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Speaker 1: tonight here on Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy. The scorts brought to you by IGS Energy.
Speaker 1: Good to be with you once again. I'm Jeff Jonaghac
Speaker 1: with Tom Tharem, my broadcast partner from news Radio one
Speaker 1: oh five nine w BBM at our producer tonight, Sean Adderson,
Speaker 1: thanks as well to Dan Billy and Jordan tread Up.
Speaker 1: Tom Good evening. How are you doing, Big Jeff. There's
Speaker 1: been a lot going on the last couple of days.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. I'm glad they're in the process early.
Speaker 1: I hope they can get themselves in front of the
Speaker 1: best candidates possible for both positions GM and head coach,
Speaker 1: let each other sell each side and see who they
Speaker 1: can come into the best possible football people agreement they can. Well,
Speaker 1: I think there's probably a strategy to it with the
Speaker 1: people involved on that committee and namely George McCaskey, with
Speaker 1: the help obviously of a Hall of fame general manager
Speaker 1: and his career mister Polian. As to what the chemistry
Speaker 1: might be between the candidates for head coach, and I
Speaker 1: believe I think there's nine of those or might have
Speaker 1: it swift, but there's like twenty people involved here, so
Speaker 1: you're trying to get the best chemistry with the head
Speaker 1: coach and general manager. How it all plays out, I
Speaker 1: mean the thinking is would be best you hire a
Speaker 1: GM first, you can have a little bit of a say,
Speaker 1: year in the head coach. And this is what they're
Speaker 1: trying to find out right now. These initial interviews are coaches,
Speaker 1: Tom are all zoom interviews. If they really like him,
Speaker 1: if it's impressive and there's a mutual attraction here, they're
Speaker 1: going to be invited back at us. Yeah, you know, Jeff,
Speaker 1: you have to ask yourself though, which side of the
Speaker 1: ball and who are you trying to attract the most,
Speaker 1: because obviously if you're looking at a defensive candidate for
Speaker 1: the head coaching positions, then you've got to start thinking
Speaker 1: about the defensive line row Quan Smith, Robert Quinn, Jalen Johnson,
Speaker 1: and the rest of the defensive backfield. If you're looking
Speaker 1: at an offensive guy, what is his immediate philosophy with
Speaker 1: Justin Fields? And I think that's really something you have
Speaker 1: to research in depth because if you're going to have
Speaker 1: success over the next five to ten years with the
Speaker 1: quarterback positions, it's because you have a guy with the
Speaker 1: traits of Justin Fields, and you got to see how
Speaker 1: that head coach candidate on the offensive side of the
Speaker 1: ball is formulating a plan that involves Justin. Jeff and
Speaker 1: Tim with you here on Bears All Access brought you
Speaker 1: by Giff Sanders. She coming up on tonight showed around
Speaker 1: a few minutes from now actually six oz eight. We'll
Speaker 1: be joined by Barm Bears quarterback and current co hosted
Speaker 1: Sirius XM NFL Radios Jim Miller from Moving the Chains
Speaker 1: with Pat Crwin and then near the bottom of our
Speaker 1: joun by the Hall of Fame NFL writer from the
Speaker 1: Athletic Damn Pompey interviews announced by the club todaytime we
Speaker 1: know one of them. Champ Kelly a real a guy
Speaker 1: who's always got a smile on his face up at
Speaker 1: how To Saw, super optimistic guy. Assistant director of player
Speaker 1: Personnel the last two years and prior to that two
Speaker 1: years as director of pro scouting. So he earned himself
Speaker 1: a promotion here during this four year run. He's got
Speaker 1: a lot of great insight to the locker room. Very
Speaker 1: close to players, always has been. He's always talking to
Speaker 1: players at practice, three four games. He's got a great
Speaker 1: connection to the locker room. Yeah, he knows the building,
Speaker 1: he knows how to get in and out. He knows
Speaker 1: kind of the setting behind all the scenes and of
Speaker 1: the elements of a successful franchise a you want to
Speaker 1: be able to put on the field and commit compete with.
Speaker 1: So Champ has paid a lot of dues and I'm
Speaker 1: glad that he's getting an opportunity to sit in front
Speaker 1: of the Bears decision makers and get an interview and
Speaker 1: present his case. He's interviewed with Carolina and Denver last year,
Speaker 1: and then before that in nineteen before the Jets hired
Speaker 1: Joe Douglas, he interviewed with the Jets. Also Cleveland Browns
Speaker 1: vice president of football Operations, quesse Adolpho Mensa Hope, I
Speaker 1: said that, right, this is an intriguing candidate, super bright guy,
Speaker 1: not a football background. He was a Princeton basketball player
Speaker 1: turned commodities trader. He started working for the forty nine
Speaker 1: ers back in twenty thirteen in their research and development department.
Speaker 1: Joined the Bronze in twenty twenty. Interviewed for the GM
Speaker 1: job at Carolina last year. Another intriguing guy. I know
Speaker 1: what's gonna happen. He's gonna get lumped into the analytics
Speaker 1: angle to it, and that is a part of it.
Speaker 1: And without a football background in terms of playing it
Speaker 1: or where he started from, there's gonna be some thought
Speaker 1: about that. But he has now been with two organizations
Speaker 1: and people thought of him enough, said he's a candidate.
Speaker 1: You just have to look at the players that he's
Speaker 1: instrumental and picking the guys that he's scouted, maybe some
Speaker 1: of the free agent that he was interested in bringing
Speaker 1: into the program. And I think you can you can
Speaker 1: learn a little bit about the candidate by the types
Speaker 1: of athletes attract their attention. And yesterday they interviewed another
Speaker 1: Browns front office guy, Vice President of player Personnel Glenn Cook,
Speaker 1: also interviewing Doug Peterson. Coming up next, Jim Miller joins
Speaker 1: us here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score.
Speaker 1: Welcome back everybody to Fairs All access here on Chicago
Speaker 1: Sports Radio six seventy The Score. Jeff, Jonnick and Tom
Speaker 1: Thayer with you. Good to have you alongside, and please
Speaker 1: to be welcome by our good pal Jim Miller, special
Speaker 1: guest each week during our off season. I guess this
Speaker 1: is the off season. Far from it, though, Jim, so
Speaker 1: much going on. Just before we get your overall thoughts
Speaker 1: on the collection of candidates and what we've already seen
Speaker 1: interviewed here, what were your thoughts on the decisions made
Speaker 1: by by George Kaski, chairman of the board and the
Speaker 1: Bears organization. Yeah, I think everybody kind of felt it
Speaker 1: was was heading in that direction from you know, the
Speaker 1: offensive standpoint. You got a young quarterback and it just
Speaker 1: it hasn't looked right the past a few years or
Speaker 1: growth in that area. You know, you're still calling timeouts,
Speaker 1: you know, not getting lined up in things that that nature,
Speaker 1: and you know, I just think they felt a move
Speaker 1: needed to be made and you know from the growth
Speaker 1: process from whether it's Michell Mitchell Trubisky and who had
Speaker 1: a winning record and he moves on and and now
Speaker 1: Justin Fields. Uh, I think they felt it was time
Speaker 1: to make a change. They've got a great resource and
Speaker 1: obviously a Hall of Famer and Bill Polian to help
Speaker 1: them out from from this. But there's a lot of candidates.
Speaker 1: Like you said, this is covering a wide net here
Speaker 1: to try and find the right guy. Now. Is it
Speaker 1: going to be a first year coach, will it be
Speaker 1: a more established guy? And you know, there's they're kind
Speaker 1: of covering all the bases here of what they're searching
Speaker 1: for right now to come up with the right general
Speaker 1: manager and head coach. And good to be with you
Speaker 1: guys as always, Hey, good Jim, Good to be with
Speaker 1: you also. So, Jim, would you like to see a
Speaker 1: general manager first then allow him to have a little
Speaker 1: bit of input on the head coaching position, or would
Speaker 1: if there was a head coaching candidate out there that
Speaker 1: was super attracted to the skills of Justin Fields and
Speaker 1: what Darnell Mooney and Cole commet, Dave Montgomery, Khalil Herbert
Speaker 1: can offer you or even if you are on the
Speaker 1: other side of the ball and a guy came in
Speaker 1: here and said, look, I can turn Roquan Smith and
Speaker 1: do a defensive MVP candidate, and I think Jalen Johnson's
Speaker 1: a good starting point in the defensive back. So, first
Speaker 1: of all, you think it's GM before coach, And do
Speaker 1: you think the other elements are enough to help make
Speaker 1: that decision. Yeah, they're all different kinds. We see guys
Speaker 1: that are kind of involved in all of it, and
Speaker 1: Bill Belichick and obviously Andy Reid. I don't think that'll
Speaker 1: be the case in Chicago. I think you're right. I
Speaker 1: think it'll be a symbiotic relationship with the general manager
Speaker 1: in the coach that are on board together, working together,
Speaker 1: because I think that the last thing you want to
Speaker 1: go through is like what the Giants just went through
Speaker 1: here Dave Gentleman retires, then they have you know, they
Speaker 1: kind of leave Joe Judge hanging out in the wind,
Speaker 1: and they start interviewing general manager candidates and what does
Speaker 1: the general manager say bringing in my own coach and
Speaker 1: here are the reasons why? You know, and you know
Speaker 1: they'll go through their list or what they liked or
Speaker 1: didn't like about Joe Judge and lo and behold George
Speaker 1: Judges or Joe Judge, excuse me, is relieved of his
Speaker 1: duties and then John Merrin and Steve Tish come out
Speaker 1: and say, yeah, our general manager is going to choose
Speaker 1: our next head coach. So I think you do want
Speaker 1: it to be a symbiotic relationship because you just don't
Speaker 1: want it, you know, stair stepping. You know. You think
Speaker 1: about when I came in with when Dick Guron came in,
Speaker 1: the Bears didn't have a general manager in place, and
Speaker 1: then Gerry Angelo comes on board, and they kind of
Speaker 1: would never you know. I think they worked well together,
Speaker 1: but I don't think they were always eye to eye
Speaker 1: because normally the general manager does come first if you
Speaker 1: want the traditional style of how things are done in
Speaker 1: the NFL. If it's more of a veteran coach, they're
Speaker 1: probably gonna have more input from that standpoint. But I
Speaker 1: think the Bears are gonna go with the more traditional
Speaker 1: style of things. You know, Jim, even outside the Bears,
Speaker 1: is there any other college candidates other than Jim Harball
Speaker 1: that will get consideration or a look see or maybe
Speaker 1: even evaluated or interviewed, or is he like the top
Speaker 1: guy in college that is has programs looking at him,
Speaker 1: and is he looking at programs? Yeah, I think he's
Speaker 1: definitely looking at programs. Even said that to a recruit
Speaker 1: that you know he would be interested if the NFL
Speaker 1: came calling again in his name has been out there.
Speaker 1: I don't know, man. I think you look at Urban
Speaker 1: Urban Meyer. I think he just set back college coach.
Speaker 1: It's about five years. You know, you would think Lincoln Riley,
Speaker 1: a lot of teams have courted him, but with him
Speaker 1: taking the job that he did, you would think he's out.
Speaker 1: You got Marvin Lewis back there at Arizona State, obviously,
Speaker 1: I think he would be a consideration or even right
Speaker 1: there close to home. You know, it's been rumored and
Speaker 1: talked about would Pat Fitzgerald be a guy that whether
Speaker 1: I think Green Bay had looked at him a couple
Speaker 1: of years ago. Would the Bears be interested in that?
Speaker 1: But I think from the Kyle's level is kind of
Speaker 1: cooled off with the Urban Meyer situation. But I would
Speaker 1: think Jim Harbaugh definitely has the leverage with how we
Speaker 1: performed this year at Michigan, There's no doubt about that.
Speaker 1: Because he can come with a package, right. I know
Speaker 1: coaches that have already called Vic Fangio to add him
Speaker 1: to his staff. You know, he had a lot of
Speaker 1: success out in San Francisco with Vic Fangio as his
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator, and I would think, you know, he could
Speaker 1: come with a pretty good DC right away if he
Speaker 1: makes a phone call. And Jim one of the candidates
Speaker 1: today Jim Miller with us here on Bears All Access
Speaker 1: with Tom there, Jeff Jonnyak were brought to you by
Speaker 1: IGS Energy. Choose clean energy for your home at IGS
Speaker 1: dot com because every good choice adds up to a
Speaker 1: better world. What do you know about Cleveland Brown's vice
Speaker 1: president of football operations, quesse A Dopo Mensa interviewed for
Speaker 1: the Carolina job last year. He was with VIC at
Speaker 1: the end of VIC stay in San Francisco as part
Speaker 1: of their research and development project. Yeah, no, he's highly respected.
Speaker 1: Like I believe, he doesn't really have a football background now,
Speaker 1: so the analytics side of it, not that he doesn't
Speaker 1: know players and strengths in all those things. I think
Speaker 1: we know you can grow in those areas. But the
Speaker 1: other names that I know of that are really qualified
Speaker 1: guys obviously you're going to point out Jeff Ireland, you know,
Speaker 1: you have to point him out not only the picks
Speaker 1: he made for Miami, but what he's done for the
Speaker 1: New Orleans Saints. Omar Khan of Pittsburgh that that is
Speaker 1: a very good candidate, I will say from that standpoint,
Speaker 1: But you know, it depends on what you're looking for.
Speaker 1: Say Detroit last year when they tapped into the rams
Speaker 1: in Brad Holmes. Brad Holmes basically conducted the last eight
Speaker 1: drafts for the LA Rams, and you just look at
Speaker 1: how aggressive he was for Detroit right or he trades away.
Speaker 1: Matthew Stafford requires a lot of ass sets and you know,
Speaker 1: and it's granted their season was for now, but he
Speaker 1: drafted pretty good this year. Penney Sewell and the guys
Speaker 1: that they played all played right away for that team.
Speaker 1: So you know, you're looking at those type of things
Speaker 1: as well as how guys can identify talent and go
Speaker 1: and get talent to acquire and build your football team.
Speaker 1: And you know there's some guys that have done that
Speaker 1: that they're they're looking at. And again it'll have you know,
Speaker 1: Bill Polian comes as a great resource as h talk
Speaker 1: talk about that and more, a little more, because obviously
Speaker 1: he's a part of your family there at Sirius Sex.
Speaker 1: Sam heard him last night on the radio, and he's
Speaker 1: done a lot over the years at ESPN and and
Speaker 1: stayed involved, and I hear his connections and his passion
Speaker 1: for this is off the charts. He's connected for a
Speaker 1: lot of these search interviews, whether it's at say Notre
Speaker 1: Dame or every other colleges that are recommending coaches or
Speaker 1: at the NFL level. A lot of people, you know,
Speaker 1: tap him as a resource. He has a huge rolodex
Speaker 1: where he can tap into what he believes could be
Speaker 1: a good fit for your football team. And he's had
Speaker 1: some disciples of his go on. Some have done well,
Speaker 1: some haven't. You know, you look at David Caldwell down
Speaker 1: there for the Jacksonville Jaguards that did not go well,
Speaker 1: but you'd have to say Tom Tolesco, that's not bad
Speaker 1: out there in La Chargers Land, right, you know, they
Speaker 1: identified their quarterback in Justin Herbert and all those type
Speaker 1: of things. So very well respected, very deep in terms
Speaker 1: of his rolodecks and who he can tap into, and
Speaker 1: he knows a lot of people that really can steer
Speaker 1: organizations in the right direction. And I know for a
Speaker 1: fact the Bears have had other calls placed to them
Speaker 1: that have given him good, really good advice of potential candidates. Jim,
Speaker 1: Let's look at the Bears over the next two years,
Speaker 1: because you think about a new general manager, new head
Speaker 1: coach coming in, what the record was at the end
Speaker 1: of this year, and then you think of the limited
Speaker 1: amount of draft choices they have with a complicated salary
Speaker 1: cap issues, and then next year. So is the pressure
Speaker 1: start for the GM next year? And almost he has
Speaker 1: to get through this year and gets value out of
Speaker 1: the limited amount of picks he has, or you think
Speaker 1: it's immediate, like the pressure starts the day before he
Speaker 1: gets to the job. Yeah, I think there's always pressure.
Speaker 1: You know, free agency is going to be big, Like
Speaker 1: you said, can you parlay more picks from that standpoint
Speaker 1: when you can strike a deal with another team? And
Speaker 1: I just think the development of these young players. I
Speaker 1: think we're well aware that we feel pretty good about
Speaker 1: the tackles, we feel good about the young quarterback. You
Speaker 1: feel good about you know where Roquan Smith careers at.
Speaker 1: They have Darnell Mooney. I mean, we'll get into these
Speaker 1: players that you know, a lot of people are excited
Speaker 1: about that the Bears are young in certain areas, but
Speaker 1: I think the development those players is going to be crucial.
Speaker 1: And I think that's where the head coach, his staff,
Speaker 1: all those really playing you know, you know, come and
Speaker 1: come to the fold of how those players are going
Speaker 1: to be developed because you're not getting rid of all
Speaker 1: these players. This isn't like Houston last year where they
Speaker 1: signed forty eight free agents. That's not happening in Chicago.
Speaker 1: So I do think those are going to be critical
Speaker 1: areas that the Bears are going to uncover, and it's just,
Speaker 1: you know, do you trust a first year coach to
Speaker 1: be the guy to do that? I think those are
Speaker 1: some areas where the Bears have struggled where you go
Speaker 1: through those growing pains with the first year head coach
Speaker 1: and you know, our first time coach, I should say,
Speaker 1: in the NFL, and you know, I think you're seeing
Speaker 1: the brunt of that with some other teams that are
Speaker 1: already going in a different direction where they probably feel
Speaker 1: we need a little bit more experience. I'll use Joe
Speaker 1: Judge as an example. Again, was that really the best
Speaker 1: move to fire Jason Garrett. How did their offense look
Speaker 1: after he left? It looked atrocious? I mean atrocious. So,
Speaker 1: I mean those are the things you got to be
Speaker 1: a leery of. And is a veteran guy more the
Speaker 1: way you want to go or is somebody just going
Speaker 1: to blow your socks off that you say, Man, this
Speaker 1: is our Mike Tomlin type of interview. This is going
Speaker 1: to be our guy for the next fifteen years, we believe.
Speaker 1: I think it would take that type of candidate to
Speaker 1: really choose a first time head coach. Jim, I've been
Speaker 1: waiting to ask you this all season, and it's a
Speaker 1: completely different direction away from the Bears right now. But
Speaker 1: you hear a little a lot about the roster of
Speaker 1: coaches that are going to be coaching the Senior Bowl
Speaker 1: and everything. Does the new um moneymaking nil agreements for
Speaker 1: the college players? Does that take hurt your roster or
Speaker 1: does it not affect your roster for the Senior Bowl? I? Wow,
Speaker 1: that's a great question because I still think for this
Speaker 1: year it's not going to affect the roster. Here's why,
Speaker 1: because you know COVID and everything. You know, you think
Speaker 1: all the opt outs, I mean, players were begging to
Speaker 1: play in that game because that really was the only
Speaker 1: game that was available for them to put stuff on tape,
Speaker 1: you know, and it still was an issue this year
Speaker 1: at the college level. So I still think players will
Speaker 1: want to be in that game. You know, ninety percent
Speaker 1: of those players that go down there get drafted, and
Speaker 1: in my opinion, if you do go down there and
Speaker 1: play and perform in the practices during the week, you
Speaker 1: can increase your stock anywhere from one to two rounds.
Speaker 1: So I still think it's a very attractive game that
Speaker 1: you're gonna want it. And we've seen quarterbacks do it, right.
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz goes down there, Philadelphia trades up to number
Speaker 1: two to pick him. I mean, you look at some
Speaker 1: of the quarterbacks that have been picked. Who has been
Speaker 1: hurt going down there to play as a quarterback? Did
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones get hurt? He got picked sixteenth overall? And
Speaker 1: there was like, dude, the guy played at Duke, He's
Speaker 1: he's nothing, and he went, you know, sixteenth overall to
Speaker 1: the Giants. So I think, if I'm a player, I'm
Speaker 1: playing in that game. I'm playing in that game, and
Speaker 1: I don't care what my agent says. That's Jim Miller
Speaker 1: Jeff Jonny Act, Tom Pare with you. I'm Bears All
Speaker 1: Access here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score
Speaker 1: the Texans move of David Cutty's dismissal. Today. It's drawn
Speaker 1: a lot of very strong opinions and criticism. What do
Speaker 1: you think? Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of
Speaker 1: people felt that, you know, he was thrown into a
Speaker 1: lot of bad circumstances, but I think he had an
Speaker 1: understanding of what was going to happen. I do think
Speaker 1: Nick Casserio, the general manager, he was waiting on a
Speaker 1: certain candidate, and some are speculating its Brian Flores. I
Speaker 1: do not think it was Brian Flores because he took
Speaker 1: the job as GM when Brian Flores already had a
Speaker 1: six year contract in Miami. So I do not think
Speaker 1: that as Brian Flores. Now, Gerard Mayo, Josh McDaniels, you know, potentially,
Speaker 1: I would think there, and I think from what I understand,
Speaker 1: you look at Gerard Merrill may have the inside track there,
Speaker 1: but I think, you know, David Culley was under no
Speaker 1: delusions of grandeur. He's a twenties year I was with
Speaker 1: him in Pittsburgh. He was our wide receivers coach. No,
Speaker 1: David's he's tremendous, but I think he was under no
Speaker 1: delusions of grander and if anything, the situation he was
Speaker 1: put in is probably people are coming away giving him
Speaker 1: more pelts on the wall with what he dealt with.
Speaker 1: I mean, they were playing literally all their young players,
Speaker 1: Davis Millsey on quarterback, who they drafted in the third
Speaker 1: round out of Stanford. All those young players were playing
Speaker 1: and David came on serious not even a week and
Speaker 1: a half ago. It was raving about. He said, hey,
Speaker 1: our young players are playing well. Nobody even thought they'd
Speaker 1: win four games. So I think he overachieved with the
Speaker 1: one year opportunity he had down there in Houston. Any
Speaker 1: bank rolled quite a bit of money, so that's the
Speaker 1: good news about it. And he'll he'll find his way
Speaker 1: somewhere else. And the Baltimore Ravens get compensatory pick last year.
Speaker 1: I get another third round compic this year because a
Speaker 1: team hired a minority only to find him leave and
Speaker 1: be dismissed in Houston. Coming up next, we'll be joined
Speaker 1: by Dan Pompey at the Athletic we'll talk about a
Speaker 1: number of topics, including What's what's up with the potential
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame first ballot Devin Hester. That'll be one
Speaker 1: of our topics coming up next here on Bears All
Speaker 1: Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to Score. The
Speaker 1: segment of Bears to All Access has brought to you
Speaker 1: by Athletical Physical Therapy. Visit Athletic dot com to request
Speaker 1: an appointment and clinic or virtually and start feeling better
Speaker 1: tomorrow with Tom there, Jim Miller, Jeff Joniac Please to
Speaker 1: be joined by our good pal from the Athletic, the
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame NFL writer Dan Pompey, who's going to
Speaker 1: be quite busy here in the next few weeks, not
Speaker 1: only chasing these stories about who's next and where and why,
Speaker 1: but also the Hall of Fame with Devin Hester on
Speaker 1: that list of fifteen finalists. Dan Good, evening, How you
Speaker 1: doing good evening, Jeff and Tom and Jim Good to
Speaker 1: be with you guys tonight. You know, it seems like
Speaker 1: once the regular season gets over, the action really begins sometimes, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: You're you're not wrong about that, that's for sure. You
Speaker 1: penned a great piece in the Athletic. Your thoughts on
Speaker 1: what the Bears, in your opinion, should be looking at
Speaker 1: in terms of types of coaches and more importantly, what
Speaker 1: do you want the team to look like, what the
Speaker 1: identity is, and it begins with toughness. And I know
Speaker 1: you and I have had these talks many times and
Speaker 1: we share a common belief in that. I know Tom
Speaker 1: does as well, assuming Jim does as well, because I've
Speaker 1: said this routinely and attempts have certainly been made to
Speaker 1: do this, but it should reflect what the franchise's history
Speaker 1: is and what the city they play in is like.
Speaker 1: And this city loves rough and tumble, rough and tumble football,
Speaker 1: and that's kind of been your theme here in this
Speaker 1: article that you wrote this week. Tell us more about
Speaker 1: it in your opinions, Well, you know, I think when
Speaker 1: you look at the Bears now. A matter of fact,
Speaker 1: I was talking with another front office executive about an
Speaker 1: hour ago about this and he said, I don't know
Speaker 1: who they are. I don't know what their identity is.
Speaker 1: And I said, yeah, I don't either. I don't think
Speaker 1: they know. You know, I think they kind of lost
Speaker 1: their way. And you know, a lot of it is
Speaker 1: kind of the offensive design, but some of it's just
Speaker 1: the team construction. You know, the Bears history, I think
Speaker 1: is a great blueprint about what they can be, what
Speaker 1: they should be moving forward. But you know, if you
Speaker 1: look at the league realistically, everybody says, well, it's a
Speaker 1: new era. You have to pass the ball, it's all
Speaker 1: about the quarterback. That's all fine, and well, when you've
Speaker 1: got Aaron Rodgers, you've got Patrick Mahomes, you've got Tom Brady,
Speaker 1: you know, for the other twenty nine, you better find
Speaker 1: another way to do it because you can't create those guys,
Speaker 1: and unless one of them falls into your lap, you're
Speaker 1: gonna have to find a different way to win. And
Speaker 1: the different the different way to win. What you can
Speaker 1: create is toughness. You can create big and physical and
Speaker 1: mean and nasty and go bloody their lips. And the
Speaker 1: Bears have done that repeatedly throughout history. You know, if
Speaker 1: you look at teams like the Ravens and the Steelers,
Speaker 1: they do it year after year, era after era, no
Speaker 1: matter who's in charge of the team, no matter who
Speaker 1: the plays are. And I really think that the Bears
Speaker 1: need to get back to that and stick with that forever.
Speaker 1: And if they ever end up with and Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: you know then they can worry about how to alter
Speaker 1: things at that point. You know, Dan, in your article
Speaker 1: you talked about the Bears developing the middle linebacker position
Speaker 1: and the other traits of toughness they've shown throughout their history.
Speaker 1: But you have a long exploration in their history with
Speaker 1: one hundred of year anniversary book that you and Don
Speaker 1: Pearson wrote, and the amount of sidelines you spent at
Speaker 1: training camp and such. So where is your immediate attachment
Speaker 1: to what era, what type of football team? I mean,
Speaker 1: I mean, is it something as obvious as the eighty
Speaker 1: five Bears or is there even a history before then
Speaker 1: that you would go back to? Well, yeah, I think
Speaker 1: you know, there's a lot of eras or teams that
Speaker 1: you look at in the Bears history that you say,
Speaker 1: you know, you can build a team like this. I mean,
Speaker 1: the great thing about what Jim Finks did in the
Speaker 1: late seventies early eighties is he said, I'm going to
Speaker 1: build the lines first, and he made some great defensive
Speaker 1: and offensive lines, of course, which you were a big
Speaker 1: part of. And you know, he invested in those lines
Speaker 1: and then he said we'll worry about the other things later.
Speaker 1: And the other things came and they were great too,
Speaker 1: and of course there was great coaching. It was a
Speaker 1: perfect storm and everything came together. You know, if you
Speaker 1: go back to the time before that, when the Bears
Speaker 1: were a championship team in the nineteen sixties, early in
Speaker 1: nineteen sixties, you know, in nineteen sixty three, it was
Speaker 1: pretty much the same thing. You know, it was all
Speaker 1: about that defensive line, great pass rush with Doug Atkins
Speaker 1: and Ed o'bradovitch, and you know, they had one of
Speaker 1: the all time great defenses. Some people still think the
Speaker 1: sixty three defense was better than eighty five defense. And
Speaker 1: you know, with the exception of the one time in
Speaker 1: their history in the nine team forties when they were
Speaker 1: kind of offensive dominated because they had this revolutionary offense
Speaker 1: with Sid Luckman and the T formation. You know, the
Speaker 1: Bears always have been a team that tries to beat
Speaker 1: you with defense and toughness. And I think, like I
Speaker 1: said earlier, that's a that's a great way for them
Speaker 1: to move forward with that in mind. You know, let's
Speaker 1: run the ball, let's play defense, let's play special teams.
Speaker 1: You know, the resurgence that they saw in the two
Speaker 1: thousands with Lovey Smith's teams, it was the same thing,
Speaker 1: you know it was. It was even even on the
Speaker 1: team Jim was on. You know that did so well
Speaker 1: in two thousand and one. Was it off top of
Speaker 1: my head? Yeah, two thousand and one, Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: the same thing. Great defense and they ran the ball
Speaker 1: and obviously Jim did his part of the quarterback position. Well,
Speaker 1: I agree with you, Dan, because to me, that formula
Speaker 1: wins and it still wins today. It's the style of
Speaker 1: play and they you can be a wide open offense.
Speaker 1: I mean, just look at Philadelphia. They ran themselves to
Speaker 1: the playoffs. Since Week eight, they're averaging one hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy five yards a game with a young quarterback in
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts Or I'd say it even about Arizona. Everybody
Speaker 1: thinks Arizona is just some empty, wide open offense. James
Speaker 1: Conner has eighteen touchdowns. I mean, they're top ten in
Speaker 1: terms of their style of play in running the football.
Speaker 1: And how did that get lost? Because I don't forget Yeah,
Speaker 1: forty nine are a great example as well. But you know,
Speaker 1: how do you think that gets lost? Because that style
Speaker 1: of play has always been such a big part of Chicago. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, the Eagles I think we're a team too that.
Speaker 1: You know, their season was kind of teetering on the
Speaker 1: brink before they figured it out that hey, we've got
Speaker 1: to change things and we've got to run the ball.
Speaker 1: You know, another team two that has been really following
Speaker 1: this blueprint all along is the Tennessee Titans, and they
Speaker 1: continue to follow it to a degree, even after losing
Speaker 1: their MVP candidate in Derrick Henry. So, you know, I
Speaker 1: know a lot of people think, well, you know, in
Speaker 1: this era, you can't win that way. It's you know,
Speaker 1: meatball football, you know, I say Bologny, I say, you
Speaker 1: know you can, and you do. And football will always
Speaker 1: be football and you can always win by punching someone
Speaker 1: in the mouth. And you know, I think, you know,
Speaker 1: I think the Bears can move towards that kind of
Speaker 1: football again if they consider it in who they're hiring,
Speaker 1: in the types of philosophies that both the general manager
Speaker 1: and the and the head coach of spouse. You know, Dan,
Speaker 1: you think about a team, you think about a coach
Speaker 1: like Andy Reid. Andy reads a former offensive tackle in
Speaker 1: his college days, and they threw the ball a lot. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but he's almost reluctant to run the ball nowadays. So
Speaker 1: if you're in the interview room looking at all these
Speaker 1: candidates are coming at you, and guys ask, oh, you
Speaker 1: know how, you know they're they're less, they're more reluctant
Speaker 1: to want to run the ball when you look at
Speaker 1: a guy like Justin and maybe what Darnell and Cole
Speaker 1: Commat and the other guys that you're going to bring
Speaker 1: aboard can offer you. So are you kind of putting
Speaker 1: some restraints on that thought process immediately? And you do
Speaker 1: want to be successful with the running game, Well, look,
Speaker 1: if Andy Reid's available, go hire him. I'd say, you know,
Speaker 1: we'll figure out the rest later. I don't think Andy
Speaker 1: Reid's available. You know, you're talking about a Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame coach probably and someone who's really special and he's
Speaker 1: figured out a way to do it, you know. But
Speaker 1: I think otherwise you have to you have to do
Speaker 1: maybe look at different ways of doing that. You know.
Speaker 1: I think if you do have a big physical offense
Speaker 1: that runs power or oh, and you know you have
Speaker 1: a philosophy in place that you know you're going to
Speaker 1: run the ball and you're going to out physical opponents, well,
Speaker 1: I think justin fields becomes better. Then I think the
Speaker 1: pressure's off him. I think Darneld Mooney becomes more effective
Speaker 1: because he gets less attention. Cole Commet. You know, you
Speaker 1: see everything he can do, so you know, I think
Speaker 1: a good running game, I mean that's that's the beauty
Speaker 1: of a running game, right. It benefits every other aspect
Speaker 1: of your team, including maybe most importantly your defense because uh,
Speaker 1: you know, it keeps it off the field and keeps
Speaker 1: it fresh and lively, and you know it reduces turnovers.
Speaker 1: I mean that was a problem the Bears were this
Speaker 1: last year. They were you know, in the takeaway calm.
Speaker 1: They were in the wrong end of it. And you know,
Speaker 1: if they ran the ball better, they'd probably be more
Speaker 1: apt to be on the right end of it, even
Speaker 1: though their defense didn't produce enough of them. Let me
Speaker 1: ask you this, Dan, because you've seen a lot of
Speaker 1: you know, first time head coaches taken on the chin.
Speaker 1: Joe Judge, obviously, Matt, you look at David Culley today.
Speaker 1: What happened now there's that he's a season coach. Obviously
Speaker 1: we look at Culley. But from what I understand, Nick
Speaker 1: Kissario was in the booth every weekend, managing every situation,
Speaker 1: even with Culley as a head coach. How do you
Speaker 1: see it for the Bears? Is it a traditional style
Speaker 1: where the GM hires the coach and do you expect
Speaker 1: it to be a seasoned or a seasoned head coach.
Speaker 1: Let's just put it that way, whether it's a you know,
Speaker 1: a Billy O'Brien or somebody who's been kind of been there,
Speaker 1: done that. From that standpoint, yeah, well, they're obviously talking
Speaker 1: to some coaches who have experience, who've you know, had
Speaker 1: previous head coaching jobs, and you know, I think that's
Speaker 1: always a good thing. I mean, they're casting a wide
Speaker 1: net in the search, and you can't go wrong with
Speaker 1: talking to as many people as possible. You know, I
Speaker 1: think it's easy to identify a lot of candidates who
Speaker 1: could be good. The hard part is figuring out which
Speaker 1: of them have the traits that would translate into being
Speaker 1: a great leader and being a great head coach. And
Speaker 1: you know, it's easier sometimes to know those traits, or
Speaker 1: to at least identify them in someone who has done
Speaker 1: it before as a head coach. You know, you've seen
Speaker 1: the body of work for Dan Quinn and then he
Speaker 1: could come in and tell you well, how would you
Speaker 1: you know, Dan, how would you be different from what
Speaker 1: you were last time? What did you learn? Or Jim Harbaugh,
Speaker 1: you know who's not only has he been a head coach,
Speaker 1: but he's been a very successful head coach at every
Speaker 1: level he's been at. So you know, you have about
Speaker 1: Doug Peterson. Doug Peterson obviously, I mean, you know, he's
Speaker 1: got to be at the top of almost any list
Speaker 1: as a guy who's won a Super Bowl and you know,
Speaker 1: out coached maybe the greatest coach of all time in
Speaker 1: that game. So you know, I think, to me, that's
Speaker 1: that's a great benefit because the more you can know
Speaker 1: about head coaching candidates, the better off you are. You know,
Speaker 1: It's kind of like sometimes when you fall in love
Speaker 1: with the backup quarterback. You know, everyone's cheering for him
Speaker 1: and wanting him to play, and then once they see
Speaker 1: him play, they start buying him because now you found
Speaker 1: out why he was on the bench. Sometimes that way
Speaker 1: with a coaching candidate too. You know, he looks great
Speaker 1: when he's the offensive coordinator or the whatever he is,
Speaker 1: you know, assistant coach, but once against that chance, you
Speaker 1: start to see some of the things that maybe he
Speaker 1: lacked or some of the things that separate him from
Speaker 1: some of the other really good head coaches in the league.
Speaker 1: Final moments here with Dan Pompey from The Athletic Our
Speaker 1: Pro Football Writer, with Tom Thayer, Jim Miller, Jeff Jony
Speaker 1: Hack Here on Bears All Access brought to you by
Speaker 1: IGS Energy, with our producer Sean Anderson. All Right, so
Speaker 1: this is a big time of year for you as
Speaker 1: well with the Hall of Fame. You'reround the committee and
Speaker 1: Devin Hester is somebody you'll be presenting. How how are
Speaker 1: you preparing for this and what do you think his
Speaker 1: chances are as a first ballot Hall of Famer? He's
Speaker 1: one of the final fifteen. Yeah. You know, I've talked
Speaker 1: to a lot of people this past week who have
Speaker 1: opposed him, and I always like to get their perspective
Speaker 1: what it was like. And one of the things that
Speaker 1: I really came away with was that, you know, Hester
Speaker 1: didn't just change games. He changed the game because he
Speaker 1: forced opponents to adjust to him in a way that
Speaker 1: very few players in the NFL history. Did you know
Speaker 1: he came in the first two years of his career,
Speaker 1: he was on fire, scored five return touchdowns, as a
Speaker 1: rookie to set a record. Then he broke that record
Speaker 1: the next year with six, and then he fell off
Speaker 1: the table. You know, there were a couple of reasons
Speaker 1: for that. One obviously was that teams refused to kick
Speaker 1: to him anymore. The other was, you know, for a
Speaker 1: couple of years there he was mostly a wide receiver
Speaker 1: and not so much a return guy anymore. But um,
Speaker 1: he got back to that then, and teams still refused
Speaker 1: to kick to him. One of the things I asked
Speaker 1: Devin about, I said, you know, he scored twenty return
Speaker 1: touchdowns in your career. I said, how many do you
Speaker 1: think you would have scored if people kept kept kept
Speaker 1: kicking to you? He said, I think I would have
Speaker 1: scored over forty. The interesting thing about so, how about
Speaker 1: that crazy? That's a crazy notion. But you know what,
Speaker 1: he believes this kind of stuff, no question, I believe
Speaker 1: it too. How about this. The twenty that he scored
Speaker 1: are thirty percent more than any other return guy. And
Speaker 1: here's here's an interesting thing. So I looked at like, well,
Speaker 1: how many more touchdown passes did Tom Brady throw them?
Speaker 1: The next quarterback? Only nine percent more? Emmett Smith. I
Speaker 1: think it was twelve percent more than the next leading rusher,
Speaker 1: So I mean he was he was not only the
Speaker 1: greatest returnment ever with the greatest buy a wide margin. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I love these discussions, Dan, because I brought that up,
Speaker 1: the things you're talking about. I think you break a
Speaker 1: great case about team's not kicking to him. Right Away,
Speaker 1: somebody's going to call up and mention Brian Mitchell, who
Speaker 1: is tremendous. Everybody knows Brian Mitchell was was tremendous with
Speaker 1: what he's done. He had more years than Devin Hester,
Speaker 1: but like you said that, the impact and he was productive.
Speaker 1: He's got more punt return yardis, he's got more kick
Speaker 1: return yardists, but the touchdowns are still there. For Devin
Speaker 1: it's like ridiculous when it comes to them. Yes, he
Speaker 1: is ridiculous, Yes, yeah, But like that because I mean,
Speaker 1: your job is such a difficult job because right away,
Speaker 1: you know, people like right away people wanted to refute
Speaker 1: that Brian Mitchell should be in before Hester. You know,
Speaker 1: how how do you personally deal with stuff like that
Speaker 1: when you hear those type of things. You know, Brian
Speaker 1: Mitchell was if you were if you were basing a
Speaker 1: guy's hall of Fame crencials on you know, longevity and
Speaker 1: you know contributions over time, you'd say, O'Brian Mitchell's a guy.
Speaker 1: But if you're basing it on a player who changed games,
Speaker 1: you'd say, well, it's definitely Hester. Hester scored one touchdown
Speaker 1: every thirty two point one times he returned the ball.
Speaker 1: Mitchell scored one touchdown once for every eighty two point
Speaker 1: three returns. You know, huge difference. You know, even Dion
Speaker 1: Sanders only scored one once every forty point seven returns.
Speaker 1: And you know, I think if this up to the
Speaker 1: point of Devin Hester, Dion was considered the greatest return man,
Speaker 1: if not GAYL Sayers, who played a little different era
Speaker 1: and didn't do it as much. But you know, I
Speaker 1: don't think that. You know, if you were a special
Speaker 1: teams coach and I ask you games on the line,
Speaker 1: we got a kick to one guy, would would you
Speaker 1: rather kick to Brian Mitchell or Hester? And I asked
Speaker 1: that of thirty two special teams coaches, thirty two or
Speaker 1: thirty two would kick it to Brian Mitchell guarantee. It's
Speaker 1: the sad thing about this is Devin Hester maybe the
Speaker 1: last returner that has a chance to go into the
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame because of what they're doing in college
Speaker 1: football and not letting the kid these kids return, it's
Speaker 1: a it's just an awful shame that they're taking a
Speaker 1: talent away from one of the biggest game threats away
Speaker 1: out of the game. Well, and the whole punk game
Speaker 1: has changed too. I'll just give you one more status.
Speaker 1: Sounds like you guys are on the way out. But
Speaker 1: this year in the NFL, there were two punt returns
Speaker 1: scored in the entire league by every returner. Devin Hester
Speaker 1: scored more punt returns than that alone in three seasons.
Speaker 1: That's good stuff. Dan. You always do your homework. You're
Speaker 1: you're the best guy for the job. Good luck with that.
Speaker 1: I know you enjoyed that. You take it quite seriously.
Speaker 1: And it's a privilege question about it. Thanks for all
Speaker 1: your time, Dan, all right, Privileged to be with you
Speaker 1: guys too, appreciate it. Jeff Jonyac tap there, Jim Meler
Speaker 1: back with Moore as we take a look at the
Speaker 1: Bear season, and I'm gonna put these guys on the
Speaker 1: firing line here with their awards for the Bears for
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one. I'll be at a season that didn't
Speaker 1: go as planned or what every one to hope you'll
Speaker 1: look at the with what good things happened here in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one for the Bears on Bears All Access
Speaker 1: on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score the segment
Speaker 1: of Bearings All Access brought to you by CDW. People
Speaker 1: will get it. Jeff, jony Ac tap there, and our
Speaker 1: special guest Jim Miller from Serious XM NFL Radios moving
Speaker 1: the chains with Pat Kerwin. All Right, guys, we're gonna
Speaker 1: go quick hitters here. I'm gonna start with Jim. We're
Speaker 1: gonna do a Players of the Year for each of
Speaker 1: the three phases and some other awards. Player of the Year, offensively,
Speaker 1: players of the Year. Give me your top three offensive
Speaker 1: players of the year of the Bears. A top three
Speaker 1: David Montgomery obviously, Mooney would would be another one. Um
Speaker 1: and you want to win, you know, because I don't
Speaker 1: want to anoint Justin Fields yet. I'm gonna say Khalil Herbert.
Speaker 1: I like what I saw from Khalil Herbert when he
Speaker 1: had an opportunity. Tom, Where are you going? Oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: I'm completely different. I'm gonna go to Jason Peters. Number one.
Speaker 1: You look at where he came aboard and what would
Speaker 1: have been the situation if he didn't come up and
Speaker 1: step up to the plate and play the way he did.
Speaker 1: I think the Bears would have been in the worst
Speaker 1: up position. And I like Dave Montgomery. Huge fan of
Speaker 1: David first, second, and third down and can't wait to
Speaker 1: see more of him. And I do think he's being
Speaker 1: complimented by Khalil Herbert, but it's a nice kind of
Speaker 1: one one a punch there, and you know, I have
Speaker 1: I need to see continuous and higher development from Cole
Speaker 1: Comet because he has high expectations on him from where
Speaker 1: he was drafted in what guys like Kittle are doing
Speaker 1: in the NFL, and so somewhere in between Kelsey and Kittle,
Speaker 1: we need to fit in Cole Comett. All right, I
Speaker 1: went Mooney Montgomery and Jason Peters as well. Defensively, Jim,
Speaker 1: were you at three guys? Definitely Roquan Smith, You're you're
Speaker 1: definitely going Robert Quinn. I like what I saw late
Speaker 1: in the year from well, you'd probably want to say
Speaker 1: Jalen Johnson, but I like what I saw from Trevis
Speaker 1: Gibson later in the year. I really did. Tom. I'm
Speaker 1: going alec Ogletree number one, kind of like my Jason
Speaker 1: Peter candidate from offense came in here, and if he
Speaker 1: didn't come up and step up to the plate and
Speaker 1: started the interior linebacker position, they would have had nobody
Speaker 1: number two Jalen Johnson, because if you're gonna have any
Speaker 1: consideration in front of your name, if you're gonna have
Speaker 1: some type of number attached to it, you gotta perform.
Speaker 1: And I think hopefully the best is yet to come
Speaker 1: from him. And I know it's not a fun position
Speaker 1: to look at. And I'm not ignoring Roquan Smith because
Speaker 1: there's different categories for these things. I need to see
Speaker 1: what Kiris Tonga can bring to this defensive line. If
Speaker 1: a new defensive coordinator is going to run at the
Speaker 1: consistent apposition, he needs to be a big player in
Speaker 1: the in the inside you look at more future. Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm going to Rokwan, Robert Quinn for sure, and Jalen
Speaker 1: Johnson Special teams Jim um Well. I thought Herbert obviously
Speaker 1: did a job, good job early, but you gotta go
Speaker 1: with jakeem Grant. I thought he had instant impact when
Speaker 1: the Bears made that trade and acquired him. So I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go with Jachim Grant. Tom, I'm going Cairo, best
Speaker 1: kicker in the league and the hardest stadium, and that
Speaker 1: the league and the points are at a premium for
Speaker 1: the Bears. This year, every one of his kicks mattered. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and Cairo now the number one in accuracy in Soldier field.
Speaker 1: I'm going Damian Williams, Jachem Grant and Cairo Santos Williams
Speaker 1: a real fined on special teams. Quickly, your comeback player
Speaker 1: of the year, Jim, It's gonna be Robert Quinn. You
Speaker 1: know he's certain mentally comes back and is the player
Speaker 1: I thought he was a comeback player of the year.
Speaker 1: I consider him from the league comeback player of the Year.
Speaker 1: I know Dex brought Deck Prescott is probably gonna get it,
Speaker 1: but I like what Quinn did Mentally. I'm gonna go Quinn. Also,
Speaker 1: it's hard to ignore what he's accomplished. No brainer, what
Speaker 1: a year eighteen sacks. We have more rewards and final
Speaker 1: comments coming up next here on Bears All Access, brought
Speaker 1: to you by IGS Energy in Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy to score. Alright, our final moments here on Bears
Speaker 1: All Access. Jeff Joning, Act, Tom There and Jim are
Speaker 1: from Serious x MFL Radio. I don't know why I'm laughing,
Speaker 1: but I think at Jim and I. You know, you're
Speaker 1: one of the funniest guys. I know, there's no question.
Speaker 1: Glad you're back with us, buddy, Well, good to be
Speaker 1: with you. Thank you. You are ridiculous. Yeah, you're a
Speaker 1: little bit a little bit. All right, let's continue our
Speaker 1: Roger you already touched on at you guys, but I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna just go down to this Jim Rookie of
Speaker 1: the Year, Rookie of the Year. I'm gonna go khalil he.
Speaker 1: I love what he did stepping in for David Montgomery. Tom,
Speaker 1: I'm going justin, how could you not most high profile
Speaker 1: position on the team, and we have super high expectations
Speaker 1: for his future. I did with Herbert as well, really
Speaker 1: did a nice job on special teams and when he
Speaker 1: was in there to led the NFC those four weeks
Speaker 1: in rushing MVP. I can't imagine this is in unanimous.
Speaker 1: Jim Roquan absolutely, guys, a heat seeking missile man. A
Speaker 1: lot munch to play. Yeah, I've got a hundred percent
Speaker 1: fourth in the leg and tackles, and he emerged so
Speaker 1: significantly as a leader. Uh you know, and I you know,
Speaker 1: when I did a feature with him, I said, Roquan,
Speaker 1: you know you're the leader of this team right now
Speaker 1: he goes on one off. Now you're the guy until
Speaker 1: further notice. Justin eventually that that will be his mantle,
Speaker 1: you know, if all goes well. All right, Jim, I
Speaker 1: don't know if you can remember all these plays because
Speaker 1: you're so busy. Offensive Play of the year, do you
Speaker 1: have one. It's gotta be Fields run versus San Francisco.
Speaker 1: That's mine too, Yeah, reverses field and then you know,
Speaker 1: takes it into score. My other one offensively, it'd be
Speaker 1: demere bird out in seattam, you know, getting the two
Speaker 1: point catch. And and for defense, gotta be when Robert
Speaker 1: Quinn broke up strown. Now you gotta get that. We're
Speaker 1: doing one at a time. We'll get time, give time
Speaker 1: a chance. Well. Offensive play of the year. Offensive play
Speaker 1: of the Year, I'm going Mooney's touchdown catch against the
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers because it wasn't a broken play like Justin's run.
Speaker 1: It was more of a design play where Justin never
Speaker 1: lost sight of receivers downfield even though he was getting
Speaker 1: ready to scramble outside the pocket and run. He readjusted
Speaker 1: the grip on his ball and threw it to Mooney
Speaker 1: for a touchdown. So those are the types of plays
Speaker 1: that we want to see out of those two young
Speaker 1: guys for a long time to come. Yes, because he
Speaker 1: thinks big play. He thinks downfield all the time. Yeah.
Speaker 1: That that scramble fourth and one to forty nine, ers
Speaker 1: twenty one and you're down twenty three to sixteen. It's
Speaker 1: week eight, fourth quarter, play clock at two and he
Speaker 1: makes the magical move. Defensive play of the year, Jim,
Speaker 1: I'm going with Quinn's breaking Richard Dense record. Its unbelievable
Speaker 1: for him to do that, Like said, where he's been
Speaker 1: and what he was able to cover, and he did
Speaker 1: it in sixteen. There will be no asterisk next to
Speaker 1: his name. So good for Robert Quinn. Tommy, I went
Speaker 1: Jaalen's pick against Cincinnati because I was thinking, oh my god,
Speaker 1: it's so early in the season. He's picking off Joe Burrow.
Speaker 1: This is gonna be things that are gonna be yet
Speaker 1: to come throughout this whole season. So I have to
Speaker 1: draw back to find that one interception by Jalen, but
Speaker 1: I need a lot more like it next year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I was torm because the sack of Aaron Rodgers that
Speaker 1: really brought into the Spider Man recognition of Robert Quinn
Speaker 1: was mine one a is role quants pick six of
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow because I wanted. I think he's capable of
Speaker 1: those kind of plays because his ability to cover, But
Speaker 1: that that kind of signal Robert Quinn is just finding
Speaker 1: any relentless way to get to the quarterback you possibly can.
Speaker 1: I would imagine a special Team's player of the years
Speaker 1: of slam dunk Jim, what do you got? Well, you
Speaker 1: guys talked about the kicker earlier. That's why this is
Speaker 1: where I was going to go. Santos and how I
Speaker 1: mean the guy what was he at one point thirty
Speaker 1: six in a row? It was ridiculous how well he
Speaker 1: played so like you said, and points were at a premium,
Speaker 1: and so I'm gonna go Santos there. Tommy, you know,
Speaker 1: it's hard to ignore Jacam Grant's ninety seven yard punt return.
Speaker 1: But didn't they get in a punt return fumble and
Speaker 1: the errors are ye DHC the scoop and score. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that was pretty as well. And you'd love your special
Speaker 1: teams unit to be as nasty and as tough as
Speaker 1: the rest of your team to create those kind of
Speaker 1: kind of plays. But that you came play with something
Speaker 1: else probably put him in the Pro Bowl because, as
Speaker 1: Damn pont Paye told us, just two punt return touchdowns period.
Speaker 1: So that brings this to uh NFL Wild Car Weekend.
Speaker 1: Jim Quick Quick sneak peeks in our final two minutes
Speaker 1: here Vegas. Cincinnati a pair at ten one teams, followed
Speaker 1: by New England and Buffalo on Saturday. Yeah. I think
Speaker 1: both Cincinnati and Buffalo were there were a lot of
Speaker 1: pressure that they got to perform. I still think that
Speaker 1: they will come out on top for the Saturday matchup.
Speaker 1: So I like Buffalo and what they're doing in Cincinnati.
Speaker 1: I think Josh Allen, if he goes, he's tough to handle. Man.
Speaker 1: That guy's like a wild Bronco. I mean, he can
Speaker 1: get out of rule. Now I'm going Cincinnati, New England.
Speaker 1: I think New England is gonna have the first upset
Speaker 1: of the playoffs. I'm pulling for Buffalo, but I think
Speaker 1: New England will win. All right, we only have thirty seconds,
Speaker 1: So Philly, Tampa, San Francisco, Dallas, Pittsburgh, KC, Jim Tampa,
Speaker 1: San Francisco, in Kansas City and Tom. We only have
Speaker 1: time for you to pick Monday nights. How about Arizona
Speaker 1: and the Rams on Monday Night? I'm Woh my god,
Speaker 1: I'm Arizona. I'm pulling for Arizona. Jim in Arizona. Too.
Speaker 1: Too many picks by Stafford down the stretch. Thanks boys,
Speaker 1: it was fun to be back together. Jim Miller from
Speaker 1: Serious x M NFL Radio. Thanks to Damn pomp Pay
Speaker 1: from the Athletic and most of all to you for listening.
Speaker 1: For Tom there, I'm Jeff Jonia. Thanks Sean Adderson, Jordan
Speaker 1: Trent Up and Dan Ba. Really Mark Rody is next.
Speaker 1: This has been Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy to score. Talk to you next week. Good night, everybody,
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