Speaker 1: The following is a presentation of the Chicago Bears Network
Speaker 1: and Chicago Bears dot Com. Download the Chicago Bears official
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Speaker 1: day and now welcome to Bears All Access. Your all
Speaker 1: access passing to Chicago Bears football. Bears All Access is
Speaker 1: brought to you by IGS Energy and sponsored by Athletical
Speaker 1: Physical Therapy and CDW. I hope you're having a great
Speaker 1: Tuesday night. Jeff Joniac along my broadcast partner from news
Speaker 1: radio one oh five nine WBBM, A great Chicago Bears
Speaker 1: Super Bowl winning guard Tom Fair. As we get you
Speaker 1: set for Bears Eagles, Tom, I am giddy about the matchup.
Speaker 1: You're playing the best team in the league on Sunday
Speaker 1: at noon, winter blowing in strong on Sunday. It's gonna
Speaker 1: be better. And the final month of the season a
Speaker 1: lot to evaluate for our Bears. And I'm actress to
Speaker 1: see the Eagles and live living color about you. Oh
Speaker 1: me too. You know earlier in the season they wanted
Speaker 1: to call the weekend after the Thursday night game a
Speaker 1: mini bye. I don't like that term. It's just an
Speaker 1: extended week before you prepare for your next opponent. This
Speaker 1: is a bye, and it seems like a long time
Speaker 1: in between games, and to have a bye this late
Speaker 1: in the season, I hope it kind of reignited the
Speaker 1: hunger within the players not only to stay prepared for
Speaker 1: their responsibilities no matter what position they play, but get
Speaker 1: ready for an opponent that is probably the most well
Speaker 1: balanced team in the NFL, that's a true Super Bowl contender,
Speaker 1: and you kind of like you're saying, you want to
Speaker 1: get a look at the Philadelphia Eagles, and you kind
Speaker 1: of want to look at some positions that the Bears
Speaker 1: ultimately need to become if they're getting themselves in a
Speaker 1: division winning football team that has playoff in Super Bowl aspirations.
Speaker 1: Thank our producers is always Dan really, Jordan Trentip and
Speaker 1: Sean Sears at the score Studios. Sean is an Iowa
Speaker 1: State gay. Tom mentioned to me, how about that brock
Speaker 1: Pruty Sunday that guys to talk of the league right now. Listen.
Speaker 1: I think anybody around the league that thinks, because where
Speaker 1: you are drafted, you have no chance or you can't
Speaker 1: be successful in the NFL is wrong because you can
Speaker 1: go from Zach Wilson, the second pick in the draft
Speaker 1: at the quarterback position for the Jets, or you can
Speaker 1: go to Purdy, who is mister irrelevant. And you see
Speaker 1: both of them have good players and good supporting cast,
Speaker 1: and you see what Purty's able to do. And I
Speaker 1: think San Francisco fan base is really excited about what
Speaker 1: he's been able to do for the team, and they
Speaker 1: believe that they can go deep into the playoffs with
Speaker 1: him and Wilson can't even get out of the field
Speaker 1: with an injured quarterback who's got bad ribs and Joe
Speaker 1: Flacco backing them up. It's crazy. We got a quarterback
Speaker 1: coming on the show in our next segment, tom the
Speaker 1: Lefty former Chicago Bear Bobby Douglas coming up in here
Speaker 1: at six ten or so. In a bottom of the hour,
Speaker 1: the venerable voice of the Philadelphia Eagles, Merrill Reese, the
Speaker 1: senior broadcaster in terms of service in the NFL, fell
Speaker 1: great guy. I love them Eagles arriving on Sunday after
Speaker 1: winning their twelfth and thirteen games. So last night of
Speaker 1: the Bears Coaches Show, Tommy Mattieberflus basically unveiled what he's
Speaker 1: looking for in the final four games. The offense, the
Speaker 1: ability to run the football is very important to us defensively.
Speaker 1: We want to see a big jump you know in
Speaker 1: our run defense, uh these next four weeks. To be
Speaker 1: able to stop the run, that's one of our big
Speaker 1: things we need to work on, you know. And then
Speaker 1: obviously protecting the ball. You know, we got to do
Speaker 1: a great job protecting the ball, not only in the
Speaker 1: first three quarters, but also during two minutes. You know,
Speaker 1: we got to do a better job of finishing games.
Speaker 1: And us protecting the ball and be able to operate
Speaker 1: in a two minute offense is going to be very
Speaker 1: important to our success going forward. And there are two
Speaker 1: minute defense you know, to be able to stop you know,
Speaker 1: people two field goals or holding the zero points in
Speaker 1: a two minute drive, you know, and get a four
Speaker 1: and out or a takeaway to end the game. That's
Speaker 1: something we would like to see also. But so again,
Speaker 1: that whole thing about finishing that is a team that
Speaker 1: is a team goal. It's a team thing that we
Speaker 1: want to really accompli here going forward and certainly improve
Speaker 1: on as we meet these really good opponents coming up
Speaker 1: here in the coming weeks. Now that Eagles bills Minnesota
Speaker 1: Detroit on the mix there in the final four games,
Speaker 1: so it kind of laid it out. That's kind of
Speaker 1: the bye week layout. Well, you know the thing about it,
Speaker 1: He's talks about all the team goals, which is true,
Speaker 1: that is what the team needs to accomplish. But in
Speaker 1: order for the team to accomplish those goals, there are
Speaker 1: certain individuals that have to play better than they've been
Speaker 1: playing and they have to be more productive than they
Speaker 1: have been. So it's kind of a double edged sword
Speaker 1: there where Ultimately it's always a team goal, but there's
Speaker 1: other guys that could finish this season on a high
Speaker 1: note and really make an impression on the coaching staff
Speaker 1: and the scouting staff. All right. I know people are
Speaker 1: doing this across the different media platforms. They're trying to
Speaker 1: zero win on some players moving into twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1: That you want to see something out of significance here
Speaker 1: in the final four games and give me four guys.
Speaker 1: I know I'm throwing this atche out of nowhere here,
Speaker 1: but if you want me to start it off, I will.
Speaker 1: But you know, I want to continue to see the
Speaker 1: development of tight end cole commet, the use of cole commet.
Speaker 1: I'd like to see what Chase Cluel Claypool does here
Speaker 1: moving forward. In the final four games, he had a
Speaker 1: career high four touchdowns against this very Philadelphia team twenty
Speaker 1: twenty version a totally different version in this one, but
Speaker 1: he played him the week before the Bears acquired him
Speaker 1: in that deal with Pittsburgh. And then on the defensive
Speaker 1: side of the ball, I just want to see more
Speaker 1: of the young players in that secondary proved that they
Speaker 1: can be a part of the solution. You may be
Speaker 1: finding some depth players moving forward. And then a little
Speaker 1: bit more about the offensive lineman that are here. You know,
Speaker 1: everybody wants to think that the entire offensive line should
Speaker 1: be replaced for twenty twenty three, but there's been some
Speaker 1: good things done. Buy that offensive line. Coach Simo has
Speaker 1: done a great job, and I want to see all
Speaker 1: of those guys how they perform moving forward. All I
Speaker 1: want to see Justin Justin Jones, I want to see
Speaker 1: Dominique Robinson. I want to see Jack Sanborn, and I
Speaker 1: want to see Jaquon Brisker on defense. Then on the
Speaker 1: offensive side of the ball, I want to see Alex Leatherwood.
Speaker 1: I want to see Justin Fields. I hope Khalil Herbert
Speaker 1: comes back and provides what we've been impressed by through
Speaker 1: the early part of the football season, and then I
Speaker 1: want to see a Valis Jones Junior should be in
Speaker 1: serious consideration for playing opportunities next year, or do you
Speaker 1: have to make him compete and see if he can
Speaker 1: even earn a roster spot. Yeah, Vealis a third round pick.
Speaker 1: He's been through a lot, no question his average a
Speaker 1: kickoff return now it's twenty six nine seven on punt returns.
Speaker 1: Among the sixteen combined returns. He's had a couple of
Speaker 1: the muffs, but nine touches on offense only three receptions.
Speaker 1: And I really did think, and granted his preseason was
Speaker 1: wiped out, he missed three games with a hamstring much
Speaker 1: at camp, so a late start. Never got traction offensively
Speaker 1: other than some of these fly sweeps and so forth,
Speaker 1: but I really thought that that aspect of things, I'd
Speaker 1: be able to see something from him in that regard
Speaker 1: fly routes, whatever the case may be, fly patterns down
Speaker 1: go ruts down the sidelines using that speed. So hopefully
Speaker 1: in these next four weeks we'll get a dose of it. Well,
Speaker 1: if we haven't seen impressions made to us by these
Speaker 1: fly routes, these speed routes down the field. Can he
Speaker 1: catch some crossing routes? Does he have the willingness to
Speaker 1: go across the middle when there's a safety hunting you
Speaker 1: out and being able to make a catch and compliment
Speaker 1: an average throw by a quarterback and turn it in
Speaker 1: to an explosive catch after the run. You talk about
Speaker 1: the muffs on the kick, on the punt returns. Those
Speaker 1: things are game costing. So he's got to bring himself
Speaker 1: from a below average evaluation to impress you enough to
Speaker 1: figure when ota start and you have two hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty reps of catching punks during the off season by
Speaker 1: the end of the off season in the training camp,
Speaker 1: are you so impressive at it that you don't consider
Speaker 1: Dante pett Is still the best pump catcher on this
Speaker 1: football team. Four returns one hundred and fourteen against Green
Speaker 1: Bay and the kick game, plus that fifty five yarder
Speaker 1: in Atlanta. All right, we're gonna take our first break
Speaker 1: when we come back. Bobby Douglas due to join the program,
Speaker 1: the former Chicago Bear who has the single season rushing records.
Speaker 1: It's in dire straits, Tommy with Justin Fields tracking him
Speaker 1: down from that nineteen seventy two season. He'll join us next.
Speaker 1: This is Bears All Access and it's brought to you
Speaker 1: by IGS Energy with Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff Joniak on
Speaker 1: Chicago Sports Radio six seventy. The Score. Back with you
Speaker 1: on Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: to score. Jeff jony Eak and Tom Fair choose clean
Speaker 1: energy for your home at IGS dot com because every
Speaker 1: good choice adds up to a better world. Or will
Speaker 1: be joined by Bobby Douglas at some point here. I
Speaker 1: want to talk about Sam must for time because I
Speaker 1: love the guy. Number one natural born leader, no question
Speaker 1: about it. He's always walking talk in that locker room,
Speaker 1: no matter the circumstances, and I love what he had
Speaker 1: to say yesterday up at hallisall critically important to him
Speaker 1: to be hard on himself as he took the bye
Speaker 1: week and rewatched everything. Yeah, for sure. I mean you
Speaker 1: got to sit back and honestly evaluate yourself. And it's
Speaker 1: a continuous evaluation. That's what the NFL is. Um if
Speaker 1: you're not getting better, you're getting worse. Like nobody stays
Speaker 1: in the same in this league. So I had, you know,
Speaker 1: look back that Mini bye we had that Washington week.
Speaker 1: I had looked back, and you know, where are the
Speaker 1: games I struggle in? Where the areas that are struggled
Speaker 1: in him? And it was it was past protection that
Speaker 1: was that was an easy, easy thing to find. And
Speaker 1: went back to the Giants game, watched my past sets
Speaker 1: against Extra Lawrence. Who's I mean, you'd be hard pressed
Speaker 1: to find a lot of guys in the NFL blocking
Speaker 1: him one on one nowadays. But you know that's the
Speaker 1: challenge I want, Like I alluded to her, I want
Speaker 1: to play teams like the Philadelphia East Front seven, you
Speaker 1: know I want. I want to pay the Kenny Clarks
Speaker 1: in the NFL. I want to play the Desha Launces
Speaker 1: on the NFL, because that's why I trained Force. I
Speaker 1: love his attitude time me too. I've always loved Sam.
Speaker 1: I've always been impressed woson the moment he's gone here.
Speaker 1: He's super confetitive, He's got a lot of pride in himself,
Speaker 1: and I like what he does. This does four, this
Speaker 1: offensive line, Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave and Don mckinsue, Jordan Davis,
Speaker 1: They're all waiting for him on Sunday, all right time
Speaker 1: now to join Bobby Douglas, the former Bears quarterback, the
Speaker 1: second round pick in nineteen sixty nine out of Kansas
Speaker 1: here on Bears All actually on Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: sevent You to score, Bobby, Good to talk to you.
Speaker 1: Thanks for taking the time. How you feeling, Buddy, Good
Speaker 1: to talk to you. Jeff and Tom. Hey, you know
Speaker 1: obviously what's hey? Yeah, yes, sir, yes, sir, yes sir.
Speaker 1: Time's here for sure. UH just want to talk about,
Speaker 1: you know, what's going on with with the uh, the
Speaker 1: Justin Fields impact here this season, and obviously you've been
Speaker 1: you've been doing interviews on this. I'm sure, but that
Speaker 1: single season record is dangling by a thread for you, Buddy.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you're okay with it right now because Justin's
Speaker 1: just coming on with with so much fire this season
Speaker 1: with his legs and off a pretty good passing game
Speaker 1: against Green Bay Packers. What has it been your impression
Speaker 1: of QB one here in Chicago. Well, I've I've said
Speaker 1: from the beginning, I think he's he's got tremendous upsides.
Speaker 1: I think he can throw the football, got got a
Speaker 1: really good arm. I think the only thing he needs
Speaker 1: from a passing standpoint, is just a more time. You know,
Speaker 1: they got to get him an offense that works for him,
Speaker 1: but that helps him, I should say. I mean he's
Speaker 1: he can you know, obviously run anything of the pro
Speaker 1: type offenses. But I think they need to also take
Speaker 1: advantage of obviously as they are doing now, take advantage
Speaker 1: of his ability to move because he can. He's as
Speaker 1: good as anybody out there running the football. Hey, Bobby,
Speaker 1: before I get onto the subject of justin fields and football,
Speaker 1: Bobby Douglas football camp at Marmie and Military Academy. You're
Speaker 1: you remember that back in year so this is why
Speaker 1: this is why I bring it up, Bobby. In our
Speaker 1: family's trophy room, the first trophy ever presented to our
Speaker 1: family was by the Bobby Douglas football camp to my
Speaker 1: brother Rick. And when you go back, yeah, when you
Speaker 1: go back and you look at those types of items
Speaker 1: and grown up as a Bears fan, I mean it
Speaker 1: was as super inspirational in terms of my brother and
Speaker 1: I get involved in Pop Warner football and then taking
Speaker 1: it to the through the high school and the college
Speaker 1: and pro levels that we are able to. And I, Bobby,
Speaker 1: I never forget it. And I think about the opportunity
Speaker 1: to go there. So I just wanted to bring you
Speaker 1: bring up that. Um just you know, yeah, I always
Speaker 1: uh doing camps pretty early. Really. I actually still do
Speaker 1: a little camp here in Lake Forest every year, so
Speaker 1: I've been doing camps for a while. But no, that
Speaker 1: that's that's uh, that makes me feel really good that
Speaker 1: uh we had your brother out there. That's fabulous. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think we ran a good camph. I really enjoyed
Speaker 1: going out there. We only went out there two or
Speaker 1: three years, but it was it was awesome. I was
Speaker 1: a younger brother. I sat in the stands and watched
Speaker 1: it and it inspired all of us. But what I
Speaker 1: would like to ask you, Bobby, so back in the
Speaker 1: day when you were playing quarterback, the style you played,
Speaker 1: did you have any type of offering what would be
Speaker 1: an RPO in today's offense? Well, not really. You know,
Speaker 1: I really came in when quarterbacks maybe really didn't want
Speaker 1: you to run. Uh. There are a few guys that
Speaker 1: scrambled a little bit. Fran Parkington, as you know, was
Speaker 1: uh pretty good scrambler, but he actually ended up for
Speaker 1: the most part throwing the football. Never gained a lot
Speaker 1: of positive yards. I kind of had to do it.
Speaker 1: We had a team that was you know, the path
Speaker 1: blocking broke down a few times, we had lost. They
Speaker 1: had lost a lot of players in a year or
Speaker 1: two in those two or three years before I got there,
Speaker 1: So you know, there wasn't as strong a line as
Speaker 1: you'd like to have, as fields would like to have,
Speaker 1: you know. So I was I was a good runner,
Speaker 1: and uh so I did a lot of scrambling and
Speaker 1: as far as you know today, I you know, you
Speaker 1: any quarterback you'd love but scrambled back then would love
Speaker 1: to play today. The way the field is is suited
Speaker 1: for for anybody that can move. Because they've got five
Speaker 1: guys running down the field, it's spread out a lot more.
Speaker 1: You can barely hit the quarterbacks. So I think there's
Speaker 1: some real advantages, and I think that's why you're seeing
Speaker 1: quarterbacks like Justin able to do what he does well.
Speaker 1: I think you and Vince Evans were ahead of your
Speaker 1: time in terms of where the game is today. Do
Speaker 1: you enjoy watching quarterback play and offensive football today because
Speaker 1: of all the experiences that you face throughout your career. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I'm a big football fan, big basketball and
Speaker 1: football fan, but I watch I watch every Pro game
Speaker 1: all week. I don't miss one very often. I just
Speaker 1: love the game. I think it's a great game. I
Speaker 1: think what they've done with the rule changes has helped
Speaker 1: the game as you as you can see now with
Speaker 1: all the parody that you have in for football, it's
Speaker 1: it's the best game there is on TV. Yeah, almost
Speaker 1: every game goes down to the wire. Now a league
Speaker 1: record through fourteen weeks and let it gropen up. You know,
Speaker 1: it's so much more wide open than it was. Say
Speaker 1: when I played, all Right, I gotta n for the
Speaker 1: defensive game then yeah, wash And I want to ask
Speaker 1: you a question about that too, by your playing career.
Speaker 1: But when you were talking about that Marmie in military camp, Tom,
Speaker 1: a memory flashed through my head. I was actually on
Speaker 1: a football field defending Bobby Douglas. Bobby, you won't you
Speaker 1: won't remember this. This goes back to nineteen eighty seven
Speaker 1: or eighty eight, I don't know which, when the Chicago
Speaker 1: Bruisers were playing in Rosemond Arena football and there was
Speaker 1: a media all Star game and Gayle Sayers was his
Speaker 1: running back and Bobby Douglas was the quarterback. And I
Speaker 1: remember trying to play, you know, tear the flag from Bobby,
Speaker 1: who's stiff arming like he's playing some serious football here
Speaker 1: against the media. The late Les Grobstein put this together.
Speaker 1: He was the voice of the Bruisers. Do you have
Speaker 1: any recollection of that, remember the Chicago Bruisers back in
Speaker 1: the late eighties. Yeah, yeah, so I do. Remember. I
Speaker 1: didn't play the game, but I was on the field
Speaker 1: with Bobby Douglas, all six five of them, and the
Speaker 1: great Gale Sayers. Uh so six five, six five football player.
Speaker 1: Everybody lists you sixty three, but you were six five.
Speaker 1: You were big, dude, while the legs were I was big. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I was. I was a good size for that year,
Speaker 1: although there was another good sized quarterback. I mean there
Speaker 1: were six or seven others. Actually the record that I
Speaker 1: broke was Greg Landry. You know, Greg was about my size,
Speaker 1: and uh you know he had the record before I
Speaker 1: broke it. Uh I think he had about five hundred
Speaker 1: yards and uh so, you know, there were some big quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: but I but I was. I was a little more
Speaker 1: physical probably than some of them. But you know, the
Speaker 1: underrated aspect of it, and the numbers certainly didn't reflect.
Speaker 1: But in the game played in that era, you had
Speaker 1: one of the league's strongest arms, and guys had a
Speaker 1: hard time negotiating the heat coming off your missile, wasn't it. Well, yes,
Speaker 1: I mean, uh, you're gonna I mean, if you if
Speaker 1: you go back and I happen to do this because
Speaker 1: so Actually John Hadel, I don't know if you remember John,
Speaker 1: but just died. He just died actually, but you remember him.
Speaker 1: I'm sure. Uh. John coached John Elway and uh, and
Speaker 1: they had a little problem because you know, he had
Speaker 1: has a great arm, had a great arm, and they
Speaker 1: were dropping some passes. They went out and got a
Speaker 1: couple of receivers because of that. Uh. Hadel told me, So,
Speaker 1: you know, you're you have a guy that throws with
Speaker 1: a lot more velocity with some quarterbacks do Uh, you're
Speaker 1: gonna have guys dropping more passes. Uh. And you know
Speaker 1: it was a It was a negative for us, But
Speaker 1: for the most part, I was I was getting the
Speaker 1: ball to him. It just we had a few more
Speaker 1: dropped and we didn't throw a lot of the little
Speaker 1: short stuff today, you know, the that make it a
Speaker 1: lot different game. I threw the ball deep, I think
Speaker 1: as well as anybody, So you know, that's I mean,
Speaker 1: you know you don't play if you can't throw it.
Speaker 1: So you know you don't play ten twelve years if
Speaker 1: you can't throw the football. Hey, Bobby, when you think
Speaker 1: of today's game, where is the biggest difference in receivers?
Speaker 1: You think it's the size of the wide receiver or
Speaker 1: the multiple uses of the tight end position. Well, I
Speaker 1: think it's a combination of a lot of things. Probably
Speaker 1: the rule changes, which gives a quarterback more advantage today
Speaker 1: than they had. Say, well, that all started changing in
Speaker 1: the late seventies. I don't you remember when the blocking
Speaker 1: rule change. Well, you're a little before that time, a
Speaker 1: little after that you could use your hands when when
Speaker 1: you came into league, correct, right, yes, you said you
Speaker 1: couldn't do that when I came into league. So that
Speaker 1: changed the game, I think, as drastically as anything other
Speaker 1: than the fact that obviously you could you could also
Speaker 1: get a guy anywhere on the fields until the ball
Speaker 1: was in here, and that lasted through the seventies. In fact,
Speaker 1: I don't want to get into a long an addition
Speaker 1: of why, but that's all because of the AFL and
Speaker 1: the fact that they were throwing the football. So the
Speaker 1: game changed, and that's probably more what is happening today
Speaker 1: because it forced everybody. You go out and you get
Speaker 1: get guys you can catch the football, and they're throwing
Speaker 1: the ball in college now, so guys are coming in
Speaker 1: are much better receivers, and they're catching the ball now
Speaker 1: in high school and guys are just they're getting better
Speaker 1: athletes that are playing receivers. All right, Bobby, last question,
Speaker 1: and we'll let you go. Appreciate the time out. We
Speaker 1: really do take take this. We love the history, so
Speaker 1: we love the history of the game. Give me the
Speaker 1: worst hit you ever took and the hardest defense you
Speaker 1: ever had to deal with. Well, the hardest defense was Minnesota.
Speaker 1: They had They had a phenomenal defense from when we
Speaker 1: played them. Detroit was really good and green Baby was
Speaker 1: pretty good too. It was a real good defensive league
Speaker 1: at the time. I don't you know everybody asked me
Speaker 1: that question. I don't remember ever getting hit so hard
Speaker 1: that I thought about it for any length of time.
Speaker 1: To be honest with you, I guess I was lucky, yes,
Speaker 1: but no, I never never got knocked out or you
Speaker 1: know anything like that. Well, we appreciate it. Appreciate your
Speaker 1: time as a Chicago Bear nine hundred and sixty eight
Speaker 1: yards in a fourteen game season. That's the record that
Speaker 1: Justin Fields is tracking down here in a single season.
Speaker 1: Love to see more Bears wins in the future. And
Speaker 1: I know you think Hiley at Justin and what the
Speaker 1: final for the Chicago Bears. Bobby enjoy the holidays of money,
Speaker 1: so they better go out and get a couple of
Speaker 1: receivers and some offensive blinding. They don't do that. We're
Speaker 1: in for some problems, all right, Bobby Douglas. Our guess
Speaker 1: we'll take a break when we come back a little
Speaker 1: more preview of the Eagles. Will also talk to the
Speaker 1: voice of the Eagles, Meryl Reese. It's all ahead here
Speaker 1: on Bears All Access, brought to you by IGS Energy
Speaker 1: on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score. Welcome back
Speaker 1: to Bears All Access here on Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy To Score with Tom Bear, Jeff Jony Actors. Second
Speaker 1: of Bears All Access is brought to you by CDW.
Speaker 1: People who get it. He's hurt from Bobby Douglas going
Speaker 1: through You know you mentioned Greg Landry. He did and
Speaker 1: that was your first quarterback in the USFL. Yes, Yeah, Eliza.
Speaker 1: You know, I was a twenty something year old kid
Speaker 1: just getting in the league, and he was a forty
Speaker 1: year old quarterback. He was He took great pride in
Speaker 1: his job, and he tried to teach give lessons to
Speaker 1: everybody that he came across, which that's one thing I
Speaker 1: loved about Greg. And good quarterback coach too, right he did. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the coaching too as well. Yeah. Was he here, Yeah,
Speaker 1: he was here with the Bears. Yeah, yeah, he played.
Speaker 1: He went from playing in the USFL to the Bears quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: getting hurt, leaving the USFL and going and finishing the
Speaker 1: season for the Bears. Yeah. The story always these uh,
Speaker 1: and he's he's You still talk to him, don't you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: when we go to Detroit. Yeah, all right, time to join. Uh.
Speaker 1: One of the greatest guys in the National Football League
Speaker 1: is forty sixth season as the play by play voice
Speaker 1: of the Philadelphia Eagles. The dean of NFL play by
Speaker 1: play announcers on radio for their local teams, the Great
Speaker 1: Merrill Reach, joins the program. Merrill, Good evening. I know
Speaker 1: you've been busy tonight with activities. Thanks for taking the time.
Speaker 1: How you feeling anytime? I'm feeling great, yeah, and looking
Speaker 1: forward to seeing you in a couple of days. Yes, always, always,
Speaker 1: always a pleasure to talk to you. Tommy has been
Speaker 1: great for me in my career, been very supportive, So
Speaker 1: I do appreciate you. But for you as you as
Speaker 1: you call these guys the Birds. The Birds are flying high,
Speaker 1: second time in franchise history at twelve and one start.
Speaker 1: I know you want a Super Bowl a couple of
Speaker 1: years back, but how much fun is this team right now?
Speaker 1: Because it does look like the most complete team in
Speaker 1: the NFL. Well, they're fun to be around. There are
Speaker 1: a bunch of good guys, Nike's coaches, coaches that are
Speaker 1: cooperative and make your job very, very pleasurable. But this
Speaker 1: you're right, this is a good team. Whether they're the
Speaker 1: best team in the NFL will find out in the NFC.
Speaker 1: I think maybe they are at this point, but as
Speaker 1: you know, the best team doesn't always win. Hey, Marrol,
Speaker 1: this is Tom There, a former offensive line with the Bears,
Speaker 1: and I'd like to just go down memory lane for
Speaker 1: just one one question, and I would like to talk
Speaker 1: about the fog Bawl because I was a player in
Speaker 1: the fog ball and you are a broadcaster in the
Speaker 1: fog ball and to me, Merril, that was one of
Speaker 1: the best defenses during that period that I've ever faced
Speaker 1: in the NFL. And just where he had, Randall Cunningham
Speaker 1: was one of the most explosive quarterbacks in the league
Speaker 1: at that time. Where in the transition of the NFL
Speaker 1: where what did you think about broadcasting the fog ball
Speaker 1: and what did you think about that team of that
Speaker 1: era When you talk about this team this era with
Speaker 1: one of the most impressive defenses, an explosive quarterback in
Speaker 1: all the other assets they have, Tom, it's funny that
Speaker 1: you said that because my color analyst at the time
Speaker 1: was Stam Voters. It was a former Eagles offensive lineman
Speaker 1: and stand at the time. I remember him saying, I
Speaker 1: think somebody just set off the smoke bomb on the
Speaker 1: other sidelines, and before we knew it, the entire field
Speaker 1: was shrouded in fog and it was unbelievable and we
Speaker 1: couldn't see a thing. And I know, I tried to
Speaker 1: get through it by finding some humor, and I said,
Speaker 1: I think there's a problem because Raindall Cunningham just came
Speaker 1: out of the huddle led by a German shepherd. Whatever
Speaker 1: we could think that, we thought him. And then we
Speaker 1: got into the second half and the Bears had somebody
Speaker 1: on the sideline with a wireless microphone announcing the down
Speaker 1: in the distance and who the past and we went extoringly.
Speaker 1: We went entirely by what we were getting from the PA,
Speaker 1: but it was impossible to see. And my wife and
Speaker 1: I were going to have a New Year's Eve party
Speaker 1: that night back in Philadelphia, and I'm thinking, well, there
Speaker 1: goes the party. We're going to be stuck overnight in Chicago.
Speaker 1: And when we got out of the stadium to the buses,
Speaker 1: there wasn't any evidence of fog. It was a completely
Speaker 1: clear night. And I remember saying the buddy, it's a
Speaker 1: shame they didn't stop that game and wait for the
Speaker 1: fog to clear, and he said, they don't stop wars
Speaker 1: and you continue to play. Hey, Meryl, slightly better view
Speaker 1: from the booth at Old Soldier Field in the fog
Speaker 1: than we ever get in Washington. To say, to call
Speaker 1: a commander's game right, well, I think the commanders they're
Speaker 1: no longer the worst. The worst is now Miami. Yes,
Speaker 1: you're right, get right out of my when you go
Speaker 1: and you think about that team of Reggie White and
Speaker 1: Jerome Brown and the rest of the counterparts they had
Speaker 1: in that defense. Like I said, it was one of
Speaker 1: the best. And now you think about this defense that
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Eagles have. Did they need to go out
Speaker 1: and sign the Dominican sue in Linnville Joseph or could
Speaker 1: they have got through without them. It's a good question.
Speaker 1: I think at the time, they were having trouble stopping
Speaker 1: the run and they needed some beef in the middle.
Speaker 1: And don't forget Jordan Davis was hurt. He was out
Speaker 1: for the He went on injured reserve for four weeks
Speaker 1: because they had to excuse the pun But they needed
Speaker 1: more beef. They needed to beef up the defense and
Speaker 1: that's what they brought in and these guys have both contributed.
Speaker 1: It's the thing about this defense, Tom, it's it's it's
Speaker 1: so deep that they're able to rotate so many combinations
Speaker 1: of people. The thirty forty year old Brandon Graham was
Speaker 1: able to come in last week and pick up three sects.
Speaker 1: That's how fresh you was. You're talking about a running game.
Speaker 1: When you talk about the Bears, you talk you know
Speaker 1: you got Dave Montgomery. You have Khalil Herbert, you have
Speaker 1: a couple of other running backs, and then you have
Speaker 1: Justin Fields. Now, is this a defense that can shut
Speaker 1: down the running game of running backs, not including a quarterback,
Speaker 1: or is this a running game defense that can shut
Speaker 1: down a running quarterback as well as a good running
Speaker 1: game with running backs. I think yes, yes, and yes,
Speaker 1: because don him forget last week they really shut down
Speaker 1: se Quon Barkley. The week before, they handled Derrek Henry
Speaker 1: and kept him to under They kept him to under
Speaker 1: thirty yards rushing. And then they also shut down Jonathan Taylor.
Speaker 1: He had a big first half and in the second
Speaker 1: half he did nothing. In the Annapolis and they've been
Speaker 1: able to contain the quarterbacks, but I don't think they've
Speaker 1: played a quarterback yet who can run like Justin Fields.
Speaker 1: I think he's probably the best running quarterback in the
Speaker 1: game right now. All Right, So a lot of conversation
Speaker 1: and with Meryl Reese the voice with the Philadelphia Eagles
Speaker 1: as the Bears get ready to meet Philadelphia on Sunday
Speaker 1: at Soldier Field. The comparison contrast the first two years
Speaker 1: of Jalen Hurtz, who was at the beginning of this
Speaker 1: whole process considered. If I'm not mistaken from a Philadelphia
Speaker 1: point of view, a bridge quarterback and here he's taken
Speaker 1: the ball, and you know, I watched him play at Oklahoma.
Speaker 1: My daughter was an Oklahoma graduate. I saw him in
Speaker 1: a spring game. I was impressed. I was impressed in
Speaker 1: that Alabama and certainly impressed with him now and then
Speaker 1: Josh Allen their first two years and then they take
Speaker 1: off in their year three. Justin finishing up his second year,
Speaker 1: the last half of it's been outstanding, finishing strong as
Speaker 1: the hope into a year three. Is it fair to
Speaker 1: have these comparison contrasts about these three young quarterbacks. I
Speaker 1: know every quarterback develops differently, but they're all similar or
Speaker 1: in the sense that they can run and they can
Speaker 1: throw well. There was a lot of divided opinion about
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts when they drafted him to begin with, and
Speaker 1: then as late as last year after the playoffs, there
Speaker 1: were a lot of people who said that Jalen Hurts
Speaker 1: was not the quarterback of the future, he was just
Speaker 1: somebody to play until they got the real franchise quarterback.
Speaker 1: I was not among these people. I liked Jalen Hurts.
Speaker 1: From the time I saw him at Alabama. I loved
Speaker 1: when I saw an Oklahoma and I was thrilled when
Speaker 1: the Eagles drafted him. Now they drafted him to be
Speaker 1: a backup for Carson Wentz, who had had some injury problems.
Speaker 1: But boy, that didn't last very long. And this young
Speaker 1: man has developed. He I thought he did a great
Speaker 1: job last year and only his first full year as
Speaker 1: a starter, But the jump he made from last year
Speaker 1: to this year to become a legitimate MVP candidate has
Speaker 1: been enormous. There were people who said he didn't have
Speaker 1: an NFL arm. He's got a great arm, He's got
Speaker 1: great mobility. But you know what, I'm a golfer and
Speaker 1: I love the game, and I remember something that Bobby
Speaker 1: Jones once said. He said, the most important part of
Speaker 1: the game is the six inches between a player's ears.
Speaker 1: And that's the thing with Jalen Hurts. He is bright,
Speaker 1: he is diligent. His hobbyist football, his professionist football. He's
Speaker 1: all football all the time. He's seeing film every day,
Speaker 1: every night. He is such a worker, and the biggest
Speaker 1: difference between last year and this year. Yes, he has
Speaker 1: cleaned up some mechanics as far as throwing his concern.
Speaker 1: But his decision making is so quick and he makes
Speaker 1: the right decisions, and he knows when to get out
Speaker 1: of pounds and he knows when to give up on
Speaker 1: a play and throw the ball away. I mean, you
Speaker 1: know that when you see that he has twenty two
Speaker 1: touchdown passes and only three interceptions. He has had a
Speaker 1: spectacular year, a quarterback rating of one hundred and eight
Speaker 1: point four. And you know that out rowdy threw under
Speaker 1: a blitz last week on a dot that I saw
Speaker 1: a video today of Darius Lay, your star cornerback, saying
Speaker 1: if you know, if he's gonna put away this cornerback
Speaker 1: stuff and he's going to become a receiver and be
Speaker 1: a fifteen hundred yarder because that guy throws so accurately
Speaker 1: on the move under pressure, and that's quite the compliment
Speaker 1: to him. What is your opinion from watching tape of
Speaker 1: Justin Fields as it relates to Jalen Hurts. Do you
Speaker 1: see similar progress over the course of this season. I
Speaker 1: don't know much tape you've seen or what you've watched.
Speaker 1: What do you think of Justin I think he's terrific,
Speaker 1: I really do love him in Ohio State, and I
Speaker 1: think he's a bright young quarterback, and I think you
Speaker 1: have to give him time. You have to be patient,
Speaker 1: and he will become a more accurate passer. I think
Speaker 1: he's he's a brilliant athlete. When it does with his
Speaker 1: legs right now is mind boggling. He's he's frightening for
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator to watch during the week as he prepares
Speaker 1: to face him. And I think he's just going to
Speaker 1: become a more total quarterback as time goes on. When
Speaker 1: I think if Bears fans give him time and keep
Speaker 1: their minds open, you've got You've got the makings of
Speaker 1: a Pro Bowl quarterback at the variety of systems that
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts his face throughout his development through college into
Speaker 1: the pros. When he if he gets three or four
Speaker 1: years in the same system, same terminology, same supporting cast,
Speaker 1: just like I hope Fields has the same opportunity, do
Speaker 1: you expect significant improvement in his abilities because you can
Speaker 1: kind of now you finally become familiar with the same
Speaker 1: terminology over a period of seasons. Absolutely. You bring up
Speaker 1: a good point on because Jalen Hurts, up until this year,
Speaker 1: had played with five different offensive coordinators in five years.
Speaker 1: This is the second year he's played with Jane Stikeen,
Speaker 1: and he's certainly very comfortable in the offense, and the
Speaker 1: same will happened with Justin Fields. He's going to be
Speaker 1: a winning quarterback. There's no doubt in my mind. I
Speaker 1: think he's special and I always have and I think
Speaker 1: it's just a matter of really being oriented and ingrained
Speaker 1: in one system for a while. Teams that you look
Speaker 1: at the bad teams that are always making changes and
Speaker 1: hiring this one and firing that one. I think Justin
Speaker 1: Fields has a lot of positive years ahead of him
Speaker 1: and it will happen. His big jump will probably come
Speaker 1: from between this year and next year. He'll he'll be
Speaker 1: a different quarterback next year. Now, I would assume, I
Speaker 1: would assume from what I've heard about him that he's
Speaker 1: a very diligent guy and that he puts in the time,
Speaker 1: and that he has the drive and desire, because that's
Speaker 1: very important too. That's the top of the thing with
Speaker 1: Justin with the Jalen hurts, he wants it so badly.
Speaker 1: He wants to win. He's been a winner at every level,
Speaker 1: and I think you probably have that although I don't
Speaker 1: have any firsthand knowledge, but I would think from what
Speaker 1: I've heard that Justin Fields had some of those same qualities.
Speaker 1: All right, we're wrapping up with my good friend Meryl Reese,
Speaker 1: the voice of the Eagles. Last thing, just give me
Speaker 1: a short story as we try to beat the clock here.
Speaker 1: You started with nineteen seventy seven Eagles. Do you remember
Speaker 1: your first broadcast? Who was your color analyst? I know
Speaker 1: that was Ron jr Orski's team, Harold Kermichael Bill Burgee,
Speaker 1: Herm Edwards, and a secondary that had nineteen interceptions from
Speaker 1: the starting four. Yeah, it was nineteen seventy seven. I
Speaker 1: had done the first twelve of the fourteen games. I
Speaker 1: had done them as the color analyst, and then the
Speaker 1: play by play man tragically died, and then I had
Speaker 1: the last two games of the seventy seven season with
Speaker 1: no guarantees. I reached out to a friend of mine
Speaker 1: who I knew who lived in the area by the
Speaker 1: name of Herb Adderley, who was in the Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame with the Packers and the Cowboys, and Herb did
Speaker 1: the color for those that first those first two games,
Speaker 1: which were the last two of the season. A rookie
Speaker 1: by the name of Wilber Montgomery took the kickoff back
Speaker 1: coast to coast. I ended up calling every touchdown on
Speaker 1: Wilbert's career, and Ron Jaworski won the game with a
Speaker 1: naked boot life bootleg to the left to beat the Giants.
Speaker 1: Great recall, It's uh, it's it's living memories, isn't it? Great?
Speaker 1: Forty six season. I know you're never giving it up, buddy,
Speaker 1: I'm not. I'm not. They're gonna have to remove me
Speaker 1: with a crane because as much as I love to
Speaker 1: play golf, I like to do this even more I
Speaker 1: know you do. By the way, NBC's Today Show did
Speaker 1: a great job taking their cameras into your booth saw
Speaker 1: it a few weeks back. That must have been a
Speaker 1: nice honor as well. We'll see a Sunday Buddy, Bears
Speaker 1: Eagles can't wait. Look look forward to a Jeff take care,
Speaker 1: have a good night, all right, good night? More Bears
Speaker 1: All Access after this break on Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy The Score. The segment of Bears on Access is
Speaker 1: brought to you by CDW. People to get it and
Speaker 1: also athletical physical Therapy visit Athletical dot Com to request
Speaker 1: and deployment in clinic or virtually and start feeling better tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Jeff Joniak and Tom there with you breaking down Bears
Speaker 1: Eagles for Sunday. Justin Fields certainly the hot topic. It's
Speaker 1: two QB one's Tom Jalen Hurts QB one, Justin QB one.
Speaker 1: Despite the disparity and the records, the positions and where
Speaker 1: they're headed here on the next four weeks. This is
Speaker 1: a premier quarterback matchup and every little thing that happens
Speaker 1: on Sunday, we're going to be comparing and contrasting and evaluating,
Speaker 1: and it's gonna be fun. It's gonna be a fun
Speaker 1: matchup to watch. It is, but none of these guys
Speaker 1: are a one man band. This is about how did
Speaker 1: this this quarterback in or act with their supporting cast.
Speaker 1: And you have to identify what receivers you're developing a
Speaker 1: relationship with to get the ball down field. And I
Speaker 1: think Justin Fields did a great job against the Green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers of staying inside the pocket, getting the protection
Speaker 1: from the offensive line and then identifying big play opportunities
Speaker 1: to eq Saint Brown, to Kiel, Harry Cole commet and
Speaker 1: so if they can do that, then I think that
Speaker 1: that's what gives the Bears the best fighting chance. And
Speaker 1: I'll also be interested to see on how Luke getsy
Speaker 1: after a chance to maybe to go over some tape
Speaker 1: evaluation with about the pressure, the pressure of getting a
Speaker 1: game plan ready, how he figures justin into the mix.
Speaker 1: All right. One of the big questions is how to
Speaker 1: ignite a pass rush, whether if it's extras, do you
Speaker 1: just run the risk and try to throw stuff at
Speaker 1: this guy because the Bears haven't been able to do that.
Speaker 1: It was a topic with Mattieberfluss on the Monday Night
Speaker 1: Coaches Showing WBBM, but we delved into Dominique Robinson and
Speaker 1: his progress and improvement that's needed over the course of
Speaker 1: the rest of the season. I know you feel strongly
Speaker 1: about Dominique. He had a seven tackle opener against the
Speaker 1: forty nine ers and the rain and what a surface
Speaker 1: at Soldier Field with a sack and a half, but
Speaker 1: has been developing and trying to get his pass rush
Speaker 1: moves and technique down. Yeah. So we call that gap
Speaker 1: and a half so meaning that if the guy's playing
Speaker 1: outside shade of the tackle and he's the defensive end.
Speaker 1: You know, he owns that C gap, but if the
Speaker 1: ball gets run into the B gap. Once the ball
Speaker 1: that clears in there, he can he can shed off
Speaker 1: and play the B gap as well. We call that
Speaker 1: gap and a half. So you own your gap. The
Speaker 1: first gap is the C gap, the half gap is
Speaker 1: the B gap. Once the ball declares in there, he
Speaker 1: can shed and make a tackle in that gap. So
Speaker 1: that's what he's talking to. UM. You know, defense line
Speaker 1: away always need to play lower. Um. You know, he
Speaker 1: you know, we talked about his hustle. He's been really
Speaker 1: good at hustling um, you know, the whole year and
Speaker 1: given the second effort, and he has a high standard
Speaker 1: for that and it hasn't been where he wants it
Speaker 1: to be. But he certainly improved that last this week
Speaker 1: and we look for him to keep improving that in
Speaker 1: the coming weeks. Coach felt he faint came close to
Speaker 1: getting a couple of sacks last week. That was in
Speaker 1: reference to what Dominique say he can play his first gap, well,
Speaker 1: he's been adjusting to that second gap and playing two.
Speaker 1: Talk concern for Dominic Robinson and how he gets influenced
Speaker 1: by what the quarterback does with the football after they
Speaker 1: get the center quarterback exchange. Sometimes he is susceptible to
Speaker 1: beginning deceived out of position. You can talk about your
Speaker 1: responsibility when you line up before the play in your
Speaker 1: stance in terms of where you're lined up on the defense,
Speaker 1: but what Dominique Robinson and how his future is going
Speaker 1: to be built is what he does after the ball
Speaker 1: is snapped. So you have to make sure that you
Speaker 1: understand what the offenses you're facing analytically, what they do
Speaker 1: per down and distance. And then you got to see
Speaker 1: countless amounts of reps to get the experience to become
Speaker 1: the player to build into your athleticism. All right, now,
Speaker 1: I want to talk about another guy, Tevin Jenkins's. He's
Speaker 1: been a big topic here over the course of this
Speaker 1: season for his excellence on the field and just for
Speaker 1: his journey. And it's been one according to ever flues
Speaker 1: Um and they're pretty fast. You know, he really did
Speaker 1: a good job of stepping in there. Um. He's really smart.
Speaker 1: Um understands that guard position does has some different things
Speaker 1: that we do, has some more calls. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: does more in the run game in terms of polling
Speaker 1: and jump into the second level than the tackle does. Um,
Speaker 1: So that fit him really well, you know. And it's
Speaker 1: really good to have a big body in there, you know.
Speaker 1: So you know he's got he's obviously got a really
Speaker 1: big frame. He's really athletic, but it's certainly good to
Speaker 1: have that inside there in the pocket to keep that
Speaker 1: inside pocket clean, um infirm um for the quarterback. So
Speaker 1: we're really pleased with that part of it. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know, he's done a good job of growing. You know,
Speaker 1: he's grown in terms of his consistency and practice, which
Speaker 1: has led to more consistency in the game. Tom, what
Speaker 1: do you see for Tevin Since Tevin Jenkins has been
Speaker 1: inserted in the lineup. I like the psical nature of
Speaker 1: his play. What I need is some of Sam Mustaffer
Speaker 1: to rub off on Tevin Jenkins to make sure that
Speaker 1: everything that you do in terms of getting better weekend
Speaker 1: and week out, playing and play out is super important
Speaker 1: to you. And that's one thing I want Tevin to
Speaker 1: prove to me that he's in love with the game
Speaker 1: of football, he likes the position he's playing, and he's
Speaker 1: going to continue to improve. He's missed some time due
Speaker 1: to a couple of injuries. He's been in the tent
Speaker 1: a couple times during games and he listen. You can't
Speaker 1: control that. But when you listen to a guy like
Speaker 1: Sam Mustaffer at the podium and how important life and
Speaker 1: football is to him, I want that same importancy to
Speaker 1: filter into Tevin Jenkins. All right, we're gonna take another break. Well,
Speaker 1: one more segment to go. This is Bears All Access
Speaker 1: on Chicago's Port Radio six seventy. Discore brought to you
Speaker 1: by IGS Energy with Tom There, Jeff Jonik back in
Speaker 1: a few Bears matchup with the Eagles is brought to
Speaker 1: you by United Airlines, the official airline of the Chicago Bears,
Speaker 1: Jeff Jonyak and Tom Fair, where the Bears hosting the
Speaker 1: Eagles on Sunday. Appreciate our guests tonight Bobby Douglas, the
Speaker 1: former Bears quarterback and also Meryl Reached the voice of
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Eagles, getting you set for the matchup as
Speaker 1: well at Soldier Field. Gonna be cold, Tom, gonna be
Speaker 1: cold for a lot of guys on Sunday. I wasn't
Speaker 1: even aware of it. You brought it to my attention
Speaker 1: because you've been doing it all year. You've been telling
Speaker 1: me when it's gonna rain. You've been telling me when
Speaker 1: it's gonna be hot. You can tell me when the
Speaker 1: wind's gonna blow, and you tell me what's gonna drop
Speaker 1: down to the single digits on Sunday. So that what
Speaker 1: you're telling me, it'll tell you a little bit about
Speaker 1: the game. Watch the players who come out of the
Speaker 1: locker room to warm up. It's not gonna be a
Speaker 1: pleasant morning. So you know, don't think you're gonna be
Speaker 1: ready if you just come out of the locker room
Speaker 1: at kickoff. And so to me, I'm excited to see
Speaker 1: where Jikwan Brisker and Kyler Gordon are. When you are
Speaker 1: two rookies and you miss a significant amount of time
Speaker 1: during your rookie year, you have to come right back
Speaker 1: at full speed. It's not like a breaking end period
Speaker 1: where you get a quarter or so to become re
Speaker 1: acclimated to the playing conditions. By the time you get
Speaker 1: on the field for that opening defensive snap, you have
Speaker 1: to know that you've been there before. You have plenty
Speaker 1: experience in play, like you haven't had any time off
Speaker 1: three weeks. With the bye week in they'll be facing
Speaker 1: some really dominant players obviously with the Philadelphia Eagles, and
Speaker 1: not just in the passing game. Miles Sanders is tough
Speaker 1: to put down. He is playing with a real gusto
Speaker 1: right now, even in past protection, blocking as well. For
Speaker 1: his teammates. He's really risen to the occasion his first
Speaker 1: one thousand yard season running the ball and getting in
Speaker 1: the end zone. Yeah. You know the thing about the
Speaker 1: defensive backs, it's going to be interesting what type of
Speaker 1: coverage they play and where their eyes will be because
Speaker 1: you can't cover these talented wide receivers and watch the
Speaker 1: quarterback at the same time. You just have to play
Speaker 1: your responsibility called in the huddle and make sure everybody
Speaker 1: else inside that huddle does their job there. Fortunate they
Speaker 1: have a linebacker like Nick Morrow with that type of speed.
Speaker 1: He's not necessarily going to be a spy, but he's
Speaker 1: got the quickness to work the interior running game and
Speaker 1: chase down the quarter all right. A couple of nuggets
Speaker 1: involving the Vikings and Lions and division. We're talking more
Speaker 1: about them than the Packers now, which is interesting. But
Speaker 1: I just saw this today. The Vikings are ten and three.
Speaker 1: They've been outscored by one point this season. Two hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty teams in NFL history with ten or more
Speaker 1: wins in the first thirteen games, The Vikings the only
Speaker 1: team ever with a negative point differential. Weird. The Bears
Speaker 1: should have beat him the first time around if they
Speaker 1: didn't leave a ball on the turf at the end
Speaker 1: of the game. And they've given up five straight games
Speaker 1: of four hundred yards and more of the longest streak
Speaker 1: in franchise history. Lions have won five of six. They're
Speaker 1: six and seven, They're at the Jets, They're at Carolina,
Speaker 1: then they get the Bears at home and at Green Bay.
Speaker 1: Will they be a playoff team? I don't think they'll
Speaker 1: be a playoff team, but they're definitely converting the attitude
Speaker 1: of their coach into the performance on the field, and
Speaker 1: they can become the first team since the seventy Bengals
Speaker 1: to make the playoff after beginning of season with one
Speaker 1: or fewer wins in their first seven games. Interesting all
Speaker 1: land ahead for the Bears in the future too, because
Speaker 1: the Lions are going to be loading up with prospects,
Speaker 1: including their special draft picks that they got in deals,
Speaker 1: and they got something going there as well. But so
Speaker 1: do the Bears. We'll look forward to it. On Sunday
Speaker 1: nine a m Our pregame newing the kickoff on WBBM. Tom,
Speaker 1: thanks so much early, Jeff. I'll be there with Tom there.
Speaker 1: I thank him and Sean Sears, our producer here at
Speaker 1: the Score, damn brilliant. Jordan Trutup as well. Thanks for
Speaker 1: listening everybody. We'll talk to you next week on Bears
Speaker 1: All Access here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score. Goodnight,
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to this Chicago Bears Network presentation of
Speaker 1: Bears All Access. Podcasts are available on Chicago Bears dot
Speaker 1: com and on iTunes, or download the official Bears mobile app.
Speaker 1: Bears All Access been brought to you by IGS Energy
Speaker 1: and sponsored by Miller Lite