Speaker 1: Welcome to the PNC studio at Hallis Hall. This is
Speaker 1: Monsters of the Midway Live. I'm Lauren Screedon alongside Bears
Speaker 1: senior writer Larry Mayer and former Bear Tom Thayer. We're
Speaker 1: bringing you, guys, everything Bears Eagles for the next half hour.
Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning in. Guys, the playoffs. How excited are we?
Speaker 1: It's very exciting, Lauren. The first time in eight years
Speaker 1: for the Bears, they won the NFC North. They got
Speaker 1: a home game in Soldier Field. I'm sure the fans
Speaker 1: will show out. Tom, you're the one that knows the
Speaker 1: answer to this question more than either two of us.
Speaker 1: What is the biggest difference going from the regular season
Speaker 1: to the playoffs in terms of intensity and also preparation.
Speaker 1: There is no concern about next week. You're only concerned
Speaker 1: about is getting prepared for this week, making sure that
Speaker 1: you understand the entirety of your game plan. There's nothing
Speaker 1: that can come up and create you to create a
Speaker 1: mistake or second guest your preparation. But I think that's
Speaker 1: a unique thing about Matt Maggie throughout the entire season.
Speaker 1: When he goes to the podium after the game, it's
Speaker 1: only about improving to the next week. And I think
Speaker 1: that's the same message that they presented this week. They
Speaker 1: are the Philadelphia Eagles, but we have to be a
Speaker 1: better football team than then. We played the Minnesota Vikings
Speaker 1: last week. We've both been around here for a long
Speaker 1: time and learning you two, I think that this is
Speaker 1: the best coaching job I've seen in terms of a
Speaker 1: coach taking a team and getting them to focus solely
Speaker 1: on the task at hand, not worrying about the outside noise,
Speaker 1: what other people are saying good or bad, as well
Speaker 1: as also not looking back. They learned from their mistakes.
Speaker 1: They learned from the Packers last week one. It was
Speaker 1: very difficult loss, but they focused on the task at
Speaker 1: hand and they rebound and they show resiliency throughout the season.
Speaker 1: You know, again, Matt Naggie always said, this is not
Speaker 1: a one man show when you're talking about the talent
Speaker 1: of the football team. I think the entire coaching staff
Speaker 1: has done an unbelievable job. And we saw that, you know,
Speaker 1: early in the preseason, the starters weren't getting a lot
Speaker 1: of reps, so the backups were getting reps and they
Speaker 1: looked really good doing it. And then throughout the year
Speaker 1: when someone had to come in because of an injury,
Speaker 1: They've always showed up ready and prepared mentally and physically
Speaker 1: to play. I mean, it's just crazy. Three hundred and
Speaker 1: sixty five days ago, Matt Naggie was here. I mean,
Speaker 1: we had no idea that this is where we would
Speaker 1: be fitting think about it. We went to training camp
Speaker 1: July nineteenth. I mean, it's been a long season and
Speaker 1: to be at this point, I mean, how exciting for
Speaker 1: the team and just the city of Chicago. Let me
Speaker 1: ask you, Larry and Lauren, what are the realistic expectations
Speaker 1: we all had when this football season started? And I
Speaker 1: don't think any of us are embarrassed to say, oh,
Speaker 1: if you were, if you were eight and eight and
Speaker 1: nine and seven, that would be a great turnaround and
Speaker 1: the future really looks bright. And then all sudden, boy,
Speaker 1: a lot more confidence started to creep into all of
Speaker 1: us as Bears fans. And what were your expectations? You know,
Speaker 1: I think all of us just wanted the Bears to
Speaker 1: be relevant again after four straight last place finishes. I mean, Tom,
Speaker 1: all of us, you know, rewrite, we talk about the Bears.
Speaker 1: We do this all day. A lot of people out there.
Speaker 1: You know, they just go to the games and the weekends.
Speaker 1: They're fans, but this is our lives. We do this
Speaker 1: every day, and we wanted the Bears to be relevant.
Speaker 1: We did not want to be talking about the draft
Speaker 1: on November first, or who was going to be fired.
Speaker 1: And you know, I do Q and A's with fans,
Speaker 1: and every question is when are they going to the coach?
Speaker 1: Who was going to replace them? And it's just been
Speaker 1: a pleasure this year. It's been so much fun for
Speaker 1: me and I know for both of you two to
Speaker 1: have a successful season. And you're right, the expectations were
Speaker 1: not that high early in the season, and then even
Speaker 1: after the green Bay game, you know, here we go again.
Speaker 1: You know, they blew another one to Green Bay. But
Speaker 1: then the way they rebounded. They won three straight games,
Speaker 1: then they lose two in a row, and then they
Speaker 1: rebound again with five straight wins. They lose the Giants,
Speaker 1: they rebound again with four straight wins, and it quickly
Speaker 1: became obvious to me it wasn't the same team. This
Speaker 1: wasn't the same attitude, This wasn't a here we go
Speaker 1: again type thing. And if you talk to a lot
Speaker 1: of the players now, none of them say, to their surprise,
Speaker 1: A lot of them say they looked at OTAs or
Speaker 1: training camp and they knew they were gonna have access
Speaker 1: a successful year. And they're telling me the truth. They
Speaker 1: really believed it. Right. Well, Lauren, you're around the head coach,
Speaker 1: you're around the players. You have more, you know, much
Speaker 1: of a few time you don't remember I said twelve
Speaker 1: and four, that was exactly Well, then you know you're
Speaker 1: run of a few. But you know it's it's been
Speaker 1: great for us the whole football season. And just watch then,
Speaker 1: you know, the constant improvement of this football team. And
Speaker 1: they brought in a lot of new faces here, and
Speaker 1: you know, we also got introduced to how they were
Speaker 1: going to fit in to making this football team better.
Speaker 1: Another thing too, that I also want to add, and
Speaker 1: I know we're gonna talk about the eighty five Bears
Speaker 1: and people love comparing the defenses and stuff, But to me,
Speaker 1: Matt Nage not only improve this team, but he brought
Speaker 1: fun back. And that the first thing I think about
Speaker 1: when I think of Bears football being fund was the
Speaker 1: eighty five team with the fridge and all the different characters.
Speaker 1: And now the Bears have those type of characters. He's
Speaker 1: giving the ball the team hicks on the goal line
Speaker 1: on fourth down on the key play at the end
Speaker 1: of the game. It's the last play of the game.
Speaker 1: The Bears need a touchdown the force overtime. He has
Speaker 1: Tarik Cone throwing a pass. He has Nick Wikowski catching
Speaker 1: two point conversions. He has Bradley sal catching touchdown passes.
Speaker 1: I mean, what if you play for this team, they
Speaker 1: probably send you out on a pass pattern. I mean
Speaker 1: it's incredible and that reminds me of the eighty five
Speaker 1: Bears in terms of the fun. Well, when you're an
Speaker 1: offensive lineman, you're blessed to be just an offensive lineman.
Speaker 1: You know, Bradley Sewell moves all over the place. We
Speaker 1: saw him at fullback, he him at tight end, you
Speaker 1: see him at offensive guard, offensive tackle, and he's a
Speaker 1: really good long snapper. And I think that's one of
Speaker 1: the qualities that Matt Maggie has brought to this young
Speaker 1: group of athletes that he allows them to be themselves.
Speaker 1: He allows them to have fun. And I think that's
Speaker 1: the great thing is let your personality be your personality.
Speaker 1: Inside the locker room, there's a giant sign on the
Speaker 1: wall that we've all seen it, says be you. Matt's
Speaker 1: got that on his playsheet every week to remind him
Speaker 1: and a lot of the players I spoke would love
Speaker 1: that about him. He said from day one. He came
Speaker 1: in here and he encouraged us to let us show
Speaker 1: a personalities, let us be ourselves, let us have fun.
Speaker 1: And they really respect Matt Naggie, but they love to
Speaker 1: have fun with him. And it's obviously translated into a
Speaker 1: great season that Laura obviously predicted. That's right, called it
Speaker 1: in July. You guys called it in July. And I
Speaker 1: mean just on the topic of Matt Nagie Coach of
Speaker 1: the Year. Oh, don't you know what, Shure, I'm biased.
Speaker 1: I worked for the Bears. How do you not select
Speaker 1: him for his coach of the year. Everybody's talking about,
Speaker 1: you know, possibly Sean Payton or Anthony Lynne with the Chargers,
Speaker 1: and they both have done great jobs. That Matt Naggie
Speaker 1: took over a team last place four straight years. The
Speaker 1: Bears were four and twenty against their division opponents the
Speaker 1: last four years, and he won five out of six
Speaker 1: games that alone, I think earns Coach of the Year.
Speaker 1: NFC Champ's third seed in the playoffs. Call me crazy,
Speaker 1: but how do you vote against them? You know, it'd
Speaker 1: be interesting to ask Matt Maggie this question because it
Speaker 1: would he vote for Andy Reid? Because you look at
Speaker 1: what Patrick Mahomes has been able to do with a
Speaker 1: similar style of offense. I think at all is it's
Speaker 1: opened us a picture to what Mitchell Trubisky could possibly
Speaker 1: be in a year or two in this offense. So
Speaker 1: when you talk about Coach of the Year candidates, I
Speaker 1: bet you if you asked Maddie'd probably point to Andy Reid.
Speaker 1: And there's a lot of guys out there that are qualified,
Speaker 1: but no one, I mean, as Matt is as deserving
Speaker 1: as anybody. The chiefs of the Saints were both of
Speaker 1: the playoffs last year. Let's not forget that the Bears
Speaker 1: were irrelevant. The Bears were five and eleven, firing their coach.
Speaker 1: Nobody knew what was going on. They didn't know who
Speaker 1: was coming back. People had questions about the training, about
Speaker 1: Ryan Pace even returning, people had questions about Mitch Trubisky.
Speaker 1: A year later, they're in the playoffs, They're the number
Speaker 1: three seed. Ryan Pace is probably going to be the
Speaker 1: executive of the year and Matt Naggie could be the
Speaker 1: Coach of the Year. So I think just that alone
Speaker 1: where they came from plays a role who gets the
Speaker 1: Coach of the Year awards. So that's why I think
Speaker 1: Matt deserves it well. And Eagles head coach Doug Peterson
Speaker 1: had great things, of course, to say about Coach Naggi today,
Speaker 1: and Coach Naggie gave us a little timbook Timbo that
Speaker 1: Doug Peterson likes Vanilla Rainbows. Frankles, Yeah, I can add
Speaker 1: to that as well though, because our good buddy Dan
Speaker 1: Pompey here's a plug for it, who's writing the one
Speaker 1: hundred year book with Don Pearson for the Chicago Bears
Speaker 1: and did a book with Doug Peterson. He said that
Speaker 1: Doug Peterson's favorite ice cream is actually hoggindaes Vanilly has
Speaker 1: it for the night before every game. So there you go,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna plug real quick. If you guys have
Speaker 1: questions while you're listening out there on Facebook, YouTube, the
Speaker 1: Bears app, Chicago Bears dot com, make sure you guys
Speaker 1: are tweeting those are commenting on Facebook Live. We're going
Speaker 1: to get to some of those fan questions again. If
Speaker 1: you're just tuning in. This is Monsters in the Midway Live.
Speaker 1: We're happy to have you guys here and happy to
Speaker 1: be talking about the Bears playoff. And I have a
Speaker 1: question briefly about Tom Therap because Tom Thare a lot
Speaker 1: of people right here. People don't realize that Tom Thare
Speaker 1: is the most interesting man in the world. Tom Thayre
Speaker 1: is the guy who's had dinner with Frank Sinatra. He
Speaker 1: has all these stories. It's incredible. Absolutely did. We'll talk
Speaker 1: about it later, but let me ask you this. Doug Peterson,
Speaker 1: the head coach of the Eagles. Yes, Tom went to
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins for just a little bit after he
Speaker 1: played for the Bears, and Doug Peterson was your teammate, correct,
Speaker 1: And did you not play in the game where Sula
Speaker 1: broke the record against broke Don Shula broke George Pallas's record.
Speaker 1: It wasn't against the Eagles too. Against the Eagles, do
Speaker 1: Doug was playing quarterback? I was there for the Eagle
Speaker 1: or for the Miami Dolphins. On the other side of
Speaker 1: the field was William Perry within an Eagles uniform because
Speaker 1: he got traded right at the same time. So for
Speaker 1: me it was more of an opportunity to sit in
Speaker 1: meetings led by Don Shula for a year learning more
Speaker 1: AFC passing type offense, and that was a great opportunity
Speaker 1: for me to go down there. But I also think
Speaker 1: if you look at the history of quarterbacks that Doug
Speaker 1: has been able to coach and play under. He's got
Speaker 1: a wide variety of experiences himself. And so when you
Speaker 1: think of the combination between Matt and Maaggie and Doug Peterson,
Speaker 1: the two of them, they have so much in common,
Speaker 1: their their style of coaching, the way they think the game,
Speaker 1: because they're both ex quarterbacks, got it, It's gonna be
Speaker 1: one of the great story you know, uncontact battles of
Speaker 1: the game is Doug, It's gonna be really interesting. Now
Speaker 1: I know your brother in law was in the league.
Speaker 1: He played offensive line too. I believe I'm wondering how
Speaker 1: Matt and Maaggie feels about going against this is like
Speaker 1: one of his closest friends. Would you rather go against
Speaker 1: a close friend or just haven't played another game and
Speaker 1: go against someone you don't know, Would you rather go
Speaker 1: against your brother? Because you think about Kyle Long and
Speaker 1: Chris Long, you think about two coaches that will never
Speaker 1: touch each other. There's a you know, when you go
Speaker 1: through a game plan with Matt Naggie Collin and you're
Speaker 1: an offensive guard, there's a good chance that you could
Speaker 1: hit all eleven guys on the defense, or you know,
Speaker 1: they're scattered through your responsibilities. So when you get all
Speaker 1: eleven guys on single place, yeah, right, I remember I
Speaker 1: was there for him. I was a very young child watching.
Speaker 1: I'm just kidding thinking of Kyle, and they're two emotional
Speaker 1: personalities of their team. And you know, I wouldn't want
Speaker 1: to go out there and have to hit my brother repeatedly.
Speaker 1: But if it, Kyle said in the locker room to
Speaker 1: I mean one word to describe it. He was anxious,
Speaker 1: anxious about, you know, having to do that, I think.
Speaker 1: And I also saw its Howie Long's birthday. His mom
Speaker 1: just isn't even gonna be able to watch, is what
Speaker 1: he said. I remember when the Bears played the Rams,
Speaker 1: if I'm sure a lot of Bear friends remember, there
Speaker 1: was a fight in the game and Chris actually pulled
Speaker 1: Kyle off and saved him from being kicked out of
Speaker 1: the game. I wonder what will happen this week if
Speaker 1: that happens well, I mean, it is going to be
Speaker 1: an emotional game because if you go back and you
Speaker 1: look at the tape last year when they played the
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles, Philly really was in control of that game
Speaker 1: the whole time. This is an entirely different team that's
Speaker 1: going and to Soldier Field to play the Philadelphia Eagles
Speaker 1: this year. There's no similarities to the Bears on offense
Speaker 1: what they faced last year. But you know, that's kind
Speaker 1: of the uniqueness of it is Matt Maggie can probably
Speaker 1: help Vic Fangio and Doug Peterson can probably help Jim
Speaker 1: Schwartz in terms of how do you think offenses when
Speaker 1: you see the different formations out there. We're going to
Speaker 1: go to a fan question really quick. Um, first one,
Speaker 1: is Eddie Jackson going to play this Sunday. I think
Speaker 1: it's gonna be hard to keep Eddie Jackson off the field. Fortunately,
Speaker 1: last week before the game, we got to see him
Speaker 1: running around on the field with the trainers and get
Speaker 1: coaches are getting an evaluation of where he's at seven
Speaker 1: days ago to where he will be in that in
Speaker 1: seven days from that, And to me, I think he's
Speaker 1: such a competitor. He knows he means so much of
Speaker 1: this football team. And you know, the guys that have
Speaker 1: filled in for him ever really played well. Sheriff McManus
Speaker 1: and DeAndre Houston Carson, then Dion Bush. They have all
Speaker 1: played good, solid football. But Eddie understands what this game means.
Speaker 1: I don't think there's any way you're going to keep
Speaker 1: him out of it. I don't think that's the question.
Speaker 1: I think the question is how effective will he be
Speaker 1: out there? Because it is an ankle injury that's going
Speaker 1: to slow him a little bit possibly, so he will
Speaker 1: probably I imagine, play in the game, but is he
Speaker 1: going to be affected by it? Is he going to
Speaker 1: be slower? And you know, with the Eagles see that
Speaker 1: he's not the same guy, they're going to try to
Speaker 1: attack him. But with that being said, I think the
Speaker 1: Bear secondary is way better than the Eagle secondary going
Speaker 1: into this game. And really, when you look at it, Tom,
Speaker 1: everybody talks about the defense and everything and about obviously
Speaker 1: Roquan Smith and Kalo Mac made a big difference. But
Speaker 1: I remember talking to Vic Fangio before the offseason, everybody
Speaker 1: was asking about the draft and free agency and who
Speaker 1: the Bears were going to get. He just wait a second.
Speaker 1: The most important thing for this defense is the guys
Speaker 1: that are returning. They need to improve and keep developing.
Speaker 1: And he kept harping on those guys. And as we
Speaker 1: saw guys like we mentioned before with Eddie Jackson, but
Speaker 1: also Kyle Fuller tied for the league lead in interceptions
Speaker 1: at Kem Hicks. Those are three guys from the defense
Speaker 1: from that have been here that are now taking that
Speaker 1: other step and all made the Pro Bowl. Well, not
Speaker 1: to want up you, but just to talk about a
Speaker 1: couple more candidates. If you look at what Leonard Floyd
Speaker 1: and Eddie Goldman have done the last five games, they're
Speaker 1: playing the best ball of their career. You know, Eddie
Speaker 1: Gott was rewarded with the new contract, and everybody knows
Speaker 1: what the obstacles at Leonard Floyda's face throughout the season.
Speaker 1: But when you look at their improvement, not only we
Speaker 1: talked about the assistant coaches how much they've been able
Speaker 1: to help them, but how much they've gotten out of
Speaker 1: themselves and their improvement is almost immeasurable. How it filters
Speaker 1: do a Kem Hicks or how it goes down to
Speaker 1: Blile Nichols, or how it goes to Danny Trevathan from
Speaker 1: Rokuan and such. So those two guys also they got
Speaker 1: to be mentioned in the mix. And Danny Trevathan and
Speaker 1: Prince Semukamara, both two guys would have also been here before.
Speaker 1: And they're making a lot plays this year and Princes
Speaker 1: taking the ball away like everybody in tom that's the
Speaker 1: biggest difference to me. The Bears last year were a
Speaker 1: top ten defense and they said their biggest thing this
Speaker 1: year was trying to be a number a top five defense.
Speaker 1: They made it at number three, but that doesn't really
Speaker 1: tell the whole story because this team took the ball
Speaker 1: away unlike any time ever before or the Bears. They
Speaker 1: had twenty seven interceptions after having eight each of the
Speaker 1: last three years. That was the biggest difference, and that
Speaker 1: kind of reminded me the eighty five Bears too. They
Speaker 1: went out there thinking we're gonna take the ball away
Speaker 1: and we're going to score. Well, the funny thing about it,
Speaker 1: before the season ever started, Prince of Mukamara said he's
Speaker 1: going to set a goal to get ten interceptions throughout
Speaker 1: the season. And you think of the whole defensive back,
Speaker 1: the defensive backfield of defense as a whole have been
Speaker 1: able to triple that him out, So I go, boy,
Speaker 1: that's high expectations for the defense to get ten. But
Speaker 1: he was saying it for himself. But I like the
Speaker 1: confidence that he kind of kicked off, because you know,
Speaker 1: you have one player with confidence that mentioned something about it,
Speaker 1: then it kind of trickles over to the next guy
Speaker 1: and the next guy's commitment and the next guy. So
Speaker 1: I think it was an important statement for Prince to make,
Speaker 1: but I like that they were able to capitalize on it.
Speaker 1: And the interesting thing to me, too, is that they
Speaker 1: expect to make those plays now. When the game's on
Speaker 1: the line, the defense expects to either make a stop
Speaker 1: or take an interception away and end the game. And
Speaker 1: that's really refreshing. I think that's something they learned from
Speaker 1: the Green Bay game where it didn't happen and everybody thought,
Speaker 1: oh my god, this is going to ruin their season.
Speaker 1: But yet they learned from that and they've improved on
Speaker 1: that and they've done a great job. I think you're
Speaker 1: as a former player, you can probably speak to this. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the confidence that they have now, they just feel like
Speaker 1: it's going to happen. I believe that they think they
Speaker 1: can make any quarterback look rush. They can take the
Speaker 1: vulnerabilities on the offensive line and take advantage of them.
Speaker 1: There's receivers that they can match up with. But you know,
Speaker 1: they kind of got a little bit of a different
Speaker 1: monster coming in this weekend because Nick Folds is taken over,
Speaker 1: and I think he's better to run that system than
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz is. He's got a great relationship with Doug
Speaker 1: Peterson and the most pressure moments and they make the
Speaker 1: right calls and they have the right kind of communication together.
Speaker 1: So everything the Bears have been able to do is
Speaker 1: you know, they got they leave a wake of teams
Speaker 1: behind them, but this is a this is a team
Speaker 1: they haven't seen yet this year. They're familiar with the
Speaker 1: system because of their head coach, but personnel, you need
Speaker 1: to see it on tape as much as you possibly
Speaker 1: can become familiar with your opponent by watching them on tape.
Speaker 1: I heard a lot of the same things though, before
Speaker 1: the Rams came in with Jared Goff and about how
Speaker 1: they're high flying team. They're averaging thirty five points a game.
Speaker 1: Then the Bears defense completely shut them down, kept them
Speaker 1: from scoring a touchdown and fifteen to sixth Finals score,
Speaker 1: and really the Rams limped out of here not really
Speaker 1: knowing what hit them. Here's hoping. Obviously the same thing
Speaker 1: happens with the Eagles, but obviously their playoff tested going
Speaker 1: to going to the Super Bowl and winning last year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, the Philly had just has more success experience
Speaker 1: than what the Rams did up into this point or
Speaker 1: what the Bears have learned how to do up into
Speaker 1: this point, so they are a little bit more familiar
Speaker 1: with this playoff tempo that we talked about at the
Speaker 1: beginning of the show. As an eighty five bear, my friend,
Speaker 1: let me ask you this question. You had to say
Speaker 1: it like that too. He's been waiting. They are practicing
Speaker 1: in the bathroom. I don't have to practice it, my friend. Um,
Speaker 1: you win the Super Bowl in eighty five, you have
Speaker 1: a really good season. In eighty six, the Eagles haven't
Speaker 1: had that good of a season. But was there any
Speaker 1: bit of a letdown or hey, we won, we reached
Speaker 1: the mountaintop. Was there any letdown? I know mcmannon got
Speaker 1: hurt in eighty six, but was there a letdown going
Speaker 1: into that season? Going through that season? Was it just
Speaker 1: not the same thing? No, there was not a letdown
Speaker 1: because Dick didn't allow that. If he felt that you
Speaker 1: are uncommitted to what was required of you to get
Speaker 1: back to the super Bowl, you'd be cuts. It's a
Speaker 1: hard process of making this football team. And yet so
Speaker 1: many guys that were committed to the Bears, committed to
Speaker 1: winning that they gave everything in the offseason, and they
Speaker 1: gave everything during the season, and it was unfortunate that
Speaker 1: when when we got to the playoffs, so we weren't
Speaker 1: solid at the quarterback position. Tom, you mentioned Nick Foles.
Speaker 1: I mean, coming up twenty five straight completions on Sunday,
Speaker 1: the Bears defense is obviously going to have their hands full.
Speaker 1: How can the Bears pass rush rattle Nick Foles? You
Speaker 1: know it just give him a limited amount of time
Speaker 1: to succeed because even when he scrambles, he does it
Speaker 1: kind of a lazy approach, but really confident of what
Speaker 1: he's looking for downfield. You can't let him have those
Speaker 1: lazy thinking moments. Everything's got to be rush, everything's got
Speaker 1: to be scattered, everything's got to be instant. And you
Speaker 1: know it's it's weird because when you took you take
Speaker 1: the defense of last year, and the amount of time
Speaker 1: they would provide a quarterback to evaluate the downfield process.
Speaker 1: It's shrunk so dramatically this year that you don't have
Speaker 1: any time if you're not ready to fire. When you're
Speaker 1: setting your feet, there's a chance that you're going to
Speaker 1: get hit, it's going to get deflected, the receivers are
Speaker 1: going to be covered, or the dbs are jumping the routes.
Speaker 1: I've been incredibly impressed with the pass rush this year,
Speaker 1: and I think a lot of it has to do
Speaker 1: obviously with the athletes and the talent. But Soldier Field,
Speaker 1: for the first time in my life that I can remember,
Speaker 1: has a true home field advantage where the crowd is
Speaker 1: going crazy. In the eighties they were going crazy, but
Speaker 1: the way the stadium was built for all you youngsters
Speaker 1: out there, it kind of went like this, and the fans,
Speaker 1: the noise did not stay in, but it stays in
Speaker 1: right now, and the fans are loud, and it gives
Speaker 1: the defensive lineman the split second. And you can talk
Speaker 1: about this in terms of offensive line another split second
Speaker 1: head start to get to the quarterback. And you mentioned
Speaker 1: I think you asked a question about how to rattle
Speaker 1: Nick Foles I have never seen Aaron Rodgers look rattled
Speaker 1: until this season. It Soldier field. He has owned the
Speaker 1: Bears in his career, even when they've hit him a
Speaker 1: couple of times. It sacked him a couple of times.
Speaker 1: This was the first time I've ever seen Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: not look comfortable at all on the field against the Bears.
Speaker 1: And that's all about the pass rush and especially getting
Speaker 1: to the quarterback with four guys right, you know, they
Speaker 1: didn't have five blockers at the line of scrimmage that
Speaker 1: could block the type of talent that you can put
Speaker 1: on the line of scrimmage for the Bears defense. And
Speaker 1: I think that's one of the great things the assistant
Speaker 1: coaches here is you have to study your opponent where
Speaker 1: your vulnerabilities lie. Because the athletes defensively, you can put
Speaker 1: them anywhere. It's not like you're gonna go to the
Speaker 1: line scrimmage you're gonna have the same four or five
Speaker 1: guys in the same place every time. Leonard and Khalil
Speaker 1: they can play inside, outside, a Keem Hicks can play
Speaker 1: both sides. Roy Robertson Harris can play up and down
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage. So that's the one thing offensive
Speaker 1: lineman don't like. They don't like personnel always changing in
Speaker 1: front of them, because you kind of figure out the
Speaker 1: rhythm of the guy if you get to play fifty
Speaker 1: sixty seventy snaps against them. Now if you're only playing
Speaker 1: one out of every seven eight snaps against the guy,
Speaker 1: you don't become very familiar with them. Then you assert
Speaker 1: the crowd noise you're getting off the ball, that instant
Speaker 1: late advantage defense and you put Nick Foles on the run.
Speaker 1: I always like. I also like the way Vic Fanjoe
Speaker 1: is blitz guys on the same side as Clue Max.
Speaker 1: So that makes the offensive line and pretty much have
Speaker 1: to decide which guy to take. And it seems like
Speaker 1: it's resulted in some sacks either by Mac or Roquan
Speaker 1: Smith or Trevathan Well. The first sack in the Green
Speaker 1: Bay game, we sent Roquan Smith and then the left
Speaker 1: tackle committed in a mental air. He blocked nobody, but
Speaker 1: Khalil Mac got the sack in Roquan is coming, and
Speaker 1: that's one of, you know, one of the great traits
Speaker 1: of Roquan being a young guy. He's got really solid
Speaker 1: intelligence for a young guy that hasn't seen that much.
Speaker 1: He understands timing of blitzes. He understands how to fool
Speaker 1: on the snap count and make people think or or
Speaker 1: you know, possibly jump offsides. Well, speaking of defense, one
Speaker 1: of our fan questions from Nicholas Witt is can we
Speaker 1: keep Vic Fangio. That's up to Vic Fangio. You know
Speaker 1: I would like that like that, Vic, Well, I mean
Speaker 1: it's all about opportunity to though, right. I mean people
Speaker 1: are saying, well, the Bear's gonna pay him, the Bears
Speaker 1: pay him very well, it's not about money. It's about
Speaker 1: getting that once in a lifetime opportunity to become a
Speaker 1: head coach. And obviously he's going to You answered this
Speaker 1: on Brunch with Larry today. You've actually watched that ituned in.
Speaker 1: Wasn't your question, but I questions about you quite a
Speaker 1: bit on there to say that, Yeah, great, thank you.
Speaker 1: But it's all about opportunity, right, I mean, this is
Speaker 1: a guy and you can't blame him if he's going
Speaker 1: to explore these opportunities either, right. I mean Vic is
Speaker 1: a really great defensive mind, and you know, you'd have
Speaker 1: to think people would respect the opportunity to interview him
Speaker 1: just to kind of get a temperature where he's at.
Speaker 1: He's in the perfect situation. He's in the perfect situation
Speaker 1: for the next five years. He could set a legacy
Speaker 1: here in Chicago that is as great as if he
Speaker 1: went somewhere and became a head coach. But you know,
Speaker 1: I think the guys that are committed to coaching their
Speaker 1: whole life, they have to explore every one of their
Speaker 1: goals or our dreams and their football coaching life. I'll
Speaker 1: tell you one thing. I would like to watch the
Speaker 1: press conferences wherever he goes because he is highly entertaining.
Speaker 1: He is enjoyable to watch. He is hilarious, and reporters
Speaker 1: love him. The fans love him. He loves talking Cubs.
Speaker 1: He does. He talks to baseball. After the Cubs won
Speaker 1: the World Series, he walked into my office. He was
Speaker 1: in San Francisco at home, gave me the local news
Speaker 1: paper of the Cubs, and yeah, he's He's a great
Speaker 1: guy and I wish him the best. Obviously, I hope
Speaker 1: he stays here because he's done a great Yeah. But yeah,
Speaker 1: the fans love him, and I have to say we
Speaker 1: love the fans. And Ted stan Phil on Facebook, um
Speaker 1: he's with the US Army serving in Germany. So thank
Speaker 1: you so much for your service and thanks for watching
Speaker 1: US fans tuning in all over. This is awesome. There
Speaker 1: we go with the voice again. We're gonna keep it tally.
Speaker 1: It's going to be like two Clary and I don't
Speaker 1: know about you, but Brian Zonella says, what improvements to
Speaker 1: the offensive line did you see last week with Kyle longback? Power, strength,
Speaker 1: point of a point of attack movement? Um, you know
Speaker 1: he's I'm glad he got those reps twenty nine reps
Speaker 1: in the Minnesota game after recovering from his ankle injury.
Speaker 1: He he you know, Pro Bowl is one thing, but
Speaker 1: all pro is another, and he plays at an all
Speaker 1: pro level. He's got kind of freakish athleticism for his
Speaker 1: size and strength. You know what's embarrassing is when you
Speaker 1: stand up there you say what's changed about the game
Speaker 1: from when you played in So I stand next to
Speaker 1: Kyle Long and I go, look, this is evidence because
Speaker 1: I am here. He is here and here, so you
Speaker 1: know his leadership qualities, his enthusiasm, you know, the way
Speaker 1: he wants to be out there with his teammates. Brian
Speaker 1: Witzman has done a great job you know, and you
Speaker 1: can't lose that. And the Bears are very fortunate that
Speaker 1: he was able to come in here in a week.
Speaker 1: And especially when you move James Daniels a left guard,
Speaker 1: you know, a starting rookie left guard. But Kyle he
Speaker 1: adds a lot to this football team. And like you say,
Speaker 1: when you empty the bus, you want him to get
Speaker 1: off first, because he is that guy that sets the tone.
Speaker 1: And it'll be exciting this week to watch him against
Speaker 1: Fletcher Cox because that's a really good defensive tackle and
Speaker 1: that's gonna be a great battle. A lot of people
Speaker 1: were talking about Chris Long against Kyle Long. Well, if
Speaker 1: Kyle Long's blocking Fletcher Cox, that's gonna must see TV
Speaker 1: here right there. Well, you know, it's interesting because you
Speaker 1: think about the first scripted plays that Matt Naggie puts together,
Speaker 1: it'll be as important as where you want to put
Speaker 1: Fletcher Cox as a will for the plays you want
Speaker 1: for Mitchell Trubisky. And there's a lot that goes into
Speaker 1: defining the specifics of a game plan to choreographic perfectly
Speaker 1: to make sure you get bodies on him ten and
Speaker 1: a half sex this season, So how do you keep
Speaker 1: him away from number ten. Well, first of all, there
Speaker 1: you know, when you go to the offensive line, you
Speaker 1: break the huddle, there's five offensive lineman, there's four rushers.
Speaker 1: Whoever that uncovered offensive lineman is, he can never live
Speaker 1: through a play without hitting somebody. You volunteer hitting him.
Speaker 1: If it's Cody Whitehair and they're rushing over the two
Speaker 1: offensive guards, Cody snap, secure this guy, and then you
Speaker 1: run at ninety one. So there's offensive line. Think about
Speaker 1: the ways that uncovered lineman's going to be able to
Speaker 1: help everybody, and it's going to be as important this
Speaker 1: week as any week this season. They also have other
Speaker 1: guys too, though, Chris Long, like you mentioned before, Michael
Speaker 1: Bennett's got nine sex and he's a veteran that knows
Speaker 1: what he's doing out there. So what is it? Fifty
Speaker 1: five Brahm the outside linebacker, he's a heck of a pet.
Speaker 1: They're all good. You know, this is a good defense,
Speaker 1: but you know it's not an unsurmountable task for the
Speaker 1: Bears offense to go out there and look at, you know,
Speaker 1: be efficient against it. When I go back and if
Speaker 1: I was an active player studying Philly, I think there's
Speaker 1: some vulnerabilities of that defense. That right, well, their secondary,
Speaker 1: they've had a ton of injuries. I think every player
Speaker 1: in the secondary of the former Bear they have Crave
Speaker 1: on the Blanc. They've got Corey Graham, They've got you know,
Speaker 1: a bunch of different guys back there. Um, DeAndre Hall
Speaker 1: also is playing for them. So on paper, you know
Speaker 1: what it looked at the roster he was. I'm not
Speaker 1: sure if he's still there, but yeah, they could put
Speaker 1: an all X Bear secondary out there. Um, you never know,
Speaker 1: but you look on paper obviously, and that would be
Speaker 1: if the Bears are healthy at receiver, that would be
Speaker 1: a big advantage for the Bears. But again, games aren't playing.
Speaker 1: Say they have a front seven you have to deal
Speaker 1: with first. Nothing's going that way if you don't get
Speaker 1: this up here a block first. I love talking football time.
Speaker 1: There isn't it the best. I could just sit here
Speaker 1: and just listen, you know, least it all today. Okay,
Speaker 1: we are going to be back tomorrow. If you're just
Speaker 1: tuning in, this is Monsters Midway Live. Laurence Greeden, Larry
Speaker 1: mayor Tom Fayer. We are taking your fan questions, so
Speaker 1: keep sending those in on Facebook and on Twitter. We
Speaker 1: have another one from Marshawn Triplet. Any update on Bryce Callahan, right,
Speaker 1: I don't believe Bryce Callan's gonna be coming back. You know,
Speaker 1: he suffered a foot injury. He was placed on injured reserve.
Speaker 1: I don't think he'll be healed in time. I'm not
Speaker 1: a doctor. I don't play a doctor on TV or
Speaker 1: anything like that, but from what I've understand, I don't
Speaker 1: think he'll be back. He is out of contract, so
Speaker 1: it'll be interesting the CF returns next year. But he's
Speaker 1: one of the guys that we talked about in terms
Speaker 1: of a guy that was here before that really developed.
Speaker 1: He had a great season this year. I mean, this
Speaker 1: is a guy who came from nowhere, went to Rice
Speaker 1: undrafted free agent, and this guy just became a star
Speaker 1: almost this year on defense, had a pick six and
Speaker 1: a great player well before he got injured. Vic fansio
Speaker 1: I went to the podium calling him one of the
Speaker 1: most important players on the Bears defense, and that's high
Speaker 1: praise when you have possible MVP candidates of the league
Speaker 1: that you know your nickelback is just as important as
Speaker 1: any other player. What is true because of how much
Speaker 1: he's on the field and that's exactly what you've said.
Speaker 1: I mean, we talked about this before, but everybody's just
Speaker 1: been able to step up on this team. There's been
Speaker 1: no if so and so gets hurt. It's like, oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, the world's ending. It's been next in line.
Speaker 1: It's part of the approach that Matt Naggie's had all
Speaker 1: season long. And I think that's just a difference. And
Speaker 1: we've seen this year what you're saying, Lauren, is is
Speaker 1: kind of cool to watch Javon Wims and Kevin White
Speaker 1: get an opportunity last week because Alan Robinson didn't play,
Speaker 1: and to see the big catches they came up with,
Speaker 1: to see the excitement that Kevin White exhibited after he
Speaker 1: made his catch, because these are guys that we pull
Speaker 1: for and part of the process of getting on the
Speaker 1: field is you got to earn your opportunity and sometimes
Speaker 1: that that ladder is straight up and you got you
Speaker 1: gotta climb it every day. And those guys again evidence
Speaker 1: of the back the assistant coaches having these guys prepared
Speaker 1: when their moments called and they were both ready to go.
Speaker 1: And I think, you know, going back to again the
Speaker 1: culture change, you see how much fun that these guys
Speaker 1: are having it's next in line. They're all supporting each other,
Speaker 1: and they're all dancing and club dub after the tom
Speaker 1: I want your take on club dub. I love you.
Speaker 1: Would you like, you know, give us a little something now?
Speaker 1: I wouldn't. There's no way that I would dance. I um,
Speaker 1: you know when they when when Willie Gott went up
Speaker 1: and down the airplane and asked for guys to show
Speaker 1: up at the Super Bowl Shuffle to dance. There's no
Speaker 1: way that I would have ever got caught dancing on
Speaker 1: camera because I can't do it. Neither as trying to
Speaker 1: get me to dance all the time, and I can't
Speaker 1: do it. He made it my New Year's resolution. But
Speaker 1: you think of you don't expect it. Yeah, like the
Speaker 1: Little Kicks, that's me. Thirty something years later. It's still
Speaker 1: haunt and fencing and fuller than they can't dance, but
Speaker 1: to dance, no kid, but I but I do love either.
Speaker 1: I love the excitement. I love the camaraderie. I love
Speaker 1: the enthusiasm because you know, at the end of last year,
Speaker 1: when we were in Minnesota watching the Bears, this was
Speaker 1: a team that was starving for camaraderie for that brotherhood,
Speaker 1: that friendship that you know, that bond that's it's it's
Speaker 1: it's stronger, and it's hard to develop in less you're
Speaker 1: in a scenario that these guys live every day. And
Speaker 1: so I love the club job. I think it's fun
Speaker 1: and I'm glad that you know, Matt has allowed these
Speaker 1: guys to have that type of fun because you know,
Speaker 1: you're challenge in front of your peers every time you
Speaker 1: go to a team meeting after a game, because a
Speaker 1: coach speaks really critical to you. But I think that
Speaker 1: the camaraderie that's shared with these guys in those moments
Speaker 1: and in these moments is important for the team development. Larry,
Speaker 1: you haven't made it in there yet, not now, but
Speaker 1: Larry walks by my office and dabs every day. So
Speaker 1: we're gonna leave you with that. Save this. I'm just
Speaker 1: calling that just go to just do the robots. Everybody
Speaker 1: can do the robot alright, Well, we'll be back here
Speaker 1: same time tomorrow from four to four thirty Central time.
Speaker 1: This has been Monsters of the Midway Live for Tom Fayer,
Speaker 1: Larry Mayor that rhymes I'm Lauren streeton will see you
Speaker 1: guys tomorrow. I wish it was John. I know I
Speaker 1: need to change my name.