Speaker 1: The following is a presentation of the Chicago Bears Network
Speaker 1: now on news radio seven eighty and one oh five
Speaker 1: point nine FM. This is the Bears Coaches Show with
Speaker 1: Bears Head Coach Matt Naggie, the coaching staff and Bears management.
Speaker 1: The Bears Coaches Show was brought to you by Whitpley
Speaker 1: CBA's and Consultants and sponsored by Advocate Healthcare, Hilton and
Speaker 1: the Village of Bedford Park. No From Hellis Hall. Here's
Speaker 1: the Voice of the Bears w BBMS Jeff joni yac
Speaker 1: and a pleasant, good even to everybody, and welcome at
Speaker 1: a panc Studios here at Hollis All and welcome to
Speaker 1: the Bears Coaches Show with Head Coach Matt Nagge Jeff
Speaker 1: joniak with you until eight o'clock tonight. Happy New Year
Speaker 1: every one as you head out for the evening, Stay
Speaker 1: safe out there on New Year's Eve. And what a
Speaker 1: magical time it has been for the Chicago Bears, A
Speaker 1: magical time for you, Matt. You finished the season with
Speaker 1: four straight wins, nine out of the last ten. You
Speaker 1: finished twelve and four, and that part of the stories closing.
Speaker 1: A new one about to begin. But we're gonna we're
Speaker 1: gonna break down all that, but first and foremost from
Speaker 1: every Bear fan out there and everybody in this building, congratulations,
Speaker 1: thank you. Yeah, it was a great, great day yesterday,
Speaker 1: and just super proud of the team, the players, the coaches, everybody,
Speaker 1: all the support to fans to put us in this
Speaker 1: position that we're in. And like you just said, now
Speaker 1: it's time the role and our guys will be excited
Speaker 1: to get after it. And there's only twelve teams right now,
Speaker 1: so we want to keep going. Yeah, do you mind
Speaker 1: talking about the game in a little detail before we
Speaker 1: start with a prob a little bit. We're brought to
Speaker 1: you by Whippley Financial Advisors. There's so much to get
Speaker 1: into with every game because of how you guys play
Speaker 1: the game and how you call the game, how you
Speaker 1: design the game, how Vic calls the game, how he
Speaker 1: designs the game. There's really never enough time. There's so
Speaker 1: much to it, and it's so much fun to watch
Speaker 1: you guys play. You guys talk about how much fun
Speaker 1: you have, period, but it is also fun to watch
Speaker 1: how you guys play. You never know what's coming next,
Speaker 1: and you're never out of anything on any down or
Speaker 1: any game. There's something too that I don't I don't
Speaker 1: know how to explain it. Can you, No, I can't,
Speaker 1: other than the fact that I think just as a
Speaker 1: coaching staff in general, I feel like our coaches do
Speaker 1: a really good job of communicating situational football. And no
Speaker 1: you know, whether it's an assistant coach's idea, a coordinator's idea,
Speaker 1: it's somebody that has a thought, and or maybe sometimes
Speaker 1: it's a player that has a thought in these type
Speaker 1: of situations, and you always want to be able to
Speaker 1: use that to your advantage. And there's been times this
Speaker 1: year where we've done that. You saw yesterday with the
Speaker 1: punt situation. You just never know what can happen. But
Speaker 1: overall situationally red zone, third down, backed up four minute,
Speaker 1: I really like where our teams at. Situational football is
Speaker 1: really the difference between winning and losing. You know, Bill
Speaker 1: talking about Bill Belichick's success, They spend a ton of
Speaker 1: time on situational football, and I assume you do the
Speaker 1: same we do. And I think what's unique for us
Speaker 1: is is we were so consumed in OTAs and in
Speaker 1: training camp at just trying to get the foundation of
Speaker 1: this team together. There whether it's offense, defense, special teams
Speaker 1: that some of the situational stuff. Unfortunately this first year
Speaker 1: can can fall by the wayside. But we've done a
Speaker 1: pretty good job throughout the year at picking and choosing
Speaker 1: certain instances that we feel like we can take advantage
Speaker 1: of certain situations. And we've done that and so I think,
Speaker 1: I think it can only get better. I can't promise that,
Speaker 1: but I do feel like that is one of our
Speaker 1: strange does it take longer to work on situational football?
Speaker 1: Get it right? It does, just because there's so many
Speaker 1: different Like for example, if it's at the end of
Speaker 1: the half, there could be a major difference in a
Speaker 1: play call for both the offense and the defense based
Speaker 1: off of six seconds and based off of nine seconds,
Speaker 1: that's a three second difference, but the play becomes different
Speaker 1: based off of those extra three seconds. So that's just
Speaker 1: an example. So there's just so many areas that cover
Speaker 1: and then you throw all the rules into into everything
Speaker 1: that goes on, and it can become it can become
Speaker 1: at times a headache, but we want to make sure
Speaker 1: we teach it the right way. How do youaluate what's
Speaker 1: happened and how do you evaluate you know, you go
Speaker 1: back to week one. You know, you guys are twelve
Speaker 1: and three since that game, and you you you know,
Speaker 1: I write down everything you say because there is a
Speaker 1: is a catalog brewing for me from my perspective and
Speaker 1: just talking with you each and every week as I
Speaker 1: do with you, that something was going to be positively
Speaker 1: learned from that Green Bay game no matter what it was.
Speaker 1: And they played like at the rest of the season,
Speaker 1: what was it? It was a and ultimately I think
Speaker 1: it was a trust um with the players, UH and
Speaker 1: all of their coaches, all of us together. The biggest
Speaker 1: part of our success, I feel is um. Probably accountability, honesty,
Speaker 1: understanding the why I think can be sometimes neglected in
Speaker 1: coaching and in life lessons. UH all the time. You know,
Speaker 1: people find out what you did this wrong, you did
Speaker 1: that wrong, you did this right, you did that right? Well,
Speaker 1: why did you do right? Why did you do it wrong?
Speaker 1: And our coaches have done a phenomenal job at teaching
Speaker 1: that to these players so they understand it, so they
Speaker 1: either do it again or they don't do it again.
Speaker 1: And then that you get you get it, and you
Speaker 1: get in a situation in the game and they use
Speaker 1: that later on for instance, the Green Bay game, and
Speaker 1: fast forward down to later in the season and it's
Speaker 1: just you become stronger. That's the callous thing part that
Speaker 1: we talked about in situations adversity, and that's what makes
Speaker 1: you a good team. Now you just did all of
Speaker 1: that for this right now. So now you get into
Speaker 1: the playoffs and you get an opportunity where you're one
Speaker 1: and done or you keep going, and all that stuff
Speaker 1: that we just went through for those you know whatever
Speaker 1: it was those sixteen seventeen weeks, you now have a
Speaker 1: stretch of five weeks where you got to use it all.
Speaker 1: Mattneggie here on the Bears Coaches Show, brought to you
Speaker 1: by Whipfley Financial Advisors here at P ANDC Studios at
Speaker 1: how to Saw. To me, it's it's been fun to
Speaker 1: watch these guys live in the moment almost day to day.
Speaker 1: They talk about practice the way they do talk about
Speaker 1: games and times you do win games on Wednesday and Thursday,
Speaker 1: but you can talk about it about hey, stay in
Speaker 1: the moment, put the blinders on, put the earmuffs on.
Speaker 1: But the guys have to be those type of people
Speaker 1: to want to listen to that and to understand that, well,
Speaker 1: you never worry about yesterday or never worry about tomorrow.
Speaker 1: So is this just a little bit of a fortunate
Speaker 1: type of character in that room in addition to the
Speaker 1: coaching and the mix without it that? But but what
Speaker 1: I what I think is this. I know you've heard
Speaker 1: me say this throughout the year. When Ryan started putting
Speaker 1: this team together and then included me almost a year ago,
Speaker 1: we both were an agreeance that in order to do
Speaker 1: this thing the right way, we need to do it
Speaker 1: with good, solid people because in the end, there's gonna
Speaker 1: be bad times and there's gonna be good times, and
Speaker 1: how do you handle yourself? And I think when the
Speaker 1: season ends and I reflect back on this season, I think,
Speaker 1: I really truly believe that one of the things that
Speaker 1: we're going to be most appreciative as we build this
Speaker 1: thing is the fact that we're doing with great people.
Speaker 1: And you just said that, And now you take the
Speaker 1: athletics side of it and the football side of it,
Speaker 1: and they're all great players. So when you have great
Speaker 1: players combined with great people, you get magical seasons. And
Speaker 1: we're not we're not downe We're just getting started. And
Speaker 1: by no means is this a magical season. But it's
Speaker 1: been a fun season and that's what's so exciting about
Speaker 1: where we could go. Oh, there's some magic in There's
Speaker 1: definitely some magic in it. There's no doubt about it.
Speaker 1: When we come back, we're gonna talk about third down.
Speaker 1: What a killer day it was on third down on
Speaker 1: both sides of the ball. With the Bears Coaches Show
Speaker 1: with head coach Matt Maggie and w bbm's Jeff joni
Speaker 1: Ad continues Bella me Gabriel on White to the right
Speaker 1: White outside the Dombers back to the left of Tribisky
Speaker 1: is Howard tight end, left side of the line. Shahi
Speaker 1: snapped Trubisky giving to Jordan Howard. Howard searching for the
Speaker 1: goal line and putre's the end zone. He's in for
Speaker 1: the touchdown, his hand rushing touch touchdown Bears a run
Speaker 1: up six kind of six nothing Bears lead here in Minnesota,
Speaker 1: tone setting opening drive with Jordan Howard starting out that drive.
Speaker 1: You know, in the O six Super Bowl season or
Speaker 1: On Turner was the offensive coordinator here and almost every
Speaker 1: every time, every series, almost in the game started with
Speaker 1: a power roll. And so you started with a power roll. Uh,
Speaker 1: Kyle long obviously a big part of the starting out
Speaker 1: the game, but that picked your six six yards up
Speaker 1: to start the day's festivities, and I was like, all right,
Speaker 1: here we go. We're gonna get physical with these guys
Speaker 1: and not gonna back down from that great defense. And
Speaker 1: then it included a forty two yard run and finished
Speaker 1: off of that touchdown round we just heard from in
Speaker 1: the yesterday's game with Jordan Howard in from the six.
Speaker 1: So was that kind of the idea, Hey, we're gonna
Speaker 1: we're gonna attack, We're not gonna be attacked. Yeah, it was.
Speaker 1: And you get into a situation like that where you
Speaker 1: have a loud crowd and you got a defensive line
Speaker 1: that can get after you in the past game, and
Speaker 1: it was a challenge to our guys up front to
Speaker 1: be able to come out there and establish the run
Speaker 1: and to Jordan as well. So you saw that first
Speaker 1: couple of plays, you get fifty yards and two plays
Speaker 1: and when you could kind of feel like, Okay, here
Speaker 1: we go, and that's a credit to those guys for
Speaker 1: just completing their assignments the right way. Jordan made a
Speaker 1: nice run and that was a for sure, that was
Speaker 1: definitely a part of the game plan. Scoring first on
Speaker 1: the road, How critical is it. It's it's big because
Speaker 1: you know it's it's first of all against that defense
Speaker 1: is hard to score, it really is. And you kind
Speaker 1: of knew what kind of game you're getting into yesterday,
Speaker 1: but you always like to kind of get that lead,
Speaker 1: stay ahead, give yourself a chance. And that's what we did,
Speaker 1: all right. So third down Mitch nine of eleven, one
Speaker 1: twenty four and one thirteen quarter rating on third down yesterday,
Speaker 1: And we cannot emphasize enough, and you throw in, you
Speaker 1: guys are fifty percent in the week eleven game against
Speaker 1: the Vikings on third down, but in the previous three
Speaker 1: games they allowed in just nine third down conversions previous
Speaker 1: four games, sixteen fifty for the season. So you guys
Speaker 1: are eight to fourteen yesterday when you're throwing fourth down
Speaker 1: as well. Just an incredible performance on third down? Was
Speaker 1: that an area of emphasis throughout the course of the
Speaker 1: week to absolutely give yourself's third and manageable third downs.
Speaker 1: And on the other side of the ball, you guys
Speaker 1: completely wipe them out on third down with the best
Speaker 1: third down receiver in the league in Adam Thieland yeah,
Speaker 1: it was. It was an emphasis all week long. It
Speaker 1: was it's it always is, but you really emphasize it
Speaker 1: against the team. Uh, like Minnesota. On defense, he's doing
Speaker 1: so well, you're along with that. So for for Mitch
Speaker 1: to go nine for eleven on third down with a
Speaker 1: one thirteen rating, uh, you know, he's he's playing at
Speaker 1: a level right now. That's that's really doing wonderful things
Speaker 1: for this offense. And he's he's helping everybody out. He's
Speaker 1: getting guys lined up in the right spot. It's loud,
Speaker 1: their signals involved, and then you got guys breathing down
Speaker 1: your throat while you're making a throw. And and he's
Speaker 1: doing all that on the other side on defense. For
Speaker 1: for them to not get their first first down until
Speaker 1: six minutes to go in the second quarter and to
Speaker 1: go one for eleven on third down, as you said,
Speaker 1: against some of the better receivers in this league, it
Speaker 1: just shows where our defense is at right now. And
Speaker 1: when you get into situations where you make a team
Speaker 1: fight for third down and you make them punt the
Speaker 1: ball as much as they did, you're always going to
Speaker 1: be in the game and turning the crowd on him too,
Speaker 1: raining booze down there and once again that defense was
Speaker 1: playing fast and I don't care who it was. Adrian
Speaker 1: Amos had himself. He's had a physical year to begin with.
Speaker 1: He was popping people. Kyle, you know, catch it. We're
Speaker 1: bringing you down. Kevin Tolliver comes in there, boom, you
Speaker 1: catch it, We're putting you down to the ground. I
Speaker 1: don't know that there was one misstackle yesterday. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I watched tape, but you watch it
Speaker 1: differently than I do. But it was just really sound
Speaker 1: fundamentals and they're in the right place at the right time.
Speaker 1: They're confidence right now in each other is sky high.
Speaker 1: You love that going into into the into the playoffs.
Speaker 1: And then the other part of that, when you play fast,
Speaker 1: that's because you understand where you're supposed to be, so
Speaker 1: you can play fast. These guys understand and that's a
Speaker 1: credit to Vic for putting him in a situation and
Speaker 1: to where they can go ahead and just let their
Speaker 1: play just go. And so if there's a crossing route
Speaker 1: across the middle and the guy knows he's gonna get hit,
Speaker 1: he might pull back a little bit because there's a
Speaker 1: guy in the right spot. That's what they're doing and
Speaker 1: not just on third down, but they're doing on a
Speaker 1: first and second as well. And all those guys that
Speaker 1: got into the game, you know this This goes best
Speaker 1: really the preseason when you did rest your starters and
Speaker 1: got those guys some snaps. Do you think even back then,
Speaker 1: seeds of confidence were planted in who they are and
Speaker 1: what you expect from them. Yeah, it was. I don't
Speaker 1: know if they knew that they were going to be
Speaker 1: at this point that they are right now. But you
Speaker 1: never know that going into a year where you're gonna
Speaker 1: be at in any any phase, whether it's offense or defense.
Speaker 1: But you know, you look at earlier in the season
Speaker 1: and you saw a couple of game you start out
Speaker 1: the first two quarters in Green Bay, and you say, well, man,
Speaker 1: I've never seen anything like this. But then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, you get into six games into the year,
Speaker 1: and four of the six games were like that. And
Speaker 1: now it stretches out. Now it's eight out of ten,
Speaker 1: and now it's ten out of and you start saying, well,
Speaker 1: this is kind of normal, and that that that's a
Speaker 1: that's just a fun thing to have. I know, I'm
Speaker 1: super pumped that they're on our They're on our side,
Speaker 1: and it's it's comforting. But now like now we go
Speaker 1: and now it's now it's a time for them to
Speaker 1: uh to step up here in the playoffs. What don't
Speaker 1: it say you let every game this season? Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: a that's all sixteen. That's a great stat You never
Speaker 1: trailed in eight of them, is that right? Well, let's
Speaker 1: let's keep that going. I mean those are eye openers
Speaker 1: when you talk about a twelve team tournament. Man, Bears
Speaker 1: are dangerous. I said that, you didn't, but I know
Speaker 1: you think it. White whims In Bellamy scattered to the
Speaker 1: left side, calling to the right of Mitch Drobiskie. Five
Speaker 1: of the play clock, Bears moving right till left takes
Speaker 1: the snap. Give it a Cohen's got the goal. I
Speaker 1: pe barrels into the den zone for the touchdown. Cohen's
Speaker 1: in from the three Bears up nineteen ten seven forty
Speaker 1: six left of the game. Trek Cohen capping off the
Speaker 1: long drive. In terms of snaps, the sixteen play the
Speaker 1: longest of the season. Matt Nagge, How defining is it
Speaker 1: in the big picture of every drive you had this year? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's without a doubt one of the better ones that
Speaker 1: we had. And you go six team plays, you end
Speaker 1: it with a touchdown, you convert, you know, four third
Speaker 1: downs on the road in that situation after they had
Speaker 1: just scored. It's I just love where our guys are.
Speaker 1: I love their focus, I love their their ability to
Speaker 1: handle adversity. They're in a great spot. And when you
Speaker 1: have that that happened, it's just such a confidence booster
Speaker 1: for the rest of the game. Mitch didn't run much,
Speaker 1: but he did run on back to back plays. They
Speaker 1: were I mean those happy at how and when he
Speaker 1: decided to do it, Yeah, because he's not looking to
Speaker 1: run right away, but he understands that when he does
Speaker 1: pull the ball down and become a ball carrier, now
Speaker 1: you know. And I was on the sidline a few
Speaker 1: times yelling get down or get out of bounds, and
Speaker 1: he did both of those on both those carries. But
Speaker 1: he's a weapon. When you're able to run the football,
Speaker 1: it's a weapon. And the defensive coordinators know that it
Speaker 1: eliminates a couple of coverages that they can run because
Speaker 1: if they want to run those coverages, he can beat
Speaker 1: you with his legs and he's been doing that. Kyle
Speaker 1: Long twenty nine snaps. How'd he great out? How did
Speaker 1: he feel? I don't know if you've spoken him today
Speaker 1: at all or are you happy with what you saw? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I talked to him last night on the plane and
Speaker 1: everything was good, really, no setbacks at all. He was
Speaker 1: well conditioned. Twenty nine plays was a good number for him.
Speaker 1: More than anything, just the mentality of knowing that he
Speaker 1: did it. Whether it's the mentality of your injury or
Speaker 1: whether it's the mentality of just getting back into you know,
Speaker 1: hearing play calls and running your assignments the right way.
Speaker 1: But he did everything we asked for him yesterday. I
Speaker 1: gotta bring up James Daniels. While this kid is so
Speaker 1: young and he played like a veteran yesterday clearing out guys.
Speaker 1: His strength and lower body power must be so significant
Speaker 1: at his age. It just seems like he's fighting guys
Speaker 1: out of the out of the way and terrific job that.
Speaker 1: And Jordan Howard continues to be an outstanding blitz pick
Speaker 1: up artist. He's attacking, he's not waiting. His cut block
Speaker 1: was big on the Quikowski two pointer. Is that something
Speaker 1: that you have learned and appreciated now from him? And
Speaker 1: where is James Daniels headed here. James Is, He's at
Speaker 1: a point right now where the game is finally slowing
Speaker 1: down to him. He is so young, he's a pup.
Speaker 1: And what's scary is to think of what you just
Speaker 1: got done saying is how well he's playing on the
Speaker 1: offensive line, whether it's past protection or in run blocking.
Speaker 1: You put a couple of years of strength to him
Speaker 1: in that lower body, and it's only going to get better.
Speaker 1: And so to see where he's at now and know
Speaker 1: where he can be is exciting. Jordan Jordan's been Jordan
Speaker 1: are year long. I mean, he's he's done some things
Speaker 1: under the radar that not a lot of people see,
Speaker 1: and we just appreciate that so much. Yesterday, I think
Speaker 1: he ended up with twenty one carries over one hundred yards,
Speaker 1: a couple of touchdowns. And when you're able to get
Speaker 1: that run game going with him and that offensive line,
Speaker 1: it just helps you out in the past game. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know, we started out early with some runs, got
Speaker 1: away from it for a little bit, and then went
Speaker 1: back to it, and that's just too Jordan Is, So
Speaker 1: you played the Eagles, So I actually didn't grow up
Speaker 1: an Eagles fan, but being around him. I had a
Speaker 1: bunch of friends that were and I still did this day,
Speaker 1: have a ton of ton of family and friends back
Speaker 1: in Pennsylvania that obviously are big Eagles fans. But my
Speaker 1: first coaching job in the NFL was with Philly and
Speaker 1: and they gave me the opportunity. That's where coach Reid
Speaker 1: was and so I spent three three good years there
Speaker 1: and had a great time learning how to be a coach.
Speaker 1: So I still know we drafted a couple of guy
Speaker 1: we actually draft when I was there. We drafted uh
Speaker 1: Brandon Graham their defensive end and Fletcher Cox, so they're
Speaker 1: still there on defense, and uh Jason Jason Kelsey was
Speaker 1: at center and so and Peters was there at tackle.
Speaker 1: So there's some guys there that that was there when
Speaker 1: I was there. And of course there's coaches and how
Speaker 1: he rose mean to GM. The a lot of history there,
Speaker 1: so a lot of respect and then Doug and I
Speaker 1: being together for so many years. But it'll it'll be
Speaker 1: a fun one. So much respect between the two of you, guys. Boom,
Speaker 1: Now your guys are in the same game. It's it's
Speaker 1: it's wild, it's it's it's but you know that when
Speaker 1: you're both in the NFC, and UH, I know I
Speaker 1: know Doug really well. I know his family and our
Speaker 1: wives know each other really well. Our kids. Um, you
Speaker 1: know when you're when you're in the trenches like we
Speaker 1: were for six years. Um, both hip by hip H.
Speaker 1: Watching so much tape together, UH, going through game plans together,
Speaker 1: sitting down with coach read the three of us. I
Speaker 1: mean we have story after story, so we know each
Speaker 1: other really well. And now being removed from for him
Speaker 1: getting his you know, this is his third year away
Speaker 1: from Kansas City, UH, and us being together, things change
Speaker 1: offensively for for him and what they do. But uh
Speaker 1: so there will be some chess match to it and
Speaker 1: and but in the end, UH win loser draw for
Speaker 1: both of us, there's that friendship and their appreciation for
Speaker 1: how we do things well. We wish anohing but the best.
Speaker 1: In the preparation, this week should be fun. It'll feel
Speaker 1: just like a regular seat. You know, you got a
Speaker 1: three forty start. Are you happy with that? I like that? Yeah, Monday,
Speaker 1: I like our spot on Sunday for sure, it's good.
Speaker 1: But I'm really thankful for a home game in front
Speaker 1: of all those fans. The Soldier field. They're going to
Speaker 1: be rocking and rolling and I can't wait. Ask them
Speaker 1: every day. They'll pay you back. Matt Maggie, Congratulations, Happy
Speaker 1: New Year to you and your family too. The Bears
Speaker 1: Coaches Show with head coach Matt Maggie and this hour
Speaker 1: featuring offensive coordinator Mark Helfridge, brought to you by Whippley
Speaker 1: CBA's and Consultants and sponsored by Athletico Physical Therapy Forison
Speaker 1: and Miller Litte. Once again the Voice of the Bears
Speaker 1: w BBMS Jeff Joniac fellow me out to the outside
Speaker 1: of right. Snapper is back. Here comes pressure picked up
Speaker 1: by Howard throwing deep, going for Gabriel, divid catch. It
Speaker 1: is in the end zone. Gabriel the grab. What a
Speaker 1: play from start I finished during playing catch the ball. However,
Speaker 1: he was down by contact at the one yard line.
Speaker 1: The Chicago's ball there first and goal. A tremendous throw
Speaker 1: and a tremendous catch by Taylor. Gabriel falls one yard
Speaker 1: chieve a touchdown. It would have been something to see
Speaker 1: if it counted as a six pointer, but the Bears
Speaker 1: did punch it in. Welcome back to the Bears Coaching Show.
Speaker 1: Here at p ANDC Studios in Hatle Saw with Bears
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator Mark klf Ritch. Happy New Year, my friend,
Speaker 1: Happy New Year. What a what a road performance that
Speaker 1: that forty one yard throw when Taylor goes airborne to
Speaker 1: catch it. What what a precise throw and a great catch,
Speaker 1: two beds in, knee down. You want to have a
Speaker 1: guy reward for that kind of effort. You're greedy, Jordan
Speaker 1: appreciate it. But no, big time play, big time throw,
Speaker 1: great protection. That's something that that when you look back
Speaker 1: all night, no turnovers and no sacks against that defense
Speaker 1: is a tribute to everybody, you know, everybody involved. Uh
Speaker 1: And and it was good to see tg make a
Speaker 1: big play. Would have loved him for him to score,
Speaker 1: and and going down getting banged up was too bad.
Speaker 1: But yeah, big time win. Yeah, he's been to talking
Speaker 1: about you know that he'd liked to be a part
Speaker 1: of that, you know, deep ball, but the way teams
Speaker 1: have been playing have been taking it away a little bit.
Speaker 1: We'd like, we'd like him to be part of that,
Speaker 1: to be a part of that too. But yeah, people
Speaker 1: people are playing off of them, people are playing over
Speaker 1: the top of them with two guys and and so
Speaker 1: then hopefully that that opens up somebody else, and Mitch
Speaker 1: recognizes it challenging on a day when you know you
Speaker 1: didn't have Alan Robinson, Taylor has to go out with
Speaker 1: some sore ribs and Anthony Miller with the shoulder popping
Speaker 1: out or whatever happened there on that fly sweep. But boy,
Speaker 1: Kevin White and Javon Wims, it just proves again what
Speaker 1: you guys as a coaching staff have done. And Tom
Speaker 1: there and myself, we've talked about it almost every game,
Speaker 1: and it goes for every coach on this team. You
Speaker 1: have got your guys prepared for just about anything and
Speaker 1: any game. No moment has been too big for any player.
Speaker 1: I mean, correct me if I'm wrong. No, I think
Speaker 1: that the guy kind of the unsung here the last
Speaker 1: couple weeks has been Mike Furry, our receiver coach. He's
Speaker 1: done a phenomenal job. We had some weird things happened,
Speaker 1: not only in the games, but uh in practices. But
Speaker 1: but those guys have been ready and we haven't skipped
Speaker 1: a beat. Uh. You know, you just go to your
Speaker 1: other your your weapons. He gets seventy nine in there,
Speaker 1: and get your backup linebacker in there, and creates some
Speaker 1: some more offense. But now those guys, and you said
Speaker 1: to Kevin Whimsy, they made some plays, made some big
Speaker 1: time plays with the ball without the ball. Uh, And
Speaker 1: so that's a good sign. Could have very easily been
Speaker 1: zoned out at this point in the season. Absolutely, they're
Speaker 1: not going to play me. You know, we're a roll
Speaker 1: and we're a playoff team. We're winning everything solid. You're
Speaker 1: says a lot about who those guys are, you know,
Speaker 1: and and how much this team means to them, and
Speaker 1: that that's that's that's neat to see. So for those
Speaker 1: folks who only got a glimpse of seeing in Javan
Speaker 1: in the preseason, Um, what did you get yesterday? What
Speaker 1: are you getting from his skill set even though it's
Speaker 1: raw at the moment. Uh, Yeah, that's a great description.
Speaker 1: We think he has a huge ceiling. He's a guy
Speaker 1: that that is big. He's strong. Uh, he's got a
Speaker 1: great feel for for space, for route running. Uh. He
Speaker 1: made had had that that kind of a fifteen yard
Speaker 1: stop route which was a big third down conversion, a
Speaker 1: couple of other big, big time kind of rhythm throws
Speaker 1: that that you know, he normally takes a little bit
Speaker 1: longer to build that chemistry. So he's kind of a
Speaker 1: guy that that is. Ah, he's an easy target to
Speaker 1: throw too as a quarterback. You know where he's gonna
Speaker 1: be when he's gonna be there, and and uh, we're
Speaker 1: very excited about his future. And Kevin White, we know
Speaker 1: what his skill set is. Star crossed career obviously because
Speaker 1: of injuries and whatnot, and worked himself back into a
Speaker 1: healthy situation. But you know, you know, with a guy
Speaker 1: that size, he's going to So some of those throws
Speaker 1: or trust throws, weren't they even though Mitch hasn't had
Speaker 1: a lot of time with both of those guys, Yeah,
Speaker 1: they were. We had a couple really one other chance
Speaker 1: that that you know, could have would have should have
Speaker 1: had a had a had a big time game or
Speaker 1: would have been a big time game. Kevin run a
Speaker 1: great route, and then we had a couple other ones. Uh,
Speaker 1: right there at the end of the game that last
Speaker 1: third down would have liked to convert, which is just
Speaker 1: the top of the route and an easy fix. But
Speaker 1: now Kevin has battled through a lot and proud of
Speaker 1: him and his effort. The Bears coaches show with offensive
Speaker 1: coordinator Mark Hilpridge and w bbm's Jeff Joniac continues. Snapped
Speaker 1: back glitches on picked up by Howard, throwing right passes
Speaker 1: caught by Whims. Had a first down catch, very tight coverage.
Speaker 1: You heard the yell. That's the Georgia rookie screaming on
Speaker 1: a throw to the right side. It's a big third
Speaker 1: down catch by Javon Wims. I had a couple of
Speaker 1: conversations win throughout the season, and sometimes you get to
Speaker 1: know these guys. They you know, are in the locker
Speaker 1: room every day. They're not a part of the throng
Speaker 1: of media. So you talk to him and you get
Speaker 1: to know him, and you know, I say, just hang
Speaker 1: in there, your time will come one day. And you know,
Speaker 1: he does have that kind of mindset. You know, he
Speaker 1: didn't have great success at Georgie really into his final season,
Speaker 1: so he's learned how to be patient a little bit,
Speaker 1: I think. So I think that's a great analogy. You know,
Speaker 1: he kind of just kept plugging and kept plugging, and
Speaker 1: he's done that, and he's done everything we've asked him
Speaker 1: to do. He's been ready every week. There was no
Speaker 1: let's just say no, you know, no hesitat by any
Speaker 1: member of the offense when he was in there, you know,
Speaker 1: and and starting at the quarterback and through the coaching staff,
Speaker 1: we have a lot of a lot of trust in him.
Speaker 1: And and uh, like you said, I think that just
Speaker 1: says a lot about who he is. And and staying ready,
Speaker 1: staying prepared when you know you're not getting you know, catching,
Speaker 1: you know, catching eight times every week. Now, you mentioned
Speaker 1: seventy nine playing the fullback position. Now you know you're
Speaker 1: always on high alert for everything in the book. But
Speaker 1: he played fullback yesterday. That let's call that what. He
Speaker 1: played fullback and he ran a deep route and he
Speaker 1: looked good doing it. I mean, two guys bracketing him,
Speaker 1: he did he did. Hey, they they saw the scouting report,
Speaker 1: they knew where the weapons weapons were. But no, he
Speaker 1: did a great job. That was something that we kind
Speaker 1: of wanted to, you know, get into and dictate the
Speaker 1: physicality the game a little bit. And and uh uh
Speaker 1: you know they had a couple guys out up front
Speaker 1: that that may have contributed to a little bit of
Speaker 1: help there. But uh, you know, Bradley's to get another guy.
Speaker 1: That just's He's earned a lot of trust in a
Speaker 1: variety of of role. Yeah, that's Bradley Soul for those
Speaker 1: who don't know the numbers by heart at this late
Speaker 1: stage in the season. But he's a big guy who's
Speaker 1: a terrific athlete, was an outstanding pitcher and in high
Speaker 1: school as well, could have easily played college baseball. He
Speaker 1: was telling me as a repertoire of pitches that could arrival.
Speaker 1: You know, Kyle longs oh fastball. He'll He'll make you
Speaker 1: aware of everything. He'll make you aware of a lot.
Speaker 1: He's a big personality though, and you know there's a
Speaker 1: nasty to him throughout that game. Going back and watching
Speaker 1: the tape, there was a lot of post play ear hustling,
Speaker 1: as I like to college guys were taking exception to
Speaker 1: a couple of things. Yeah, he's got he's got a
Speaker 1: good little edge to him. Yeah, and we love that
Speaker 1: if it's at the right time, you know, we would
Speaker 1: love it to be between the whistles, you know, and
Speaker 1: and and have him do his thing, uh and run
Speaker 1: back to the huddle and do it again, you know,
Speaker 1: take care of business between the snap and the whistle.
Speaker 1: So you went in there basically sending a message on
Speaker 1: that opening drive that you're here to play some physical
Speaker 1: football today because I assumed Minnesota was going to be
Speaker 1: that way just because of their head coach from Mike Zammer.
Speaker 1: He's that type of guy, right, Yeah, the defensive minded
Speaker 1: you know, pound it pounded and convert on third down.
Speaker 1: And and we kind of flipped the script little, but
Speaker 1: that was what what what we kind of talked about
Speaker 1: going into it is is. Uh, you know, as Naggs
Speaker 1: did a great job ball week long emphasizing we were
Speaker 1: showing up to win the game and they had to
Speaker 1: take it from us. And the biggest thing of all
Speaker 1: is just being turnover free and yeah and sack free.
Speaker 1: Well now that's three straight games, I believe from Mitch
Speaker 1: and quarterback ratings over one hundred and three straight games.
Speaker 1: So as he hit his groove right now, Uh, he's
Speaker 1: done good things, you know. And again I think we're
Speaker 1: just always scratching and clawing and striving for better and
Speaker 1: and there's things that that every single one of us
Speaker 1: can do better, and him included. And uh, you know,
Speaker 1: now Philly presents a completely different challenge, uh, and and
Speaker 1: you know, a different different preparation than really anybody we've
Speaker 1: we've played this year. We'll tell me why in a second.
Speaker 1: You can help deserving families by donating a winner coat
Speaker 1: for the Chicago Bears Jewel Asco Coach Drive at participating
Speaker 1: Jewel Asco locations now through February. First donation benefit the
Speaker 1: Salvation Army here with Mark Helfrich. So why is that
Speaker 1: but preparation make it a little different aside from the obvious.
Speaker 1: It's the playoffs, right, Yeah, it's the playoffs. You know
Speaker 1: they're they're the champs, and you know you have to
Speaker 1: knock out the champ type of mentality going into it. Um,
Speaker 1: I think you can start and by Hellodi Nada is
Speaker 1: listed as a backup, right, I mean that that's that
Speaker 1: kind of just says to their depth and talent upfront
Speaker 1: is is how how good that guy is, how physical
Speaker 1: they are, athletic they are. They just present a ton
Speaker 1: of problems upfront. The back end they have, you know,
Speaker 1: they have had a couple of injuries and and guys
Speaker 1: have been in and out. But up front they're they're
Speaker 1: unbelievably talented and just tremendously deep. And that wide nine
Speaker 1: of Jim Schwartz, Michael Bennett, Tim Jerning, and Fletcher Cox
Speaker 1: who's an outstanding All Pro, Brandon Graham. And then you
Speaker 1: know you mentioned held Nada, So it's Chris long a
Speaker 1: backup exactly exactly. You know, Chris Longos comes in and
Speaker 1: rushes the passer and unbelievable feel for how how to
Speaker 1: defeat However he's being blocked. You know, he's he's doubled,
Speaker 1: and he slips inside or spends you know, he's got
Speaker 1: just an elusiveness that is impressive. And Graham is just
Speaker 1: playing at another level. The fronts that you guys have
Speaker 1: played this year, from Buffalo to New York Giants, to
Speaker 1: the Detroit Lions to the Vikings Miami. I mean they've
Speaker 1: had you based Rams really good fronts this year, would
Speaker 1: you agree? No question? And yeah, unfortunately we're gonna be
Speaker 1: well prepared. Um, it's just it's just deeper, you know,
Speaker 1: is what it appears to me. And as as I've
Speaker 1: you know, gotten into whatever five or six games at
Speaker 1: this point, and um, the you know, the Rams just
Speaker 1: think you know, as our fan, the Rams upfront is
Speaker 1: a is a is a good analogy of of that
Speaker 1: that kind of speed power, uh. And then schematically they
Speaker 1: do a lot more uh from a coverage standpoint than
Speaker 1: than the Rams did in that combination is just recognizing upfront,
Speaker 1: communicating it, and then then executing. The Bears Coaches Show
Speaker 1: with head coach Matt Maggie continues exclusively on the Home
Speaker 1: of the Bears News Radio seven eighty and one oh
Speaker 1: five point nine FM w BBM. Back on The Bears
Speaker 1: Coaches Show, brought to you by a whipfully Financial Advisers
Speaker 1: Here at Hallis Hall at PNC Studios with Mark Helfrich.
Speaker 1: One more segment our remaining moments as the Bears get
Speaker 1: ready to take on the Philadelphia Eagles in the wild
Speaker 1: Card weekend at Soldier Field. Our prem will get started
Speaker 1: at twelve thirty kickoff at three forty against the Eagles,
Speaker 1: and join me Tom There and Luke Adallas for Bears
Speaker 1: Game Night Live, brought to you by IGS Energy, will
Speaker 1: recap every Bears game Sunday nights at ten thirty five
Speaker 1: pm on Fox thirty two Chicago. Scratching the service a
Speaker 1: little bit on the Philadelphia Eagles. Want to go back
Speaker 1: to a couple of things offensively though that has transpired
Speaker 1: and a touched on it with Matt about the performance
Speaker 1: at James Daniels Every young man who's just scratching the
Speaker 1: surface as well of his career. But he doing a
Speaker 1: heck of a job in there, man, he really is.
Speaker 1: He's improving, he's battling, and that's a hard thing to do.
Speaker 1: And you're a twenty one year old young buck rookie
Speaker 1: against some of these vets that are you know, he's
Speaker 1: played against ten year vets's, he's played against all pros,
Speaker 1: multiple multiple all pros, and he's gotten with a couple
Speaker 1: of times. But but he hasn't skipped a beat from
Speaker 1: a confident standpoint, and that's that's impressive. Uh, Harry, he
Speaker 1: stand is you know, constantly harpen on on everything with
Speaker 1: him because we know, we know what's in there, and
Speaker 1: you know, we want to squeeze every every drop out
Speaker 1: of him. But getting getting him, Cody Kyle back together
Speaker 1: and and and getting shorn up kind of that guard
Speaker 1: center guard uh area, it's going to be. As we
Speaker 1: discussed vital uh getting ready for Philadelphia, and you know
Speaker 1: Kyle Long as well as anybody, what did it mean
Speaker 1: to him yesterday and what would it mean to him
Speaker 1: actually playing a playoff game first time in his career? Yeah,
Speaker 1: big deal, you know, big deal. He's a he's a
Speaker 1: big teddy Barrett Hart. And uh to see him, you know,
Speaker 1: just just the joy not only not only in the game,
Speaker 1: but to be able to practice again and to to
Speaker 1: get out there and and lift and run, you know,
Speaker 1: do those things totally, you know, ingrained with the team.
Speaker 1: Not that he was like some you know, removed guy,
Speaker 1: but you are right physically removed a little bit in
Speaker 1: terms of being on only to do a little bit,
Speaker 1: you know. And that's the way he did say. He
Speaker 1: was at it every meeting, took notes, copious notes, planned,
Speaker 1: prepared as if he was going to play the game.
Speaker 1: That allowed him, in his mind to get ready to
Speaker 1: play a Viking team he mentally prepared for in week eleven. Um,
Speaker 1: was that something organic? Was that something you ask your
Speaker 1: injured players to do? Well, you you ask him, but
Speaker 1: that's another thing to ask him, and it's another thing
Speaker 1: to do it and just go through the motions, and
Speaker 1: there's another thing to to, you know, sincerely prepare And
Speaker 1: I really think he did. He he did ask questions
Speaker 1: a ton in whether it was a protection meeting or
Speaker 1: an install meeting or or whatever. And again that that says,
Speaker 1: you know, this, this means a lot to that, to
Speaker 1: to that guy and to get back healthy. And I
Speaker 1: think going back to when he was injured, we charted
Speaker 1: a course for Hey, we're you know, we're gonna needs
Speaker 1: you in the postseason. We're gonna needs you to finish,
Speaker 1: you know, finish this deal out. And he took that
Speaker 1: seriously years ago. I don't know if it was his
Speaker 1: rookie year and not, it may have been, or maybe
Speaker 1: a second year that Bears played the Saint Louis Rams
Speaker 1: and he had to go up against and he did
Speaker 1: not like the idea of that, and I'm sure deep
Speaker 1: down he still doesn't. I mean, they're super close. Obviously
Speaker 1: it's a unique family, but maybe the maturation of being
Speaker 1: a thirty plus year old now has has curb that
Speaker 1: and the appetite of playoff football will we'll forget about that.
Speaker 1: But it is a unique situation. I had somebody asked
Speaker 1: me what someone that less informed about the game say, Now,
Speaker 1: do they play on opposite? Yeah, they're playing on He's
Speaker 1: a defender and he can kill your quarterback. Right, So
Speaker 1: that's going to be the interesting sidebar story to this. No,
Speaker 1: it's it's unbelievably you know, cool in a lot of
Speaker 1: ways and weird, you know, in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1: I think probably even more so for their parents of
Speaker 1: being out there and watching the game. But you know,
Speaker 1: hopefully they you know, we come out on top and
Speaker 1: everybody plays great and stays healthy and all that stuff.
Speaker 1: But he'll be playing. He'll be playing his tail off
Speaker 1: regardless of you know, what last name was on the
Speaker 1: opponent this week, and you know, throughout the season as
Speaker 1: it happens. So it's Bears Eagles and Matt Naggie's first
Speaker 1: coaching stop in Philadelphia, that whole tree. You know, even
Speaker 1: in quiet moments, did you guys even think that this
Speaker 1: was something that could happen? And what do you think?
Speaker 1: Maybe it's been unspoken because you guys live in the
Speaker 1: moment and don't talk about tomorrow or yesterday for that matter.
Speaker 1: But with Matt, just how it must feel for him,
Speaker 1: I mean, he touched on it a little bit, just
Speaker 1: as coaches, as you guys discuss any of these types
Speaker 1: of things. Uh, you know, yes, I know, I mean,
Speaker 1: I mean yeah, I mean you're you're kind of playing
Speaker 1: the what if game just as much as as as
Speaker 1: the average fan would be to to a certain extent,
Speaker 1: But then we have to go and you know, do
Speaker 1: something about it. So like last week, you know, there's
Speaker 1: there's different thought process of how we game plan, why
Speaker 1: we game plan, what we want to do again, not
Speaker 1: not looking forward in any way, but just of you know,
Speaker 1: fighting the battle that's in front of us and then
Speaker 1: being prepared for you know, whatever happens. Uh. And and
Speaker 1: it just so happened that probably the lowest percentage thing happened.
Speaker 1: And and now we're ready to play, you know, play
Speaker 1: Philly and it is a huge challenge. And Doug and
Speaker 1: Matt's background together is is that that's cool too? You
Speaker 1: know again that's probably another one of those Uh it's
Speaker 1: not quite playing against your brother, but but close. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And you have had a ton of success, You've been
Speaker 1: in big games your whole life. Um, but for a
Speaker 1: first time NFL coach to be in this scenario as
Speaker 1: it feel well lucky, you know, lucky in a lot
Speaker 1: of ways. And our guys earned it in a lot
Speaker 1: of ways. And I think when you sit here on
Speaker 1: on you know black Mondays, as it's obviously known in
Speaker 1: the coaching profession, and you see, however many openings now
Speaker 1: in our quarter, you know, a quarter of the of
Speaker 1: the franchise is changing up, you know, head coaches and
Speaker 1: all that stuff. That that's reality, you know, to be
Speaker 1: to be where we are and to to do what
Speaker 1: what our guys have done and what Matt has done
Speaker 1: is special and we have to we have to savor
Speaker 1: that then at the same time not savor it and
Speaker 1: and just prepare for the next thing. What have you learned? Oh?
Speaker 1: A ton, I mean, and yeah, a lot. You know,
Speaker 1: I think the we don't have enough time to go
Speaker 1: through everything. Certainly the game management type of scenarios. It's
Speaker 1: just way different in the NFL. Number of plays, all
Speaker 1: those things we've talked about before, h you know. And
Speaker 1: then I turned around and watched the Dallas game this morning.
Speaker 1: Think they had one hundred and eleven place or something
Speaker 1: like that, one hundred and something plays against Philadelphia. So
Speaker 1: a couple of those pop up every every now and then.
Speaker 1: But yeah, learned a ton and excited to compete in
Speaker 1: the next one. The powerful noise canceling technology that helps
Speaker 1: the NFL coaches blackout eighty thousand screaming fans can get
Speaker 1: you closer to the music you love. Learn more at
Speaker 1: www dot bows dot com. Slash Bears Bows the official
Speaker 1: headphones of the Chicago Bears. Well, hopefully the Eagles will
Speaker 1: need headphones Sunday. And we're real loud ye. Our fans
Speaker 1: have been awesome and we appreciate it and keep it up.
Speaker 1: And I also have to wish our son a happy
Speaker 1: birthday January first baby. So oh, how you going to Max?
Speaker 1: Howld Max? Max is gonna be twelve twelve, He's just starting,
Speaker 1: he's just starting out. Were happy birthday to Max and
Speaker 1: good luck with your preparation this week. Appreciate it. Mark Helfrich,
Speaker 1: the Bears offensive coordinador. That's going to wrap us up
Speaker 1: for Matt Naggie. Mark Helfrich, Dan Breally, Jordan tread Up,
Speaker 1: Andy Grisher, and I'm Jeff Joniakins. Bears Eagles Wildcard playoffs Sunday,
Speaker 1: twelve thirty, free game kickoff at three fourty. Thanks for listening. Everybody,
Speaker 1: have a great new year and a healthy one. This
Speaker 1: is News Radio seven eighty one on five point at
Speaker 1: FM WBBM