What Ben Johnson Must Improve in Year 2

Summary

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Forward Progress – A Chicago Bears Podcast

Episode: What Ben Johnson Must Improve in Year 2
Hosts: Dan Bernstein and Matt Abbatacola
Date: July 22, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, Dan and Matt dissect the key areas of improvement for the Bears heading into Ben Johnson’s second season as head coach. The main focus is Chicago’s red zone offense, what needs to change for the team to take the next step, and the overall development of the Bears’ young roster. They also have some fun with NFL coaching quirks, motivational slogans, and team aesthetics, all while keeping sharp focus on the Bears’ trajectory.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Bears Training Camp Buzz and Offensive Line Battle

• Logan Jones Hype: Media focus on rookie center Logan Jones and the brewing competition with Garrett Bradbury.
• Quote: "Somewhere Garrett Bradbury is going to have that little bent corner picture of Logan Jones stuck in the mirror over his dresser so he can always be reminded of this rookie rival." – Dan Bernstein (02:45)

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2. The Central Theme: Red Zone Offense – Where the Bears Must Improve

Performance Recap & Benchmarking

• The Bears finished last season 14th in red zone touchdown rate (57.14%).
• Key Metric: To be a true contender, Bears must enter the top-10 (62%+), preferably top-5 (65%+).
• Stat rundown: Eagles led with 71%, followed by Bills, Bengals, Commanders, 49ers, Colts, Rams, Lions, Jaguars, Falcons. (04:48)

Major Focus Areas:

• Caleb Williams’ Growth: Needs to process reads faster in the red zone, improving decisions to throw or scramble.
• Matt: "He will get better at working in a compressed field… it’s something very hard for young quarterbacks." (05:30)
• Run Game Efficiency at the Goal Line: Improved last year but began poorly (negative EPA first 4 games); left tackle play is a variable.
• Receivers & Route Running: Bears’ red zone receiving units were bottom-third in several metrics—tied for 20th in TDs, bottom five in yards per reception, below average 60% catch rate.
  • Matt: "If your guys aren’t making the right adjustments or running the correct routes and then therefore catching the ball… those areas need to improve." (10:08)
• Holistic Workflow: Improvement must come from QB, OL, run scheme, and receiver execution.

Practical Perspective:

• Dan: "A couple of things I’d like to know as we look for that 5%... Ben Johnson ultimately, once that headset cuts off, he’s trusting Caleb to make those decisions." (08:22)
• Statistical Context: Some touchdowns happen from long range—good offense can make red zone stats “less meaningful.”
  • Dan: "One way to not worry about this stat, score from anywhere, score fast, pick sixes, fumble recoveries, kickoff returns, punt returns, one play from scrimmage." (11:31)

Summary Table: What Must Improve in 2026

| Area | 2025 Rank | What Needs Work | Target 2026 | |----------------------------|-----------|-----------------------------|----------------| | Red Zone TD Rate | 14th | Faster QB Reads | Top 10 (62%+) | | Run Efficiency (Goal line) | Below avg | Left tackle integration, OL | Better epa | | Red Zone Receiving | Bottom 5 | Routes, catch rate, depth | Avg/Top half |

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3. Bears’ Under-25 Talent: Blueprint for Sustainability (15:07-21:37)

• Aaron Schatz (ESPN) Rankings: Bears move from 5th to 3rd in NFL for under-25 talent.
  • Notable young blue-chippers: Colston Loveland, Rome Odunze, Caleb Williams, Ozzie Tripillo (injured), Luther Burden, Sam Roush, Xavion Thomas, Jervon Dexter Sr., Shamar Turner, Dylan Thieneman, Logan Jones.
  • Aaron Schatz’s quote via Dan: "Once again, the most important young talent a team can have is a quarterback. And the Bears have a budding star in Williams. His top targets are all under 25... The Bears use third round picks on tight end Sam Roush and WR Xavion Thomas, also both 22." (18:20)
• Roster Management Notes: Bears mix proven youth with select veterans—coaching trust shifting responsibility accordingly.

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4. NFL Coaching Slogans & Email Blunders (21:45-32:18)

"WIN": John Harbaugh’s Motivational Slogan

• Acronym breakdown: ‘WIN’ = “What’s Important Now” (but hosts gently mock the technicality—should be “WIIN”).
  • Dan: “It’s W I I N. It’s ween but not ween.” (26:32)
  • Matt: "How is that a motivating motto? … I don’t need to explain it any further. All you do is you make it harder to understand." (27:07)

Nick Sirianni and the ChatGPT Mishap

• Sirianni sends a team motivational email and accidentally leaves the AI prompt ("Fix the grammar and make it more motivational, please") at the bottom.
  • Dan (mocking): "You're an NFL head coach of a good team. Just be confident in being yourself. It's okay." (29:44)
  • Matt: "You're sharing logistics and information. How motivating does that need to be?" (31:17)

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5. Around the NFL – Miscellaneous Notes (32:30-35:38)

• Cardinals Gambling Investigation: Arizona Dept. of Gaming investigating exec Ryan Gold’s alleged betting violations.
• Sam LaPorta Cleared: Detroit’s TE back for camp post-injury.
• Jets’ “Whiteout” Uniform: Mocked for being “not whiteout enough”—too much green on a supposedly all-white design.
  • Matt: "So am I wrong in saying that white out should be all white?" (35:08)
  • Dan: "It's just a white base… With the Jets, if they got anything even remotely right, we should probably just let them have a victory." (35:13)

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6. Lighthearted Banter & Segment Wrap-up

• Soccer, cooking, and podcast cross-over fun (foodball, soccer pod, fishing pod).
• Signature offbeat chemistry in closing.
• Dan, riffing on soccer basics: "The net is huge. So you should try to kick it in the net." (37:35)
• Podcast Close: "Now you know. Now you’re privy to that little secret because you were here on Forward Progress on 312 sports, a Bears and NFL podcast. Forward progress has stopped." (38:38)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "He needs to process his reads faster in the red zone. It’s difficult. It certainly is harder for rookie quarterbacks, younger quarterbacks." – Matt (05:30)
• "A couple of things I’d like to know as we look for that 5%... once that headset cuts off, he’s trusting Caleb to make those decisions..." – Dan (08:22)
• "If your guys aren’t making the right adjustments or... the correct routes and then therefore catching the ball... those areas need to improve." – Matt (10:08)
• "If everything is working out just right, it makes some of these stats meaningless." – Dan (11:31)
• "That may just be a nod to... some jobs or responsibilities where we definitely have to have people in here... have some veterans doing some things here." – Dan (20:38)
• "I have a technicality problem with this acronym." – Dan (26:12)
• Sirianni AI Email Mishap: "[He] left the AI prompt in the bottom of the email... Fix the grammar and make the text more motivational, please." – Dan (29:18)
• "How is that a motivating motto?" – Matt (27:07)
• "So am I wrong in saying that white out should be all white?" – Matt (35:08)
• "That could be the rudimentary soccer take podcast. Go that way. And then kick it in the net because the net is huge." – Dan (37:35)

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Useful Timestamps

• Battle at center, Logan Jones hype: 01:56–03:03
• Red zone offense deep dive: 03:03–13:01
• Young Bears roster ranking: 15:07–21:37
• John Harbaugh/“WIN” slogan: 22:55–27:32
• Nick Sirianni ChatGPT email: 28:30–32:18
• News & Jets whiteout uniforms: 32:30–35:38
• Soccer/cooking banter & wrap: 37:00–38:38

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Tone and Style:
The episode blends sharp analysis, deep stat exploration, Bears-centric debate, and classic dry Midwestern humor. Dan and Matt are as likely to break down third-down conversion rates as they are to roast coaching clichés or poke fun at NFL uniform design.

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Takeaway for Bears Fans

If Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams can push the red zone efficiency and the offense can synergize its youth and talent, the Bears’ forward progress could become the NFL’s next big thing—not just in 2026, but for years to come.

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Transcript

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[Dan Bernstein]

I mean, if you're a Bears fan, you're thinking Forward progress.

[GameTime Advertiser]

Come on.

[Matt Abeticola]

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

[Dan Bernstein]

Forward progress is yours here on 312 Sports. We talk Bears, we talk NFL next week. Training camp this week. So far still not training camp. But that's okay because we are continuing to learn more about our Bears. I'm fine. I know there's a bunch of stuff we have to get into. You notice that this Logan Jones thing is kind of everywhere now. That is this idea of hey wait a second here. The Tribune did a big thing today about to keep your eye on this Logan Jones that, that just seems to be the flavor of the this week or whatever this, this pre training camp period is. I don't know if you're Garrett Bradbury right now. You know what this is? Bulletin board material.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yes, it is for the, for the

[Dan Bernstein]

battle at the pivot is what this is. That is somewhere Garrett Bradbury is going to have that little bent corner picture of Logan Jones stuck in the mirror over his dresser so he can always be reminded of this rookie rival that's trying to keep him off the field.

[Matt Abeticola]

Well, whether it's Garrett Bradbury or Logan Jones who are going to be a very important part of the Bears offensive line and their and their offense, obviously moving forward into this 2026 season. There's an area that I looked at and I'm looking at a few different things over the next few weeks as we get into training camp. Areas of improvement for the Bears in Ben Johnson's second year as head coach and running the offense. Obviously, if the Bears want to repeat as division champs, if they want to go back to the playoffs, if they want to win double digit games again, I'm going to look at a few areas of improvement that they need to to look at for this season. The first thing I want to examine and we'll look at today, Dan, is the Bears red zone offense touchdown rate.

[Dan Bernstein]

The Bears had a lot of offense touchdown rate. Okay.

[Matt Abeticola]

They did a lot of really good things on offense obviously. And Caleb Williams in his first year took a lot of so many steps forward under Ben Johnson. But this is an area that needs to improve as a team. This isn't just based on one individual's performance, but an area that they need to improve if they want to again repeat as champions, win double digit games. As far as the division's concerned, double digit wins and move into the playoffs. So we're going to look at the Bears red zone offense today. Their touchdown rate overall, they finished last year 14th in the NFL. So right in the middle of the pack at 57.14%. So they were 14th. They need to move this. Okay, yeah, 5,000, 714. They need to move up into a top 10 team.

[Dan Bernstein]

So what team, what is considered good, what's considered elite as far as percentage?

[Matt Abeticola]

All right, well, I'll give you the rundown from last year. The Philadelphia Eagles were number one in the NFL last year at 71% touchdown rate.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abeticola]

The Bills were at 67. The Bengals 66. The Commander 65. The Niners at 65. The Colts also at 65. The Rams were at 64%. Number eight is the Lions at 62 and a half. Jaguars also 62 and a half. And rounding out the top 10, the Atlanta Falcons at 62 touchdown rate.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right, so minimum of 62 is what it sounds like.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yes. I would love to see the Bears get into a top five 14 last year, 57.14. The number five team last year were the San Francisco 49ers at 65.22. Would love to see the Bears get into a top five red zone offense touchdown rate. So again, 57%. Last year there was a stretch of three games against the Raiders, the Commanders and the Saints where their red zone touchdown rate dipped to 30.7%, which was third worst in the NFL. All right, so a few things to look at and things do improve. Number one, Caleb Williams. He needs to process Reeds faster in the red zone. It's difficult. It certainly is harder for rookie quarterbacks, younger quarterbacks, to do this. And this does improve. And it will improve as long as he gets reps in playing time, which of course he will. But he needs to process his reads faster. If he does that, he'll make better decisions on whether to throw or scramble. Okay, so as he processed the reads faster, he'll make better decisions with what he should do as the quarterback, throw or scramble. He will get better at this and get better at working in a compressed field. Again, it's something very hard for young quarterbacks to do. He will get better and this just gets better. With reps, you can do this as much as you want in practice. You can try to simulate it. But we know that the best way to improve is doing this in game time. So the Bears need to get down there, which I think they will because they move the ball a lot. And he will get better in working in a compressed field just with the number of reps that he'll get doing it. Okay. Another area is run game inefficiency. Their run game efficiency at the goal line needs to improve. Now. Last year their epa, the expected points added was actually negative in their first four games of the season. Now we know what they did to improve their run game and we saw it improve after, after the bye week, particularly to become one of the better running teams in the NFL. But their run game efficiency at the goal line does need to improve. Now it did improve as the season went on, but it certainly those numbers were influenced by the slow start they got off to. And I expect that to be better this year as well too. Now you could ask about the left, the left tackle position and how they address that. If that level of play gets to where Ozzy Trapillo got to last year, where they were again one of the best running teams in the game. How does that impact the start of their season again? Is this going to be more of a learning curve again with adding whoever they add at left tackle? But I believe they will be Better at this. But their run game efficiency at the goal line needs to improve.

[Dan Bernstein]

A couple of things I'd like to know as we look for that 5% because really we're trying to find 5% here. Yes, if they were 57.14, they get up to 62, that should be fine. Obviously you want it to be 70, you want it to be 100, but we'd take 62. How much is a first time head coach slash play caller learning his guys just understanding things and how much is really on the quarterback's development? My guess is a lot. And it's not just getting rid of the ball faster. It may be checking off of something. It may be recognizing whether it's as simple as a box count or as or more complicated than understanding where a pressure might be coming from. That I do think is Ben Johnson ultimately once that headset cuts off, he's trusting Caleb to make those decisions and how much yet another year, a second year in this system is just going to make some of the those decisions now second nature positively for Caleb Williams.

[Matt Abeticola]

Now very good points to bring up. But that's also not all on the quarterback as well too, even in his making his reads because a lot of that depends on the routes that are run, that they're run in the proper time, that they actually run the correct route and that the balls aren't dropped. Which brings us into our next area. So route running and drops. The Chicago red zone receiving was 27th in yards in the NFL. They were tied for 20th in touchdowns, they were bottom five in yards per reception and they were below average in their catch rate at 60%. So that, that's so again as you point out about Caleb Williams and his progression and his growth and development, which is accurate and correct. He's only one half of the equation as far as passing the ball is concerned in the red zone. And if your guys aren't making the right adjustments or do, or, or seeing the correct reads, running the correct routes and then therefore catching the ball. So their numbers show that they need to improve as well on wide receivers. Which also goes back to maybe what Ben Johnson talked about overall when he talked about the receiving group last year. And the, and the coaches need to do a much better job. I don't know how much of that focus in his brain there at that time was talking about red zone offense because they were as far as receiving the ball were one of the lower in the bottom half of the NFL. And the numbers, I mean the numbers just tell it right there tied for 20th and touchdowns, bottom five in yards per reception and below average catch rate at 60%. So those areas need to improve. If you get all those things working together, that's Caleb, that's the offensive line, that's the run game efficiency at the goal line and then your red zone receiving offense, those improve, you should be able to improve from 14th up from where they were last year.

[Dan Bernstein]

One more point. If the Ben Johnson offense is really, really good. A lot of these touchdowns are coming from outside the red zone.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

Where it's not even measured in the stats where you're not going to be methodically matriculating the ball down the field that they're that where as soon as you get out of the shadow of your own goalpost, you're trying to score. So I think one way to not worry about this stat, score from anywhere, score fast, score from anywhere, pick sixes, fumble recoveries, kickoff returns, punt returns, one play from scrimmage. If, if everything is working out just right, it makes some of these stats meaningless.

[Matt Abeticola]

No, you're correct on that. What we can do at the end of this coming season is take a look at total of a total number of red zone opportunities in 2025 and then compare them to the total number of red zone opportunities in 2026 and see how the offense and big chunk plays influence that. If that if those opportunities go up, if they go down, they stay about the same. They stay about the same. Then we'll have a good a good two seasons to evaluate and compare how they improved or didn't improve in those areas. But I thought it'd be something important to look at because I want to find other things that the Bears need to work on to improve year one to year two under Ben Johnson. More than just, you know, what's been given about oh Caleb Williams and his completion percentage needs to improve. Well, let's go a little bit deeper and look at different things. So one thing I wanted to look at today and share is the red zone offense touchdown rate which at 14, certainly not the worst but has room to improve with this high powered offense.

[Dan Bernstein]

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[Dan Bernstein]

And this was as we are continuing to mine all things NFL for content, this was ESPN's Aaron Schatz. Not Will Shaft Aaron Shat.

[Matt Abeticola]

Not Will Shad. Yes, Aaron Schatz.

[Dan Bernstein]

So Aaron Schatz has decided that he's going to rank all NFL teams by under 25 talent. Okay, because when we look at which NFL teams are set up for future success, a big part of that is considering how much young talent is on the roster. These players are still developing. They could become even better and more productive as they hit their peak years. They also come on affordable rookie contracts that help teams stay under the salary cap. Young talent helps establish how much success a team is likely to have over the longer term. For the first time since 2022, we do not have the Houston Texans on top of this list. Did you? He said you don't have to have young talent to be a Super bowl contender. So the current favorite to win the Super Bowls way down in last place when it comes to talent under the age of 25 said, who needs the long term when you have so much veteran talent in the short term.

[Matt Abeticola]

Wait, say that again. The. The team. The team. The team with the lowest super bowl odds or to win the super bowl is the young, the youngest.

[Dan Bernstein]

The rank. The oldest.

[Matt Abeticola]

Oh, the oldest.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, no, not necessarily the older. But ranks last on the amount of under 25 players because they don't. They don't like kids, remember? We know. Yeah. The Rams have said this is how they want to do it. Yeah. And they rank 32nd. They're down from 18th last year. So that's just one little quirk, one little note.

[Matt Abeticola]

So this is pure. This is strictly ranking just by. By ages and they're not putting any.

[Dan Bernstein]

Here's the methodology. Okay, These are the factors. Number of starts made by players under 25. Number of snaps played by players under 25. Quality of play by players under 25. Age adjusted to capture the fact that a 21 year old player will likely improve more than a 23 year old player of the same ability. Extra consideration for Pro bowl and all Pro selections. Value and length of player contracts. Relative importance of positions. Quarterbacks are more important. Running backs, off ball linebackers, specialists. Less important. Draft value added in the 2026 draft, particularly first three rounds expected key starters and reserves under 25 for this year. And lastly, significant injuries or suspensions that will affect the 2026 availability of players under 25.

[Matt Abeticola]

Okay.

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[Dan Bernstein]

Number one

[Matt Abeticola]

is. Are you gonna get.

[Dan Bernstein]

I'll tell you, I'm not gonna make this a game. Okay, Number one's the Patriots.

[Matt Abeticola]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

Up from seven last year. They mentioned Will Campbell despite his awful Super Bowl. Christian Gonzalez, Drake, May. So their hall of Young talent isn't about just Maeve. It starts with him. May is the most valuable young commodity in the NFL. He will turn 24 before the season begins. Number two is the Houston Texans. Last year's rank one. Number three is the Bears. Okay, they were fifth last year. They're listed blue chips. Colston, Loveland, Roma, Dunze, Caleb Williams. I guess that's alphabetical. Darnell Wright has just graduated from this list. Here is what is said about the Bears by Aaron Schatz in this ranking. Once again, the most important young talent a team can have is a quarterback. And the Bears have a budding star in Williams. He'll be 25 on Nov. 18. His top targets are all under 25. Odunze, 24. Luther Burden and Loveland are just 22. Even the backups to those guys are young. The Bears use third round picks on tight end Sam Roush and wide receiver Xavion Thomas, also both 22. Elsewhere on the roster you'll find left tackle Ozzie Tripillo, 24, discounted because of his torn patellar tendon. That will cost him part of this season. My guess is it will cost him the entire season. Defensive tackle Jervon Dexter senior is 24. Last year's second round pick, edge rusher Shamar Turner is 23. This year's draft picks add more impact youth headlined by safety Dylan Thieneman, 22 and Logan Jones. There he is again, who's already 24. So bears third. And based on what he said that this augurs well for long term viability. Good times. That's. Is this. This is you. This is a list on which you would like to be up near the top. Unless you're the Rams.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yeah. Who are deliberate in their approach. Do not get young people.

[Dan Bernstein]

Not an accident.

[Matt Abeticola]

They.

[Dan Bernstein]

They have. They have decided to zag where others have zigged.

[Matt Abeticola]

Well, that's, that's. That's really interesting. So the Bears were three up. Up from five, you said?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yep. Up from five last year. Up to three now. And look, they. With DJ Moore exiting and Luther Burden set to take those reps with Sam Rausch replacing Durham Smythe. You can see this. You can. And then they go out and they add a 31 year old in Khalif Raymond instead of turning that over to a kid. And that may just be a nod to. To the complexities of the offense. That may just be that Ben Johnson saying hey, I there. There are plenty of things I can trust to kids but there are some jobs or responsibilities where we definitely have to have people in here. Who's the other guy? Scotty Miller, where you got to have some veterans doing some things here. And we'll. As usual. What is the. My conclusion to all this is the level of trust at the moment that Ben Johnson has gives him the benefit of the doubt in all these decisions. These staffing decisions.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yeah. And I look forward to. I think Friday they're going to rank the NFL teams by shoe size. So just. Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

They're going to get there by. By the ability to. To roast a chicken properly.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

Is that one of the cooking tests? Is it like a proper fried egg and a proper roasted chicken?

[Matt Abeticola]

Yeah. Roasted chicken is a big. Is a big point. I Think omelette is more prevalent now than fried egg.

[Dan Bernstein]

Like a true French style omelette with nothing in it, just the folded.

[Matt Abeticola]

That's the mark of a true chef.

[Dan Bernstein]

I watched Jacques Pepin make one the other day. He's just still so effortlessly awesome.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

A video of him making it just. And it just makes you want those European. Those good eggs.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yeah. I just wonder like, how many he'.

[Dan Bernstein]

His lifetime, how many thousands of omelets has made to do it is sleep. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, it's. And I like to think I can make a decent one, but not like that.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yeah, I can do. I can do a pretty good one. Getting better at it. All right. Couple like news and notes throughout the NFL. I want to start with some coaching stuff. I have a note here on Jim Harbaugh that I. And I know you have one as well, too.

[Dan Bernstein]

I have one on John Harbaugh. Okay.

[Matt Abeticola]

I'm sorry. John Harbaugh. John Harbaugh had. He was on a podcast and was asked about the Cam Scatter Boo Backflip.

[Dan Bernstein]

I Ain't got no brain. It.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yeah. So remember when he did it in May, Harbaugh said, hey, knock it off. That's enough of those. He did it again at this fanatics fan fest thing. And when asked about it on the podcast, I think his response on the podcast was. Was probably different than what he actually said because on the podcast he said, hey, man, at least you got to stick it. So he. He made. He made light of it and he had some fun with it on the podcast. But I would bet without knowing that his response was a lot different than that podcast response. So on the podcast he said, oh, yeah, yeah, I. I saw it. And at least he's got to stick it next time. There won't be a next time because I'm pretty sure John Harbaugh had different things to say.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, you can stick him. You can stick it somewhere.

[Matt Abeticola]

Right?

[Dan Bernstein]

I think. I do think he might have told him to stick it, but I think there's a very different context in the way that phrase is applied.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yes, I would say so is what I would guess.

[Dan Bernstein]

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[Matt Abeticola]

Okay. But.

[Dan Bernstein]

Ladies and gentlemen, John Harbaugh, acronym guy.

[Matt Abeticola]

Let's go. You know I'm here for it. Kochi. Kochi.

[Dan Bernstein]

Acronym guy coaching Kochi.

[Matt Abeticola]

What's he got?

[Dan Bernstein]

He has used this with the Ravens and now he is applying it to the Giants. They unveiled their big advertising billboard or whatever it is in their practice room that reminds them of their motto. Say it with me. Our motto is Win.

[Matt Abeticola]

Win. Okay. Whatever is necessary today. Nope. Win. Winning. Winning is necessary.

[Dan Bernstein]

Nope. And I've. And I. I do have a technicality problem with this acronym.

[Matt Abeticola]

Okay. All right. Give it to me, Nate.

[Dan Bernstein]

It stands for what's important now.

[Matt Abeticola]

Well, that is what is important now.

[Dan Bernstein]

Correct.

[Matt Abeticola]

That's wsin.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes. It's W I I n. It's ween but not wean. Now, if somebody were to come out with the acronym of W E E n, what's everlastingly efficient or something now, and you did ween.

[Matt Abeticola]

Then I'm in. Then I'm in.

[Dan Bernstein]

Then we've got a soundtrack, and we could use the entire mollusk album for the entire season. Or maybe just Johnny on the spot.

[Matt Abeticola]

What's important now?

[Dan Bernstein]

What is important now? What's important now?

[Matt Abeticola]

Win.

[Dan Bernstein]

Our motto is win whatever is necessary today. Which became wint. Yes. I love that it was wint. And this is. This is a variation of. Of wint, but it doesn't have the today. It's what's important now. How is that a motivating motto?

[Matt Abeticola]

It's not.

[Dan Bernstein]

You walk into your. To your meeting room. How about win. Just. How about. It doesn't even need an acronym.

[Matt Abeticola]

Right?

[Dan Bernstein]

It's just win. Win the game. We've won the game. Rather than lose. I Don't need to explain it any further. All you do is you make it harder to understand.

[Matt Abeticola]

So they couldn't come up with a better one from the days in Baltimore, so they just. They brought it. It's worked so well for us.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's worked, and it's what's important now. If you're a player, you gotta be like,

[Matt Abeticola]

yeah, it doesn't. It doesn't. It doesn't hit these guys at all.

[Dan Bernstein]

Of course not.

[Matt Abeticola]

Except maybe Fernando Mendoza might get excited.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, are you kidding? No, he. He just. He slammed his head into a locker and he went running down the street throwing footballs. Absolutely. Now, while we're talking about coaches and motivational tactics.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

I have not stopped laughing about you. Now, you sent me this, and you made me laugh in public when I saw it.

[Matt Abeticola]

Oh, did you really?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I did.

[Matt Abeticola]

It's really good, though, dude. So good.

[Dan Bernstein]

So, Nick Sirianni.

[Matt Abeticola]

Oh, boy.

[Dan Bernstein]

Nick sent an email. Your guy, Nick Sirianni sent an email out to everyone on the roster, and I'm gonna read it to you. Okay? This is. This is. I'm gonna read. This is. This is what he sent. Team comma. Great practice today, fellas. I want you all to review the tape I attached before tomorrow's meeting. Make sure you're in your seats at 7:55am Come ready to work. Bring your A game like always. Let's attack tomorrow with the same intensity. Best, Coach Sirianni. ChatGPT. Fix the grammar and make the text more motivational, please.

[Grainger Advertiser]

Oh,

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes. He left the AI prompt in the bottom of the email. Oh, coach, come on, man. Yeah, like, you can't even write your own email.

[Matt Abeticola]

Like, motiv.

[Dan Bernstein]

Like what?

[Matt Abeticola]

You're like, how. How motivating can an email be?

[Grainger Advertiser]

Right?

[Dan Bernstein]

And you're relying on AI.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

To do it.

[Matt Abeticola]

You're funny.

[Dan Bernstein]

You're an NFL head coach of a good team. Just be confident in being yourself. It's okay.

[Matt Abeticola]

That's funny.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's okay. And this is really funny. This isn't even, like, busy work or something. Hey, ChatGPT, would you go through all the data of our red zone possessions and determine how many times we ran right after motioning left, right? Like, sure. There might be a use for it in your research. Not for. I'm saying something to the team. Fix the grammar, make the text more motivational, please.

[Matt Abeticola]

But, I mean, Dan, look at the email. It's. Hey, great job. Be here tomorrow at 7:55.

[Dan Bernstein]

That doesn't have to be motivating, right?

[Matt Abeticola]

Look at what's attached and, you know, be ready to work. Like, you don't need. You don't need to motivate that. Let's go.

[Dan Bernstein]

Attack.

[Matt Abeticola]

You're sharing logistics and information.

[Dan Bernstein]

Attack the. Attack this. Attack the schedule.

[Matt Abeticola]

I want you to get here at 6:45. Attack your chairs. Rip it to shreds.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's like Pete Hegseth wrote it, right? Oh, God. Shoot yourself up with horse steroids.

[Matt Abeticola]

Check your Testosterone level at 7. Yes. In your seats at 7:45. Be ready to attack the day.

[Dan Bernstein]

Out of your seats at 7:55 for nothing but jumping jacks. Then attack sitting down again. Then attack your lunch and attack everything else. Attack, attack, attack. Always attack. Testosterone.

[Matt Abeticola]

They have, like. They have, like, some intern walk in the room in a, you know, like, all white jumpsuit. And on it, it just says the day. And he wants you to attack the day out of some intern. Yep. Yeah. Like, you're sharing an email about, like, when to be there and what to do. Like, how much, like, how motivating does that need to be?

[Dan Bernstein]

This is motivating enough.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yes. And I'm curious to know how Chat GPT could make that more motivating.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, I think they did.

[Matt Abeticola]

I mean, how. Like, what was his original? Right?

[Dan Bernstein]

The original was here. Let me see. The original was mediocre. Practice today, fellas. Which is fine if. If you can. And it's okay if you don't. Review the tape I attached. And if it's after tomorrow's meeting, that's. That's probably okay. Try to be in your seats at around 8. If you end up being a little late, that's okay. You don't have to come Ready to work. Bring your C game, and let's chill out tomorrow.

[Matt Abeticola]

Wait, who. So the Cubs wrote that one for him.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. Come on, man.

[Matt Abeticola]

Probably doing. Yeah. Instead of the Cubs, what are we doing? A couple other notes for you.

[Dan Bernstein]

Cubs GPT. Come to our park and hit people when you don't like what they do. Yeah.

[Matt Abeticola]

And maybe we'll get you in trouble, maybe you won't be. It's fine either way. Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Walk in. Somebody's got to probably smack him in the head. That's okay. It's all good.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yeah. A couple other notes for you here just to. To take a look at. Here. Wait. Let me just pull something up real fast to make sure I got the right. Yeah. The Arizona Department of Gaming, they have opened up their own investigation into Cardinals executive Ryan Gold.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay, good. I'm. I'm glad that somebody is. Or multiple agencies are. The guy. He probably Needs some time on the shelf, doesn't he? And, and they. Are they contesting the suspension?

[Matt Abeticola]

Well, yeah. Remember his lawyer said that he's, he didn't do anything wrong and that they're, they're looking forward to clearing his name and he didn't do, he didn't do anything to violate any gambling policy or. Even though the NFL is claiming that he had multiple parlays on NFL and college games as well as, you know, giving out information about the, the draft picks. So Arizona Department of Gaming has opened an investigation. Sam Laporta fully cleared for camp for the Detroit Lions. He's coming off an injury and a micro dissectomy to repair a fully herniated disc. Played nine games last year, 40 receptions, 489 yards and three touchdowns. So he's fully cleared for camp. And this last note I have for you, Dan, is actually, it's visual. I'm going to put up on the screen for us here to see. So make sure you're going to your screen.

[Dan Bernstein]

I'm looking. Okay.

[Matt Abeticola]

This is from the New York Jets.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abeticola]

And they're very excited about unveiling their new whiteout helmet.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right.

[Matt Abeticola]

To go with our alternate uniforms. Maybe it's just me and maybe you can just tell me I'm, I'm being too critical or too picky on it, but these are the white out uniforms and white out helmet. Does someone need to tell the jets what white out means or am I being too critical?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, there's, it's still kind of green.

[Matt Abeticola]

There's a lot of green all over the whole thing, isn't there?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, it's, it's mostly white, but it's not, it's not white out.

[Matt Abeticola]

Right. There's green numbers. There's a large, thick green stripe down the side of the pants. There's a center stripe on the helmet and jets is in green and the collar is green. Yeah, it looks. Yeah, but it's not white out though, right?

[Dan Bernstein]

No, it's just, it's just a white base.

[Matt Abeticola]

So am I, am I wrong in saying that white out should be all white?

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, the player's not white.

[Matt Abeticola]

Well, the player doesn't need to be white.

[Dan Bernstein]

I think, I think when you do a white out, it should be all white players.

[Matt Abeticola]

So only white players.

[Dan Bernstein]

Only white players go, I get your ass kicked and go home. Yeah, but the, No, I don't like it.

[Matt Abeticola]

It's, am I being overly critical of it? And then it's not fully a white out.

[Dan Bernstein]

I think with the jets, if they Got anything even remotely right, and it actually looks okay. We should probably just let them have. Have a victory.

[Matt Abeticola]

So Sticks and Bricks did this.

[Dan Bernstein]

Woody. Woody Johnson's feckless children.

[Matt Abeticola]

So I went. I went to their, Their, Their Twitter account because I wanted to see the photo with comments.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. Oh, no.

[Matt Abeticola]

So two. Just two of the first three.

[Dan Bernstein]

Cool.

[Matt Abeticola]

Maybe the jets will win more than four games this year. This third comment down. Nice. Can't wait to see you suck in these new uniforms. If you can't play good, at least look good playing poorly.

[Dan Bernstein]

Did you see the jokes that were made about Argentina saying, like, they, they. They were paying homage to the jets by not scoring in that building?

[Matt Abeticola]

Oh, yeah. Natalie told me about some online petition that people have signed to get them out of the World Cup.

[Dan Bernstein]

Get who out of the World Cup?

[Matt Abeticola]

Argentina.

[Dan Bernstein]

Why?

[Matt Abeticola]

Because of the way they, like, behaved and I guess all the, the fighting and the shoving and the pushing and the sportsmanship apparently is like 23 million signatures online.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abeticola]

I mean, I think they could get. I think they could get 100 million. And you're not going to be able to get a country out because of the.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, they, yeah, they played on the edge like that. Yeah, they're, They're. They're kind of a half dirty, physical team.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yes. Half dirty, physical. And then in the final game, decided not to actually play.

[Dan Bernstein]

They didn't kick the ball forward. That wasn't part of their strategy. I kept saying that. I said, I think you're going the wrong way.

[Matt Abeticola]

Right. They don't even know where we're going. How do they know where we're going?

[Dan Bernstein]

You're going the wrong way. That's what I thought. I'm no soccer genius. I can tell you that. I can give you absolutely, you know, well, well thought through, but completely rudimentary soccer takes. And mine was go that way.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

And then, and then kick it in the net because the net is huge. So you should try to kick it in the net. There's only so much that poor little man can do back there trying to protect it. So if you kick it up there or up there, down in the corners there, you can't really do anything. So do that. But that's, you know, I'm. That, that's just because I'm. It's. It's. That could be the rudimentary soccer take podcast. Maybe we should start that here under this umbrella.

[Matt Abeticola]

Oh, that's coming up next. Yeah, we have, we have a soccer podcast that you and I are going to do. We have the cooking one.

[Dan Bernstein]

Fishing. I was going to do fishing pod.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yep.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abeticola]

Yeah. I can't wait for the cooking one to start though. Now that now I'm. I'm torn. If you go cooking first or soccer first, or combine things and go. Food ball.

[Dan Bernstein]

Food ball. See?

[Matt Abeticola]

Oh, combine them. Like what? Like what are you doing for the big game? Yes. Food snacks. Food ball.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's. That's what we'll call it. We are playing food the ball.

[Matt Abeticola]

I'm in. Good.

[Dan Bernstein]

Good plan. That's it now. And now you know. Now you're privy to that little secret because you were here on Forward progress on 312 sports, a Bears and NFL podcast. Forward progress has stopped.

[Matt Abeticola]

Forward Progress, a Chicago Bears podcast with

[Dan Bernstein]

Dan Bernstein and Matt Abeticola on 3one2Sports.

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