So you don't want to teach that out of him, but then there are times where you want him to hit the back foot when he's done with his drop back and fire, right? So it's about finding moments for each of those things. Part of that is coaching, being able to build a system that works for him. Part of that is Caleb taking hundreds and hundreds of boring practice reps and eventually he will see it. The light has come on in different areas. I would anticipate the light to continue to come on in other areas and we can be harder graders next year. But I think he's made progress and I think, I don't know, I don't know what schedule is. I don't think the coaches care about a schedule. They care about the end result. And I think once, once he gets into this system, probably in 2026, let's be honest, then I think we can see this offense is true potential.
- [10:39]
Dan Bernstein
Well, we're going to be hard graders right now, whether you give us permission to do so or not. And it was, I sort of highlighted what happened in the Eagles game or, excuse me, in the packers game. When you saw that, that awful first half, I understood, I guess, the idea of some of the play calling. But wherever the play calling meets execution, it didn't work. In the second half, we saw more designed boot actions. We saw the movement of the launch point and we saw what were essentially some half field reads that involve the layered concepts. Now that's not Ben Johnson's offense.
- [11:22]
Scott Baer
Right.
- [11:22]
Dan Bernstein
His. He does not want to do that. He wants, he wants the under center play action, motion and play action. And each one of those things, by the way, if you look at expected points added just in general, from adding motion to adding play action just to being under center, those are all things that make that objectively make your passing offense better. And they're still working there. So there were a lot of people like, hey, do more of that, do more of what you did in the second half. And my response is, no, that's not his offense. You can get out of a game doing that. It may be a good strategy or tactic at times within a game, but do you think there's any temptation, I guess is my question now, Scott, now that they're good and this all matters in a different way to say, you know what, let's give him some simpler concepts that do all this. Let's. We'll get to development after we see how far this can go and max out what we can do with him right now. Or they say, stick to the plan. The offense is the offense. Learn it.
- [12:30]
Scott Baer
Yeah. I go back to something that Dennis Allen said and I promise this will relate to what we're talking about is that they lost Kyler Gordon and Jalen Johnson was still out and T.J. edwards. Right. That you don't have the fundamental anchor pieces on that defense. And I've covered Dennis Even back when he was with the Oakland Raiders. And he said, why would I call the same offense if I don't have the players who can execute what I'm calling? Like, that's counterintuitive. And I think that what we've seen not only in the last couple of weeks, but going back over, over the last several, several weeks is making things a little bit easier. At times cutting off half the field or at times being like, okay, you know, you got one and two, and let's try to get rid of it to where they all. There is a balance of those things because we're at the position that we're at, right? Going back to is that they are nine and four. There is a unique opportunity here. So how can we best game plan to help this quarterback succeed now? At times it succeeds in a really interesting way. At times he's doing Houdini stuff where he's getting out of sacks and then he's off schedule and then he throws it deep or he throws it away, and that's when we see the completion percentage drop. So I, I think deep down this coaching staff wants him to play on schedule more often, wants him to operate within the structure of what he is seeing, even if he's only being asked to look 1, 2, and then figure it out. I still think they want to get the ball out earlier and on time and in rhythm. But the head coach has been very careful, and I don't think he's wrong to say this isn't all on the quarterback, that, yes, we're. We're not winning because of the passing game, maybe in spite of it sometimes, but he was very careful to say this is about receivers being detailed in their routes. It's about proper depth, it's about timing, it's about protection. It's about making that chip out as a tight end and still getting where you're supposed to go. And I think that what we've seen from the run game is kind of in contrast to what we've seen from the passing game. So the question becomes, is the quarterback holding you back? And I don't think that's the answer. I also don't think that the Bears have the benefit because of everything that we've been talking about to this point, to say we can rely on our quarterback to go when it's a game, when all else fails. So that's. That's where I think the Bears are right now. This is. This is one of those teams that needs the complementary coach speak as much as any unit Right now, especially when you look across the landscape in the NFC and you see Matt Stafford at an, at an MVP level and Jordan love playing well and some of these other really good teams having excellent quarterback play.
- [15:05]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah, the whole, the whole way that that broke down last week, we talked about it and we thought it was very interesting that the criticism that Ben Johnson had of the passing game on Monday, I didn't hear him single out Caleb Williams. I didn't walk away from that going, oh, wow, he really must not be happy with Caleb Williams. I thought he was talking about his passing game and then for him to choose to go the next day to say, hey, listen, I'm very happy with Caleb. I thought it was unnecessary because I didn't hear him go after or attack Caleb Williams. What was your take on why Ben did that and what did you hear both days?
- [15:36]
Scott Baer
Yeah, I heard what you heard, actually, and I thought what you thought. And I thought maybe the second go around was, I don't know if it was unnecessary, but I don't know how many people were thinking that. But part of being a coach, it's like a layered thing, right? It's not only what you say, it's how it's heard and how it's received and how everything is going. And if at times you have to go the extra mile to say that, too. Because at times, look, the coach, when he's in front of a podium, he's speaking to us or fans. There's other times he's speaking to the people in the locker room. Right. That there's. The messaging is going in every direction. And if he felt like he had to clarify it and that did help in some way, shape or form, that's a good thing. I've never known. And look, let's be clear here. I interview people in the locker room. You see them for about 0.75% of their day. I don't claim to know them or what they're thinking on the inside, especially in a market like this, when one guy is surrounded by 50 people and microphones going over the top. Right. So let's not claim that, but I know Caleb to be a supremely confident individual, especially when paired with Ben Johnson. And I think that that partnership is working really well. So to answer, I don't have a good answer for you. Why the second time? But I agree with you that I didn't think it was necessary. And again, I love covering Ben Johnson because he's not going to tell you about injuries, but he's got this inkling to tell you the truth, that he just can't avoid.
- [17:04]
Matt Abaticola
He can't fight it sometimes.
- [17:06]
Scott Baer
And I love it.
- [17:06]
Dan Bernstein
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- [18:28]
Matt Abaticola
Hey Y', all.
- [18:28]
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- [19:06]
Dan Bernstein
All.
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- [19:28]
Scott Baer
I just love it.
- [19:29]
Dan Bernstein
Amazing how well this administration has stayed focused when it comes to not saying anything about injury. You know, this my. The history here, and I've been covering teams back since they're 30 years that you always counted on things leaking out. It was even if they go, oh, he got a knee, or this guy's got a back. And even after they, they, they quarantined the trainers away from us and you couldn't talk to anybody, it still got out. With this team, like, already in this year under Ben Johnson, it is pretty clear that they've got injury information on lock. And that is why when he said what he said about Kyler Gordon yesterday, about like, yeah, it didn't look good. I don't know, to be determined. And my first thought was like, red flags all over the place. Like, if we see him at all this year now, I'm, I'm. That I'm. I'm preparing for him being done. Done. But that, that's me. I'm not reporting that. I'm just saying that. Have you noticed that, too? That this, that this Baird's administration does a really good job keeping us from finding out what's really going on with injured players. Yeah.
- [20:38]
Scott Baer
I mean, you'll even see it where Ben will talk on Fridays before practice, and then. And he'll say, I don't know, we're going to see about Ozzy or we're going to see about Theo or TJ or whatever. And then you get it. 90 minutes later, you walk out. 15 minutes later, he's not on the practice field for the 50th consecutive day. And then, sure enough, he's ruled out. And Pat Finley and some of the other guys have asked, well, like, what's the difference between the 90 minutes? Right? And he's like, well, what's the difference between the 90 minutes for you? Right. As in, like, why do we want to hold this back? And I think, I don't know, I can kind of respect it. Sometimes you get guys like Mike Tomlin, who will go up on a Friday and give you the list. I've had situations with coaches like that, but I also kind of get it. I really do. So some minor background. I used to work for the Atlanta Falcons on the team side. I did three years of that, about as far as I could go. But it's crazy how much these pro scouting staffs, like, look at other teams photographs and pay attention to all the things that you don't think coaches have time to do. They find time to do it. So in any little advantage I think that they can get, they're going to take and any opportunity to, you know, we didn't know that that DeMarco Jackson was going to play middle linebacker until Sunday during warm ups. And we're me and Adam again are counting people. Right. And I think that's okay. That that doesn't bother me very much as a reporter. Like I kind of understand that. But when it, but when it is important and when guys it didn't look good, at least they're telling us that that's interesting.
- [22:12]
Matt Abaticola
Thanks for sharing that stuff with your time with with the Falcons because that's, that's really interesting and it just confirms even more how psycho football coaches are. I can appreciate that. Yeah. 100%. So the the Bears Sunday Soldier Field Cleveland Browns Bears need a win here. What what's it going to look like in your eyes, Scott, if the Bears get a win? What do you what are you looking to see and then what's going to happen if that does come through?
- [22:34]
Scott Baer
Well, I'm immediately going to scoreboard watch because the other two teams in this division have difficult opponents. So can they make up a game? I think it would be a disastrous situation if the Broncos won, as an example, over Green Bay and then Chicago can't take advantage of that opportunity. So that's kind of what I'm looking for is that what does this Browns game due to the lay of the land as they enter into those final three games, that they're not more important, but they get amplified because they're in division and at times in conference or with a direct tiebreaker opportunity right now between the number six and seven seeds, that game against San Francisco on a Sunday night could be pretty important. So that's how I'm going to look at it. But again, I don't think we can operate under the assumption that the Browns are just going to roll over here. And I think that if there's any team who plays in an outdoor stadium very close to a great Lake where the wind freezes and rushes off, we get Lake Michigan, they get Lake Erie. So if there's any team that's going to be able to play in these elements and understand that, it's probably these guys. Something tells me kicking is going to be a nightmare and that ball is going to be going to hit you in the chest if you're a wideout. And it's going to be difficult. But I think it's a matter of weathering elements to It's a matter of the Bears being a favorite, acting like a favorite, and understanding that despite the fact there are superstars on the other team like Denzel Ward and Myles Garrett, that you need to understand that you have more talent than them and you need to execute like you do. There are times when it's like it's a coin flip, right? There are times when you need to assert yourself and take care of business. I'm of the belief that if you take care of business against lesser teams or seller dwellers and you go. 500 against everybody else, you're in playoff contention every year. The only way that you do that is by beating Cleveland on on Sunday.
- [24:25]
Dan Bernstein
And one thing we've debated is the balance between to blitz or not to blitz. And there are so many variables in this particular equation. Not only do you have a rookie quarterback and you would normally, of course you would. You would blitz a rookie quarterback. And Shador Sanders is Numbers have been bad against the blitz, but better. Of late the trend has been better, which you also expect from a rookie quarterback who is putting in the work. The Bears are not a great blitzing team. They have done well timing it up in important situations on third downs or fourth downs. Dennis Allen has found at times to spring it in a certain way. But maybe your best blitzer in Kyler Gordon isn't here right now. You'd love to have the front four have a terrific day on this day. Not something you can count on. So when you factor all these things in, do you lean one way or the other against Sanders coverage or pressure?
- [25:23]
Scott Baer
I look at Dennis Allen has a good track record against young or inexperienced quarterbacks and I think that his ability to my favorite thing is when he puts eight guys on the line and you don't know if he if he's bringing three or eight. And look, we, we've seen that not work, most notably at at the end of the first half in that packers game where he brings seven and disaster strikes, right? So you don't want that. But Jordan Love against the blitz is not Sanders against the blitz. So I'm of the opinion that you try to rattle this individual early. I thought the Bears did that well against the Saints also. And I think that there is an opportunity if you can rattle and confuse and put thoughts in the head. It's the old Sam Darnold thing, right? Like seeing ghosts.
- [26:09]
Dan Bernstein
There's nothing wrong anymore.
- [26:11]
Scott Baer
He doesn't anymore. There's nothing wrong with that. And if you get bit early Then you adjust. But that's what I think is key. I think the more that Jalen Johnson gets reps under his belt, the more I don't know if he's going to be his all world self at any point during the year, but I know that the more active he is, the better this team is going to be and the more in sync that that back end is going to be. And I think all those things are important. So I'm of the opinion rattle young quarterbacks at all costs. That's what I want to do. And if it bites you, I think this team is good enough that you can count. All right, then let's change our tact and try to go some other way.
- [26:54]
Matt Abaticola
All right, Scott, thank you so much for taking time today. Really good stuff. Appreciate it. Great, great first time to have you on and we look forward to doing it again down the road.
- [27:01]
Scott Baer
Yeah, absolutely. And I like, I do want to say, like, I've been on lots of these podcasts. Some of them are just kind of like, is this guy going to play? Is that guy like going to play? I kind of had to adjust my there because we're talking real intelligent football. So like, so that was really fun. Again, just like Dennis Allen. Had to recalibrate my brain, change my game plan, but hopefully I still brought it. Thank you, guys.
- [27:20]
Matt Abaticola
Good stuff, man. Thanks, Scott. Appreciate it so much.
- [27:22]
Dan Bernstein
Thank you, Scott. Take care, Scott Bear. You can follow him on Twitter at Scott Bear NFL and watch him on the Chicago Football show on Marquee. Yeah. Great stuff from Scott Bear of Marquee. That was really interesting when he started talking about the stuff that the Falcons coaches were doing. The team side stuff is great, but all that does is reinforce the worst stereotypes of especially NFL coaches with like, cameras.
- [27:51]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah. That they're all, they're all nut jobs.
- [27:52]
Scott Baer
Yeah.
- [27:53]
Matt Abaticola
Looking at photos of like, they have like planes flying overhead, like spy planes taking pictures of who's on the field and who's not.
- [28:00]
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, those, the old, like giant high altitude U2 spy planes. You know, they were taking pictures during the Cuban missile crisis or like what's the, you know the scene in the town when, when John Ham's FBI guys have all the can long camera lenses and they're taking pictures of the barbecue.
- [28:18]
Matt Abaticola
No. Did you ever see got the Pearl harbor with Ben Affleck and you never saw it?
- [28:25]
Dan Bernstein
No.
- [28:25]
Matt Abaticola
Right. So there's like a, there's like a tourist, like a tourist plane. Like it's supposed to be flying people over, like Hawaii and it's actually Like a spy plane taking, taking pictures of Pearl Harbor. So I could see like if you're Atlanta Falcons playing like the Tampa Buccaneers, you have like a set up. It's a, it's a play. It's a tourism plane, you know, taking people over Tampa. And yet you're taking photos of the, of the Buccaneers practice facility so you can get an idea of who's on the field and who's not. And yeah. So, you know, it was, it was really good stuff and a really good conversation with Scott. A question for you.
- [28:55]
Commercial Announcer
This.
- [28:56]
Dan Bernstein
Yes.
- [28:56]
Matt Abaticola
And I don't know how to, how to, how to put this in my, in my brain here. The Bears being ahead of schedule, is it a good thing or a bad thing?
- [29:07]
Dan Bernstein
Good.
- [29:09]
Matt Abaticola
And this, the overvaluation of Caleb Williams, where he's at in his progression. He's not getting a fair timeline of progression and learning. We're ahead of schedule here. So can any of it be looked at bad or is it all good?
- [29:22]
Dan Bernstein
It's fair. They wasted a year. It's fair. The Bears for sure, they brought it on themselves. They absolutely brought this on themselves. And they, they have to make up time. So it's, it's 100% fair. We, we're, we're all, look, we don't have enough time left on this planet to have to say, well, it'll take this year. That year they could, you know, get it done. Go, go, go. Get on with it. Let's go. Like, they, they, they made us sit through that entire Eber Flush thing where they bring him back. They make these, these, these incomprehensible excuses for retaining him. Go back and look at what they said about why they were keeping Matt Iberflus as their head coach. And they foisted that on us. And then eventually he's so stupid that they have to fire him after the Thanksgiving debacle. They have to. And then they had the whole Thomas Brown affair and everything that went on there. It was just the. So, no, I am, I am. A hard core opinion on. It is a good thing that they're ahead of schedule. Stay ahead of schedule. If you can't win the super bowl next year, this year, win it next year. Stay on track. And you're not defined by what any other team has done. Look at this NFL. You can't tell me in this NFL it has. Well, we got to do this first. We got to get by this team. You got to conquer this. You got to beat them first. You got to go lose a play. No, tell that to the Commanders tell that to them.
- [31:00]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah. Who were just last week eliminated from playoff contention after going to the NFC Championship Game. And that's what I've talked about a few weeks ago. Dan is like, let's seize this moment. And, yeah, sure, you are ahead of schedule. You've exceeded expectations for this year. You're at 9 and 4 right now. And, you know, I think Vegas had you at seven and a half wins or whatever it was, and maybe people had you at five wins. And if you're a meatball fan, you thought they were going to, you know, go, you know, 17 and oh, but seize the moment right here. And again, I don't think they're going to win a Super bowl this year. I just don't think they're ready for that with this roster and some injuries they're facing right now. But you're a team that can go to the playoffs, can win a playoff game.
- [31:38]
Dan Bernstein
Let's do that.
- [31:39]
Matt Abaticola
Let's. Let's accelerate this thing with Pen with Ben Johnson. Because of the Ben Johnson effect, shirtless or shirt on, whatever it might be, you're. You're ahead right now. Take advantage of it. Go out and win Sunday at Soldier Field.
- [31:52]
Dan Bernstein
Let's.
- [31:53]
Matt Abaticola
Let's take a game from the packers at Soldier Field. Let's take a game from the Lions and split that series with two really good teams in our division. And let's take the 49ers down and let's have a strong finish to this year. Go out and win a playoff game.
- [32:05]
Dan Bernstein
You know, it's funny that we were talking about the whole Ben Johnson shirtless thing and how that's going to resonate and whether or not it's going to boomerang on him making that decision. And we're starting to gather some intel on what's happening there. So so far, I've got two things. I have the fact that the Monsters Inc. Alternate ESPN broadcast already made a joke at his expense.
- [32:32]
Matt Abaticola
Yep.
- [32:33]
Dan Bernstein
There I said, oh, look at Sully in the locker room. He's like Ben Johnson. Neither one wears a shirt in the locker room. Oh, right. So then on dbu, I noted this piece. We spent some time talking about the analysis from CBS Sports saying the packers just pushed the. Or the Bears just pushed the packers at Lambeau. And Ben Johnson brings juice, shirtless celebrations and all.
- [32:58]
Matt Abaticola
Yep.
- [32:59]
Dan Bernstein
So I wanted also to introduce this. This is a listener named Michael who sent this into our email, who said the Ben Johnson locker room antics are gaining a national reputation because I'm out here in San Francisco, said I was listening to local radio. The hosts were talking about how wild it is that Kyle Shanahan has never won coach of the year. And they said one of the likely reasons is that he's boring and he doesn't do things like take his shirt off in the locker room or have a post game chant like Ben Johnson. This was all said with a bit of a mocking tone. He said just one data point, but he's gaining attention for better or for worse in another big NFC market. So I thanked Michael for his Bay Area reporting. But, you know, so if we already have three of these, that means there's a lot more out there. And it means that if we trust Ben Johnson, he already calculated that ahead of his decision. He knew, look, if we win, I'm going to do this, and did it, and he's cool with it, and that's fine and it's fun. And I know that I've heard from some Bears fans who've said, this is good. Our coach is the guy that's out there. The Bears coach is never the guy that's out there. Like, yeah, I mean, if you don't want Ditka driving drunk all over the place and yelling at people and challenging people on the radio to fights, or maybe you do. I don't know.
- [34:26]
Matt Abaticola
Maybe that is.
- [34:27]
Dan Bernstein
Maybe that is what you want and that just makes everything more.
- [34:29]
Matt Abaticola
Or the Bears coaches have been out there because they've been buffoons.
- [34:33]
Dan Bernstein
Well, that's a different reason. Yeah.
- [34:34]
Matt Abaticola
Which is not good.
- [34:35]
Dan Bernstein
When the entire nation watches a guy go into complete vapor lock with not understanding how to call a timeout in Detroit. Yeah, that's. That's being out there as well. But I think you don't want Ditka.
- [34:47]
Matt Abaticola
You don't know. You don't.
- [34:48]
Dan Bernstein
But he's got to act like a clown.
- [34:50]
Matt Abaticola
Ben Johnson's like, the national perspective on him will change for the positive or the negative based on the result of this season. I think if they. If they fall short, it's going to look that they're going to look at that shirtless thing and say, you know, hey, you know, that's going to not. Not sit well for Ben Johnson's reputation. I think maybe I'm wrong and maybe it has no impact or bearing whatsoever in the future. If they do make the playoffs, though, and if they are ahead of schedule and win the division, it's going to be, wow, look at that guy. That's the culture that he created. Remember when he took his shirt off and it solidified this team unity and this, you know, this whole community that he was building within the locker room. So it could go either way based on how the, the season ends up.
- [35:33]
Dan Bernstein
Yeah. And if you want to praise him for just, you know, taking a risk like that and doing something that might have a downside. Okay. Okay. It's certainly fun for us.
- [35:43]
Scott Baer
It's.
- [35:43]
Dan Bernstein
It's.
- [35:44]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah, absolutely.
- [35:45]
Dan Bernstein
It's been great. Content. It's for everybody. And for him to decide to have the confidence, the guts to do something like that. Okay. Why not? Why not? It's. I, I can't be too mad. I just hope for his sake that it doesn't come around to bite him in the ass if things go off the rails a little bit. And then he's always, remember the Bears coach took his shirt off for hot dogs and it becomes a punchline. I hope it doesn't.
- [36:13]
Matt Abaticola
You know, it's funny how the NFL scheduling has really served the Bears well this year as far as our excitement as a, as a band, as a, as a fan group for the Chicago Bears. I mean, you have packers game and then a Browns game and then a Packers game, a Niners game, like, all, you know, for those last five with such significant impact. And I'm glad the NFL doesn't do like, like the home and home and home series because I wouldn't be able to handle, like, back to back packers games. I mean, technically you could do it, but as a fan, I just, I wouldn't be able to, like, I needed this opportunity to kind of take a breath and be like, all right, let's get ready for the Browns. But I couldn't do, like, could you imagine doing another packers game this Sunday?
- [36:54]
Dan Bernstein
It's. Well, we're starting another packers week.
- [36:57]
Matt Abaticola
I know, but could you imagine back to back packers games? Like, what that would do to your brain?
- [37:02]
Dan Bernstein
All of these games make me like, like that. Every one of them.
- [37:06]
Matt Abaticola
Not the same, though. I mean, like the Browns game, it's like I'm not at the same level of the packers as I am with the Browns.
- [37:12]
Dan Bernstein
I'm very concerned about this.
- [37:14]
Matt Abaticola
Oh, no, I'm concerned about it, but my excitement level where every, like, everything, my everything was distracted from my life leading up to the packers game.
- [37:23]
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, I was counting the hours. I was having a difficult time filling the hours.
- [37:27]
Matt Abaticola
Now, could you imagine doing that two Sundays in a row?
- [37:30]
Scott Baer
No.
- [37:30]
Matt Abaticola
Like, at two weeks in your life where you're just like, ah, so, you know, as part of. It would be cool. I'm glad it's not like this is. This is Close enough. Like having a week in between. It's, it's, it's close enough. Like, let's, let's not do this again. Let's separate these packers games a little bit for, you know, in the future so that I'm not like, just like packers overload for two weeks. Yeah.
- [37:51]
Dan Bernstein
I'm going to give these numbers again with. These are the numbers we used to bring in Scott earlier. If the Bears win this week, their playoff percentage is still around. It's at 71% according to PFF. If they lose, it drops to 42%.
- [38:09]
Commercial Announcer
Wow.
- [38:11]
Dan Bernstein
This is a nearly a 30 point swing in the outcome of this game. And you can look and check and see where the spread is. I want to say it's their, their largest. The Bears are the biggest favorites that they've been in a very long time in any game that it was. It opened it over a touchdown. It opened at seven and a half. And I'm not saying that the Browns are any good, but like you say, they beat the packers and injuries matter. I want to know, even if Roma Dunze is listed as, you know, if they're limited in practice or practiced in full, I want to know how he really is.
- [38:54]
Scott Baer
Right.
- [38:54]
Dan Bernstein
And is this. How are they gonna have to put a pin in there and when. And could it be worse? Because remember what took down Kevin White? Oh, yeah, that was, that was a stress fracture and he was, he was.
- [39:07]
Matt Abaticola
A first round pick. Yeah. Wasn't he? Top 10 guys. Seven guys. Seven, I think, overall.
- [39:10]
Scott Baer
Yeah.
- [39:11]
Dan Bernstein
Yeah. And then they lied to us. Oh, he's fine.
- [39:13]
Scott Baer
He's fine.
- [39:13]
Dan Bernstein
He's fine. He's fine. He's hurt. He's bad. He's done. And that was that.
- [39:17]
Matt Abaticola
You know what? You know what isn't impacted by weather is a big angry man chasing the quarterback.
- [39:23]
Dan Bernstein
That's true. I like that. If it's, if it's the, if the big angry man is playing for the, for the team for which I'm rooting.
- [39:29]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah, I was kind of, you know, heading towards that. That other guy, though, on the team that's got 20 sacks right now.
- [39:34]
Dan Bernstein
Oh, yeah, he is. He's not human.
- [39:38]
Matt Abaticola
No.
- [39:39]
Dan Bernstein
And I actually made the mistake of going back and watching like a career highlight reel.
- [39:45]
Matt Abaticola
You shouldn't do that.
- [39:46]
Dan Bernstein
It made me feel bad. Yeah, you shouldn't do that.
- [39:49]
Matt Abaticola
Like leading up to a game where they're playing him.
- [39:51]
Dan Bernstein
You shouldn't.
- [39:51]
Matt Abaticola
You shouldn't do that.
- [39:52]
Dan Bernstein
I know I did that. I'm like, how do you, how do you block this dude?
- [39:56]
Scott Baer
Yeah.
- [39:57]
Dan Bernstein
Even. Even looking at him, he. He looks like a superhero.
- [40:03]
Scott Baer
Yep.
- [40:04]
Dan Bernstein
He looks like a superhero.
- [40:05]
Scott Baer
He just. He.
- [40:06]
Dan Bernstein
He's impossibly built. And the speed should not be correct. Nobody that size should be that fasted at, what, 275?
- [40:15]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah. He shouldn't be that fast.
- [40:17]
Dan Bernstein
No.
- [40:17]
Matt Abaticola
For whatever size he is. Yeah.
- [40:18]
Dan Bernstein
And going back, looking at, like, the blocked kicks where he hurdles the long snapper and then just kind of stands there.
- [40:26]
Matt Abaticola
Why would you do that to yourself?
- [40:28]
Dan Bernstein
I probably should. He's just one guy. It's a football game, and they can do the thing where Kemet or Loveland gives him the little chip, and then they. They get out there and you just get rid of it and throw it to the guy that chips, and you got all the free yardage. The Browns aren't good. I keep reminding myself. They're just.
- [40:46]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah, they're not good. They're not good. Yeah. Remember that. But, you know, you still gotta go out and play the game, so.
- [40:50]
Dan Bernstein
Oh, and speaking. Speaking of Kemet, there is a YouTube video. I think it's on Twitter. Just.
- [40:58]
Matt Abaticola
I saw it.
- [40:58]
Dan Bernstein
The rack. God.
- [41:00]
Matt Abaticola
Yes. It's just. It's one cat. And these are all from this year. This guy put this all together.
- [41:06]
Dan Bernstein
Are they all from this year?
- [41:07]
Matt Abaticola
It's just this season, Dan. It's just where he catches the ball and immediately falls down, and he could probably get anywhere from five to eight.
- [41:13]
Dan Bernstein
More yards, but he's choosing to fall down. Like, I understand.
- [41:17]
Matt Abaticola
I don't get it.
- [41:17]
Dan Bernstein
I understand if a guy gets tripped, but there are a couple where it looks like he's catching it and then he just kind of.
- [41:22]
Matt Abaticola
And he falls it falls down and.
- [41:24]
Dan Bernstein
Tries to cradles the ball.
- [41:26]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah. I don't know, dude.
- [41:26]
Scott Baer
I don't.
- [41:27]
Matt Abaticola
I don't get it. But, yeah, that. I saw that same thing. And you. If it's all this season. Well, those are all catches from this year.
- [41:33]
Dan Bernstein
Can somebody tell him to stop doing that?
- [41:35]
Matt Abaticola
I said it. I said it. So I don't know.
- [41:37]
Dan Bernstein
No, just like, hey, dude, he's out.
- [41:39]
Scott Baer
Around.
- [41:39]
Dan Bernstein
He's available.
- [41:40]
Matt Abaticola
Catch the ball and keep your feet and keep running.
- [41:42]
Dan Bernstein
Text him. Is it like, stop falling down immediately after you catch the ball?
- [41:45]
Matt Abaticola
Because if that's like two or three catches a game where you can add five yards, maybe each time, or three yards, three to five yards, you can add another nine to 15 yards in the game. That could be meaningful.
- [41:56]
Dan Bernstein
Yeah. Look at the touchdown that Colston Loveland scored, one of the plays of the year to beat the Bengals, where he.
- [42:04]
Matt Abaticola
Runs through Three guys. Three guys bounce running.
- [42:06]
Dan Bernstein
Sometimes guys fall down. Look at. Look at what happened in the last game with Jacobs when four Bears converged on him.
- [42:13]
Matt Abaticola
Yep.
- [42:13]
Dan Bernstein
Just kept his feet and he emerged from there somehow.
- [42:16]
Matt Abaticola
Didn't fall down. 21 yards, I think.
- [42:19]
Dan Bernstein
Four bears. And that's not Barry Sanders. There's four bears. And all of a sudden, he came out with it. There's no reason ever to stop running until they tell you to or the whistle blows or they put up a big sign that says stop. I don't know, but it's just weird. It's a bad habit. I don't want to see that in the scouting report. We'll catch the ball and then decide to fall down.
- [42:38]
Matt Abaticola
Yep. Catch and drop.
- [42:40]
Dan Bernstein
No, thank you.
- [42:41]
Matt Abaticola
Stop, drop, and roll.
- [42:42]
Dan Bernstein
No, I just want that on the record.
- [42:44]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah. No, I love it.
- [42:44]
Dan Bernstein
I love it.
- [42:45]
Matt Abaticola
Hey, if you haven't gotten the new 312Sports app, do so. If you are a fan of forward progress and you're just not listening to DBU or owc, what's wrong with you, first of all? So do that. Listen to all the content. It's all right there for you on the new 312Sports app. So get that at the Apple App Store. You can get it at Google Play as well. And then when you have it, you can actually send Dan audio messages. And you could send 12 to 15 audio messages a day to Dan and tell him how much you love the show or have a full conversation with Dan without hearing Dan's voice back. You can just listen to the show. You can send an audio message based on every topic we talk about and say, here, Dan, here's my thoughts on Cole Comet. And then you can listen to more of the show. And then you say, well, hey, Dan, here's my thoughts on your interview you guys did with Scott Baer. And then you say, hey, Dan, I listened to DBU earlier, and when you guys talked about Michigan, here's my thoughts on Michigan. And then you can go and listen and say, hey, Dan, here's my thoughts on Notre Dame. You can do all of that right there at the 312Sports app. So you can't do any of that unless you get the app first. So do that.
- [43:45]
Dan Bernstein
Just came in while you were talking.
- [43:49]
Matt Abaticola
You can do the Ken, but you have to get the app first. And then you register, and then you can send Dan all the messages you want. You forgot to send recipes like, hey.
- [43:59]
Dan Bernstein
Dan, you forgot to tell them to send the same message 17 times.
- [44:04]
Matt Abaticola
Yes, do that. Thank you. Who was that. That was composer somebody. I think it was Chris. Chris sent the same message 17 times. And that's not an exaggeration, so.
- [44:12]
Dan Bernstein
All right. No, but we got it.
- [44:14]
Matt Abaticola
We love it all. We love it all.
- [44:15]
Dan Bernstein
We love every bit of it.
- [44:16]
Scott Baer
Yes.
- [44:17]
Matt Abaticola
Dan listens to it and he responds to everything. So I'm trying.
- [44:20]
Dan Bernstein
I.
- [44:21]
Matt Abaticola
You're doing a good job with that, buddy. You're doing a really good job.
- [44:23]
Dan Bernstein
I'm not tagging you or including you. Like a reply all with a lot of these. You got no idea. I am setting aside time to at least try and please don't be pissed at me if it's just like a, hey, thanks, or it's an emoji reaction. I am doing my absolute best.
- [44:40]
Matt Abaticola
Or you get like a dick pic back. I mean, you know, you never know.
- [44:42]
Dan Bernstein
I may accidentally send you a picture of Brett Favre's. Yeah, just something off my phone.
- [44:49]
Matt Abaticola
That's a great response.
- [44:50]
Dan Bernstein
If I accidentally include that.
- [44:52]
Matt Abaticola
It just a picture of Brett Favre.
- [44:54]
Dan Bernstein
I'm just. I'm hurrying. I really should do that. I should send non sequitur responses.
- [44:59]
Matt Abaticola
I. I saw. I saw a meme yesterday. It was of Philip Rivers and he was getting back in shape and his kids were helping him. And it was the scene from Rocky where he's jogging and there's hundreds of children behind it. It's like Philip Rivers and his kids getting ready to go back to the Colts. It was really funny.
- [45:16]
Dan Bernstein
Which they then redid in Creed with the guys on the little bikes.
- [45:20]
Matt Abaticola
Yes.
- [45:20]
Scott Baer
On the.
- [45:21]
Dan Bernstein
On the motorbikes.
- [45:22]
Matt Abaticola
Yes, they did.
- [45:24]
Dan Bernstein
Philip Rivers looks so old.
- [45:26]
Matt Abaticola
He does. And he looks puffy.
- [45:28]
Dan Bernstein
Very.
- [45:29]
Commercial Announcer
Yeah.
- [45:30]
Matt Abaticola
But hey, good luck to him.
- [45:32]
Dan Bernstein
If he can still get out and get it there.
- [45:34]
Matt Abaticola
I team grandpa. Let's go.
- [45:37]
Dan Bernstein
I just hope he doesn't get. Get maimed.
- [45:41]
Matt Abaticola
I know. I hope. I hope he doesn't get hurt. I mean, he's got 10 kids to take care of.
- [45:44]
Dan Bernstein
I really hope he doesn't. Well, you can't be taken care of. One of them's a. He's a grandfather.
- [45:49]
Commercial Announcer
Right.
- [45:50]
Matt Abaticola
He's a grandfather.
- [45:50]
Dan Bernstein
Is he taking care of all of them? And the grandkid? Probably. Does he have great grandkids yet?
- [45:54]
Matt Abaticola
No, not great crank. It's his grandkids. And, you know, you know, I'm gonna be a grandpa. And I've told you this. On March, I'll be a grandpa. And. And we. You know what it's going to be? It's going to be a. A boy.
- [46:05]
Commercial Announcer
Yeah.
- [46:07]
Matt Abaticola
So there's another. Another There'll be another boy in the Baticola household. Yes.
- [46:12]
Dan Bernstein
Oh, boy. Yeah.
- [46:14]
Matt Abaticola
Well, I mean, technically a member of the Wellwood household, but when he comes here to visit, he can. Yeah, he.
- [46:18]
Dan Bernstein
But the difference is Philip Rivers is 44.
- [46:22]
Matt Abaticola
Yes. He's 44.
- [46:26]
Dan Bernstein
Man, you got a 10 kids. I don't. I don't know. I don't get it.
- [46:32]
Matt Abaticola
He needs more of that football. Money is what he needs. I'm not.
- [46:34]
Dan Bernstein
I don't want to. I don't want to yuck your yum. I just. I hope mama is. Is got some agency in some of this.
- [46:43]
Matt Abaticola
Well, that'll wrap it up for she signed up for Forward Progress today. We we hopefully will have someone from Cleveland to visit and give us a little inside look. Tomorrow's show about the Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears game Sunday at Soldier Field.
- [46:57]
Dan Bernstein
I got to put my list together for DBU.
- [46:59]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah, we have top 10 Browns of all time for DBU as well as Friday Feedback Friday. If you haven't checked out DBU yet again, what does what's wrong with you do that? Fridays are always a lot of fun on DBU as well. But Remember, get the 312Sports app, the Apple Play Store or the Apple App Store or Google Play. We have it there for you as well. And you get rewards too. And if you're looking for that promo code, it's Bears B E A R S. Chicago Firehouse Restaurant, Smash Burger and Giordano's on there right now. B E A R S is the promo code that you're looking for.
- [47:30]
Dan Bernstein
We again will have Friday feedback Friday and top 10 Browns tomorrow. And we will take a more in depth look at the Bears upcoming opponent for Sunday, the Cleveland Browns. And that will do it for today's Forward progress. A Chicago Bears podcast here on Thursday. 312 sports.
- [47:57]
Matt Abaticola
Forward Progress, a Chicago Bears podcast with Dan Bernstein and Matt abetic cola on 312 sports.