Speaker 1: Right justin middle of the field forty five to fifteen,
Speaker 1: bring Bruss in front.
Speaker 2: Of all leaving lions in his way. I am Jeff
Speaker 2: Joniack Wlitz is on donec us what was like playing
Speaker 2: for coache Good?
Speaker 1: Done.
Speaker 3: I don't want to answer any questions like that.
Speaker 2: Sixty one yards? What's Sunday stroll for? Justin field?
Speaker 1: Ye Bears et cetera with the voices of the Chicago
Speaker 1: Bears Jeff Joniac. Despite the fact the stage was sent
Speaker 1: for the dawning of a new day in football's oldest
Speaker 1: and greatest rivalry, the Bears were unable to grasp the
Speaker 1: moment at disappointing thirty eight twenty loss to the Green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field. Welcome to episode
Speaker 1: fifteen of The Bears et Cetera podcast with Super Bowl
Speaker 1: winning Bear Tom Theyer. I'm Jeff Joniac, coming up to
Speaker 1: each week after the game, head coach Matt Eberflu spent
Speaker 1: some time helping us break it all down. We'll be
Speaker 1: doing so shortly, but first got to thank our producers,
Speaker 1: Dan Really, Jordan tread Up, and Katie tuber I just
Speaker 1: couple of players. They're still feeling that hangover the lost time.
Speaker 1: And I met with Dick Bucks for quite a while,
Speaker 1: and so someone who didn't have a ton of experience
Speaker 1: on winning teams certainly knows what it's like to feel
Speaker 1: the pain of defeat, and it just it does drag
Speaker 1: you down a little bit. I know, it's onto the
Speaker 1: next game and eyes forward, that is Matt Eberfluss's a
Speaker 1: big phrase, eyes forward to the next But it's hard
Speaker 1: to get rid of it a little bit when you
Speaker 1: so invested like you have been over the course of
Speaker 1: your career as a player and as an announcer.
Speaker 2: You know it's got a sting. Jeff. If it doesn't sting,
Speaker 2: then you're kind of in the wrong business.
Speaker 4: And if you go through the process and you kind
Speaker 4: of correct the mistakes going to the team meeting and
Speaker 4: have thick skin and understand that every single player in
Speaker 4: there is going to get criticized in front of their peers.
Speaker 2: But how do you rebound from that.
Speaker 4: It's not like you completely throw away the entire game
Speaker 4: plan and all the information that you've been installing since
Speaker 4: OTAs you go and refine the good things, own correct
Speaker 4: the mistakes, you make sure that people are in the
Speaker 4: right place, understanding their assignments each and every down, each
Speaker 4: and every play.
Speaker 2: And that's the great thing about football, Jeff.
Speaker 4: You can go from having the worst feeling in your
Speaker 4: football athletic life one moment to having the greatest feeling
Speaker 4: a week from that day. So I think that's where
Speaker 4: you have to stress the point, that's where your.
Speaker 2: Focus has to be.
Speaker 4: And as mattieber Flew says, you got to look to
Speaker 4: the future.
Speaker 1: How did you handle losses? Seriously? And you didn't have many,
Speaker 1: but how did you handle them? Because you know, did
Speaker 1: you lose sleep at night? Not not just about the
Speaker 1: tape review, I'm just saying, like the actual disappointment of
Speaker 1: walking off the field, especially in big leverage situations, big games.
Speaker 2: It was different for me, Jeff.
Speaker 4: I'm a local guy, so when I walked out of
Speaker 4: the home game, I was eye to eye with my
Speaker 4: whole family. I didn't necessarily feel like a failure, but
Speaker 4: I know that they felt bad for me.
Speaker 2: But I was more concerned for.
Speaker 4: My living, for my occupation, to the way I made money,
Speaker 4: to everything I strive for my whole life. So it
Speaker 4: was something that hung with me for a period of time.
Speaker 2: And then you can't.
Speaker 4: Ignore the film sessions, because our film sessions at times
Speaker 4: are super critical. And Mike Ditka ran the projector, and
Speaker 4: so you had to understand the plays that you did
Speaker 4: miserably bad on. He's going to point them out time
Speaker 4: and time again. And when you're an offensive lineman, Jeff,
Speaker 4: you see him four or five times. It's not like
Speaker 4: they just go buy them and say, hey, you got
Speaker 4: to do better here, Let's move on to the next play.
Speaker 4: Corrections are made and maybe some hints about how to
Speaker 4: use your technique and thinking better.
Speaker 1: I felt winning the opener was imperative for a number
Speaker 1: of reasons. I was vocal about it. Not that it'll
Speaker 1: make or break the season. That was not the intent
Speaker 1: of my statement, but it's the Packers and you don't
Speaker 1: get a plan again until week eighteen. It's how they've
Speaker 1: handled the Bears with a lot of ease over the years.
Speaker 1: Players are sick of losing to the Packers. It is
Speaker 1: a brand new team. I get it. But I just
Speaker 1: felt that this was going to have reverberations potentially, and
Speaker 1: fans are sick of losing to the Packers. There's no
Speaker 1: other way.
Speaker 2: We all are.
Speaker 1: But I just felt it would been a nice platform moment.
Speaker 1: Now it's over. It's definitely over. There's things that we've
Speaker 1: learned about the team through this game that will benefit
Speaker 1: them moving forward. It doesn't lessen what I felt was
Speaker 1: an impactful moment that could have been embraced.
Speaker 2: I agree one hundred percent. Listen, I'm still in a
Speaker 2: bad mood over it.
Speaker 4: When I go home after a game like the loss
Speaker 4: of Green Bay Packers, I can't listen to sports radio,
Speaker 4: I can't watch football highlights on TV. The next day,
Speaker 4: I go home and you study the tape of the
Speaker 4: game and you kind of look at it as if
Speaker 4: you are an active player. What are the things they
Speaker 4: did well? What are the things that are immediately correctable?
Speaker 1: All right, let's do you take let's do the exercise.
Speaker 2: Okay, Well, if I look at you know what do
Speaker 2: I need more of?
Speaker 4: I need more of DJ Moore earlier in the game
Speaker 4: and more targets in the course of the game.
Speaker 2: I need more of Cole comment on first.
Speaker 4: And second down to put yourself in a more makeable
Speaker 4: second and third down scenario. Roshawn Johnson has earned more
Speaker 4: opportunities for me that I need to feed him the
Speaker 4: football more. Whether he's a blocker, a wide receiver, or
Speaker 4: a running back.
Speaker 2: Nate Davis impressed me.
Speaker 4: I thought he played much better than I expected of
Speaker 4: him because he hasn't played in training camp very much.
Speaker 2: So if I'm going to go and revisit jeff.
Speaker 4: A third and one and fourth and one early in
Speaker 4: the game, I'm going to go behind Darnell Wright and
Speaker 4: Nate Davis. That is going to be my impact point.
Speaker 4: When I look at the defensive side of the ball,
Speaker 4: I'm gonna put more emphasis on the game of Tremaine Edmunds.
Speaker 4: Whether do you I make an attempt to blitz him?
Speaker 2: Do I allow it?
Speaker 4: Do I put him in more coverage responsibilities out of
Speaker 4: the backfield maybe versus tight end? How am I going
Speaker 4: to feed the defensive backs more opportunities to create interceptions
Speaker 4: rather than broken up passes? And then the defensive line rotation,
Speaker 4: It's going to be a contest each week whoever is
Speaker 4: getting the most value out of their reps is going
Speaker 4: to earn more playing time. And I remember back in
Speaker 4: the day when Jimmy Johnson became.
Speaker 2: The coach of the Dallas Cowboys, and.
Speaker 4: It was the first time that I really recognize a
Speaker 4: wide variety of rotating defensive linemen, so you really can't
Speaker 4: fall into a pattern of playing against the same guy
Speaker 4: every single snap, and you understand and learn his tendencies.
Speaker 4: So I think this is a group of athletes that
Speaker 4: they can move around. You can put Dominique Robinson up
Speaker 4: and down the liner's scrimmage. You can use Yannick and
Speaker 4: Gaguay up and down this and both sides of the ball.
Speaker 4: You know, you have a guy like Javon Extra can
Speaker 4: play inside and outside. Zach Pickens has good explosion, Andre
Speaker 4: Billings Andrew Billings is very strong at the point of
Speaker 4: attack and he can play. So all these guys that
Speaker 4: have these talents, and I'm not excluding Justin Jones. I'm
Speaker 4: just trying to say as many names off the top
Speaker 4: of my head in how I would look at the
Speaker 4: tape going forward.
Speaker 1: Well, the interesting thing too, DeMarcus Walker, he played a
Speaker 1: lot of inside. He came inside on Nickel, and the
Speaker 1: same goes for Rashim Green. I mean, these guys, they
Speaker 1: do have that versatility to do exactly what you said.
Speaker 4: Exactly, and I think that's one of the strengths of
Speaker 4: a lot of these athletes. They have the ability to
Speaker 4: play anywhere, and sometimes it's the identification of film study
Speaker 4: of your opponent. Where are the vulnerabilities of the offensive
Speaker 4: line that you're getting ready to play against. Who is
Speaker 4: our strongest rusher in certain circumstances that can expose their vulnerabilities.
Speaker 2: Those are the types of things that you have to study.
Speaker 4: And I'm sure the entire pre scouting department for the
Speaker 4: Chicago Go Bears looking at the Tampa Bay Bucks give
Speaker 4: these guys a great list of notes in how to
Speaker 4: look at those guys when you're getting ready to face them.
Speaker 1: Right now, when you spent over two nine ninety nine
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Speaker 1: Now time to hear what the status from house is
Speaker 1: with head coach Matt Eberflus. I sit down with him
Speaker 1: on Monday. All right, Welcome to a new version of
Speaker 1: Matt Eberflus. This is the Bears et cetera podcast every
Speaker 1: Monday after every game we're gonna wrap it up. What
Speaker 1: do you think good? How are you doing today? I'm good,
Speaker 1: I'm good. How about you?
Speaker 3: I'm doing all right.
Speaker 5: We had our team meeting, you know, and talk to
Speaker 5: the players about, you know, just about the standards of
Speaker 5: what we're going to do in terms of after a game,
Speaker 5: you know, reports and action, how we're going to.
Speaker 3: Handle this, you know, win or lose. You know.
Speaker 5: So it's a twenty four hour rule, and it's important
Speaker 5: for us to understand and the corrections we need to
Speaker 5: make to get better.
Speaker 3: By each position.
Speaker 5: And it's always going to be the player and the
Speaker 5: coach working together to handle those things and get those
Speaker 5: things corrected and also to build up on the things
Speaker 5: we did well.
Speaker 3: And that's what we're always going to be about.
Speaker 5: And the guys had the right attitude today and you know,
Speaker 5: he had great communication in both unit meetings to make
Speaker 5: those improvements. And it's got to get done on the
Speaker 5: practice field this week.
Speaker 1: Do you also, though, allow that each player individually deals
Speaker 1: with loss or performance good or bad, in their own
Speaker 1: unique way, and no matter what is said and how
Speaker 1: the plan is, they got to go through their own
Speaker 1: look in the mirror a little bit.
Speaker 5: Yeah, when you lose a game, it's it's it hurts,
Speaker 5: you know, because you put so much into it during
Speaker 5: the course of the week and there, you know, especially
Speaker 5: for the first game, there's so much bill up to it,
Speaker 5: and you know, you got to recognize that, hey, you
Speaker 5: know it was the performance that I had. I did
Speaker 5: some good things. There are some things that I need
Speaker 5: to improve on, okay, and that maybe fundamentals or technique
Speaker 5: or it might be your assignment and you need to
Speaker 5: prove those because how you get better as a professional
Speaker 5: athlete is you improve through the course of the season.
Speaker 5: You know, you get more consistent, you get better every
Speaker 5: single week. And when we do that collectly as a group,
Speaker 5: it's going to be good, good outcomes.
Speaker 1: What do you get when a guy doesn't do anything well,
Speaker 1: how do you handle him?
Speaker 3: Yeah? You just you work with them. You work with them.
Speaker 5: You just you know, it's your job as a football
Speaker 5: coach to work with the guys that are under you,
Speaker 5: you know, and that are working with you, and uh,
Speaker 5: it's your job to also develop the man mentally, you know, physically,
Speaker 5: and also you know him also as his spirit as
Speaker 5: he brings it into the game.
Speaker 1: There's inherently a lot of overreactions in Week one around
Speaker 1: the league, things are really high. This team is all
Speaker 1: of a sudden this then something expected over here doesn't happen.
Speaker 1: You look at Joe Burrow in Cincinnati. I mean, talk
Speaker 1: about a tough day. That was a tough day for
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow. However, with all that attention and this ending
Speaker 1: the way it did like last year, and the influx
Speaker 1: of talent this year, could you see why people feel
Speaker 1: a little flat today out there?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I sure do, I sure do. But we also
Speaker 5: remember that's a long season. You know, there's a lot
Speaker 5: of football to be played. We played, you know, sixty
Speaker 5: five snaps you know on offense, you know, on average
Speaker 5: and defense, and twenty five in the kicking game. So
Speaker 5: and there's over a thousand snaps on offense and defense
Speaker 5: you know, during the course of the year.
Speaker 3: So there's a lot of ball to be played.
Speaker 5: You know, everybody's looking to improve from week one to
Speaker 5: week two, regardless of outcome, and we've got to put
Speaker 5: our best foot forward this week.
Speaker 1: Again, you can't talk about last year, but it's just
Speaker 1: as a reference point. A lot of games playing from behind. Again,
Speaker 1: in this game, Bears never had the lead against Green Bay. Yeah,
Speaker 1: hoping to see what this team actually looks like when
Speaker 1: the defense can play on a lead and what that
Speaker 1: does then for the offense as well, because that complimentary
Speaker 1: football thing takes on a whole new look. I mean,
Speaker 1: you still haven't really experienced that yet.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, it's you know, last year at the
Speaker 5: Newing game, we did you know for that that was
Speaker 5: we were playing from the lead there, you know, and
Speaker 5: I think it's going to be good. You know, we
Speaker 5: got to really do a good job of because we can,
Speaker 5: you know, run the ball, you know. I think that's
Speaker 5: important that we can do that, and then we need
Speaker 5: to play good pass defense and take the ball away
Speaker 5: when we do get that lead.
Speaker 1: We are sponsored in part bying Miller Lite, the official
Speaker 1: beer of the Chicago Bears. Taste like Miller Time Chicago.
Speaker 1: Jeff Joniac, Matt Eberfluss on Bears, et cetera. This week,
Speaker 1: poor starting field position. That's going to kill you every time.
Speaker 1: It's tough if you're not a team that has had
Speaker 1: a lot of success together. It's a brand new football
Speaker 1: team this year. Starting behind the chains, unforced, all these
Speaker 1: things that added up the field position was very different
Speaker 1: for both teams. Almost a great place to start that
Speaker 1: and third down.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I would say that we looked at our first
Speaker 5: stouting efficiency, you know, the P downs P and ten
Speaker 5: which is the start of the series, then first and
Speaker 5: ten within, and we need to improve on those.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 5: Defensively, we were very good on p downs, you know,
Speaker 5: we were really good. I think they average two point two.
Speaker 5: And then offensively we were really good in the first
Speaker 5: downs within, you know, but it was to start this
Speaker 5: series we got to improve on those.
Speaker 3: For offense.
Speaker 5: So again a lot of those were either pre stat
Speaker 5: penalties or there were perimeter type screens where we took.
Speaker 3: Some losses, you know, so we have to do a.
Speaker 5: Better job blocking on the perimeter and making sure our
Speaker 5: operation is clean.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what's the key on those perimeter blocks?
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's just about aiming points, okay, and then being
Speaker 5: us sustain you know. It's it's all about aiming points
Speaker 5: in your technique.
Speaker 1: What is the proper technique?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would just say that.
Speaker 5: We're aiming for the outside shoulder, okay, and that's our
Speaker 5: aiming point. And if he tries to go under, then
Speaker 5: you got to be able to work your feet back inside,
Speaker 5: you know, because you got to start, you know, trying
Speaker 5: to circle the defense is the operation for that play,
Speaker 5: particular play. And if he tries to work back inside,
Speaker 5: you got to work your feet back inside, because it's
Speaker 5: all it's all about your feet.
Speaker 1: I was wondering, I attacked Alan Williams about this last week,
Speaker 1: just about tackling for the first game.
Speaker 3: Did you think it was good missing nine?
Speaker 5: We didn't end up missing three on one play and
Speaker 5: that was that QB scramble that we ended up stopping
Speaker 5: him on third down on the sideline, on their sideline,
Speaker 5: So really we missed, you know, so that's still pretty good.
Speaker 5: You know, we want to get that number down to
Speaker 5: five or less for a game that's outstanding, and we'll
Speaker 5: achieve that a few times this year. But nine's a
Speaker 5: good number. Single digits a good number. I thought the
Speaker 5: corners tackle well. Tyreek, as you know, had had just
Speaker 5: outstanding tackles. And I've been saying that since day one
Speaker 5: that he loves to hit, he loves to tackle, and
Speaker 5: that was good to see. And I thought Tremaine did
Speaker 5: a nice job tackling. You know, that's a big back
Speaker 5: over there, and you know, he does a really good job.
Speaker 5: And they got that also the other back that's a
Speaker 5: good player too, Jones. So guys at a decent job
Speaker 5: with that all day. Like I said, yesterday, we ended
Speaker 5: up stopping the run. It was two point nine, which
Speaker 5: is a big emphasis for our defense this year and
Speaker 5: going forward.
Speaker 1: Quarterbacks who are really good at manipulating with their eyes
Speaker 1: to open windows opportunity, and Jordan Love did it on
Speaker 1: a couple of occasions yesterday. What's the defensive counter to that?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean it depends on what coverage you're in,
Speaker 5: what concept you're in. If you're in a true zone,
Speaker 5: it's just about being disciplined in your zone and not
Speaker 5: not melting with the quarterback's eyes and staying in your zone.
Speaker 5: But if it's a match principle, you're gonna be matching numbers,
Speaker 5: so it doesn't really take you off of your coverage.
Speaker 5: And again we do both things, but it's uh, it's
Speaker 5: just about being disciplined.
Speaker 1: Did you have a lot of mental area yesterday?
Speaker 3: No? No, we did not.
Speaker 5: We had we we had physical errors and technique stuff
Speaker 5: that we got to improve on. There was not There
Speaker 5: was not a bunch of mental errors. So it was
Speaker 5: really more of a physical thing that we got to
Speaker 5: improve on just technique and fundamentals.
Speaker 1: Talk about loving the physicality of the game. Ro Shawn
Speaker 1: Johnson man, we've seen it all camp. My favorite play
Speaker 1: of the entire day was flattening Rudy Ford. And I
Speaker 1: think that's the kind of run much like a big
Speaker 1: hit on defense, it gets the whole sideline rowing. I
Speaker 1: thought that could have been a benchmark moment in the game,
Speaker 1: even though we're trailing. Do you agree with that? Do
Speaker 1: you agree that a run like that, you know, running
Speaker 1: through somebody, finishing your run like he did, can just
Speaker 1: inspire a team to get something going.
Speaker 3: You can see that for sure.
Speaker 5: You know, you saw early in the game when we
Speaker 5: had that big hit, you know on defense. You know
Speaker 5: Yannick had that hit on the toss play. You know,
Speaker 5: we had a couple of TFLs there. But and again,
Speaker 5: it's certainly running the ball like that, you know, the
Speaker 5: physicality of that certainly. You know in Chicago with the
Speaker 5: Bears fans, you know, they certainly appreciate that type of style.
Speaker 1: Yeah, some of the alumni obviously we're in the house,
Speaker 1: had a big number I guess at the at the
Speaker 1: event on Saturday night, over one hundred I think showed up,
Speaker 1: which is fantastic. But some some legends out there, Dick
Speaker 1: bud Gets one of them. Well, the Galton has been
Speaker 1: here in a while, former Super Bowl Bear wide receiver.
Speaker 1: I know you you appreciate all that they were all there.
Speaker 1: I'm certain certain you weren't shaking hands before the game
Speaker 1: and seeing everybody. But uh, it's good to have those
Speaker 1: guys back in town.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it always is.
Speaker 5: I see those guys frequently in the in town or
Speaker 5: in the summertime at the golf course or you know,
Speaker 5: or in the facility, and those guys are always great.
Speaker 3: To talk to and be able to visit with.
Speaker 1: Bucks, Mike Evans, outstanding, Chris Godwin. You got Baker Mayfield,
Speaker 1: you got Vita Vea to deal with, and you got
Speaker 1: the heat. All all adds up to a pretty tough contest. Huh.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, the NFL is a great league, right,
Speaker 5: It's a lot of parody. So we got a challenge
Speaker 5: ahead of us. You know, we end up starting to
Speaker 5: put our game plan together today and in the next
Speaker 5: couple of days and bring the guys back in on Wednesday,
Speaker 5: you know, and we've already talked to him about being
Speaker 5: able to being prepared, so it's not a big deal
Speaker 5: for us.
Speaker 1: And like the weather park, yeah, the web part because
Speaker 1: Tom's crazy about it. He told me it's going to
Speaker 1: be ninety with eighty five percent humidity. Now it's down
Speaker 1: to like eighty six fifty chance of rain and maybe
Speaker 1: sixty five percent, so still be hot.
Speaker 5: Yeah, but that's so we're we prepare our guys early
Speaker 5: for that uh in the week, you know. So the
Speaker 5: preparaight is right, and it's you kind of climb to
Speaker 5: that part of it in terms of your hydration, and
Speaker 5: we don't.
Speaker 3: Make a big deal out of it after that. So
Speaker 3: it's just about education and go.
Speaker 1: Down there and let it rip hies forward.
Speaker 3: You got it, thank you.
Speaker 1: As you might expect, Tom Matt is consistent. He doesn't
Speaker 1: get too high, he doesn't get too low. He does
Speaker 1: not get too high when the Bears get a win,
Speaker 1: and he doesn't get too low when the Bears get
Speaker 1: a loss. He is stung by this one, There's no
Speaker 1: question about it. You heard him, and you know it's
Speaker 1: but it's almost in his vernacular, the cycle of the snap.
Speaker 1: It's the cycle of the season. It's the twenty four
Speaker 1: hours of the old cliche, but it is definitely digging
Speaker 1: into Tampa Bay corrections made today. They got to now
Speaker 1: get their grades, get a game plan going, and go
Speaker 1: back to practice on Wednesday. And many of the things
Speaker 1: that people were critical of he didn't discount, certainly, not
Speaker 1: at all. Yes, he'd like to get the ball pushed
Speaker 1: down the field a lot more more action for DJ
Speaker 1: in terms of targets, but take what the defense gives you. Also,
Speaker 1: I did think they tackled well, which I was worried
Speaker 1: about in Week one. You always worry about in Week one.
Speaker 1: Around the league, I talked about using that game against
Speaker 1: Green Bay as a cleanser right to get rid of
Speaker 1: the pass. But now the real cleanser has to be
Speaker 1: in your own locker room and in your own preparation
Speaker 1: and planning and your performance the execution. The execution's got
Speaker 1: to be cleaned up.
Speaker 4: Sometimes you could take ten plays out of the game
Speaker 4: and you could simplify to the decision of the quarterback
Speaker 4: and you could put your offense in a more aggressive,
Speaker 4: advancing type of position.
Speaker 2: For example, the interception that Justin threw.
Speaker 4: To kway Walker, if you look at the outlet receiver
Speaker 4: to the left was wide open. And it's an easy decision.
Speaker 4: Justin's not going to get hit. He doesn't have to
Speaker 4: hold onto the ball, just throw it to the playmaker
Speaker 4: on the outside. And those are the types of things
Speaker 4: that it's going to expedite the learning process for Justin Fields.
Speaker 4: He's a young guy. He hasn't been around the NFL
Speaker 4: very long. He only played it couple of years of
Speaker 4: college football. So I think when you go into a
Speaker 4: game plan, you go, Okay, how can we can simplify
Speaker 4: the decisions and make it more immediate response. That's one
Speaker 4: play that can go from a touchdown for the opponent
Speaker 4: to a long gainer for the Bears.
Speaker 1: We talked about third down. To me, it was the game.
Speaker 1: It was the game on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 1: What's your recipe to repair the third down situation, especially
Speaker 1: third and long because third and six plus are killer
Speaker 1: and it killed the Bears yesterday.
Speaker 2: Well offensively. I brought it up a little bit earlier.
Speaker 4: I do think there's a target like Cole Comet and
Speaker 4: DJ Moore, but I'm gonna use Cole Comet more as
Speaker 4: a reference because i think he's a really hard matchup.
Speaker 2: If you're going to try to find a linebacker that
Speaker 2: can stay.
Speaker 4: With him, or a defensive back that has the size
Speaker 4: to cover him. If you can use him on first
Speaker 4: and second down, and then you put your team in
Speaker 4: a second and four, maybe a third and three. There
Speaker 4: are so many more things that you can choose out
Speaker 4: of your playbook that can pick up those types of yardages.
Speaker 2: If you go back.
Speaker 4: In, hey, you have a bunch of third nines, you're
Speaker 4: really playing into the hands of the pass rush no
Speaker 4: matter who you're playing in. A blitzer like Todd Bowles
Speaker 4: will take advantage of Van Tampa. And it's just like
Speaker 4: the defense, what can Allen Williams do to supply a
Speaker 4: little bit of unknown pressure that can maybe come from
Speaker 4: a defensive back. You love the corner blitz or even
Speaker 4: one of the talented linebackers the Bears have, but it's
Speaker 4: about the defensive line winning rushes at the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 2: However, you have to use your creative creativity in the game.
Speaker 4: Second play of the game, Tampa last week, they blitzed
Speaker 4: Antoine Winfield Junior. He came in and he hurt. He
Speaker 4: hit Kirk Cousins. The same thing you're going to have
Speaker 4: to be aware of as a quarterback.
Speaker 2: For the Bears.
Speaker 4: It's the same thing that you could use with the Bears.
Speaker 4: I don't know what the status of Kyler Gordon is,
Speaker 4: but he's a good blitzer. I think that a guy
Speaker 4: like Tyreek Stevenson's got a great willingness to tackle.
Speaker 2: I would like to see him.
Speaker 4: As a possible blitzer. Jakwan Brisker, he's a stud. He
Speaker 4: can come from any area, and we've seen it in
Speaker 4: Eddie Jackson's background.
Speaker 1: So the Bear started three drives inside their twenty average
Speaker 1: starting position twenty four point three packers, eleven possessions, most
Speaker 1: possessions in the NFL so far in Week one, averaged
Speaker 1: the thirty eight point seven yard line for starting field position.
Speaker 1: Now that's turnovers, that's the punt return, that's kick on
Speaker 1: you know, you name it. All these things mattered, and
Speaker 1: then you put yourself in position right out of the
Speaker 1: opening kickoff with a penalty that sets you up deep
Speaker 1: in your own end. So these are the types of things.
Speaker 1: These are repairable, though they are.
Speaker 4: But you know, it's hard to ignore the science of
Speaker 4: the third and one in the fourth and one, because
Speaker 4: when you have a failed attempt like that in your
Speaker 4: own territory. Then you give the ball to the Green
Speaker 4: Bay Packers in less than half the field to go
Speaker 4: for a scoring opportunity. That's something that if you do
Speaker 4: take it chance like that and you fail, your defense
Speaker 4: better be able to answer the bell right at that moment.
Speaker 4: There's not a bunch of notification where you're telling these
Speaker 4: guys get ready for this. You ignore that, you make
Speaker 4: the attempt, and once it's failed, you have to have
Speaker 4: the defense that goes out there and plays at a high,
Speaker 4: high level.
Speaker 1: Lead this right into one of our sponsors. Take a chance.
Speaker 1: Download the Bette Riffers app today. Jeff and Tim here
Speaker 1: on Bears, etc. Let's talk about the running game, Tom.
Speaker 1: I know you touched on Rochan, but it took twenty
Speaker 1: nine carries to earn one hundred and twenty two yards.
Speaker 1: Fields had nine for fifty nine on scrambles, the three
Speaker 1: backs nineteen for sixty three. So a lot of Rochean
Speaker 1: fourth quarter numbers with Cole. So I don't know how.
Speaker 2: You evaluate it.
Speaker 1: I do believe this team is still going to have
Speaker 1: to run the ball to great success to help justin fields.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but you know, how do you rant to run
Speaker 4: the ball early? You have to have a physical frame
Speaker 4: of mind. Early in the game, the very first running play,
Speaker 4: they brought the tight end across the formation a wham.
Speaker 2: Type of motion.
Speaker 4: He went to cut the defensive end Preston Smith. Preston
Speaker 4: Smith was able to avoid the block. You have the
Speaker 4: blocker laying in the hole and Preston Smith making the
Speaker 4: tackle for maybe a one yard game.
Speaker 2: I think when you initially start running.
Speaker 4: The ball, you want to allow your offensive line to
Speaker 4: be in the most powerful position they can possibly be in.
Speaker 4: And what did you learn from this past game? One
Speaker 4: of the better getoffs of the offensive line what I saw,
Speaker 4: was Nate Davis.
Speaker 2: So if I'm going to look at plays that I
Speaker 2: want to make sure.
Speaker 4: That I get positive yards as immediately as possible to
Speaker 4: influence the defensive coordinator and how the defense is looking
Speaker 4: at me.
Speaker 2: I need to see where my position of strength is.
Speaker 4: And look, I grew up on an offensive line that
Speaker 4: when Jimbo Covert came aboard, he was a dominant blocker.
Speaker 2: When Mark Boards made.
Speaker 4: The switch from defensive tackle to offensive guard, he was
Speaker 4: a dominant blocker. So there was always a point of
Speaker 4: emphasis that we knew that we had to go two
Speaker 4: point and I think that's something that the Bears have
Speaker 4: to figure out within their structure as the time goes by.
Speaker 4: And time is going by now, so it's got to
Speaker 4: start Week two in Tampa.
Speaker 1: We're brought to you by PNC Official Bank of the Bears.
Speaker 1: All right, let's talk about Kyler Gordon again. We don't
Speaker 1: know what the severity of his hand injury is. Was
Speaker 1: a right hand injury. It was wrapped up after the game.
Speaker 1: We'll find out on Wednesday what his injury status is.
Speaker 1: To me, it'd be a mighty big loss. One of
Speaker 1: the keys to that secondary for me was the youthful
Speaker 1: exuberance and now the knowledge earned. As you say, knowledge earned.
Speaker 1: His knowledge gained, right, So last year he gained a
Speaker 1: lot last year working both outside and inside, and he
Speaker 1: was just ready to go. He was ready to go
Speaker 1: this year, had a great training camp. But I like
Speaker 1: the youth of having Jalen Johnson, having Tyreek Stevenson, having
Speaker 1: Kyler Gordon, Jakwan Brisker and the old Vet and the
Speaker 1: Captain Eddie Jackson on the back end. I like, you know,
Speaker 1: the chemistry of the five is to me not as
Speaker 1: important as the chemistry of an offensive line. Or how
Speaker 1: a defensive line works in waves, but that chemistry of
Speaker 1: the back end is so significant to locking down coverage
Speaker 1: and having assignments commit Jalen Johnson talked about it on Monday, saying, hey,
Speaker 1: some of our communication wasn't on point. Did that have
Speaker 1: anything to do with Kyler not being there or having
Speaker 1: a rookie in the mix? I mean, I don't know specifically,
Speaker 1: but you know some of those things, those coverage responsibilities,
Speaker 1: and it would have been nice to have that not
Speaker 1: out of the gate, to have a blemish like that.
Speaker 2: Knowledge earned is greater than knowledge learned.
Speaker 4: That is a quote by Claude the Great Clyde Emrick,
Speaker 4: and it is so true when you learn about the
Speaker 4: more experience you have on your feet, the more you're
Speaker 4: going to be able to develop.
Speaker 2: And I think chemistry and the defensive.
Speaker 4: Backfield is equally as important as the chemistry on the
Speaker 4: offensive line. So earlier in the year we were looking
Speaker 4: at where listened to an interview by Jakwan Brisk and
Speaker 4: he was talking about how he felt the chemistry and
Speaker 4: the communication was so much better than it was a
Speaker 4: year ago when you had.
Speaker 2: Those guys that they talked about.
Speaker 4: But it's the guys that are waiting in the wings
Speaker 4: for their opportunity to play.
Speaker 2: They have to be up the speed immediately.
Speaker 4: It's not where you have to bring in a fill
Speaker 4: in for Kyler Gordon and say, okay, you have the
Speaker 4: luxury of making a mistake.
Speaker 2: In the defensive backfield.
Speaker 4: If you make a mistake in the defensive backfield, whether
Speaker 4: it's communication or coverage, that's going to lead to a
Speaker 4: first down or a touchdown. So everybody's got to be
Speaker 4: on board and understand exactly what their responsibilities are. This
Speaker 4: week in Tampa, it will be a little bit easier
Speaker 4: communicate because the crowd will be quiet when their offense
Speaker 4: is on.
Speaker 2: The on the field.
Speaker 4: So if Kyler Gordon does not is not able to play,
Speaker 4: then the practices that they're going to go through during
Speaker 4: the course of the week, they have to almost make
Speaker 4: eye contact before the snap and the ball, understand the
Speaker 4: placement or the receivers at the line of scrimmage, and
Speaker 4: understand everybody's responsibility. And just like coach Stanfeld, our offensive
Speaker 4: line coach, you say, he goes, hey, if I'm talking
Speaker 4: to Jimbo Kobert, I have to have Keith van Horn
Speaker 4: and Tom there know what I'm talking about, because every
Speaker 4: single guy on the offensive line has to know everybody's assignment,
Speaker 4: and I think that's equally as true for the defensive
Speaker 4: backfield as it is an offensive line.
Speaker 1: Well, Josh Blackwell got some snaps yesterday obviously filling into that.
Speaker 1: Nickel Roll also played last season, very good special teams player,
Speaker 1: and I like the way he is that he mentally
Speaker 1: approaches the game and how he is physical about the
Speaker 1: game so well this.
Speaker 4: Then, Jeff, if Blackwell does play now, does he is
Speaker 4: he removed from his special team's responsibilities where he makes
Speaker 4: some unbelievable plays there. Now, whomever has to fill in
Speaker 4: and those special team spots is going to be expected
Speaker 4: to bring the same level of physicalness of understanding of
Speaker 4: what the responsibilities are, because sometimes those responsibilities are just
Speaker 4: as difficult if you're playing regular offense or defense.
Speaker 1: Good news, Chicago United Air Lions is getting brand new
Speaker 1: planes with all the bells and whistles like Bluetooth connectivity
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Speaker 1: Proud to fly the Chicago Bears, and you too. Jeff
Speaker 1: and Tom rapping things up on our podcast reviewing the
Speaker 1: loss to the Green Bay Packers. A little business today,
Speaker 1: Dylan cole Re signed. That was kind of the planet
Speaker 1: appears was waved last week to allow the arrival of
Speaker 1: a player to fill in because he was still working
Speaker 1: through a hamstring. But back on the roster. There's a
Speaker 1: financial component to that with veterans being on the roster
Speaker 1: after one week. So he's back in the fold. That
Speaker 1: big business taking care of on Monday. And he's a
Speaker 1: nice he's a nice addition to the special teams unit
Speaker 1: and a veteran that has a lot of linebacking reps.
Speaker 1: So hopefully he's a healthy return. All right, let's take
Speaker 1: a gander as the Bears are about to do at
Speaker 1: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You touched on it with Todd Bowle,
Speaker 1: and really the next two weeks, not to look that
Speaker 1: far ahead, but the next two weeks with Steve Spagnolo
Speaker 1: in Kansas City, I think the Bears should prepare themselves
Speaker 1: for significant pressure packages the next.
Speaker 2: Two weeks exactly. You know, pressure packages, that's what you get.
Speaker 4: But you're going to have a three four style defense
Speaker 4: out of Todd Bowles. You're going to have a four
Speaker 4: man line against the Kansas City Chiefs. So there's gonna
Speaker 4: be different types of assignments between each of these teams.
Speaker 4: The thing about it is is you have to realize
Speaker 4: your responsibility and pass protection and if you're an uncovered guy,
Speaker 4: exactly who you're looking at in case they do blitz.
Speaker 4: If you're a running back and you have a pickup
Speaker 4: of a linebacker or an exterior blitzer, you got to
Speaker 4: be willing to go up there and meet them and
Speaker 4: stop them in his tracks rather than getting pushed back
Speaker 4: in the face of justin fields and all of a
Speaker 4: sudden he feels urgency to eject the pocket. So I
Speaker 4: think every one of the offensive linemen, the running backs
Speaker 4: there are all going to have to fulfill their obligations
Speaker 4: against a really blitz happy head coach. They'll never be
Speaker 4: on the field, but what he's calling from the sideline,
Speaker 4: his intentions are to speed up the thinking process of
Speaker 4: the quarterback.
Speaker 1: Baker Mayfield run of the show offensively for Tampa Bay.
Speaker 1: What is this is fifteen fourth team already in one year,
Speaker 1: but you know they're looking to him. He made a
Speaker 1: big play at the end of the game to ruggedly
Speaker 1: stay in bounds and pick up a first down. Took
Speaker 1: a big hit, so he's a fiery guy. And they
Speaker 1: did that on the road at Minnesota, tough place to play.
Speaker 1: They ran the ball thirty three times for seventy three yards.
Speaker 1: They didn't get a lot They had thirty five passes
Speaker 1: for one hundred and sixty nine yards and they didn't
Speaker 1: get a lot of yards per play, but they still
Speaker 1: won the football game on the road. So this tells
Speaker 1: me that they're a plucky bunch.
Speaker 2: Tom And you know, he's a pretty gritty guy.
Speaker 4: He can avoid sacks, he's willing to run at defenders
Speaker 4: to try to get extra yards when he's going for
Speaker 4: a first down. But to me, it's a really interesting
Speaker 4: monster in Tampa because you have a quarterback he is
Speaker 4: uncertain about his future, and then you got their best
Speaker 4: receiver and Mike Evans, who's not going to be offered
Speaker 4: a contract after this year. Is this guy going to
Speaker 4: be making business decisions if someone's out there to really
Speaker 4: lay him out in the middle of the field, or
Speaker 4: is Baker Mayfield going to feed him the ball even
Speaker 4: more trying to increase his opportunity. So he's a high
Speaker 4: profile receiver at this stage of his career and is
Speaker 4: Mike Evans as well as he's done in Tampa. I
Speaker 4: don't know how I would feel if a team told
Speaker 4: me this early in the season that look, we're not
Speaker 4: going with you going forward, So you know, go out
Speaker 4: there and put your life on the line for us,
Speaker 4: and you know, do as do the best you possibly can.
Speaker 4: I don't know how a guy could go out there
Speaker 4: and really, you know, put himself in harm's way if
Speaker 4: that instant comes comes up.
Speaker 1: And I don't know where you get this notion that
Speaker 1: I a Baker.
Speaker 2: Mayfield like his commercials to commercials.
Speaker 4: I know, so you know, you know, quarterback in commercials.
Speaker 4: You know, if you if you don't do well, you
Speaker 4: don't do commercials anymore.
Speaker 2: If you do well, then you keep doing commercials.
Speaker 1: Listen, you know, I don't know if you've noticed the
Speaker 1: commercials for Wendy's with nil going on, Caleb Williams of
Speaker 1: USC and Matt Liiner are sharing the spotlight spotlight doing
Speaker 1: that's that's that's that Hollywood money over there. But they're
Speaker 1: doing commercials already.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: I get a kick out of it because as well
Speaker 4: as Dion Sanders is doing at Colorado, I see a
Speaker 4: topic on TV is Deon Sanders a new face of
Speaker 4: college football. And I think it's kind of insulting to
Speaker 4: Caleb Williams because you know how many two time Heisman
Speaker 4: trophies there has been in the history of college.
Speaker 2: Football, one one Archie Griffin.
Speaker 4: So here's a kid that's on the cusp but possibly
Speaker 4: earning a second opportunity to win a Heisman Trophy. If
Speaker 4: I'm looking at the face of college football, I'm looking
Speaker 4: at a player.
Speaker 2: I'm not looking at a coach.
Speaker 4: I'm not looking at Nick Say, but I'm not looking
Speaker 4: at Kirby Smart. I'm not looking at Dion Sanders, although
Speaker 4: I really admire what Dianna is doing.
Speaker 2: If you want to.
Speaker 4: Look at the face of college football, look at the players,
Speaker 4: and Caleb Williams if he wins a Heisman Trophy at
Speaker 4: the end of the season. Two guys in the history
Speaker 4: of the sport winning the Heisman Trophy two times in
Speaker 4: their career, it's a heck of an accomplishment. And you
Speaker 4: think of Archie Griffin being a running back when they
Speaker 4: devalue what a running back means nowadays in football.
Speaker 1: One other note on Tampa Vida Vea and the guys
Speaker 1: up front. They're very good front seven solid that really
Speaker 1: good players on the back end of that defense as well.
Speaker 1: So on first down, Minnesota in it just nine times
Speaker 1: on first down, Bucks allowed twenty two yards two point
Speaker 1: four four attempts. So the Bears on first down against
Speaker 1: Green Bay, they ran it. Let's see fourteen for forty
Speaker 1: nine at three to five ozho Fifteen of their twenty
Speaker 1: nine rushes went for four yards or more. So that
Speaker 1: was about a little more than half. Are you gonna
Speaker 1: be able to run a ball against these guys?
Speaker 2: You know what, Jeff, I don't need to.
Speaker 4: It's more exhausting to rush the passer than it is
Speaker 4: to stop the run as a defensive lineman. So if
Speaker 4: I have solid pass protection, and I know that I
Speaker 4: have like I said, Cole and the other group of
Speaker 4: tight ends I have DJ I have Darnell, I have Chase.
Speaker 2: Claypool, I have Tyler Scott.
Speaker 4: I'm willing to throw the ball on first down as
Speaker 4: much as I need to and get myself in a
Speaker 4: more makeable second, third down situation, because if you run
Speaker 4: the ball on first down and you get no yards
Speaker 4: to one yard, also, now you're looking at second nine
Speaker 4: and then what's the result of that place, So you know,
Speaker 4: there's you can change the game plan a little bit
Speaker 4: if you feel that you have assets to gain more
Speaker 4: yards rather than the offensive line just you know, running
Speaker 4: into a wall of defensive linemen and linebackers.
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Speaker 2: Just one thing real quick.
Speaker 4: Back in the day, we are playing the Buffalo Bills
Speaker 4: when they had Bruce Smith and they had Darryl Tally
Speaker 4: and they had this really good defense. We rarely ran
Speaker 4: the ball that game. We play action pass and through
Speaker 4: the ball mostly the whole game, and we beat him convincingly.
Speaker 4: So it's possible if you think outside the box and
Speaker 4: what how can you help your offensive teams the most.
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay had three takeaways of the Vikings, two sacks
Speaker 1: of Kirk Cousins in their Sunday win on the road.
Speaker 1: All right, that's going to wrap us up. I'm hoping
Speaker 1: to have some of that Dick Buckis conversation, had chance
Speaker 1: to sit down with him for quite a while. He
Speaker 1: was a six three and forty on linebacker.
Speaker 2: But if he.
Speaker 1: Had the fitness and the nutrition and all of what
Speaker 1: these guys have today, what type of player would it be?
Speaker 1: And he basically said, I don't know if I would
Speaker 1: have liked to play today. I like the old way
Speaker 1: where you hit people. You're playing those band boxes, you're
Speaker 1: playing Wrigley Field, you're playing County Stadium. It's intimate with
Speaker 1: the crowd. It's I just think, and he goes. I
Speaker 1: don't think he ended the interview. I don't think anybody
Speaker 1: loved the game more than.
Speaker 2: Me, And I think he would have been a center.
Speaker 1: Well, he could have been an All Pro center. He
Speaker 1: was told that many times. They tried to get him
Speaker 1: to play that late in his career, but instead he
Speaker 1: destroyed centers. The mctingle, Hooffs, the Flannagans in Detroit, the guys.
Speaker 1: He told great stories. So we'll hear's some of that
Speaker 1: this week.
Speaker 4: I mean, he still has a legendary persona. He walks
Speaker 4: on the field and you know he doesn't have to
Speaker 4: be introduced. They look at him and they know who
Speaker 4: he is.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 1: He sat down with Tremaine Edmonds. They talked to me
Speaker 1: like two guys just sitting at the bar talking about
Speaker 1: linebacking play and Tremaine Edmonds really enjoyed it. It was
Speaker 1: sitting next to NFL royalty. It was a nice little
Speaker 1: thing they did. So we'll hear that on the Bears
Speaker 1: various platforms down the road. All right, Tom, that's gonna
Speaker 1: wrap us up Bears Weekly on Thursday night, special edition,
Speaker 1: five pm at ESPN one thousand. We're gonna be joined
Speaker 1: by Wada and Sylvie. Tom up here at Hallis Hall,
Speaker 1: and we're back with the next podcast on Thursday.
Speaker 3: We'll air it and.
Speaker 1: That'll be our preview of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So
Speaker 1: get ready, start watching some tape, Tom, and write down
Speaker 1: more notes anyway for Bears head coach Maddy Reflucing.
Speaker 3: Tom.
Speaker 1: There, I'm Jeff Jonihah. Thanks for listening. Everybody, Please subscribe
Speaker 1: to this podcast now the Chicago Bears official app, Apple, Spotify, YouTube,
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts. We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1: Bear down
Speaker 3: Less the first seas