Speaker 1: Welcome in Tubble Bears Weekly, a Chicago Bears Network production
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Speaker 1: Beth Rivers, CDW, Connie's Pizza by Gens.
Speaker 2: Energy, and Miller Life Kierra.
Speaker 1: Your host, Jeff Chilneac aka the Mayor of Bearsville, and
Speaker 1: his sidekick, Tom the Surfaster Thyer.
Speaker 3: So we're cooking back today and taking stock of what's
Speaker 3: transpired so far in the Bears twenty twenty three season.
Speaker 4: No football this week, Week thirteen.
Speaker 3: It's the bye week and time for us to welcome
Speaker 3: in our special guest and good friend, Bears quarterback Jim
Speaker 3: Miller to the program Serious x MNFL Radios moving the
Speaker 3: chains with his partner Pat Kerwin. They do a great job, Jim,
Speaker 3: of course, with us every week of the offseason. Too
Speaker 3: busy for us, Tom in the regular season.
Speaker 4: We get it.
Speaker 3: The guy is scanning the globe of the National Football League,
Speaker 3: but he's still has time to drive down from Michigan
Speaker 3: each week to be a studio host for our new
Speaker 3: partner TV partner on the Bears coverage of this year
Speaker 3: from Marquee Network, Jim Miller, everybody, how you doing big?
Speaker 3: Jim doing great?
Speaker 2: Good to be with you guys again.
Speaker 3: I know you do deep down. You love the Bears.
Speaker 3: You played all over the place, but you love this
Speaker 3: team absolutely.
Speaker 5: I love the Bears, hey man. It pains me that
Speaker 5: they're struggling the way they are. A lot of good
Speaker 5: people work in that building that are very loyal, have
Speaker 5: been there a long time, and you certainly want them
Speaker 5: to have some success and hopefully they'll be able to
Speaker 5: turn this around.
Speaker 6: Jeff, I wish that you would get a sound effects board,
Speaker 6: so when you give Jim Miller an introduction like that
Speaker 6: in all of his accomplishments, that you have that fake
Speaker 6: crowd applause behind, just a backup, just a backup.
Speaker 7: What you're saying.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 3: The thing is, I don't need it, because the fans
Speaker 3: love what he did for the Bears. He was gritty man,
Speaker 3: gritty to the core, gritty to the core as you were, Tommy,
Speaker 3: and I like to think I am too, not as
Speaker 3: a football player, but anyway, thanks to our producers Jordan
Speaker 3: tread Up and Dan Burrelly from the Bears and Today
Speaker 3: of the ESPN one thousand studios, Ja Cantu and Jake McGrath.
Speaker 3: Our executive producer of the Bears Ready Network is Eric Ostrowski.
Speaker 3: All right, zero to four, to four and four now
Speaker 3: four and eight through twelve, with five to go against
Speaker 3: Detroit at home at Cleveland, Arizona Atlanta home at green Bay.
Speaker 4: To wrap us up, we'll start with Tom. Go to Jim.
Speaker 3: Give us some perspective on what is left, not what
Speaker 3: is behind us, because we're going to get into that
Speaker 3: throughout the show and look at things that have gone
Speaker 3: well and things that haven't.
Speaker 4: But what is the vision right now with the final five?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean a we're going to talk about the
Speaker 6: elephant in the room when you talk about evaluation of
Speaker 6: outdo our football at the end of the season on
Speaker 6: a team that their arrow is starting to point up
Speaker 6: for the first time in a while, when you talk
Speaker 6: about a couple divisional opponents left and how much improvement
Speaker 6: a team can make.
Speaker 7: But individually, what Justine can show.
Speaker 6: Us about the future of the quarterback position with the Bears.
Speaker 6: And I think when you look at a guy like
Speaker 6: Justin it's just not how do you throw the ball.
Speaker 6: It's how do you use the offense of the play
Speaker 6: that's being called, and how do you use your assets?
Speaker 7: And that's number one arm talent.
Speaker 6: Number two is your escapability and athleticism, but also how
Speaker 6: are you dissecting the information play by play mentally and
Speaker 6: how efficiently are you using it? So, yeah, you know
Speaker 6: you can talk about hopefully there's no more changes on
Speaker 6: the offensive line. The defense is playing better, Montes Sweat
Speaker 6: has to make sacks. But if this team is going
Speaker 6: to be a division competing football team, it's going to
Speaker 6: be about the future of the quarterback position.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think for me, I think when you look
Speaker 5: at those five games, I think the Bears lately they
Speaker 5: have competed much better where they've been in position to
Speaker 5: win games at the end of the game. Obviously, the
Speaker 5: Troit game got away from them, but you know, even
Speaker 5: if you go back to Denver, I mean, that was
Speaker 5: a very winnable game in their grass, So they put
Speaker 5: themselves in position to win games. They were able to
Speaker 5: close this one out against Minnesota. But realistically, Jeff, I
Speaker 5: don't think three and five. It's to win three out
Speaker 5: of five is too much to ask. I think the
Speaker 5: defense is playing much better. I don't think the teams
Speaker 5: that they're playing other than Detroit are formidable teams. Two
Speaker 5: of them are basically playoff teams when you look at
Speaker 5: three of them. When you look at Detroit, Cleveland, Atlanta
Speaker 5: is a playoff team. But it's not a very strong
Speaker 5: division when you look at the NFC South, and I
Speaker 5: don't think that's too much to ask. I think the
Speaker 5: offense just needs to continue to grow, is what I think.
Speaker 5: In the quarterback needs to play consistently, Jim, So if.
Speaker 6: You said three out of five, would you be disappointed
Speaker 6: if it wasn't five out of five?
Speaker 7: Because to me, I think you.
Speaker 6: Got to prove in the that locker room that on
Speaker 6: the road or at home you can win the division games.
Speaker 6: And so if you said three out of five and
Speaker 6: you had them losing against Detroit and green Bay, that
Speaker 6: would be as as disappointing as if they went zero
Speaker 6: to five.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, I agree with you. You got Detroit in
Speaker 5: your house in Chicago, bad weather, all the things that
Speaker 5: you talked about, Tom, and hey, they just lost to
Speaker 5: green Bay on Thanksgiving date. When you look at Detroit
Speaker 5: and even Week one where the Bears played terrible versus
Speaker 5: Green Bay, who was not a very good football team.
Speaker 5: They're very young, much like the Bears, that make a
Speaker 5: lot of mistakes. And I think you're right. I think
Speaker 5: it's a winnable game against Detroit at home, and that's
Speaker 5: where it needs to be. You need to split in
Speaker 5: your division minimum.
Speaker 3: Jim Miller, Tom Thayer, Jeff jionigak here on Bears Weekly
Speaker 3: out ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio Network. All right,
Speaker 3: let's look overall at what has transpired, what they've dealt with,
Speaker 3: and what they've handled. And you got to start with
Speaker 3: the coaching staff. Maddiberflus having to remove two assistant coaches,
Speaker 3: including the defensive coordinator.
Speaker 4: And now taking on all of that.
Speaker 3: From your perspectives, how has he done in doing all
Speaker 3: of those jobs and being the CEO of the football
Speaker 3: team in addition to being the coordinator of the defense.
Speaker 7: Well, I'll jump in quickly to me.
Speaker 6: As you see the significant improvement of the defense. You
Speaker 6: see a lot of personnel being used. Eight defensive lineman.
Speaker 6: The linebacker position has improved steadily throughout this season, and
Speaker 6: the way.
Speaker 7: You've had to.
Speaker 6: Readjust the defensive backfield due to injuries and rookies, I think,
Speaker 6: and if Matt Eberflus going forward, he should stay the
Speaker 6: defensive coordinator. I think he's got a significant attachment.
Speaker 7: To this defensive group of personnel.
Speaker 6: And when you have the head coach as a play caller,
Speaker 6: whether it's offensive defense, players understand that they they're held
Speaker 6: up to, you know, accountability and their preparation.
Speaker 7: And their performance.
Speaker 6: So I like what Matt Eberflus, the defensive coordinator, is
Speaker 6: done up.
Speaker 7: Unto this point with this group of guys.
Speaker 5: I think he's been tremendous. He even just look at
Speaker 5: these last two games the impact. Four turnovers in each
Speaker 5: game against Detroit, four turnovers against Minnesota. I think he's
Speaker 5: gone outside the box in terms of his blitzing because
Speaker 5: everything the sacks really weren't coming until they got Montese sweat,
Speaker 5: so you credit that move to trade and get Montese sweat.
Speaker 5: I think he's been formidable against the run too. He
Speaker 5: can really set the edge. Obviously, the stats show it.
Speaker 5: The Bears are top five at stopping the run, and
Speaker 5: now they're starting to have a pass rush and I
Speaker 5: think we're starting to see they've developed some pretty good
Speaker 5: depth at their defensive backs. You know, the time period
Speaker 5: where Jalen Johnson was out, Brisker's been out, Eddie Jackson's
Speaker 5: been out, Tyler Gordon's been out, But at the same time,
Speaker 5: guys like Tyreek Stevenson has started to develop. How about
Speaker 5: even this last game before he hurt his Hammy, Carrell
Speaker 5: Smith I thought played really well and they were trying
Speaker 5: to pick on him. Minnesota was and he led the
Speaker 5: team in tackles. So this defense is pretty darn good.
Speaker 5: And I think Matt Eberflus really deserves a round of
Speaker 5: applause because you know, since he's taken over it, they've
Speaker 5: done nothing but steadily climb. Like Tom is referring.
Speaker 3: To, Yeah, number one against the run right now in
Speaker 3: yards points per game is getting better as well.
Speaker 4: I know it's a big picture.
Speaker 3: When you look at it and where they're at near
Speaker 3: the bottom of the league in that, but you know
Speaker 3: they've also given up a safety in five return touchdowns.
Speaker 3: That eats into that a little bit. You got to
Speaker 3: give credit to general manager Ryan Poles too, acknowledging that
Speaker 3: Chase Claypole was not a fit here moving him on,
Speaker 3: but adding the Montese sweat, which you indicated, Jim, that
Speaker 3: has been the multiplier that we believe he is, because
Speaker 3: in my opinion anyway, Justin Jones has played a lot
Speaker 3: better on defensive tackle, getting more pressures. Javon Dexter is
Speaker 3: starting to play better. They're just getting a little more
Speaker 3: oof out of it. And when you're throwing the blitzes
Speaker 3: as well, and you still got to keep an eye
Speaker 3: on sweat and the twists and games that they're playing Fellas.
Speaker 3: I think it's been a home run and I hope
Speaker 3: it only gets better.
Speaker 6: Glad that they've been able to think outside the box
Speaker 6: and their creativity and Jim brought up the four turnovers
Speaker 6: each of the last.
Speaker 7: Two weeks and it's nice to see him doing it.
Speaker 6: Gets an experienced quarterback like Jared Goff at home when
Speaker 6: he didn't give up very many interceptions to the opponent,
Speaker 6: and then they took advantage of an inexperienced quarterback within.
Speaker 7: The system and Joshua Dobbs.
Speaker 6: I think going forward, when you look at creating competitiveness
Speaker 6: on your own roster, it's going to be an interesting
Speaker 6: going forward because of some of the names that Jim
Speaker 6: has mentioned.
Speaker 3: One other note on the polls angle the extension for
Speaker 3: Cole Comet Andrew Billings, who's been a big part of
Speaker 3: that run defensive turnaround from a year ago, and of
Speaker 3: course Sweat getting his ninety eight million dollars. We'll delve
Speaker 3: into all that. We'll look at the offense, of the
Speaker 3: impact and the injuries of how that unit has transpired
Speaker 3: over the course of the season. This is Bears Weekly
Speaker 3: on ESPN one thousand and the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: Is Bears Weekly with the voice of the Bears for
Speaker 1: twenty three years, Jeff Jonyak on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 3: This segment of Bears Weekly, he is brought to you
Speaker 3: by IGS Energy with Tom Thayer. Our special guest this
Speaker 3: week Jim Miller, the former Bears quarterback from Sirius XM
Speaker 3: NFL Radio's Moving the Chains. I'm Jeff Joniak. All right,
Speaker 3: let's talk on offense first before we're gonna do what
Speaker 3: we're gonna do here. Tonight is three top Offense, three
Speaker 3: top defense, Special teams, look at the rookie class. But
Speaker 3: I want to touch on the injuries. Jim will start
Speaker 3: with you. You certainly lost Justin Fields for four, Khalil Herbert
Speaker 3: for four or five, Devin Jenkins before the start the season,
Speaker 3: Nate Davis a handful as well, and you mentioned earlier
Speaker 3: in the show the brisker of the Gordon Eddie Jackson
Speaker 3: got to throw in Braxton Jones in there. On the
Speaker 3: offensive side, missing a half dozen games, Tremaine Edmunds a
Speaker 3: couple that impacts your team, and everybody does, but the
Speaker 3: offensive line in particular. I think it's been quite the
Speaker 3: job by Chris Morgan to settle that group. And even
Speaker 3: in the course of games, Lucas, Patrick Deevin, people have
Speaker 3: lost snaps during the game, the removal of Cody Whitehair
Speaker 3: from the starting lineup, always got to be on call
Speaker 3: to get back in there to play the garter center.
Speaker 4: It's been some kind of musical chair going on there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you.
Speaker 5: Said the right word. You said settled, but I think
Speaker 5: it's been unsettled. You know, it really has been unsettled
Speaker 5: since training camp, and finally it is starting to be
Speaker 5: what it should be, because if you remember, go back
Speaker 5: to training camp, Nate Davis wasn't even there all a
Speaker 5: training camp, you know, and then you have the injuries
Speaker 5: at center and all those things, so the guard position
Speaker 5: has been influx. Finally, they the lineup that they want
Speaker 5: so it is finally settled. But I think throughout that
Speaker 5: they still were able to run the ball. I think
Speaker 5: the issues have been in past protection and things of
Speaker 5: that nature, you know, and those guys got to learn
Speaker 5: to make, you know, to play off each other.
Speaker 2: In terms of the twist games, we.
Speaker 5: Talked about that earlier and there early in the season,
Speaker 5: I thought they had some problems picking up twists. That's
Speaker 5: just lack of communication because those guys weren't together.
Speaker 2: Now it's finally settled.
Speaker 5: Darnell right is playing really well at the right tackle spot,
Speaker 5: Davis is in at the right guard spot, have Lucas
Speaker 5: Patrick at center, put Tevin Jenkins as a left guard,
Speaker 5: and we could argue is he a better right guard
Speaker 5: than a left guard, But they want to try him
Speaker 5: at left guard and we'll see where it goes. And
Speaker 5: then of course you got Jones back. So I think
Speaker 5: it's the most settled it's ever been. But the last
Speaker 5: four weeks they've rushed over one hundred yards and it
Speaker 5: hasn't been a problem. I mean, these guys are pushing
Speaker 5: the ball exactly what they want to do. I just
Speaker 5: think in terms of the pass protection, it needs to
Speaker 5: be a lot part of it on the quarterback because
Speaker 5: the quarterback's been in and out, as you mentioned Tyson
Speaker 5: Bagent and now Justin Field's highly healthy back in there.
Speaker 5: But the passing game has to be more consistent, and
Speaker 5: it should be because the offensive line is more settled.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it seemed like the popular word at the beginning
Speaker 6: of the season was chemistry, because if there's any position
Speaker 6: like the defensive backfield and the offensive line, you need
Speaker 6: multiple practice snaps together to develop the chemistry. And I
Speaker 6: think early in the season they were exposed a little
Speaker 6: bit by not having that type of chemistry to put
Speaker 6: up with the talented defensive lines they are playing against
Speaker 6: in the early part of the season and a lot
Speaker 6: of the stunts that they were going to try to
Speaker 6: take advantage of this offensive line with and unfortunately for
Speaker 6: the Bears, of the defensive line of the opponent one. However,
Speaker 6: throughout the process of getting this offensive.
Speaker 7: Line settled, understand who's going to play where and when.
Speaker 6: Now you got the communication between Nate Davis and Darnell right,
Speaker 6: you have them, of the relationship between Braxton Jones and
Speaker 6: Tevin Jenkins, and I think when you have that group
Speaker 6: together for multiple games, multiple snaps whether they're on the
Speaker 6: road with the silent count at home with the verbal count,
Speaker 6: this offensive line is playing well. The running game is
Speaker 6: proof of that, because sometimes it's as difficult to organize
Speaker 6: the running game with a makeshift offensive line.
Speaker 7: But if you can.
Speaker 6: Keep this offensive line together in healthy, in having one
Speaker 6: thousands practice snaps that you can.
Speaker 7: Put together, you're going to help this team tremendously.
Speaker 3: And would you guys agree that they faced a murderer's
Speaker 3: row of defensive lineman really, you know, let's take it
Speaker 3: down the list. Rashan Gary week one, you had George
Speaker 3: Carlaftis week two along with Chris Jones Kansas City. What
Speaker 3: else we've got?
Speaker 4: Tampa?
Speaker 3: You got Shaq Barrett, Vita Vea. You've had to deal
Speaker 3: with twice, Danil Hunter DJ Wanham has been a pain
Speaker 3: to the Bears. You had a deal with with Aiden Hutchinson.
Speaker 3: You're gonna deal with him again. You had to deal
Speaker 3: with Max Crosby. Who am I missing? Because they've had
Speaker 3: and every you know, I'm not just saying it's the Bears,
Speaker 3: but this young group has had to learn how to fly,
Speaker 3: how to deal with some of this. These guys that
Speaker 3: I just mentioned are all top twenty in the league
Speaker 3: in pass pressures.
Speaker 4: These guys are good.
Speaker 6: You think about the Thursday night game against the Washington
Speaker 6: Montens and Montes was there, Chase Young was their first
Speaker 6: rounders on the inside, they provided pass protection to have
Speaker 6: a record setting night.
Speaker 7: By DJ Moore.
Speaker 6: So you know there are you know, full groups of
Speaker 6: defensive linemen they played well.
Speaker 7: Against and the individuals.
Speaker 6: But to me, I think our best judgment is what
Speaker 6: you do the second time around.
Speaker 7: Against divisional opponents.
Speaker 6: So this week when you to the next game the
Speaker 6: Bears play against the Detroit Lions, it'll be interesting to
Speaker 6: see how much better the offensive line plays against that group,
Speaker 6: including Hutchinson, Because now you're at home, you're in a
Speaker 6: cold weather atmosphere, you're on natural grass and things. A
Speaker 6: lot of things change about an indoor team like Detroit.
Speaker 6: So I'll be looking forward to see how the offensive
Speaker 6: line plays against Detroit when they play him at home.
Speaker 5: They should feel pretty good because they kicked their fannie
Speaker 5: for about fifty eight minutes of the game the last
Speaker 5: time they plied him up in Detroit, all right, and.
Speaker 2: Came down to one play.
Speaker 5: Right, You look at Darnell right, he loses that one
Speaker 5: on one matchup against Aiden Hutchinson and the game ends
Speaker 5: in a strip sack fumble of Justin Fields. I hope
Speaker 5: Darnell Wright remembers that play because it should stick in
Speaker 5: his crow.
Speaker 2: It really should so.
Speaker 5: But they handed it pretty good to the Detroit Lions,
Speaker 5: and like Tom said, second time around, payback. That's what
Speaker 5: That's what I would be thinking as a player. Enough
Speaker 5: of this, Hi, can I ask you?
Speaker 6: I'm sorry, Jeff, I want to ask you about that
Speaker 6: protection though, because if you think about that protection and
Speaker 6: how loud the stadium was, they give Darnell Right no help,
Speaker 6: they get the corequarterback starts in shotgun, then still has
Speaker 6: a three step drop after that. I don't think that
Speaker 6: that was the best protection. That was the best drop
Speaker 6: area for a guy like Darnell Right going against Hutchinson.
Speaker 6: So I do think there would be some rethinking if
Speaker 6: that same scenario presented itself in the future.
Speaker 5: I agree with that it was a tough situation for
Speaker 5: him to be in, but nobody wants to hear about
Speaker 5: the labor beat.
Speaker 2: Labor paints Tom deliver the beat.
Speaker 3: I thought. Overall, though, you know, Hutchinson in that spin
Speaker 3: move is deadly he's always going to go to it,
Speaker 3: and throughout the game, Darnell did a really good job
Speaker 3: on him. But again, yeah, it doesn't matter when you lose, right,
Speaker 3: everybody looks at the facts of the matter. All right,
Speaker 3: let's look at our top three offensive players so far
Speaker 3: this season. We'll lead off with We'll lead off with
Speaker 3: Big Jim.
Speaker 5: Well, of course, you got to say DJ Moore, you know,
Speaker 5: and look what he's provided. I mean that game against
Speaker 5: Washington and just how you know, you just see even
Speaker 5: this last week against Minnesota, even on those wide receiver screens,
Speaker 5: the guy's just plowing forward to you know, to make plays.
Speaker 2: You got to turn to Cole Comet.
Speaker 5: I think he has at at times just shined, even
Speaker 5: this fourth and ten that he converted against Minnesota. But
Speaker 5: he's made and he's been a steady blocker. He's getting
Speaker 5: more involved in the passing game. And for me, my
Speaker 5: last guy, I'm gonna say, darn out right, I think
Speaker 5: you know when you look at him, he's been thrown
Speaker 5: into the fire. That Tom just you know, gave an
Speaker 5: example of a difficult position he was in.
Speaker 2: But you can see him.
Speaker 5: He can physically move some guys and he's a guy
Speaker 5: that you know at times have been asked to pull
Speaker 5: and he moves really well for a big man, So
Speaker 5: I'm excited about his future.
Speaker 2: When you look at the young right tackle.
Speaker 6: Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna put throw Tevin Jenkins in
Speaker 6: there because of a lot of the drama that we've
Speaker 6: seen since he's been here. He's really settled into a
Speaker 6: position that I think that he can become one of
Speaker 6: the most more powerful offensive guards in the division. And
Speaker 6: he really does a lot to help a guy like
Speaker 6: Braxton Jones continue to develop into the left tackle position,
Speaker 6: and Tevin is playing for where they not where they
Speaker 6: drafted him for, but how they expected him to play.
Speaker 7: Number two, I'm going to go with Cole Komett as well.
Speaker 6: Because I think he's really taken a position, the whole
Speaker 6: tight end position, and kind of single handedly handled every
Speaker 6: role that you need out of that position and he's
Speaker 6: done it well. And number three, it's Roshawn Johnson because
Speaker 6: if you look at the running back position and if
Speaker 6: you want to have an offense that can do multiple
Speaker 6: things with a talented quarterback like justin for a guy
Speaker 6: that can block, run and catch passes equally as well,
Speaker 6: where if you want to go to a hurry up offense,
Speaker 6: you're not exchanging the running back position in and out.
Speaker 7: So that would be my three.
Speaker 3: I'll go DJ DJ. Of course, met out all expectations.
Speaker 3: Cole Comet fulfilling his potential, no question. He's grown significantly
Speaker 3: and I love what they're doing him now with the
Speaker 3: chip and then sneaking out and being able to take
Speaker 3: a pass, and he catches everything and he makes you
Speaker 3: pay for it trying to tackle him, And that to
Speaker 3: me is the element and the physicality that we want
Speaker 3: this Bears team to look like.
Speaker 7: He's your favorite player.
Speaker 4: Nah man, I'm just telling the truth.
Speaker 3: And then and then and then I gotta I gotta
Speaker 3: throw Tevin in there, because Tevin has a chance to
Speaker 3: be a star. He has a chance to be a
Speaker 3: star guard in this league. All right, We got to
Speaker 3: take a break. More coming up, we'll look at the defense.
Speaker 3: We come back here on Bears Weekly on ESPN one
Speaker 3: thousand of the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: Thiscus Bears Weekly with the voice of the Bears for
Speaker 1: twenty three years, Jeff j on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 3: This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
Speaker 3: CDW people who get it with Tom Thayer, Jeff Joniek,
Speaker 3: and Jim Miller, our weekly guest in the off season,
Speaker 3: kind enough to join us here on the bye week.
Speaker 3: It's not a bye week for him, though he is
Speaker 3: working grinding on serious x MNFL radio. It just makes
Speaker 3: me happy, though, to see the three of us together.
Speaker 3: You know, I miss you, Mills.
Speaker 5: Hey, I hope you guys had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Looking
Speaker 5: forward to the holiday season, so I'm wishing you guys
Speaker 5: the best.
Speaker 2: It's always gonna be with you.
Speaker 3: Jim our toime. I bet he you know. I know
Speaker 3: you're not getting a Christmas tree.
Speaker 4: Tom.
Speaker 3: If you do, it's gonna be a Charlie Browner. I
Speaker 3: got my tree, Jim, you cut yours down from the backyard.
Speaker 3: Is this how it works? No, up there in the
Speaker 3: heaven of Michigan.
Speaker 5: Oh, it's all about efficiency. So the fake tree is
Speaker 5: in play.
Speaker 3: Ah, you're a fake fake tree guy. Uh man, it's
Speaker 3: in play.
Speaker 2: Can't be messing up the house.
Speaker 5: My wife gets all upset about it, cleaning up all
Speaker 5: the needles that it ain't happening.
Speaker 3: I'm disappointed to hear that you gotta have the balsam
Speaker 3: aroma in your house, right, the live tree and all
Speaker 3: the pain when it does shed all those knee All right, Tommy,
Speaker 3: we'll start with you defensive players.
Speaker 4: Top three defensive players. Be interesting to hear. How we
Speaker 4: all look at this.
Speaker 7: Well, I'm gonna go TJ.
Speaker 6: Edwards, my number one defensive player, top two in tackles
Speaker 6: ten out of the twelve games.
Speaker 7: I'm gonna go with.
Speaker 6: And I say this with a little bit of apprehension
Speaker 6: because I believe it's the most difficult position in football
Speaker 6: outside of quarterback. I'm gonna say Treike Stevenson. I know
Speaker 6: that he's been attacked a lot. It's just a really
Speaker 6: fragile position. If they didn't have him in Terrell Smith,
Speaker 6: there may be a big void at that position. You
Speaker 6: may have to change Kyler Gordon around. And then when
Speaker 6: I look up front, I like what your Von Dexter's doing. Okay,
Speaker 6: so just listen. It's not that he is the main
Speaker 6: key to the future the success of the Bears defensive line.
Speaker 7: I think that's Montese.
Speaker 6: However, if they don't have significant develop from the interior
Speaker 6: or the defensive line, you're not going to hear much
Speaker 6: from the outside of the defensive line because there's not
Speaker 6: going to be any threatening weapon on the inside. And
Speaker 6: I think Tabon Dexter Senior is really coming around late
Speaker 6: in the season.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, for me, TJ. Edwards is a lock. I'm
Speaker 2: with Tom.
Speaker 5: I mean, look at the just the amount of tackles
Speaker 5: he's in on so many plays, interceptions, they've delayed blitz
Speaker 5: to him, They've used him in all types of capacity,
Speaker 5: and the versatility that he's shown has been great Defensively.
Speaker 5: I'm going to say Jalen Johnson in the secondary, not
Speaker 5: because of the player as of late, but prior to
Speaker 5: training camp I interviewed him. I said, hey, here, it's
Speaker 5: your contract year. I said, what do you need to do?
Speaker 5: He said, Jim, I need to get more turnovers. I
Speaker 5: need to provide turnovers. Almost had a pick six versus Detroit. Obviously,
Speaker 5: he almost had another pick six versus Minnesota. But he
Speaker 5: is getting the turnovers in the interceptions, and he is
Speaker 5: shown to be a quality coverage corner in my opinion. Lastly,
Speaker 5: I'm gonna say I know it's early, but it's going
Speaker 5: to be Montese sweat because you can tell as soon
Speaker 5: as he arrived in Chicago, the guy basically gets off
Speaker 5: the bus and he made a difference in an impact
Speaker 5: right away, so learning the defense. But even this last
Speaker 5: week against Minnesota, he's drawing a double team in Jaquan Brisker.
Speaker 5: They blits him off his side, Jaquan Brisker gets the
Speaker 5: sack or disrupts the play just due to the double
Speaker 5: team on Montese Sweat.
Speaker 2: So he would be.
Speaker 5: My third guy new to the Bears, but I think
Speaker 5: he's already had a significant impact and the Bears defense
Speaker 5: has played much better with him in it.
Speaker 3: That kind of training camp, if I was doing this,
Speaker 3: I was going to be predicting Kyler, Gordon, Jaquan Brisker
Speaker 3: to start and probably tremain Edmonds, just because you know
Speaker 3: the impact of the leadership of Edmonds immediately, and those
Speaker 3: two guys were training then they got hurt. So their
Speaker 3: season is still rolling into shape and we're seeing what
Speaker 3: playing time together as a unit is doing for those
Speaker 3: two guys as well. I love the futures of Gordon
Speaker 3: and Brisker, I really do. I'm gonna TJ's a slam dunk.
Speaker 3: I think he's having a Pro Bowl season. I hope,
Speaker 3: I hope it happens for the guy because he was
Speaker 3: the first guy to sign in free agency in the
Speaker 3: league period. Not just because it's the Bears, but he
Speaker 3: wanted to come here. This is and he's leaving a
Speaker 3: Super Bowl contender. Whether they were gonna resign him or
Speaker 3: not is irrelevant. He wanted to come and be a
Speaker 3: Chicago Bear. It means a lot to him. He takes
Speaker 3: every snap seriously and takes it to heart. I just
Speaker 3: love his attitude. I love how he plays. He's not
Speaker 3: a big talker. He just goes out there and grinds
Speaker 3: and he is. He's thumping, he's finishing. I'm gonna go
Speaker 3: Tremaine Edmonds because again the aforementioned leadership part of it.
Speaker 3: I think those players do look up to him. He
Speaker 3: comes from a winning program, he comes still as a
Speaker 3: young player with a lot of time to grow into
Speaker 3: that position in this defense. And I'm gonna go Jalen Johnson. Yes,
Speaker 3: the takeaways are starting to come and by all means
Speaker 3: he should have had five interceptions and do touchdowns. Host
Speaker 3: got so and even though when he returned that he
Speaker 3: went back to the middle of the field instead of
Speaker 3: going up the numbers and following your blockers. That could
Speaker 3: have been a bigger play as well. But he's backing
Speaker 3: it up. He says he's the best. He wants to
Speaker 3: be the best. Yes, he wants to be paid. But
Speaker 3: he's allowing like a fifty two percent catch rate this season,
Speaker 3: and that's pretty much in line with his whole career.
Speaker 3: Teams have stayed away from him in the past. This season,
Speaker 3: they've they've had their shots at him, and he's really
Speaker 3: had done a nice job. All right, let's look at Jeff.
Speaker 3: We're all quick, Jeff and Jemmy.
Speaker 6: You think of the dropped interceptions by the Bears, Jack Sanborn, TJ. Edwards,
Speaker 6: two or three by Tyreek Stevenson, a couple by Jalen Johnson.
Speaker 6: You add those interceptions to this defense, the profile of
Speaker 6: this defense is completely different.
Speaker 4: That's a great point, as it is. It is good.
Speaker 3: The run defense is outstanding. They do have to get
Speaker 3: better stopping people in the red zone. The offense has
Speaker 3: been really good in the red zone, really good on
Speaker 3: third down. So these are areas that need to work on.
Speaker 3: All right, we all touched down the rookies here at
Speaker 3: some point, so the rookies to watch certainly arrow up
Speaker 3: on Dexter. We all agree, yes, hands in the area. Yes,
Speaker 3: picking same thing. He's not getting a lot of snaps.
Speaker 3: He had eleven snaps last week. But you know, you
Speaker 3: you feel him out there, you do. You definitely feel
Speaker 3: Darnell right. One of the prettiest plays the Bears have
Speaker 3: used is whether it's a quarterback pool on a sweep
Speaker 3: with with justin a power move or running back is
Speaker 3: when Tevin Poles when Darnell Wright polls, I absolutely love
Speaker 3: a tackle poll. Tyreek Stevenson as a bright future and
Speaker 3: I just I think he's weathering the storm. We did
Speaker 3: a feature on him a couple of weeks back, and
Speaker 3: it's never been simple for him. He was the last
Speaker 3: guy picked on his youth football teams. Nobody wanted the guy.
Speaker 3: He kept grinding crap, kept grinding, grinding, turns himself into
Speaker 3: a second round pick and he gets to start in
Speaker 3: week one here at the NFL level. Terrelle Smith to me,
Speaker 3: he's a quiet storm. That's a guy to watch and
Speaker 3: see what happens next. Called reliable by John Hook before
Speaker 3: they even played a single game this season. So and
Speaker 3: we got to talk a little bit here about Tyson beagent.
Speaker 3: He surprised us, all right, I guess although we saw
Speaker 3: hints of it during training camp. Jim, you're a quarterback.
Speaker 3: Tyson Bagent, whatever his future might be, we know that
Speaker 3: he can come in there and win your games.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think minimum, you feel really good with him
Speaker 5: as the two. That's all you can ask your number
Speaker 5: two to do. If you lose your starter for a
Speaker 5: four game stretch, can your starter win half of them?
Speaker 5: And he did that, And you know, just look at
Speaker 5: that game against Carolina that he gets to win.
Speaker 2: In here, you've got the number one overall pick in.
Speaker 5: The NFL in Bryce Young in Tyson Beagent, undrafted out
Speaker 5: of Shepherd, who was the better quarterback? I mean, you
Speaker 5: couldn't tell a difference, you know, so athletically he's he
Speaker 5: obviously has good football intelligence because he played a ton
Speaker 5: of games in college. Obviously, the one hundred and fifty
Speaker 5: nine touchdown passes, he's been there, he's done that and
Speaker 5: it didn't overwhelm him at all. So I think minimum
Speaker 5: you feel very good at him as a number two.
Speaker 5: But hey, what can he develop into? Is can he
Speaker 5: develop into a starter? There's something there with Tyson bagen.
Speaker 6: You know, Jim, I have a question for you about
Speaker 6: the quarterback position. So I really like when they used
Speaker 6: to have that Gruden putting the quarterbacks through his paces
Speaker 6: on the blackboard and stuff.
Speaker 7: So if you took a quarterback that.
Speaker 6: Played two years limited college football, you know your Trey
Speaker 6: Lances and guys like that, and you played it. He
Speaker 6: had a same question for a guy that played four
Speaker 6: years of college football.
Speaker 7: Is there one.
Speaker 6: Question you could ask them to see or kind of
Speaker 6: get a feeling of where they're at mentally after the
Speaker 6: amount of football they've played.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think you can can get to how much
Speaker 5: football intelligence a player has or how much experience he has.
Speaker 5: I mean, I'll never forget this. Imagine this. Jordan Love
Speaker 5: when he was coming out, obviously now the starter for
Speaker 5: the Green Bay Packers, I asked him, I said, hey,
Speaker 5: you're going to the best, one of the best hard
Speaker 5: count play or hardcount quarterbacks in the league. I said,
Speaker 5: can you give me an example of your hardcount? And
Speaker 5: he said, what's that? And I said, you don't know
Speaker 5: what a heart count is. He didn't know what a
Speaker 5: heart count was, So how much do they know? I mean,
Speaker 5: he had never utilized a heart count in college football,
Speaker 5: and here he gets now he knows because he's spent
Speaker 5: three years behind Aaron Rodgers, what a heart count is
Speaker 5: and when do you utilize it? And it's a weapon,
Speaker 5: So things like that a lot, you know the football inexperience.
Speaker 5: I think you can really get to the heart of it,
Speaker 5: whether it's a Trey Lance, whether it's any quarterback who
Speaker 5: doesn't have a lot of starts in college, and how
Speaker 5: much do they really know?
Speaker 3: Jim Miller, Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer. This is Bears Weekly.
Speaker 3: Let's take a here on YESB one thousand and the
Speaker 3: Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: This is Bears Weekly with a voice of the Bears
Speaker 1: for twenty three years. Jeff Jonik on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 3: This segment of Bears Weekly brought to you by Athletico
Speaker 3: Physical Therapy. Visit athletical dot com to request it in
Speaker 3: clinic or virtual appointment at started feeling better tomorrow with
Speaker 3: Tom Thayer, Jim Miller, Jeff Joniac breaking things down. We've
Speaker 3: gone through the offense and defense. We got to touch
Speaker 3: on special teams. Jim never played a special team snap?
Speaker 4: Did he?
Speaker 3: Did?
Speaker 4: You hold?
Speaker 3: Okay, look how indignity got right there?
Speaker 5: These kickers man tilted towards me, tilted away, tilted this way,
Speaker 5: whatever dude, just kick the ball.
Speaker 3: Did you have what were your moments with kickers, and
Speaker 3: you probably had a handful of them. Did you take
Speaker 3: it instructively and open mindedly or did you tell him
Speaker 3: what's up?
Speaker 5: Yeah? I obviously honored their request. But at the end
Speaker 5: of the day, like I said, when I'm throwing a football, hey,
Speaker 5: sometimes in shotgun, I'm not going to get the laces
Speaker 5: all right, So I don't want to hear about laces
Speaker 5: out Dan. You know what I'm saying. Just kick the ball, dude.
Speaker 5: That's your job. You got one job. But they're very specific.
Speaker 5: Some guys that want the ball straight up. One guy,
Speaker 5: I want the ball tilted toward him. One guy wanted
Speaker 5: it tilted towards you know, towards the holder. And it's
Speaker 5: just but they're very meticulous on how they need the ball.
Speaker 5: When any other position guys are just like whatever, dude,
Speaker 5: let's go.
Speaker 3: Did you ever flub one?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 5: I flubbed a couple, but it was a bad snap.
Speaker 6: It was a you know, one thing that's funny about
Speaker 6: specialists kickers and punters is so back in my era,
Speaker 6: Jay Hilgenberg, snap punts and extra points and field goals
Speaker 6: and he was so good at it that that's the
Speaker 6: way he was raised by his dad, thankfully. So I
Speaker 6: was a backup snapper, and the nicest guys in the
Speaker 6: locker room is the kicker and the punter when they're
Speaker 6: trying to get the backup snapper to come out early
Speaker 6: to throw snaps. To those guys, they'll buy you lunch,
Speaker 6: they'll tie your shoes, they'll get your helmet out there early.
Speaker 7: Mori Buford and butt head Man when they want you
Speaker 7: to come out.
Speaker 6: And throw them, you know, anywhere between twenty and fifty snaps,
Speaker 6: they're your best buddy.
Speaker 4: Well did you always oblige?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Did you give him some? Did you give him a
Speaker 3: hard time?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 3: I didn't.
Speaker 7: You know.
Speaker 6: First of all, I also paid attention because jay Is
Speaker 6: elbow started to get bad. So the less snaps that
Speaker 6: he could throw and practice, the better that he would
Speaker 6: feel on the weekend. But you know, watching I could
Speaker 6: see butt heead kind of sneakingly walking by and make
Speaker 6: an eye contact, you know. And more Buford buying your
Speaker 6: postseason gifts that no one else did, because.
Speaker 2: You know, you're a kid in here.
Speaker 4: What do he gets you? What do he get you?
Speaker 6: He got us these really nice, specially engraved bone knives
Speaker 6: with carvings on them and dedicated to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 6: Insaid I still have it, So, I mean I still
Speaker 6: and there's other things that they came aboard. But you know,
Speaker 6: like I said, the when we didn't have food offer
Speaker 6: to us, the lunch offerings, Hey do you need anything,
Speaker 6: We're going out.
Speaker 4: You know, he's car washed.
Speaker 7: That's a funny group. When that's a funny group.
Speaker 4: Jim, did you what did you buy?
Speaker 3: Would you cough up as a starting quarterback for your
Speaker 3: offensive line? Anything?
Speaker 2: Well, well, cash is king number one, So.
Speaker 3: I got they got envelopes. They got envelopes as well, whether.
Speaker 5: The equipment managers things like that. I bought airline tickets
Speaker 5: things like that in the past. But to me too,
Speaker 5: it was important to take care of guys who who
Speaker 5: help you out, like whether it's uh, you know, Tony Medlin,
Speaker 5: people in the equipment room, the training room.
Speaker 6: Uh.
Speaker 5: You know, you just like to think because you got
Speaker 5: you know, as Tom mentioned, sometimes you have special requests,
Speaker 5: you need things done. They've got to go above and
Speaker 5: beyond the call of duty, so to speak. You know,
Speaker 5: for example, Carl Pacarski, who used to work for the
Speaker 5: Bears for a long time. I mean, that guy scrub
Speaker 5: more footballs for me than anyone, you know, so I
Speaker 5: had to, you know, much like a kicker. You want
Speaker 5: that film off the ball, and he would go above
Speaker 5: beyond whether he throw them in the dryer or scrub
Speaker 5: them and all the things to get those things right
Speaker 5: where they needed to be on game day.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I was I'd like to think I was
Speaker 2: pretty generous. I wasn't good Saint Nick that way.
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, as a guy who interviews the head coaches,
Speaker 3: I've gotten a few bottles of wine over the course
Speaker 3: of my career. But one of the nicest things that
Speaker 3: ever has happened in my career was anyone who was
Speaker 3: involved with anything to do with any of Coach Garon's
Speaker 3: shows or anything were invited to his home after the
Speaker 3: season in Lake Forest.
Speaker 4: And it was a great time.
Speaker 3: I mean it was it was guys from the TV station,
Speaker 3: the camera guys. Tom was a no show. I don't
Speaker 3: know why, but it was a fun time. We're playing
Speaker 3: ping pong and watching football. That was That was a
Speaker 3: That's the only time that's ever happened, But that was
Speaker 3: that was pretty cool. All right, let's get into the
Speaker 3: special teams players.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna lead off with this one. Obviously, it's it's
Speaker 3: Cairo Santos.
Speaker 4: What he's done, and I just interviewed him.
Speaker 3: We're gonna do the feature this week on Fox our
Speaker 3: Game Day Live show coming up this week before the
Speaker 3: Detroit game. It's not really you know, even Iberflus was
Speaker 3: talking about leg strength, but he says it's just the
Speaker 3: swing of his leg, the timing, the the process. It's
Speaker 3: not that he's actually gotten a stronger leg. It's just
Speaker 3: he's hitting it so well right now. And it shows
Speaker 3: on the kickoffs. Every single one has gone into the
Speaker 3: end zone this year. Whether they've chosen to take him
Speaker 3: out or not, that's up to the returner. As it
Speaker 3: was on the final game, final snap of the game
Speaker 3: against Detroit, kanay wog Wu trying to come out and
Speaker 3: have Keystone cops into the game there. But it's just
Speaker 3: been accuracy coming back from missing that kick to kick
Speaker 3: four in the game winner against Carolina when he made
Speaker 3: one and there was a penalty, he had to go
Speaker 3: back five yards hit it again. So he's number one.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go Jack Sanborn. I still believe he's the
Speaker 3: tackle leader on special teams. He plays rockham soccam. That's
Speaker 3: his game. He's the Sandman. According to eber Fluse, I
Speaker 3: call him the jack hammer. And then it's a toss up.
Speaker 3: Travis Homer's always been a great special teams player and
Speaker 3: he is still. But I got to give Rasheim Green
Speaker 3: with a couple of block kicks so far this season. Jim, Yeah,
Speaker 3: I do.
Speaker 5: Like the Rashem Green because he has been a factor
Speaker 5: in terms of block and field goals. It's pretty much
Speaker 5: a shoe in with Santos, like you mentioned, fifty five
Speaker 5: yarders even against Minnesota seem to be you know, it's
Speaker 5: a walk in the park for him, and he's been
Speaker 5: deadly accurate from that standpoint for me coverage wise, I
Speaker 5: like your pick on Sanborn, but I'm gonna say Tyreek Stevenson.
Speaker 5: You know, when he's been thrown in there, he's in
Speaker 5: a couple you know, hits that the Benex Buller, I
Speaker 5: think it was the Detroit game for get his helmet
Speaker 5: in there and forced a turnover. So kind of double
Speaker 5: dip in there with Tyreek Stevenson.
Speaker 6: You know, I'm gonna go with Patrick Scales because he
Speaker 6: said a landmark this year snapping for at least one
Speaker 6: hundred games in the NFL throughout a career, and the
Speaker 6: easiest position to be cut from is the long snapper,
Speaker 6: because if you start throwing off the timing of a
Speaker 6: punter or a holder kicker combination, you're going to be gone.
Speaker 6: And I think Patrick Scales and some of the conditions
Speaker 6: that he's been able to snap in over the last
Speaker 6: couple of years, he's done a really good job.
Speaker 7: Jalen Jones has been a good.
Speaker 6: Cover guy over the last couple years, and so I
Speaker 6: think the more that he's involved in special teams, even
Speaker 6: though he's had an injury, you know, he's really a
Speaker 6: solid player. And look, I'm not going to deny Cairo Santos.
Speaker 7: Is due because then the guy is as good as.
Speaker 6: A kicker in the NFL, and the conditions sometimes he
Speaker 6: has to kick in aren't always perfect.
Speaker 3: And ninety two in his career since becoming a Bear
Speaker 3: outstanding work. Now I think it's one hundred and one
Speaker 3: field goals made here as a Bear during this portion
Speaker 3: of it. I know he had a couple kicks again
Speaker 3: as a Bear early on before he left and came
Speaker 3: back all right. What needs work is the net punting average.
Speaker 3: Trent and Gill in his second year. He can bang kicks,
Speaker 3: no question, we've seen that, but the overall net result
Speaker 3: has not been good. It's it's last in the NFL
Speaker 3: and that's been that way for several weeks. And the
Speaker 3: return game is what it is, the league is what
Speaker 3: it is. It's so disappointing Jim and Tom that you
Speaker 3: can't return kicks anymore. They're banging it out of the
Speaker 3: end zone or not choosing to return it. And you know,
Speaker 3: a few fair catches, I know there hasn't been many.
Speaker 3: Maybe there'll be more as the weather changes. I'm just
Speaker 3: it's one of the most exciting plays in sports and
Speaker 3: they're taking it out of the game. And I get
Speaker 3: the whole injury thing, but I don't know how you
Speaker 3: guys feel about it.
Speaker 6: So just one thing I'd like to say is about
Speaker 6: the punting game. When you talk about the stats of
Speaker 6: Trent and Gill, to me, I.
Speaker 7: Think it's the NFL as a whole.
Speaker 6: When they had the rugby style punt introduced to the game,
Speaker 6: that took over for coff and corner punting, And to me,
Speaker 6: sometimes when you have Okay, I'm going to give you
Speaker 6: a banging rugby style kick, but it goes in the
Speaker 6: end zone where you're kicking from one hash or the
Speaker 6: other and they don't allow you to cough and corner kick.
Speaker 6: To me, it shows a lack of faith in the
Speaker 6: talent of punters. But it also takes yards away from them.
Speaker 6: So I'm in disagreement with that portion of it, And Jeff,
Speaker 6: you know my feelings. I have a whole kickoff return game.
Speaker 6: I don't have to sit here and complain about it.
Speaker 5: There's only been two kickoff returns for touchdowns this year,
Speaker 5: the guy from Houston and I believe Marvin Nim from
Speaker 5: the Denver Broncos. And you want to know what it's
Speaker 5: actually I think going to bode well in favor for
Speaker 5: Devin Hester in his chances of getting into the Hall
Speaker 5: of Fame because no one has done what he's done,
Speaker 5: and nobody will probably do that in the future with
Speaker 5: the new rule that's in play. And I guarantee you
Speaker 5: probably in the off season when the owners go to
Speaker 5: the owners meetings, they are perfectly fine with not having
Speaker 5: kick returns.
Speaker 4: All right, We're going to take another break.
Speaker 3: One more to go here, on Bears Weekly on ESPN
Speaker 3: thousand and the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: Is Bears Weekly with a push of the Bears for
Speaker 1: twenty three years. Jeff Jack on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 3: Want VIP access to every Bears home game, exclusive seating,
Speaker 3: sideline credentials and more now available. Get the ultimate VIP
Speaker 3: fan package this season by visiting Chicago Bears vip dot Com.
Speaker 3: Our remaining moments on the show with Jim Miller from
Speaker 3: Serious EXMNFL Radios, Moving the Chains and Tom There, I'm
Speaker 3: Jeff Joniac.
Speaker 4: Week thirteen does not include the Bears. They're on the
Speaker 4: bye week.
Speaker 3: How the league stacks up is a week to week discussion, Jim,
Speaker 3: you talk about it every single day on Sirius XM
Speaker 3: NFL Radio. Right now, who are your Super Bowl teams?
Speaker 3: If the season had to end right today, Who's going
Speaker 3: to the Super Bowl? Let alone winning?
Speaker 2: Well?
Speaker 5: I think yeah, we're gonna find out a big development
Speaker 5: here in the NFC side of things when San Francisco
Speaker 5: goes to Philadelphia.
Speaker 2: San Francisco is looking legit.
Speaker 5: They added the two pass rushers and Randy Gregory and
Speaker 5: Chase Young, and they are starting to play to their
Speaker 5: potential and everybody's healthy, they get Trent Williams back. So
Speaker 5: this is going to be a key game that could
Speaker 5: decide it on the NFC side. So like both of
Speaker 5: those teams in Philadelphia and what San Francisco is bringing
Speaker 5: to the table, kind of leaning towards San Francisco. And
Speaker 5: I think for the AFC side of things, there is
Speaker 5: a couple of teams that are surprising, and I think
Speaker 5: Jacksonville is a team that you got to keep your
Speaker 5: eye on down the stretch. Certainly Patrick Mahomes with all
Speaker 5: the things he's done. So those would be my two
Speaker 5: teams that really stand out that I think have a
Speaker 5: really good shot.
Speaker 3: You know, let me say something about the forty nine
Speaker 3: ers in brock Purty. I have friends that bring it
Speaker 3: up all the time because I'm at Iowa State grad.
Speaker 3: But nobody's like ready to say yeah.
Speaker 4: There's always the yeah.
Speaker 3: But I mean he's in an ideal system with a
Speaker 3: guy that knows how to use him and develop him.
Speaker 3: It's Kyle Shanahan and that offense, and he's got weaponry.
Speaker 3: He's got McCaffrey, he's got Deebo, he's got Ayuk. They're
Speaker 3: tearing it up that way. They can run the ball.
Speaker 3: They like running the ball. The system's great. We passed
Speaker 3: the yeah butt stage Jim and Tom Wayan too.
Speaker 5: So I mean, he hasn't really played an entire season yet,
Speaker 5: so he's still a young quarterback. But I think he's
Speaker 5: shown enough that you feel very confident that he's your guy.
Speaker 2: I mean, think about that. Think about Kyle.
Speaker 5: Shanahan, the guy's coming back from elbow surgery in every
Speaker 5: but he knew he was the starter before draining camp started.
Speaker 5: So I think Kyle Shanahan has a very good belief
Speaker 5: that he's their guy moving forward. And I think he's
Speaker 5: shown enough that that he's a really good player.
Speaker 6: You know, in the professional boxing and WWE, how they
Speaker 6: have a guy that walks out in front of the
Speaker 6: champion holding up a big belt and he's got all
Speaker 6: this crowd getting riled up. If you look at the
Speaker 6: Dak Prescott's or the Jalen Hurts or the Patrick Mahomes,
Speaker 6: these guys all have that reputation where they're, you know,
Speaker 6: already presented as great quarterbacks and Super Bowl caliber champions.
Speaker 7: Rock Purdy he's the understudy. He's the understudy who's finally.
Speaker 6: Making the show look as good as if the star
Speaker 6: component was playing, and until he goes out there and
Speaker 6: finishes and wins a big playoff game because of the
Speaker 6: injury that happened to him last year and how San
Speaker 6: Francisco fell off the ledge. Once he goes out there
Speaker 6: and wins throughout the playoffs and and even the Philly
Speaker 6: the Philly San Francisco game, it's still a home field advantage.
Speaker 7: The crowd noise, the travel and everything.
Speaker 6: If you put them in an even stadium like at
Speaker 6: the super Bowl and the crowd noise is supporter for
Speaker 6: ball teams, you'd see a different performance. And you know
Speaker 6: this week is Lane Johnson If he doesn't play, is
Speaker 6: he a big as big as of a miss as
Speaker 6: if you had one of the key components miss when
Speaker 6: you think about San Francisco's pass rush and how much
Speaker 6: that could derail the offense of Philly.
Speaker 3: Jim, I have a couple of questions in the AFC.
Speaker 3: I know at some point in the show weeks ago,
Speaker 3: when Miami was off to a great start, I think
Speaker 3: we talked to Miami as a potential super Bowl. Maybe
Speaker 3: that's still the case, but Miami and Baltimore, what is
Speaker 3: your analysis as they go down the stretch.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, there's a lot to like about Baltimore because
Speaker 5: Mike McDaniel has that defense playing well. They've got like
Speaker 5: over five guys that contributed sackwise, So I do like
Speaker 5: what their defense is doing. But you just wonder with
Speaker 5: Mark Andrews being out at the tight end, that was
Speaker 5: kind of Lamar Jackson's security blanket, and so this past
Speaker 5: week they weren't is explosive. The receivers did a little
Speaker 5: bit more, but more is going to be counted on
Speaker 5: their wide receivers, but Lamar, for whatever reason, Mark Andrews
Speaker 5: was still leading the team in receptions. It's been like
Speaker 5: that every year under Lamar, and so we'll see if
Speaker 5: their offense can branch out. Baltimore is an interesting team.
Speaker 5: They are the number one seed, but I tend to
Speaker 5: think I think Jacksonville is a team that's really going
Speaker 5: to come on strong. To me, they have a strong
Speaker 5: roster in terms of backups. That's much better because look
Speaker 5: at Baltimore right now, their past seasons have all been
Speaker 5: injury right, It's been Lamar Jackson goes down, Ronnie Stanley
Speaker 5: he's out now again. So Baltimore's starting to deal with
Speaker 5: a little bit of attrition.
Speaker 3: Tom Detroit, Sound of the Docket. We'll get into that
Speaker 3: here for a couple of minutes before we wrap up
Speaker 3: the show. But do you look at them as a contender?
Speaker 7: No, I do not. I think they still have some deficiencies.
Speaker 6: I you know, it's again if they play on the whole,
Speaker 6: at home or on the road. If they play on
Speaker 6: the road, I think they're a beatable team.
Speaker 7: I think that you can kind.
Speaker 6: Of create an uncomfortable pocket for Jared Goff. He's got
Speaker 6: limited escapability. Although Saint Brown and the tight end position
Speaker 6: and the running back position, they do a nice job.
Speaker 6: But I still don't see those guys as going deep
Speaker 6: into the playoffs and threatening a legitimate playoff team in
Speaker 6: their home away from Detroit.
Speaker 2: Detroit has to play a perfect brand of ball.
Speaker 5: I do like the weapons on offense, but what has
Speaker 5: it been the last couple weeks. It's been Jared golf.
Speaker 5: When Jared Goff is off, that's where they run into problems.
Speaker 5: He had turnovers against the Bears, turnovers against Green Bay
Speaker 5: and that that bit the Lions. And I think Dan
Speaker 5: Campbell in his special Team's call of going for it right,
Speaker 5: his guy's got a history of going forward in moments,
Speaker 5: and this is probably the first time it's backfired on
Speaker 5: his team. So they're dealing with a little bit right now.
Speaker 5: I do think they're formidable, but there's still a paper
Speaker 5: lion in a lot of ways.
Speaker 3: Like Tom referred to don't let Jared Goff get in
Speaker 3: rhythm and Week fourteen against the Bears at Soldier Field,
Speaker 3: Tom will Justin fields in the RPO game that shredded
Speaker 3: up Detroit. Be the plan with design runs and the
Speaker 3: deep ball to DJ, is that it?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 6: I think they had a nice scripted play on the
Speaker 6: first series and it's something I think that they can
Speaker 6: repeat if need be. Justin is going to be more
Speaker 6: in control of the volume of the ignition switch of
Speaker 6: the offense. So I actually look for them to be
Speaker 6: a little bit more explosive than they were in Detroit.
Speaker 3: All right, to look at the draft real quick right now?
Speaker 3: Picks one and four are the Bears? Still a lot
Speaker 3: of season to go in the shelf could continue, Jim,
Speaker 3: what are we looking at here? We only have about
Speaker 3: a minute and a half to go. Give me your thoughts.
Speaker 3: You already I'm sure doing a little draft work as
Speaker 3: you get ready. For the Senior Bowl. What's your perspective
Speaker 3: on the strength of this draft in the first round.
Speaker 5: Yeah, there's well, there's a lot of good offensive linemen.
Speaker 5: We've talked to Jim Naggy. It's very deep at offensive
Speaker 5: line and in defensive line as well. So edge rushers
Speaker 5: you can always look there. And I think you're obviously
Speaker 5: exploring quarterback. You know, whether to justin how he finishes.
Speaker 5: I think quarterback there's gonna be one steering him right
Speaker 5: in the face. And there's probably about four good guys
Speaker 5: when you look at Michael Pennix, bow Nicks, You've got
Speaker 5: Greg May certainly there in Caleb Williams. So the Bears
Speaker 5: will have to do their homework at quarterback because I
Speaker 5: do not think that that position will be ignored because
Speaker 5: it hasn't been consistent enough for Chicago so far.
Speaker 3: Jim, I appreciate you being on, buddy, Enjoy the rest
Speaker 3: of your weekend, and Tom rest up. We got we've
Speaker 3: got a five games stretch.
Speaker 4: We need you, buddy, We need you. That's gonna do
Speaker 4: it for us.
Speaker 3: Thanks for listening to everybody. Our executive producer of the
Speaker 3: Bears Radio Network is Eric Ostrowski. Thanks to Jay Cantu
Speaker 3: and Jack McGrath and Dan Brilli and Jordan tread Up.
Speaker 3: All our producers for Tom Fayer and Jim Miller. I'm
Speaker 3: Jeff Joniyak. Thanks for listening. This has been Bears Weekly
Speaker 3: on the new radio home of the Chicago Bears ESP
Speaker 3: and Chicago Coming up next Bleck and Abdalla.
Speaker 4: Good night, everybody.
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