Speaker 1: Welcome in to Bears Weekly powered by IGS Energy, a
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears Network production. Bears Weekly is brought to you
Speaker 1: by Advocate Healthcare, Athletico Physical, effericly CD, Jallady, Connie's Pizza,
Speaker 1: IGS Energy, and Mener Liked. Here are your hosts, Jeff Chilliac,
Speaker 1: aka the Mayor of Bearsville, and his sidekick, Tom the
Speaker 1: Surfmaster Thayer.
Speaker 2: Well in you the teams.
Speaker 3: Now we have the roadmap to Santa Clara, California and
Speaker 3: Super Bowl sixty. First year head coach Ben Johnson will
Speaker 3: make his Bears debut at Soldier Field and the home
Speaker 3: opener against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football. Good evening, everybody,
Speaker 3: and welcome into Bears Weekly on ESPN one thousand of
Speaker 3: the Bears Radio Network with Super Bowl winning Bears guard
Speaker 3: Tom Thayer. We're joined by former Bears quarterback Jim Miller
Speaker 3: from sirius XM NFL Radio.
Speaker 2: I'm Jeff Joniac.
Speaker 3: Coming up in the program, we visit with Bears GM
Speaker 3: Ryan Poles as we dive into each of his eight selections.
Speaker 2: In the draft one more time.
Speaker 3: Now he's at some time to look at them, watch them,
Speaker 3: talk to them, and it kind of sets, the Bears
Speaker 3: roster up for twenty twenty five. The discussion our producers
Speaker 3: Dan Brilly and Jordia Treadip and the ESPN studio Justin Pottinger.
Speaker 3: Executive producer of the Bears Ready Network is Eric Ostrowski.
Speaker 3: Last night the schedule came out, fell is in. It
Speaker 3: was like Marty gra for all football fans, amazing the interest.
Speaker 3: But the Bears open up with two division opponents Tommy
Speaker 3: Monday Night football at home against Minnesota and then right
Speaker 3: up to Detroit for Ben Johnson's first NFL road game
Speaker 3: against the team he once coordinated offensively.
Speaker 4: Well, you use the term mighty gras, I use a
Speaker 4: term like a Christmas list, because we know what the
Speaker 4: presents are going to be, but we don't know how
Speaker 4: we're going to unpackage them. And then you see two
Speaker 4: divisional games at the beginning of the schedule, when last
Speaker 4: year we really didn't start the division schedule until the
Speaker 4: eleventh week of the season. So I'm super excited about
Speaker 4: where and when we play these guys, and I'm excited,
Speaker 4: you know, to come out on Monday Night football. Ben
Speaker 4: Johnson is going to be running on the field and
Speaker 4: his feet is never are never going to be touching
Speaker 4: the ground. And you know, we'll talk about the rest
Speaker 4: of the schedule accordingly, two.
Speaker 5: Really good tests. We're going to see where the young
Speaker 5: JJ McCarthy is at in his career. I like that
Speaker 5: opener against the Vikings. I mean they could do a
Speaker 5: lot of things defensively to potentially challenge challenge that young
Speaker 5: quarterback at the Vikings and then Detroit to see where
Speaker 5: their pass rush is at. Is Hutchinson Aiden Hutchinson going
Speaker 5: to be one hundred percent? Have they signed enough guys
Speaker 5: to really put pressure on young Caleb Williams. And you
Speaker 5: know it's a division. Games are important, So the Bears
Speaker 5: They've got a lot of work between now and then
Speaker 5: to get ready for those division matchups because those games
Speaker 5: truly matter to get off to a great start in
Speaker 5: the division.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I call it diabolical the NFL, Tommy, what they
Speaker 3: do for matchups. You look at the Jets open up
Speaker 3: with Pittsburgh in the possibility that Aaron Rodgers will be
Speaker 3: playing against his old team in Week one with Justin
Speaker 3: Fields for the Jets and for McCarthy, Nazareth High School
Speaker 3: first NFL regular season game in Chicago, where he grew
Speaker 3: up against his hometown favorite team, Like this is I
Speaker 3: love this stuff.
Speaker 6: Monday night football.
Speaker 4: I mean, come on, you couldn't give him a noon
Speaker 4: start when he's kind of scattered around the country other games,
Speaker 4: but you give him a Monday night start. But then
Speaker 4: the Bears go to Week two, they have a short
Speaker 4: week because you play Monday night. Then you I don't
Speaker 4: know what the schedule is going to be like with
Speaker 4: Ben Johnson, and then all of a sudden, you're playing
Speaker 4: on Sunday at noon.
Speaker 6: Already.
Speaker 4: The only thing in the early in the five week
Speaker 4: portion of this schedule, Jeff is I don't like the
Speaker 4: bye week in week five. I wish you was farther
Speaker 4: on down the season. So I don't hate the schedule.
Speaker 4: I just don't like the bye week so early.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Jimmy can't control that, obviously. The bye week is
Speaker 3: the week it's the earliest bye week since Week six
Speaker 3: and twenty nineteen. The last five years, they've had eleven, ten, fourteen,
Speaker 3: thirteen seven as their bye. Last season, it's the fifth
Speaker 3: Week five bye since the format started in nineteen ninety.
Speaker 3: The last time, though, was Matt Naggy's twenty eighteen maiden
Speaker 3: voyage team that went to the playoffs and shocked the world. Right,
Speaker 3: that was a week five bye, so you can make
Speaker 3: something good out of it, right, But you got thirteen
Speaker 3: at the time.
Speaker 5: Repeating ay straight Wall, Hey, I've got something good to
Speaker 5: say about it too. Here's what I'd say is, Tom
Speaker 5: knows we all have the five week breakdown on teams.
Speaker 5: That could be an opportunity for Ben Johnson to shake
Speaker 5: some things up offensively in terms of what they do.
Speaker 5: Because they'll have four games in obviously vikings at Detroit
Speaker 5: Cowboys and then at the Las Vegas Raiders, and then
Speaker 5: have the bye week. Maybe you can start to wrinkle
Speaker 5: in some different things because when they come out of
Speaker 5: the bye week and go on the road at Washington,
Speaker 5: maybe you could surprise the commanders. Not that they're going
Speaker 5: to be surprised they faced each other last year, but
Speaker 5: whole new play caller. You can add some things offensively,
Speaker 5: do them some things differently in terms of your scouting
Speaker 5: report to maybe you know, throw off Washington a little bit.
Speaker 5: But I'm with Tom, you'd like your bye week a
Speaker 5: little bit later when guys are a little banged up,
Speaker 5: get more well rested than things like that. But that's
Speaker 5: the only positive I can think about. That early bye
Speaker 5: week is shaking things up offensively.
Speaker 4: You know one thing, Jimmy, Jeff, is when you have
Speaker 4: the bye week in week five, you gotta think you
Speaker 4: got thirteen games after that bye week. So you have
Speaker 4: to have some maturity inside that locker room to hold
Speaker 4: this thing together for the long haul, because there's not
Speaker 4: anything looking forward.
Speaker 6: Oh, we'll have a long weekend, we'll have a bye week.
Speaker 4: And even if you play a Thursday night game, I'm
Speaker 4: not always you know, mini bye, I don't take I
Speaker 4: don't take that into account. I just look at the
Speaker 4: bye week, but that was that thirteen game stretch after
Speaker 4: the bye week will be the telltale signs for this team.
Speaker 3: Yeah, how about the schedulers as well. Last year, the
Speaker 3: Bears out of the bye week out of London went
Speaker 3: to play Washington. That was week eight out of the
Speaker 3: bye and the Bears should have won that game, as
Speaker 3: we all know. So it's not like that they were
Speaker 3: being outplayed by Washington by any means they had. They
Speaker 3: had the game in hand on the road and then
Speaker 3: went on that.
Speaker 2: Ten game losing.
Speaker 3: So it'll be the most discussed matchup of the early
Speaker 3: part of the season.
Speaker 2: No question, what's going to happen in that game?
Speaker 3: Fourth consecutive meeting with the Commanders, the last time in
Speaker 3: prime time in twenty three, DJ Moore went off and
Speaker 3: he exploded and the Bears first win of the season.
Speaker 3: Then they went seven and six the rest of that year.
Speaker 3: The Bears only have three home games in the first
Speaker 3: nine weeks. Now that Vegas game might be a Bears
Speaker 3: home game, let's be let's be honest. But now out
Speaker 3: of the bye you got Washington on Monday night, Then
Speaker 3: you got New Orleans in Chicago, and then two really
Speaker 3: challenging matchups. We ate nine at Baltimore at Cincinnat. You
Speaker 3: get Lamar in his home building and you get Joe
Speaker 3: Burrow in his home building.
Speaker 5: Jim Well, I think we know. I mean the Saints
Speaker 5: they got a young quarterbacks right now. I mean Derek
Speaker 5: Carr just retiring. I mean that could be Tyler Shuck, yeah,
Speaker 5: starting that game. So I like the matchup against the
Speaker 5: Vikings and the young JJ McCarthy. I like the game
Speaker 5: against the Las Vegas Raiders. I mean, I like the
Speaker 5: game against the Saints. I mean, minimum can the Bears,
Speaker 5: you know, come out of the you know, you know,
Speaker 5: looking like they have a winning record. I think it's
Speaker 5: a possibility. But then it gets difficult. As you mentioned
Speaker 5: Week eight nine on the road against Baltimore and Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 5: I already threw out Lamar Jackson's record against NFC teams.
Speaker 5: It's really phenomenal. That is going to be a challenging
Speaker 5: game for the Chicago Bears. And then to see where
Speaker 5: the Bears offense is week nine against Cincinnati. What do
Speaker 5: we know against Cincinnati now that they've resigned t Higgins
Speaker 5: and Jamar Chase. That team was averaging thirty four more
Speaker 5: points a game the last nine weeks of the season.
Speaker 5: So where are the Bears point totals going to be
Speaker 5: in Ben Johnson's offense, Because on the road against Cincinnati,
Speaker 5: you're gonna have to have your offense up and running early,
Speaker 5: and by week nine it should be humming pretty good
Speaker 5: because they're gonna have to match point per point for
Speaker 5: point with the talented Cincinnati team.
Speaker 4: Well, you know one thing about it is Trey Hendrickson
Speaker 4: this week said if there is no new deal, he's
Speaker 4: not gonna play in With Sam Hubbard retiring this year,
Speaker 4: now they got probably their two most important positions for
Speaker 4: their defense that they have to have accountability for.
Speaker 6: And maybe the Bears could take.
Speaker 4: Advantage of some susceptibility at that pass rush position.
Speaker 3: And that Baltimore game, they're gonna run the ball. They
Speaker 3: led the league in rushing and they had the number
Speaker 3: one sack total fifty four from a defensive point. If
Speaker 3: you are right, we'll continue on book, all right. When
Speaker 3: we come back, we'll here from general manager Ryan Poles
Speaker 3: to sit down with him as he reviews the whole
Speaker 3: draft process.
Speaker 2: Interesting conversation.
Speaker 3: Next down, Bears Weekly on the ESPN one thousand of
Speaker 3: the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: You were tuned into Bears Weekly with Jeff Jonyac on
Speaker 1: the Bears Radio Network. Well, welcome back to Bears Weekly
Speaker 1: on the Bears Radio Network. Here's your host, the voice
Speaker 1: of the Bears, Jeff jony Act.
Speaker 3: This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
Speaker 3: Igs Energy, Jeff Joniac, tumt There and Jim Miller. Let's
Speaker 3: listen in to us sit down with Ryan Pold's one
Speaker 3: final look at the twenty twenty five draft, the players
Speaker 3: and the process and where it leaves this team. Well,
Speaker 3: the fourth NFL draft of your Young Bears career.
Speaker 2: How do you feel it went overall?
Speaker 7: Feel really good?
Speaker 8: It came together, makes me part of the properason that
Speaker 8: we put into it. Talked about us running simulations all
Speaker 8: the time ever since we put that process in, it
Speaker 8: really is eased armand in terms of different scenarios that
Speaker 8: could pop up and make sure that we're ready to
Speaker 8: adjust adapt move around the board.
Speaker 7: But I thought all of our.
Speaker 8: Work that we put into it, it came through for us.
Speaker 3: For those who don't know what that is, and I've
Speaker 3: heard you mentioned more than ones, Now, what is that technology?
Speaker 9: What what is that simulation thing you got going on?
Speaker 8: Yeah, we feed a lot of data into basically a
Speaker 8: draft pick simulator that picks the players around us. And
Speaker 8: what it does is it forces us to look at
Speaker 8: the board in the situation that we're in in terms
Speaker 8: of our we're going to pick, you know, player air,
Speaker 8: player B will sequence the board, so we literally have
Speaker 8: player one.
Speaker 7: Through one fifty ranked in sequence.
Speaker 8: So when we go through that, it makes the selection
Speaker 8: process a lot cleaner, but it creates a lot of
Speaker 8: really good discussions before the draft ever kicks off. We
Speaker 8: probably ran that three hundred and fifty times before we
Speaker 8: actually got to the draft. Jeff King holds the title
Speaker 8: as the most the heavy, heaviest user of all of us.
Speaker 8: But I was personally able to do that, you know,
Speaker 8: one hundred, one hundred and fifty times before.
Speaker 7: So you just feel comfortable and confident with the different
Speaker 7: things that could pop up.
Speaker 9: That's quite the rabbit hole.
Speaker 7: Yeah right, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 8: It also can help with just kind of the you know,
Speaker 8: the depth of the drafts in different positions.
Speaker 7: It has a feel for that. Obviously, the further you go.
Speaker 8: In the draft, the less reliable it becomes, but really
Speaker 8: gets us tuned into where we need to be for
Speaker 8: the first three to four rounds.
Speaker 9: All right, first draft with this coaching staff.
Speaker 3: You've already commented what ways do you feel it affected
Speaker 3: your draft strategy?
Speaker 9: And better words, probably impacted your draft strategy?
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think just to have a refresher to sit
Speaker 8: down and start over from the basics, what are we
Speaker 8: looking for for every single position? They did a fantastic
Speaker 8: job providing clarity for us of exactly what they needed
Speaker 8: to be successful, and we were able to apply that
Speaker 8: and ask ourselves hard questions as we went through the
Speaker 8: evaluation process. Does this guy fit our system. Are we
Speaker 8: going to get the most out of them? Is he
Speaker 8: going to allow our offense to be versatile, to be
Speaker 8: hard to plan for? And the beautiful thing is what
Speaker 8: we did too, is we actually put you know, DA
Speaker 8: and decline and been in the same room and watched
Speaker 8: opposite sides of the ball, and then we were able
Speaker 8: to ask, you know, DA, is this guy going to
Speaker 8: be a headache for you to prepare for?
Speaker 7: Yes? No?
Speaker 8: And that really helped us kind of split some of
Speaker 8: those stacks up that you know it was one, A, B, C,
Speaker 8: D and so on. So that clarity was outstanding and
Speaker 8: I appreciate the time that they put into it. These guys,
Speaker 8: you know, evaluated a lot of players, and that's hard
Speaker 8: when you're in a transition, you're moving into a new place,
Speaker 8: you're trying to get your system set up, you're trying
Speaker 8: to get to know the players that are currently on
Speaker 8: the roster. To be able to spend that much time
Speaker 8: in the evaluation process was really helpful for us.
Speaker 3: Many described this draft as a draft where there are
Speaker 3: not as many stars. Potentially we will lead that to
Speaker 3: the players and their developers, but a lot of starters.
Speaker 3: Do you do you feel four picks in the first
Speaker 3: two rounds will get you impact on this roster long term.
Speaker 7: I do. I have a lot of confidence in that.
Speaker 8: I did think this draft provided a lot of for
Speaker 8: really good starters that can help our football team and
Speaker 8: really increase the level of competition at multiple positions.
Speaker 7: And to me, that was key going into this year.
Speaker 8: We have more talent than we've had on this roster before,
Speaker 8: and to create that competition is gonna draw out the
Speaker 8: best out of everybody.
Speaker 3: All Right, how do you see Colston Loveland and Cole
Speaker 3: Comet working together on the field and complimenting each other's
Speaker 3: skill sets.
Speaker 8: I think it's gonna be a real beautiful situation for us.
Speaker 8: We can be in a personal group, or we can
Speaker 8: run the ball and run efficiently and kind of dictate
Speaker 8: the terms to a defense of what we're gonna do,
Speaker 8: but also create mismatches off of that. Colson's smooth ability
Speaker 8: to get in and out on top of his ability
Speaker 8: to block, it's gonna be critical that versatile piece. You
Speaker 8: don't know what you're gonna get from him, and with
Speaker 8: Cold the same thing, a bigger presence in the run game,
Speaker 8: who also is very capable of winning in the past game.
Speaker 8: That's gonna create some mismatches and headaches for defensive coordinators
Speaker 8: to go against. I'm excited to get both those guys
Speaker 8: in the same room. I think they're gonna be great
Speaker 8: for each other. There's a lot to learn in terms
Speaker 8: of Colson learning from Cole on how to be a professional,
Speaker 8: how to go about his business, and I think we're
Speaker 8: going to see both of them rise through this.
Speaker 3: And this offense has been weaponized. So Luther Burden the
Speaker 3: third joint us the mix as well.
Speaker 9: How does how do you envision his fit?
Speaker 7: Yeah?
Speaker 8: I think here's a really smart football player that's highly
Speaker 8: competitive and a playmaker. And really the beautiful thing about
Speaker 8: him is you can put him anywhere on the field, inside, outside, backfield.
Speaker 8: That allows Ben's creativity to really flow and it doesn't
Speaker 8: stop there. We know we have Rome, we have dj
Speaker 8: we Zequias, we have DuVernay, we have Tyler Scott, and
Speaker 8: to be able to have all of those different pieces
Speaker 8: to again create mismatches and really wrinkles in our offense
Speaker 8: is going to be critical for us and also for
Speaker 8: a young quarterback to have those weapons to rely on.
Speaker 3: It's gonna be helpful for him and an outstanding wide
Speaker 3: receivers coach and Antwine Randall l He's been there, he's
Speaker 3: done that, He's.
Speaker 9: Been a super Bowl star.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's a multifaceted athlete from Chicago. Now he gets
Speaker 3: his hands in, so he's looking at the guys who've
Speaker 3: been here from a different perspective, and now he's bringing
Speaker 3: these new guys into the mix.
Speaker 9: I mean, what are we looking at here from him?
Speaker 7: Yeah?
Speaker 8: He brings passion, he brings energy, and he brings detail
Speaker 8: when you stand around his position group and how he
Speaker 8: teaches it in the individual period, he is very detailed
Speaker 8: of how he wants those guys to play the position
Speaker 8: in terms of their footwork, their stance, their get off
Speaker 8: at the top of the route, very detailed. So you're
Speaker 8: going to see a group that is going to get
Speaker 8: very refined, very fast, and they're going to play the
Speaker 8: game the right way. That passion that Anteline Rendel shows
Speaker 8: up with every single day is infectious and it's going
Speaker 8: to flow through our entire offense, our entire team, but
Speaker 8: certainly the receiver group.
Speaker 3: All Right, he traded down on the second What was
Speaker 3: going through your mind? Is you waited hoping for Asie Trapillo,
Speaker 3: Schamar Turner that they'd still be available.
Speaker 8: Yeah, that was one of those situations where our preparation
Speaker 8: really paid off. We were going to move back and
Speaker 8: we're going to just kind of get a feel for
Speaker 8: who's going to be there. Do we need to take
Speaker 8: the defensive lineman first or the offensive lineman first. We
Speaker 8: felt both the chance of both of them being there
Speaker 8: was going to be pretty high based on our projections,
Speaker 8: and then the domino started to fall right around those picks.
Speaker 7: We made a switch. We took Ozzie first.
Speaker 8: We felt there's a little bit of a drop off
Speaker 8: after Ozzie, and we just knew that he was dependable,
Speaker 8: he was smart, he was tough. Some of that's going
Speaker 8: to compete for a starting tackle job, regardless if it's
Speaker 8: the right of the left. Then we were crossing our
Speaker 8: fingers and DA was too that Schamar was going to
Speaker 8: be there for our next pick, and he ended up
Speaker 8: being there, and the whole room was really excited about that. Overall,
Speaker 8: that trade was one of the cooler trades that I've seen,
Speaker 8: just in terms of moving back to get value and
Speaker 8: moving our third round pick into second, giving us three twos,
Speaker 8: which I thought was in the sweet spot of this draft,
Speaker 8: and that was a move that we didn't project to happen,
Speaker 8: and it came together for us on drafted.
Speaker 3: I don't want to put words in, but do you
Speaker 3: expect an immediate impact from Ozzie and Schamart some form
Speaker 3: of fashion on this twenty twenty five roster.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 8: I think the first place is going to come from
Speaker 8: is the competition that ow line of d line. I
Speaker 8: think it's going to bring out the best in everybody.
Speaker 7: Two.
Speaker 8: I think the energy level that Shamar brings is very
Speaker 8: infectious as well.
Speaker 7: He plays the game the right way.
Speaker 8: He plays hard, his motor runs hot, and that's going
Speaker 8: to again impact the guys that are around him by increasing
Speaker 8: the competition. But I do believe he has the skill set,
Speaker 8: the physical traits, the toughness, and the intelligence to impact
Speaker 8: us on the defensive line as well.
Speaker 3: So you met with Loveland, Turner and Trapello at the combine.
Speaker 3: What stood out in each interview that made you confident
Speaker 3: they'd be a fit here?
Speaker 7: Yeah?
Speaker 9: And fit for the coach?
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 8: So with Colston, not only did we meet with him
Speaker 8: at the Combine, but we also met with him at
Speaker 8: Michigan during the pro day, and there's something that's just
Speaker 8: different about his personality. His ability to kind of capture
Speaker 8: a room, take over the room was incredible. But then
Speaker 8: he had this really beautiful blend of humility and borderline
Speaker 8: cockiness that you're really like. And there's some people where
Speaker 8: they only can be on one extreme end of that.
Speaker 8: He has this beautiful blend of both. He lets you
Speaker 8: know that he's there. He lets you know that he's
Speaker 8: a very good football player and he's going to be
Speaker 8: even better as it goes. He's got high goals and
Speaker 8: a lot of passion for the game, and the intelligence
Speaker 8: was outstanding. He's going to be able to pick up
Speaker 8: our offense very fast with Ozzie. His tape and his
Speaker 8: personality and who he is is identical. He's dependable, he's smart,
Speaker 8: he's exactly where he's supposed to be. Presents himself very well,
Speaker 8: and that high level of intelligence is going to.
Speaker 7: Be important too. And when he walks through the door,
Speaker 7: he fills the doorframe up quickly.
Speaker 8: You just get a real good vibe for how big
Speaker 8: of a man that he is. And then shamar his intensity.
Speaker 8: You know, I think he's one of those guys where
Speaker 8: he presents himself really well, he's got a bright, big smile,
Speaker 8: but he lets you know that there's a switch there
Speaker 8: that he turns off and it becomes a different person
Speaker 8: on game day. We really fell in love with that
Speaker 8: intensity and the overall personality.
Speaker 3: Let's move on, and what did you learn from your
Speaker 3: Top thirty visits with Ze Frasier, Rubin, Hippolyte and Luke
Speaker 3: Newman that confirmed the fit?
Speaker 8: Yeah, again with all of those guys, high level of intelligence,
Speaker 8: can talk football very easily, passion for the game, and
Speaker 8: really with all of them, there's a level of traits,
Speaker 8: physical traits, if it's lean, mass, speed, explosion, power, strength,
Speaker 8: they had some combination of all of those things which
Speaker 8: stood out to us. But having them met on a
Speaker 8: thirty visit, especially Hippolyte and Newman not.
Speaker 7: Going to the combine.
Speaker 8: We take a lot of pride in that, you know,
Speaker 8: we identify some players that maybe weren't captured by everybody else,
Speaker 8: that we believe in, our coaches believe in, and we
Speaker 8: think we can develop to impact our football team, not
Speaker 8: only this year but in the future as well.
Speaker 3: And then let's talk about my young guy as well. Yeah,
Speaker 3: in that mix and Day three pick I just put
Speaker 3: on his pass pro tapeal fall in love at a minimum,
Speaker 3: just that.
Speaker 8: Yeah, there's a level of physicality that plays with violence, toughness, contact, balance,
Speaker 8: always looking to get the positive pick up. Not only
Speaker 8: didn't always run into the best situation crowded box in
Speaker 8: terms of how they defended him, he always found a
Speaker 8: way to get positive gains out of some negative situations.
Speaker 8: And then when you talk about the past pro that's
Speaker 8: where I think you kind of see the character of
Speaker 8: a football player. It's that selflessness. He's not getting the ball,
Speaker 8: but he's protecting his quarterback. He does that in a
Speaker 8: very violent way. You can see his strength and his
Speaker 8: power in that part of his game.
Speaker 3: Yeah, overall, the day three picks, I mean typically if
Speaker 3: you sit back, you know Day three is kind of a.
Speaker 9: Lifeblood of a roster right down the road.
Speaker 3: You keep developing Day threes give him a chance to compete.
Speaker 3: They impact the roster in a big way. These are
Speaker 3: not just guys you pick right, These these are guys you.
Speaker 8: Want, yes, and that development is critical for us as
Speaker 8: we move forward. Myself and Ben, we really emphasize that
Speaker 8: to our coaches and to our staff, to our performance team.
Speaker 8: We have to be elite in our development of players
Speaker 8: that feeds a roster, and we really believe that these
Speaker 8: guys can help us again, not only now, but into
Speaker 8: the future.
Speaker 2: Is the draft.
Speaker 3: It's a big show, it's made for TV special, but
Speaker 3: the work it starts starting for twenty six already. Yeah,
Speaker 3: if you could just crystallize what it entails, walk us
Speaker 3: through what the full preparation for something like this is,
Speaker 3: and just understand the scale of the team effort that
Speaker 3: you alluded to early in this conversation involvement.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean, you've got about nineteen twenty scouts that
Speaker 8: have put their hands on some part of this.
Speaker 7: Process to get us where we need to go.
Speaker 8: You're talking about thousands of reports being written just to
Speaker 8: select seven eight nine guys per year. Our guys who
Speaker 8: live across the country are going into schools ask the
Speaker 8: right questions, trying to identify the talent that's going to
Speaker 8: be best for us. And if you just understood the
Speaker 8: path and the amount of miles that they put in
Speaker 8: in their cars and flight time, it's incredible. But the
Speaker 8: one place that I know we're specialized is our relationships.
Speaker 8: Our guys leaning to the relationships at these schools that
Speaker 8: they go into the game and really gather the information
Speaker 8: to bring back to house all for us to discuss,
Speaker 8: and then.
Speaker 7: Just countless hours.
Speaker 8: We've spent probably probably anywhere from sixty to ninety days
Speaker 8: in that draft room, grinding tape.
Speaker 7: Watching players over and over and over and over.
Speaker 8: Again to make sure that we have everything captured so
Speaker 8: we put a proper value on them and have a.
Speaker 7: Good opportunity to bring them here and put them on
Speaker 7: our roster.
Speaker 3: Hodia, make sure what you're watching that everybody is going
Speaker 3: to start looking the same.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 8: Yeah, we have a structured pretty good just in terms
Speaker 8: of we work vertically down the board from top to bottom.
Speaker 8: And the reason we do that is you can feel
Speaker 8: that split. You can see where the talent kind of
Speaker 8: drops off player to player. It becomes very clear. And
Speaker 8: then we also have really good debate. There's a lot
Speaker 8: of eyes. We're very We bring everybody in the room
Speaker 8: to watch these players, and it's an open conversation. I
Speaker 8: want everybody speaking, so if someone doesn't see what maybe
Speaker 8: the other scouts are seeing, they have the freedom to
Speaker 8: speak up and say, hey, I'm not seeing what you
Speaker 8: all are seeing.
Speaker 7: Can we watch another game or can you explain why
Speaker 7: you see this?
Speaker 8: And those really good discussions allow us to detail the board,
Speaker 8: understand kind of how the sequence is, where the drop
Speaker 8: offs are in terms of the value, and we have
Speaker 8: a beautiful group that works extremely hard and they work
Speaker 8: well together.
Speaker 3: Knowing you have a new coach and Ben Johnson looking
Speaker 3: to build a culture, do you feel the players you're
Speaker 3: drafted align with the vision he's building here and does
Speaker 3: a team, in your opinion, reflect.
Speaker 7: It's head coach. Yeah.
Speaker 8: Yeah, So we don't bring players here that don't relign
Speaker 8: with what our coaching staff is looking for. And we
Speaker 8: took a lot of time and we're very specific on
Speaker 8: what type of players.
Speaker 7: We're trying to identify not only.
Speaker 8: Their skill set, but their football character, their personal character
Speaker 8: as well, and we have a very specific criteria that
Speaker 8: we're looking for and these players had to meet that
Speaker 8: to enter in the Alice Hall. So I have a
Speaker 8: lot of confidence in our system and how we separate
Speaker 8: the different players, but we have to make sure that
Speaker 8: those traits are there to fit that because the more
Speaker 8: players you bring in that are matching the culture in
Speaker 8: those traits, our entire roster starts to mesh together and
Speaker 8: play as one and that's what we're looking to.
Speaker 2: Do, so with free agency in the draft.
Speaker 3: Now in the rear of your mirror, how do you
Speaker 3: feel about your roster heading into the season.
Speaker 7: Yeah, this roster has a lot of talent.
Speaker 8: It's a blend of young players along with experienced guys
Speaker 8: that have played a lot of meaning meaningful ball, especially
Speaker 8: in the playoffs late in the Super Bowl as well,
Speaker 8: and I think that blend of playmakers, youth and experience
Speaker 8: is going to come together and.
Speaker 7: Be highly effective.
Speaker 8: We've talked about just matching what our coaching staff is
Speaker 8: looking forward now in terms of our culture, but our
Speaker 8: scheme as well. I really believe we've hit on a
Speaker 8: lot of those players and it's going to increase the
Speaker 8: level of production that we have.
Speaker 9: And you're probably not done yet.
Speaker 7: Are you? No? Never done, Never done?
Speaker 2: Thank you, Tom.
Speaker 3: He had a lot to say, and in particularly iny
Speaker 3: he likes where the roster's at.
Speaker 2: I focused on that the very last question.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: I liked his opinion on every single player that they
Speaker 4: picked this year. But the one thing that would interest
Speaker 4: me he talked about the team had three hundred and
Speaker 4: fifty simulations of the draft and how it fall and
Speaker 4: he did one hundred and fifty himself. I would like
Speaker 4: to see if any of those attempts at that anybody
Speaker 4: got any any simulator got it all right, because that
Speaker 4: what interests me just to see is is how accurate
Speaker 4: is this simulator that they go through. But I hear
Speaker 4: are really confident Ryan Poles in that interview, and to
Speaker 4: me it's encouraging because after seeing some of these guys
Speaker 4: and hearing from them, I think they have a tremendous upside.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and well, Tom, I think what's pretty interesting in
Speaker 5: that interview, and we had this conversation a week ago
Speaker 5: about Trapillo. Trapillo could be an interesting player to watch,
Speaker 5: you know, if this is a guy that maybe through
Speaker 5: injury or just through adding more competition on the offensive line,
Speaker 5: if he makes it interesting at the left tackle.
Speaker 2: That's Jim Miller top there. I'm Jeff Joniack.
Speaker 3: When we're returning, we dig back into the schedule from
Speaker 3: week ten to week fourteen. I'm gonna save the final
Speaker 3: four pack for another segment. This is Bears Weekly on
Speaker 3: ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 5: This is ESPN Chicago, WNVP, WTBC HD two Yago A
Speaker 5: good Karma Brands Radio station.
Speaker 1: Well, welcome back to Bears Weekly. Become a Bears Radio network.
Speaker 1: Here's your host, the voice of the Bears, Jeff Joeian.
Speaker 3: This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
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Speaker 3: in clinic or virtual deployment. It start feeling better tomorrow, Jeff,
Speaker 3: Tom and Jim. As we look at the Bears twenty
Speaker 3: twenty five schedule, we certainly knew the teams. Now, we
Speaker 3: know the when, We certainly knew the where. All right,
Speaker 3: let's pick it up. We packed in the first nine
Speaker 3: in the first segment, so let's take the next bunch.
Speaker 3: Like we talked about and I emphasized so much a
Speaker 3: year ago, because of the amount of division games that
Speaker 3: the season would begin a week eleven, maybe begins at
Speaker 3: week ten out of the Baltimore and Cincinnati and the
Speaker 3: very difficult AFC North. You know it's going to be
Speaker 3: physical when you play any of those four teams in
Speaker 3: the AFC North, just like the NFC North. But then
Speaker 3: you have the New York Giants sitting there in week ten.
Speaker 3: I don't know who's going to be the quarterback at
Speaker 3: that time when they roll into Soldier Field, They've got
Speaker 3: so many options. I heard Phil Simms yesterday say, hey,
Speaker 3: when surprise me if Jackson Dart comes out as the
Speaker 3: leader and becomes the starting quarterback for the New York Jets.
Speaker 2: Jim, do you see that scenario?
Speaker 3: And maybe it is week ten, Brian Dabo's been there
Speaker 3: a minute now and they got to start winning.
Speaker 5: Yeah, there's no hurry to rush Jackson Dart out there. So,
Speaker 5: like you said, you could right around week nine, week ten,
Speaker 5: that's where a young quarterback starts to settle in. I
Speaker 5: do think Jackson Dart is well coached by Lane Kiffen.
Speaker 5: They're at Ole Miss and you're right, at some point,
Speaker 5: maybe the numbers are stacking up against the Giants where
Speaker 5: they say, hey, we're probably not going to make the
Speaker 5: playoffs and let's put the young kid out there to
Speaker 5: really see what he can do. I also will say this,
Speaker 5: the Giants they do have pass rush now. They drafted
Speaker 5: Abdul Carter, they traded for Brian Burns, so that'll be
Speaker 5: a good test of where the Bears pass per ten
Speaker 5: is at that point of the season. We know it's
Speaker 5: a new system, Caleb Williams being broadlong a different way.
Speaker 5: We know how Ben Johnson likes to attack defenses. I'd
Speaker 5: like to see where they are dealing with a premier
Speaker 5: pass rush group. Because the Giants granted he didn't Lawrence
Speaker 5: Taylor didn't grant Abdul Carter his number. He's got to
Speaker 5: earn it on his own. We'll see if he earns
Speaker 5: it versus the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 4: But how about Abdul Carter wearing number fifty one in
Speaker 4: Chicago when you're talking about one of the greatest defensive
Speaker 4: players in the history of the NFL and Dick Buckets,
Speaker 4: and here comes a.
Speaker 6: Guy that has a little.
Speaker 4: Cache, a high profile beginning to his NFL career and
Speaker 4: he comes in with fifty one. But to me those
Speaker 4: outside the Philadelphia Eagles, every one of those is a
Speaker 4: question mark at quarterback kill because we're not going to
Speaker 4: know what JJ McCarthy is by then, because he's still
Speaker 4: going to be a rookie and still going to be
Speaker 4: We don't know what the Giants are going to have,
Speaker 4: We don't know what the Steelers are doing, but we
Speaker 4: know what Jalen Hurts is in the Philadelphia Eagles. So
Speaker 4: there's a little bit of a quarterback uncertainty in that
Speaker 4: little stretch of games outside of the Eagles.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that, of course is the Friday night prime
Speaker 3: time game. I didn't know this. The Bears have played
Speaker 3: Friday games in NFL history. Last one was nineteen sixty six.
Speaker 5: Friday Night under the lights. Wa I miss that one, Jeff,
Speaker 5: I was born in seventy one.
Speaker 3: You really have to prove that you're younger than us,
Speaker 3: don't you. Nicely done, nicely done. But that is a
Speaker 3: teeth of a schedule at Minnesota, we know is always challenging,
Speaker 3: There's no question about it. They've done a lot on
Speaker 3: their offensive line, They've added pieces on the defensive side
Speaker 3: of the wall, and really I am impressed with what
Speaker 3: Kevin O'Connell does at the quarterback position.
Speaker 2: So are we looking at a.
Speaker 3: Beginner's journey like Bo Nixon Denver last year? He did
Speaker 3: a very nice job led that team. JJ McCarthy's smart,
Speaker 3: he's accurate, he's a good quarterback. He was a good
Speaker 3: quarterback in Michigan.
Speaker 6: He didn't play it down as rookie years.
Speaker 4: He had all this chance to absorb and asked if
Speaker 4: he was a college freshman who was just going to
Speaker 4: classes and not taken tests.
Speaker 5: And you gotta believe Minnesota they're gearing it. I know
Speaker 5: they've got those talented receivers, but there's a reason why
Speaker 5: they put all that money into their offensive line. Obviously,
Speaker 5: they paid Will Fries a lot of money in Ryan
Speaker 5: Kelly as well, and look what the Colts did. Colts
Speaker 5: ran the football as good as anybody with Jonathan Taylor
Speaker 5: in the background because their old line could run it
Speaker 5: and they struggled at quarterbacks, so they've insulated him very well.
Speaker 5: They're going to run the ball with Aaron Jones. You
Speaker 5: think of JJ McCarthy, even at Michigan, he threw the
Speaker 5: least of all the quarterbacks that came out in his draft.
Speaker 5: So even with those talented receivers that they have, where
Speaker 5: is their run game going to be at? Because they're
Speaker 5: going to count on that quite a bit early until
Speaker 5: they branch out offensive.
Speaker 3: And of course they added Mason from San Francisco to
Speaker 3: that mix as well.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I mean, you got JJ over there. It's
Speaker 2: trouble with the cap tee.
Speaker 3: By the way, Ben Johnson's Detroit offense again, the Bears
Speaker 3: are not going to be a Detroit offense.
Speaker 2: It's gonna be the Bears offense.
Speaker 3: But they did put up thirty one points October twentieth
Speaker 3: at Minnesota in twenty four and a two point win.
Speaker 3: Did it again at Ford Field against the Vikings on
Speaker 3: January fifth, thirty one to nine. So just food for
Speaker 3: thought if nothing else. And by the way, the Bears
Speaker 3: are twelve and one in the history of their matchups
Speaker 3: with the Pittsburgh Steelers at home.
Speaker 2: I'll take that.
Speaker 3: I know it doesn't matter, but hey, it's history. We'll
Speaker 3: have fun with it.
Speaker 2: No matter what.
Speaker 3: They got, DK Metcalf bye by George Pickens, and then
Speaker 3: that Philadelphia game, the Black Friday Special. Vic Fangio will
Speaker 3: be the key to this one. So great as a
Speaker 3: defensive coordinator number twoe points. The game allowed number one yards,
Speaker 3: number one in passing yards, tenth and rushing per game.
Speaker 3: Quarterbacks had the third lowest combined rating against Fangio last year.
Speaker 3: You got Saque, you got aj Brown, you got Devonte Smith,
Speaker 3: you got an offensive line that's still premiere. But that
Speaker 3: matchup will be for me anyway. How Klee deals with
Speaker 3: Vic Fangio, Jim.
Speaker 5: Yeah, totally agree, and I think it'll be really a
Speaker 5: validation of Ryan Poles in the interior work that he
Speaker 5: did in free agency with the interior offensive line, right,
Speaker 5: do you look at Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis. That
Speaker 5: is a big group of defensive tackles. They were dominators.
Speaker 5: They did not have to blitz pretty much all year
Speaker 5: long because there are two defensive tackles freed up their
Speaker 5: edge rushers. So to me, that is an offensive line game.
Speaker 5: Talk about trench warfare. That's how Philadelphia won it. Where
Speaker 5: the Bears are Week thirteen, when they go on the
Speaker 5: road against Philadelphia will really be about where the offensive
Speaker 5: line is for the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 6: I could agree with you, Mare Jim just that statement.
Speaker 3: Time for a break, that's to there. I'm Jeff Joniak
Speaker 3: Jim Miller. This is Bears Weekly and ASPN one thousand
Speaker 3: of the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: You were listening to Bears Weekly on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 6: Fish is Bears Weekly with.
Speaker 1: The voice of the Bears for twenty four years years
Speaker 1: with Chef Hilney at Chef Pumped Up Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 3: This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
Speaker 3: IGS Energy. We're breaking down the twenty twenty five schedule
Speaker 3: after the release last night with Tom Thayer, Jeff Jonahak,
Speaker 3: and Jim Miller. And now we get into the teeth
Speaker 3: of the schedule. We got through week thirteen in our
Speaker 3: last segment, let's spend some time with the week fourteen
Speaker 3: fifteen sixteen trio. The whole segment is about this trio.
Speaker 3: It's a rare thing. You get the Green Bay Packers
Speaker 3: coming out of Philadelphia. That's a Friday to a Sunday
Speaker 3: noon start in lambeau Field with the Bears one in
Speaker 3: January of twenty five. Then you host Cleveland and you
Speaker 3: can't trip on that game. I don't know what I
Speaker 3: don't even know who we cording back? Who will be
Speaker 3: quarterback of the Browns? Is Joe Flacco going to be upright?
Speaker 3: Is Shader Sanders is going to be in there? Who
Speaker 3: knows how that's all gonna work. That's a long way
Speaker 3: from now. You got a block Miles Garrett and they
Speaker 3: have added two rookies to the backfield. Then you get
Speaker 3: Green Bay at Soldier Field on sad it's either a
Speaker 3: three thirty or a six thirty start. Well know later on,
Speaker 3: but that'll be a standalone game. And the Bears have
Speaker 3: five standalone games, and this is just part of the
Speaker 3: ten games against teams that made the playoffs in twenty
Speaker 3: twenty four, with this Packer team twice in three weeks.
Speaker 3: Tom you said something in the break you lean back
Speaker 3: in your chair, you're contemplating by playing the Packers twice.
Speaker 4: So what Ben Johnson, or what the coaching staff for
Speaker 4: Green Bay. There's not gonna be an exhaustive amount of changes.
Speaker 4: You're gonna look at things that you did well in
Speaker 4: the first time you played them, and you're probably gonna
Speaker 4: repeat a.
Speaker 6: Lot of those things in the second time that you
Speaker 6: played them.
Speaker 4: If you expose some vulnerabilities the first time you played them,
Speaker 4: then you're gonna try to alleviate those things that you
Speaker 4: became vulnerable against. And I just think when you play
Speaker 4: a common opponent, because there's a lot of time during
Speaker 4: your tape study during the course of the year, as
Speaker 4: you're looking at other teams, you're also going to be
Speaker 4: looking at the Green Bay Packers. For example, when you
Speaker 4: get ready for the Minnesota Viking in week eleven, you're
Speaker 4: gonna be looking at Green Bay stuff. When you get
Speaker 4: ready for Minnesota and Detroit in week one and two,
Speaker 4: you're gonna be looking at Green Bay film, so you're
Speaker 4: always gonna have those guys in the back of your
Speaker 4: head and within the common opponent. Two times and within
Speaker 4: three weeks.
Speaker 9: It just.
Speaker 6: It makes interesting.
Speaker 4: Battlefield because because of the commonality you have between them.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm with Tom. There'll be a lot of carryover
Speaker 5: when you have a quick turnaround like that facing the opponent,
Speaker 5: because they may be doing certain things well at that point,
Speaker 5: unless you know, in that two week stretch, unless there's
Speaker 5: like a key injury or something like that for Green
Speaker 5: Bay or vice versa, then maybe they try to expose
Speaker 5: something different. But typically with quick turnaround games where you
Speaker 5: play the same opponent, you're gonna stick with what you
Speaker 5: guys did or what you did well, and there'll be
Speaker 5: a lot of carryover from that. So that'll be interesting
Speaker 5: how it works out.
Speaker 4: We can, I say to say one thing, and even
Speaker 4: though you played Green Bay twice in three weeks, and
Speaker 4: if I'm an offensive lineman, especially in the offensive tackle,
Speaker 4: the lingering effect of those three games is gonna.
Speaker 6: Be Miles Garrett and I don't know, you.
Speaker 4: Know, because if you play against a guy that has
Speaker 4: that type of unique ability and that type of respect
Speaker 4: around the league.
Speaker 6: As much as I'm thinking about the division games.
Speaker 4: If I'm a tackle, it's gonna be hard not to
Speaker 4: think about Miles Garrett.
Speaker 3: First time playing within two weeks since nineteen ninety eight,
Speaker 3: two times in thirteen days, the first time since eighty five.
Speaker 3: So you played two games within thirteen days Tom in
Speaker 3: nineteen eighty five.
Speaker 2: I don't have the schedule memorize. Maybe you know who
Speaker 2: that was, but this.
Speaker 3: Is thirteen days between games between the green Bay Packers
Speaker 3: sandwiched in with the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 2: So it's gonna be interesting.
Speaker 4: One of the games is Cleveland Browns is on Sunday.
Speaker 4: The next Green Bay game is on a Saturday, so
Speaker 4: you're losing one prep day. They are really two preps
Speaker 4: because you know, you kind of lessen the workload in
Speaker 4: those shorter weeks.
Speaker 3: Jim, what do you think of up what the Packers
Speaker 3: have done in the offseason.
Speaker 5: Yeah, they've done a lot of good things. I mean,
Speaker 5: people forget this team green Bay. Granted they didn't farewell
Speaker 5: in the division, but they were a top five offense
Speaker 5: and they were a top five defense. So and now
Speaker 5: they've they've drafted some pretty good players because Obviously they're
Speaker 5: not happy with Christian Watson the way they attack their
Speaker 5: receiver position. So this is a formidable team looking to
Speaker 5: take another big step. And so you know, we'll see
Speaker 5: they are a very good football team and that is
Speaker 5: a well bill roster and great.
Speaker 4: One thing about it, Jim, how does Golden play in
Speaker 4: extremely cold weather in December on a natural grass field
Speaker 4: at that time of the year, And that's where the
Speaker 4: first time we're going to be able to see him.
Speaker 4: I'm talking about the first round draft choice for the
Speaker 4: Green Bay Packers. If we come into extreme conditions in
Speaker 4: week fourteen and week sixteen at may affect some of
Speaker 4: these first time players.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and not only that, they added save On Williams,
Speaker 3: the TCU weapon, because he's a big receiver, he can run.
Speaker 3: And they also added me Cole Hartman. So I thought
Speaker 3: they had plenty of receivers, but they must not. They
Speaker 3: must not love every one of them. So adding more
Speaker 3: depth for the quarterback there. And also you got to
Speaker 3: make sure you stop that running game of Josh Jacobs.
Speaker 3: All right, one more segment to go, Well, wrap up
Speaker 3: the rest of the schedule that's on our docket here
Speaker 3: on Bears Weekly on ESPN one thousand and the Bears
Speaker 3: Radio Network.
Speaker 1: You were tuned into Bears Weekly with Jeff Joniat on
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Speaker 1: the Bears, Chef.
Speaker 6: Joni a.
Speaker 3: This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
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Speaker 3: and Tom and Jim Miller from Serious XM NFL Radio
Speaker 3: week seventeen at San Francisco for a seven twenty Sunday
Speaker 3: night kickoff. Tom, that one gets under your saddle, A
Speaker 3: burn a saddle a little bit back to San Francisco
Speaker 3: where they struggled last year with George Kittle and Brock Purtty.
Speaker 2: That connection was nasty.
Speaker 3: But you know you're not getting home till Monday morning
Speaker 3: at seven am.
Speaker 4: Right, So you play Saturday Green Bay game Week sixteen.
Speaker 4: Then your next game is Sunday seven fifteen in San Francisco, So.
Speaker 6: That means you lose a whole day. You get back Monday.
Speaker 4: You kind of give the players a day off to
Speaker 4: kind of refresh and then you conclude with a division
Speaker 4: game that hasn't been announced yet. So I just I'm not.
Speaker 6: A big fan of making the Bears.
Speaker 4: Travel all the way to the West Coast play a
Speaker 4: seven to fifteen game. You play, and you get home
Speaker 4: at sometime Monday morning. So I'm just not a fan
Speaker 4: of the t ask of this game.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and if that game against the Lions is played
Speaker 5: on a Saturday, like you said, Tom, hit it there,
Speaker 5: you basically are losing that whole Monday. I mean, let's
Speaker 5: be honest. And then they if they do indeed have
Speaker 5: to play on Saturday, thank god it's a division opponent
Speaker 5: that you know well, in the Detroit Lions, because that
Speaker 5: could be a meaningful game if the Bears can find
Speaker 5: themselves in the mix for the division. I mean, there
Speaker 5: will be a lot on the line potentially that Week
Speaker 5: eighteen game.
Speaker 4: You know, Jim, the Detroit Lions changing all the coordinators.
Speaker 4: So you play them in week two, then you don't
Speaker 4: play them again until Week eighteen. There's going to be
Speaker 4: a lot of different changes within the Lions probably and
Speaker 4: the Bears as well. And then when you talk about
Speaker 4: if you do have to play them on that short
Speaker 4: week schedule, it could be.
Speaker 6: A tough coaching challenge.
Speaker 3: By the way, the Bears have won eight of the
Speaker 3: last thirteen meetings at home against the Lions, so they've
Speaker 3: played them hard. I think Ben Johnson acknowledged that when
Speaker 3: he took the job that it was challenging, and of
Speaker 3: course we felt that the Bears were in position to
Speaker 3: win a couple of those games against Detroit and the
Speaker 3: first time to close the season against the Lions since
Speaker 3: twenty fifteen. One other nugget on the forty nine er
Speaker 3: game at Levi Stadium, the home of the Super Bowl
Speaker 3: here for the next twenty twenty five season. The last
Speaker 3: time the Bears won on the road against a forty
Speaker 3: nine Ers team that finished with a winning record was
Speaker 3: your nineteen eighty five team.
Speaker 2: Time. Do you remember that out Do you remember that game?
Speaker 4: Twenty six to ten. We crushed them. We ran the
Speaker 4: ball so well against him, and that was the get
Speaker 4: back game. That was the first game that Mike dickt
Speaker 4: inserted William Perry into the backfield because of Guy MacIntyre
Speaker 4: being inserted into the backfield the year before in the
Speaker 4: NFC Championship game. So that game was all about the
Speaker 4: vindictive Mike Ditka.
Speaker 3: You know, I also want to mention something about the
Speaker 3: Packers back. Would this twice and thirteen day thing ratchet
Speaker 3: up the angst, ratchet up the you know, playing through
Speaker 3: the echo of the whistle and a little ear hustling
Speaker 3: going on and some paybacks from the previous game. I
Speaker 3: think that could be a war the second one around.
Speaker 4: Listen, if the Bear's going to Green Bay and beat
Speaker 4: him at two years in a row, it's gonna up
Speaker 4: the angst a lot.
Speaker 6: As you say.
Speaker 5: Yeah, if the Bears can win on the road week
Speaker 5: fourteen and Caleb goes two to zero in lambe week sixteen,
Speaker 5: will matter. Just hey, just go back to draft day.
Speaker 5: I thought that was hysterical about Caleb Williams is undefeated
Speaker 5: in Lambow. It definitely is going to ratchet up.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was our guys, Seth We had. Seth Rollins
Speaker 3: was on our Bears et cetera podcast a week and
Speaker 3: a half ago.
Speaker 2: He was hilarious.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he did it up right, He got him all
Speaker 3: stirred up. Over there final nine games of the season,
Speaker 3: Bears will left five home games, including three of the
Speaker 3: final four, So team's got to deal with the potential
Speaker 3: weather at Soldier Field. This I find it was from
Speaker 3: a leftover note last year, not knowing if Caleb Williams
Speaker 3: would be able to take every snap, but he did
Speaker 3: played every game, and then Bob Abolini the only quarterback
Speaker 3: to start every game in consecutive seasons in the modern era.
Speaker 3: So Caleb knock on Wood play the entire season, that'll
Speaker 3: mean good things for you, good things for the team,
Speaker 3: and good things for continuity. You wouldn't ordinarily make that comment,
Speaker 3: but it's been a struggle for the Bears to have
Speaker 3: a quarterback play all the entire schedule each and every season.
Speaker 3: So I hope that that happens. If that happens, I
Speaker 3: think good things are happening for the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 2: All right, boys, that's gonna wrap us up.
Speaker 3: Appreciate your time taking a journey through the twenty twenty
Speaker 3: five schedule, and I know, Jim you're gonna be breaking
Speaker 3: down every single team in great detail from now until
Speaker 3: the start of preseason camp. And by the way, we
Speaker 3: should also mention the preseason schedule to be determined against
Speaker 3: Miami at Soldier Field Buffalo is a scheduled seven pm Sunday,
Speaker 3: August seventeenth, and at Kansas City back to back seasons
Speaker 3: in the preseason times buying the barbecue in the Tacos
Speaker 3: Tacos Friday, August twenty second at seven to twenty. We
Speaker 3: won't invite Jim Miller long for the ride on that
Speaker 3: one as well, So a to be determined Sunday Friday.
Speaker 3: Preseason seems pretty harmless, not too bad. One short little
Speaker 3: trip to Kansas City in the preseason gym.
Speaker 5: Yeah, hey, hey, I'm looking forward to I'm glad, hey,
Speaker 5: Black Friday games. We got these standalone games, the international games.
Speaker 5: It's hard to keep track of all these things. But
Speaker 5: I think this is a decent schedule. Let's to me,
Speaker 5: it's a nice schedule for the Chicago Bears. And you know,
Speaker 5: I think that's a good opening game, a good two
Speaker 5: week opening games, and see where they sit, and I
Speaker 5: personally do I think they can get off to a
Speaker 5: fast start. Las Vegas Raiders. They're slaying a foundation out there,
Speaker 5: so that to me, that's even steevesman. I expect them
Speaker 5: to be two and two minimum out of those first
Speaker 5: four weeks.
Speaker 6: Three and one or else.
Speaker 3: Yes, thanks to our producers Dan Brilli and Jordan Treadup
Speaker 3: at the executive producer of the Bears Ready Network, Eric
Speaker 3: Ostrowski in studio, Justin Pottinger, Thanks to everybody for listening.
Speaker 3: For top there and Jim Miller. I'm Jeff Joniac. This
Speaker 3: has been Bears Weekly on the radio, home of the
Speaker 3: Chicago Bears, ESPN Chicago Black and Abdalla are next. Have
Speaker 3: a great night, everybody,