Speaker 1: Cut open that DJ Moore end zone touchdown, touchdown Bears.
Speaker 1: I am Jeff joniyat blitz us.
Speaker 2: On Donnie Go R.
Speaker 1: What was like playing for Cody Good. I don't want
Speaker 1: to answer any questions like that pressure coming is a
Speaker 1: big trouble. Donnie Go Mottest Sweat Now Bears, et cetera.
Speaker 3: Brought to you by Geico with the voices of the Bears,
Speaker 3: Jeff Joniac and Tom Thayer.
Speaker 1: One more look back before we start looking ahead to
Speaker 1: what's next for your Chicago Bears. Episode one teven of
Speaker 1: the Bears et cetera podcast with Super Bowl winning Bears
Speaker 1: guard Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff Joniac, Bears, etcetera. Brought to
Speaker 1: you by Geico. Good to have you along. Dig a
Speaker 1: little deep in some statistics here Tommy and what could
Speaker 1: have made it better? And then we're gonna throw our
Speaker 1: players of the year on the table today as well.
Speaker 1: Should be a fun little conversation. No guests today as
Speaker 1: we put a wrap on things. We're be coming at
Speaker 1: you now once a week in the off season, starting
Speaker 1: next week, so be sure to make sure you check
Speaker 1: us out and wherever you get your podcasts, we'll have
Speaker 1: some good guests for you, and some things off the
Speaker 1: beaten track a little bit. I'm excited about the time
Speaker 1: we've enjoyed doing this podcast, no question. Can't believe we've
Speaker 1: already done what will now be one hundred and twenty
Speaker 1: seven of them.
Speaker 2: There's a lot to bring to the fans of the Bears,
Speaker 2: and there's a lot to talk about. And I don't
Speaker 2: think I've ever come off of an off season with
Speaker 2: as much as anticipation as there was this past season,
Speaker 2: especially when you look at the draft choices in Caleb
Speaker 2: and Roma Dunes, even though you didn't know who was
Speaker 2: coming aboard, just where they were in the draft, and
Speaker 2: then all of a sudden, that led up to the
Speaker 2: Hall of Fame game, and that led up the hard knocks,
Speaker 2: and that led up to you know, every practice you
Speaker 2: saw in OTAs and training camp. It kind of caught
Speaker 2: your attention because you saw, you know, some really significant
Speaker 2: bright spots of the future.
Speaker 3: When you talk about Caleb and Rome.
Speaker 1: Right, and there are many others, there's no question, I know, yeah,
Speaker 1: many others, But I know we're all excited about it.
Speaker 1: We're all excited. I think the players were excited about
Speaker 1: I thought they they think they thought they had something cooking,
Speaker 1: and we had some dudes finally on the football team.
Speaker 1: But there are so many difficulties in winning in the NFL,
Speaker 1: and you know, probably the biggest thing is just that
Speaker 1: availability thing, especially on the offensive line, the continuity aspect
Speaker 1: of it. I think that's something we'll focus on, you know,
Speaker 1: until it it's properly aligned, where guys are the same
Speaker 1: five coming out hopefully every single week for the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five season.
Speaker 3: And that is ubtainable.
Speaker 2: And that's one thing the Bears really have to focus on,
Speaker 2: and that's everybody the coaching staff, Ryan Poles, the type
Speaker 2: of talent you bring in here. You got to bring
Speaker 2: in a group of guys that maybe are spearheaded by
Speaker 2: guys like Darnell Wright, who has got a super bright
Speaker 2: future ahead of them. And I think his upside is
Speaker 2: not even he has not even scratched the surface of
Speaker 2: what he can be. But he's got to be that
Speaker 2: type of guy that transitions this offensive line from uncertainty
Speaker 2: to certainty, and I think he has every capability of
Speaker 2: doing that, and so I really have really high hopes
Speaker 2: for what Darnell can do in his career.
Speaker 1: Tastes like middle Time. Go to middle light dot com
Speaker 1: slash Bears Pod to find delivery options near you. Celebrate
Speaker 1: responsibly Middle Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ninety six calories and
Speaker 1: three point two carbs for twelve ounces. It's interesting to
Speaker 1: look at the collective the entire eighteen week season, seventeen
Speaker 1: games and see what was produced. It doesn't all equate
Speaker 1: to wins or losses, but it's just some of the
Speaker 1: things that may be surprising the people of what went well.
Speaker 1: We certainly know it didn't go well obviously, that the
Speaker 1: sacks were too many, sixty eight for the year, most
Speaker 1: sacked quarterback on first down of the NFL with twenty two,
Speaker 1: So that was really a heck of a place to start, frankly,
Speaker 1: because first down is so critical, both offensively and defensively.
Speaker 1: And then that leads into first quarter and fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: So let's begin there. Let's begin with that, tom because
Speaker 1: the slow starts were really something that was emphasized over
Speaker 1: the course of the year. And then how the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: Now you'd like to see that kind of production level
Speaker 1: out get into the first quarter. But the Bears were
Speaker 1: three and one with a halftime lead at home this year,
Speaker 1: one to zero on the road, so four or five wins.
Speaker 1: They had lead at halftime, losing at halftime one and eleven.
Speaker 1: So they had an NFL low twenty seven points in
Speaker 1: the first quarter, number thirty in the first half, but
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter they ranked twelfth in points scored.
Speaker 1: They did not score a touchdown on their first possession.
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh and Seattle were the only other teams that did not,
Speaker 1: so they only wound up with six first possession points.
Speaker 1: They made two field goals, missed one, and at thirteen points.
Speaker 1: They got better in the first possession of the second half,
Speaker 1: they had four touchdowns. So as you look at it,
Speaker 1: if there is a common denominator that we asked coaches,
Speaker 1: we asked players, no one could really say what it was.
Speaker 1: Do you have an answer for what the first quarter
Speaker 1: common denominator would be? With the lack of production.
Speaker 2: The thing about it is you're bringing in an inexperienced quarterback,
Speaker 2: and the only reason he's inexperienced in a professional level
Speaker 2: because he's a rookie. He's a guy that was just
Speaker 2: recently brought aboard that had so many different things on
Speaker 2: his play, from being the first pick in the draft,
Speaker 2: from learning a new system, learning all that terminology, learning
Speaker 2: how the key components fit according to what he's saying
Speaker 2: in the huddle, and then you have an offensive line
Speaker 2: that you know Darnell Wright and Coleman Shelton are the
Speaker 2: only two guys that really played, you know, a majority
Speaker 2: of the snaps at the position that they were picked
Speaker 2: to play, and I don't You can't really underestimate the
Speaker 2: difficulty of that for a football team because now when
Speaker 2: you're talking about in preparation for whomever your next opponent
Speaker 2: is in where you play him, there's a lot of
Speaker 2: advantages that you give the opponent's defensive coordinator because they
Speaker 2: know that you have a young, inexperienced quarterback, and they
Speaker 2: know that you have an offensive line that's going through
Speaker 2: some health issues that maybe there's certain instances that are attackable.
Speaker 2: So they beat Tennessee at home week one, then they
Speaker 2: go into two hostile environments in Houston and in Indianapolis.
Speaker 2: And that's to me as an ex offensive lineman, as
Speaker 2: an offensive lineman that's played with young quarterbacks, that's always
Speaker 2: an advantage for the opponent because you get a supportive crowd, noise,
Speaker 2: it's super loud, and now you create a little bit
Speaker 2: of a dysfunction that can take you a little bit
Speaker 2: to get over the hump. So listen, this is not
Speaker 2: a curable stat you know, analytic or whatever. This is
Speaker 2: something that the Bears will be an entirely different team
Speaker 2: next year in the first half than they were this
Speaker 2: year because now you're allowing Caleb to contribute from experience
Speaker 2: rather than just being an inexperienced guy playing the most
Speaker 2: important position in professional sports, you know, because the thing
Speaker 2: about it is you play at home and you feel
Speaker 2: the support and the introduction of the offense, and the
Speaker 2: crowd is behind you, and that house was packed. Many
Speaker 2: were so excited to see Caleb and an entire Chicago
Speaker 2: Bear team and what.
Speaker 3: They're going to offer them.
Speaker 2: But then you kind of had the same thing when
Speaker 2: you were going down to Houston week two, because here
Speaker 2: they are coming off of a playoff experience a year ago,
Speaker 2: and now they are creating an environment that's one of
Speaker 2: the one of the more difficults to communicate indoors like that.
Speaker 2: So you know, every single first time experience, going to
Speaker 2: any stadium for a rookie is a first time experience,
Speaker 2: and it's it's it's kind of hard.
Speaker 3: To explain, but it is a new experience.
Speaker 1: In the fourth quarter, Caleb had the most passing attempts
Speaker 1: in the NFL one eighty and fifth most passing yards
Speaker 1: eleven oh eight, completed sixty six percent of his passes,
Speaker 1: ten touchdowns that was fifth best, tied for fifth best
Speaker 1: in the NFL, and just two interceptions, and a ninety
Speaker 1: five point three quarterback rating. So you know, a lot
Speaker 1: of that was working from behind. But there were about
Speaker 1: eight games in which he had the ball in his
Speaker 1: hands in the fourth quarter with a chance to tie
Speaker 1: or take the lead. It happened a couple of times,
Speaker 1: but a couple of times it did not because of
Speaker 1: all the well documented missteps. But that's encouraging to me.
Speaker 1: I need my quarterback to be able to do that
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter. So this is not to me
Speaker 1: a negative stat at all. It's a positive stat.
Speaker 2: I agree one hundred percent with you, and it's something
Speaker 2: that held my attention throughout the season because even though
Speaker 2: you know, we are kind of a little bit flustered
Speaker 2: in the first quarter because of lack of production and
Speaker 2: lack of points, but there he was in the fourth
Speaker 2: quarter making these heroic efforts. Whether he's buying time behind
Speaker 2: the line of scrimmage, whether he's making these accurate passes
Speaker 2: that he's fitting in to such a tight window, you know,
Speaker 2: the receivers coming up and making big catches for him.
Speaker 2: Probably the thing that left the most positive feeling in
Speaker 2: you know, at the end of the season is the
Speaker 2: fourth quarter experiences, the efforts and the production that Caleb
Speaker 2: was able to provide with his teammates.
Speaker 1: Again, we're painting a picture from seventeen weeks. Yes, in
Speaker 1: between there are some dips along the way and some
Speaker 1: highs as well. But this ties into the complimentary football
Speaker 1: thing because listen to what the defense did then in
Speaker 1: the second half. Second half defense tied for fifth in
Speaker 1: third quarter and fourth quarter points allowed and number three
Speaker 1: overall in the fewest second half points. Just eight point
Speaker 1: seven points per game allowed in the second half by
Speaker 1: the Bears defense. That gave the Bears an opportunity to
Speaker 1: hang in the games, and then Caleb did his best
Speaker 1: to deliver in the fourth quarter. That's also significant because
Speaker 1: it signifies a defense that did not quit. You look
Speaker 1: at their red zone defense. They wound up as the
Speaker 1: number two red zone touchdown efficiency defense in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Despite the fact they gave up, I shouldn't say gave up.
Speaker 1: They were driven on the tied for second most red
Speaker 1: zone drives in the NFL at sixty three, so also
Speaker 1: inside the thirty scoring Bears were in the top five
Speaker 1: in the NFL. So they buckled down and they bowed
Speaker 1: up their next when they needed to, they held teams
Speaker 1: to field goals.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, you know, one thing that game that
Speaker 2: really comes to mind was the Thanksgiving Day game in
Speaker 2: Detroit because everything that you want to think about the
Speaker 2: first half, the reason the Bears were in it in
Speaker 2: the second half is because the lack of production by
Speaker 2: Detroit in the first half when they got into the
Speaker 2: red zone. And then you go there and you you know,
Speaker 2: make some halftime adjustments and then you come out and
Speaker 2: you immediately are competitive right down to the to the
Speaker 2: last series of the game. So yeah, you know, one
Speaker 2: thing that was the great thing about this defense is
Speaker 2: that they they tightened the windows of opportunity for their
Speaker 2: opponents to succeed in the red zone. That a lot's
Speaker 2: why a lot of these drives ended on field goals,
Speaker 2: and so I think that's something if you can bring
Speaker 2: that with you to next year's development I think that
Speaker 2: your opportunities are going to extend themselves because you have
Speaker 2: a super stingy defense holding your opponents to three points
Speaker 2: and then allowing your defense to have some more scoring
Speaker 2: opportunities in the first half.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and on top of that time they took the
Speaker 1: ball away in the red zone five takeaways, tied for
Speaker 1: second best in the NFL. Bears had one red zone
Speaker 1: turnover this year. Offensively, we're brought to you by PNC
Speaker 1: Official Bank of the Bears. So this game comes down
Speaker 1: to points, Tom, you gotta score points. In this division.
Speaker 1: You're going to have to score points because the other
Speaker 1: three teams are scoring points. At least. We think they're
Speaker 1: going to continue to be very strong in that regard.
Speaker 1: So the Lions led the NFL in touchdown drives with
Speaker 1: sixty eight. Packers were eighth at fifty one, the Vikings
Speaker 1: were ninth at forty four, all top ten. The Bears
Speaker 1: were tied for twenty fifth at thirty three. But in
Speaker 1: addition to that, they tried the fewest number of field
Speaker 1: goals in the NFL at twenty five. Those automatic points
Speaker 1: that you can count on. Obviously, they have the second
Speaker 1: most points in the punts in the NFL. So I'm
Speaker 1: saying here, you got to close that gap somehow within
Speaker 1: your own division to get into the mix here, and
Speaker 1: you got to find a way to score points. And
Speaker 1: that is a byproduct, of course, of big plays. And
Speaker 1: the Bears ranked in the near the bottom of the NFL,
Speaker 1: and that while those three teams are off top ten
Speaker 1: with at least seventy plays of twenty or more yards,
Speaker 1: Bears were at forty seven. So again, I believe that
Speaker 1: growth will happen, but to keep an eye on it.
Speaker 1: When you're rebuilding what you're gonna have for twenty twenty
Speaker 1: five times, don't you have to look at the division first?
Speaker 2: Yeah, but you know you're gonna have to look at
Speaker 2: the division because you gotta, you know, win the division
Speaker 2: in order to get in the playoffs. That's an obvious
Speaker 2: But the thing about it is when you look at
Speaker 2: those touchdown totals for each and every team, you know
Speaker 2: they're not gonna be They're not gonna be with with Caleb,
Speaker 2: and in regards to the opening quarters of next year's efforts,
Speaker 2: they're not gonna be as controlled in the environment. They're
Speaker 2: gonna be much more aggressive. And I think when you
Speaker 2: allow your quarter back to be much more aggressive with
Speaker 2: the type of talent that they have in this offense,
Speaker 2: that is going to result in a lot more touchdowns.
Speaker 2: So as much as we sit here and talk about
Speaker 2: the production of the other teams, I think the Bears
Speaker 2: have a big void to filled with production that's going
Speaker 2: to get them right into those competitive numbers with the
Speaker 2: rest of the teams in our division. And I think
Speaker 2: that has a lot to do with the experiences that
Speaker 2: Caleb got starting every game this year and how much
Speaker 2: more aggressive they're going to be able to be because
Speaker 2: they're going to know how he's going to react in
Speaker 2: environments that are in our friendly environments on the road,
Speaker 2: and I think they know a lot more about Caleb
Speaker 2: in terms of his quarterback play under those circumstances.
Speaker 1: Have an newer gently used coat laying around. Head to
Speaker 1: your local jewel Osco until February tenth and donate one
Speaker 1: of your newer gently used coach to the thirty sixth
Speaker 1: annual Chicago Bears Coach Drive help keep Chicagoans warm this winter.
Speaker 1: All right, time to look at our players of the year.
Speaker 1: You ready, yeah, all right, Rookie of the Year, you
Speaker 1: go first, and if we're the same. We're the same,
Speaker 1: We're the same, We're the same.
Speaker 3: Right, Yeah, I'm gonna go with Rome.
Speaker 2: And I listen, I know what Caleb had on his
Speaker 2: plate and what he was able to do, And I said,
Speaker 2: the quarterback of the position is the most important position
Speaker 2: in football. But I think what Rome was able to
Speaker 2: do all year long. He was able to be included
Speaker 2: in all the targeting. He ran every route as well
Speaker 2: as you know the veterans on the team. He's got
Speaker 2: the speed to break open big plays, and he's got
Speaker 2: the catch ability that you're not necessarily being coached on
Speaker 2: how to catch the ball. It's some innate ability that
Speaker 2: you have within you. And so everything I've seen out
Speaker 2: of Rome since he's been here, his speed, his size,
Speaker 2: his trust ability by Caleb, those are all the elements
Speaker 2: that I need in counterpart receivers. When you talk about
Speaker 2: guys like DJ.
Speaker 1: All right, here's a stat for you and this will
Speaker 1: be our Geico More Football stat of the Week. Unday
Speaker 1: finished eleventh in the league in targeted air yard average
Speaker 1: according to Next Gen Stats of thirteen point seven. That's
Speaker 1: double the next guy on the Bears list DJ at
Speaker 1: seven point four. So if there was a big throw
Speaker 1: to be had. Caleb was looking for Roma Dunze. That's
Speaker 1: what that tells me, right there, thirteen point seven targeted
Speaker 1: air yard average for Roma Dunze, who finished just behind
Speaker 1: Keenan Allen in yards. So I like your pick. I
Speaker 1: was going to go in that direction as well, but
Speaker 1: I went with Caleb seventh most passing attempts in the NFL,
Speaker 1: most in a single season in Bears history with five
Speaker 1: sixty two, one of thirteen to hit five hundred plus.
Speaker 1: Burrow the only one with six hundred plus throws in
Speaker 1: the NFL this year. Tenth in completions, seventeenth in passing yards,
Speaker 1: and that's pretty good given the situation, given the turmoil,
Speaker 1: given the changing coaches. He still finished and a granted
Speaker 1: Bears trailed a lot, so we had to put the
Speaker 1: ball up. But seventeenth in passing yards in your rookie year,
Speaker 1: top twenty in the NFL, Top eighteen at thirty five
Speaker 1: forty one. He was also tenth tom in third down
Speaker 1: rushing with one hundred and sixty nine. Here's where I'd
Speaker 1: like to see that improve, because that clearly he was
Speaker 1: under pressure a lot, so he's scrambling for his life.
Speaker 1: But he picked up nine first downs. And I know
Speaker 1: how you always say you used to when we used
Speaker 1: to pick, we used to pick Tom's keys to the game,
Speaker 1: and gave very statistical, very distinct not if he gets
Speaker 1: four rushing first downs, Bears are gonna win, right, But
Speaker 1: to that end, I'm looking at this. And so he
Speaker 1: was right there in the mix with all the top quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: But the number one third down rusher regardless of position
Speaker 1: in the NFL in twenty twenty four was Jalen Hurts. Okay,
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts was the most and he had two hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty three yards, not that many more than Caleb,
Speaker 1: but he had twenty nine first downs.
Speaker 2: I listen, I think I think Caleb is more than
Speaker 2: capable of that. But Caleb is also a guy that
Speaker 2: stays behind the line of scrimmage in wats A final
Speaker 2: a receiver to get his first down, and he doesn't
Speaker 2: want to run necessarily run for first downs. That's the
Speaker 2: reason why Caleb started seventeen games in Jalen Hurts didn't.
Speaker 3: So I go all four.
Speaker 2: Listen, man, I'm all for Kleb taking his time, uses
Speaker 2: using his avoidability with his vision downfield to find out
Speaker 2: the best way to get the ball out of his
Speaker 2: hands efficiently.
Speaker 1: I thought it interesting too, because there's stats. You know,
Speaker 1: we can go through stats all day long. There's hundreds
Speaker 1: of them. But I was shocked because most of the
Speaker 1: time Bears line up in three wide receiver sets. You
Speaker 1: would assume, right, I get three great receivers. But they
Speaker 1: only threw one hundred and thirty five passes in a
Speaker 1: three wide receiver set in twenty twenty four. So if
Speaker 1: you do the math and I don't have my calculator
Speaker 1: seventeen into one thirty five, that's not a lot per game.
Speaker 1: Does that surprise you?
Speaker 3: It doesn't.
Speaker 2: It doesn't because they're not you know, they're throwing the
Speaker 2: ball out of sets that are deceptive to the run,
Speaker 2: so they want them thinking run. But they still have receivers.
Speaker 2: When you have the receivers that the Bears had, including
Speaker 2: the tight end position, you don't need to run four
Speaker 2: and five wide receiver sets. You can unsuccessful down downfield
Speaker 2: passing game with a two receiver set. Keep the tight
Speaker 2: end maybe to chip and help keep a running back
Speaker 2: into chip and help and more to give yourself an
Speaker 2: open opportunity downfield. As Caleb gets more experienced, then you'll
Speaker 2: probably see more multiple receiver sets.
Speaker 1: Well, crossing blue shield of Illinois right here at home,
Speaker 1: driving access toward healthier communities through it all. All right,
Speaker 1: let's go to offensive player of the Year, Tommy. I
Speaker 1: always will defer to you. You are the offensive lineman,
Speaker 1: and you are older than me by a year.
Speaker 2: You know, this may catch a lot of people off guard,
Speaker 2: but I'm going with Coleman Shelton and you and I
Speaker 2: talked a little bit about this the other day, because
Speaker 2: he was the saving grace of that offensive line when
Speaker 2: you had an early preseason injury to Ryan Bates, early
Speaker 2: season injury to Ryan Bates. Coleman Shelton held down the fort,
Speaker 2: and he held down the fort with a rookie quarterback
Speaker 2: under some really hostile environments. And if you just, for example,
Speaker 2: say you brought in Ryan Bates, but you didn't bring
Speaker 2: in Coleman Shelton Bates had an injury issue. Now I
Speaker 2: know they have Doug Kramer there, who's a center by trade,
Speaker 2: but Coleman Shelton has experience in the NFL. He understands
Speaker 2: his assignments, he understands every other offensive alignment's assignments. He
Speaker 2: understands how they're running backs fit into their protections. He
Speaker 2: understands the linebackers of responsibilities. And there's just a lot
Speaker 2: of times that the center is the most settling player
Speaker 2: for a quarterback of all of them. It's not a
Speaker 2: wide receiver saying hey, I'm open. It's not any you know,
Speaker 2: any other exterior. It's about that relationship between a center
Speaker 2: and a quarterback, and it's really special.
Speaker 1: All Right, I'm gonna go with DJ Moore, tight for
Speaker 1: thirteenth in the league in targets with one forty, had
Speaker 1: the highest average yard after the catch at six point
Speaker 1: two and five hundred ninety six yards after the catch.
Speaker 1: That was fifth best in the NFL and third among
Speaker 1: wide receivers is yards after the catch, trailing only Jamar Chase,
Speaker 1: who won the Triple Crown of wide receivers this year
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati. And they of course through the all six
Speaker 1: hundred times, and Buffalo's Khalil Shakir. So there you go
Speaker 1: with the offensive player of the year. I think we
Speaker 1: both think a ton of DJ's talent and his importance
Speaker 1: on this football team.
Speaker 3: I love that guy.
Speaker 2: Man, listen, man, give me all a DJ that you
Speaker 2: can possibly give me. He's a professional, he's got superior
Speaker 2: catching ability, He's courageous, he's tough, he bounces back. You know,
Speaker 2: I could sit here and say a half hour worth
Speaker 2: of glowing, you know, compliments for DJ.
Speaker 1: All Right Defensive Player of the Year, Tommy, I.
Speaker 2: Would like to go with Kyler Goren, but I'm gonna
Speaker 2: go with TJ. Edwards because to me, TJ Edwards, when
Speaker 2: you look at the amount of tackles that he's put
Speaker 2: up in the last two years, you look at his
Speaker 2: effort when he's gonna make a tackle, you look at
Speaker 2: how he closes the distance, and he finishes the play
Speaker 2: with such a ferocious style of hitting. To me, TJ
Speaker 2: is an example of a great Chicago Bear linebacker over
Speaker 2: history of the position, and no matter I think what
Speaker 2: style of defense you want to play him in, I
Speaker 2: think he would be successful. And a Bear defense, a
Speaker 2: thirty four defense, a four to three defense, wherever you
Speaker 2: want to play him.
Speaker 3: Like you say, he's just a football player.
Speaker 1: I appreciate the violence with which he plays. We heard
Speaker 1: Thomas Brown saying we got a violent game.
Speaker 3: TJ.
Speaker 1: Edwards plays violently. When he hits you, you feel it.
Speaker 1: You're going sideways, you're going backwards, and you're going to
Speaker 1: take a big hit, right.
Speaker 2: I mean, listen the linebackers that we've had the good
Speaker 2: fortune to broadcast about, guys like Lance Spriggs and guys
Speaker 2: like Irlacker and other guys in there as well. You know,
Speaker 2: he kind of has that kind of delivery to the
Speaker 2: conclusion of the play, and he's he's speeding up when
Speaker 2: he tackles.
Speaker 3: He's not slowing down. And I think it's evident when you.
Speaker 2: Look at the shock that the ball carrier feels when TJ.
Speaker 3: Edwards hits him.
Speaker 1: By the way, I finished fifteenth in the NFL and
Speaker 1: solo tackles, I to him going with TJ. Edwards, you
Speaker 1: know the Bears again, the red zone defense, some of
Speaker 1: that is him, the takeaway, some of that is him
Speaker 1: inside the scoring Bears rank seventh, that's some of that
Speaker 1: is him. I look at him as an outstanding leader
Speaker 1: on this team. He's on the reserve side, but I
Speaker 1: think there's a lot of mutual respect for him on
Speaker 1: that roster. One hundred and twenty nine tackles over one
Speaker 1: hundred for the fourth time in his six years. Fourth
Speaker 1: Bears defender with one hundred and twenty five or more
Speaker 1: in team history, more than once. That's crazy. And the
Speaker 1: solo tackles included four sacks career high for him, six
Speaker 1: and a half stuffs number one on the team. That's
Speaker 1: a run stuff that's getting in the gap and making
Speaker 1: somebody get behind the line of scrimmage. One interception could
Speaker 1: have had more. Six quarterback hurries those are hits, twelve
Speaker 1: tackles for loss, a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, and
Speaker 1: three pass breakups.
Speaker 3: He did a lot good. Well, you know what too
Speaker 3: is with TJ. Edwards.
Speaker 2: He kind of stands out amongst all the guys. But
Speaker 2: you know guys like Kevin Bayern and Kyler Gordon, both
Speaker 2: of those guys too, they should have an asterisk next
Speaker 2: to their name is high consideration.
Speaker 1: You still have time, You still have time. We got
Speaker 1: a bunch of categories here, Tommy, you got time, You
Speaker 1: got time? All right, here we go. Special Teams Player
Speaker 1: of the Year, Tommy.
Speaker 2: Josh Blackwell, who is this week's NFC. Yes, special Teams
Speaker 2: Player of the Week. But look at all the areas
Speaker 2: that he filled the void and he takes part in
Speaker 2: every single special team He's super productive. Whether he has
Speaker 2: the ball in his hands, or he's gonna make an
Speaker 2: open field tackle. So everything that Josh has been what
Speaker 2: he's done since he's been here, He's kind of in
Speaker 2: that category of the other special teamers that we've been
Speaker 2: able to broadcast about throughout our career.
Speaker 1: Have been a bunch of them, really good ones. He
Speaker 1: finished with seven special teams tackles, but don't even focus
Speaker 1: on that number. I'll tell you why, because as a gunner,
Speaker 1: he was always first down the scene, whether that was
Speaker 1: pushing somebody into another tackle Tommy, or just being violent
Speaker 1: on the special teams with his own hits. And then
Speaker 1: you throw in the punt return. There's a great deal
Speaker 1: of trusting him from Richard high Tier, the Bear's special
Speaker 1: teams coordinator, and he talks about him in glowing terms.
Speaker 1: Super smart guy and he's got his hand up. He
Speaker 1: wanted to be a punt returner, and that was one
Speaker 1: of the plays of the year. Obviously in the NFL.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with Tory Taylor finish. I know that's
Speaker 1: low hanging fruit, but he tied for fourth, tied for
Speaker 1: fourth in the NFL with thirty four inside the twenty.
Speaker 1: That was important that's why he's here to field position
Speaker 1: to pin punt and pin number two in the NFC
Speaker 1: behind New Orleans Matthew Heyball. How about that for a
Speaker 1: punter's name, hey Ball hey Ball. Yeah, twentieth in net average,
Speaker 1: fifteenth in gross average, but those two finished number one
Speaker 1: in Bear's history in a single season. He broke a
Speaker 1: record that was held since nineteen forty nine. And I
Speaker 1: don't know if this is the right pronunciation. I need
Speaker 1: to call Pat McCaskey George guli Onyx. At forty one
Speaker 1: point six net in a single season, that's number one
Speaker 1: in the Bear's history. All So, same story with the
Speaker 1: gross average and the net average. So outstanding job. Thirty
Speaker 1: eight fifty plus yard punts, number four in the NFL,
Speaker 1: number two in the NFC behind Seattle's Michael Dixon. And
Speaker 1: the Bears also has a special team unit. This has
Speaker 1: nothing to do with Tory Taylor, but an ode to
Speaker 1: the special teams unit. The first team in the NFL
Speaker 1: this year with multiple block punts in a season, most
Speaker 1: by a Bears team in a single season since two
Speaker 1: thousand and eight. So special teams had some very very
Speaker 1: good moments over the course of the season. And of
Speaker 1: course Cairo Santos, he didn't get many opportunities. He did
Speaker 1: have a block. I guess he'd had a couple of
Speaker 1: blocks actually, but he was twenty one of twenty four
Speaker 1: kicking field goals. You can count on Cairo.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, listen, man, that guy has done everything
Speaker 2: asked of him since the moment he came aboard. And
Speaker 2: there's as much pressure on a kicker than there isn't
Speaker 2: any position in the NFL. And when you're a kicker
Speaker 2: that's made a career out of kicking in Soldier field,
Speaker 2: natural surface and outside conditions, you know, Ky has been
Speaker 2: a model citizen at the kicker position.
Speaker 1: All right, I'm gonna throw this one a the surprise
Speaker 1: player of the year, meaning he went the furthest the fastest,
Speaker 1: and from where we thought he was when the season
Speaker 1: was in mini camps and training camps. And if you
Speaker 1: need a minute, I'll throw mine out there. You're your
Speaker 1: calling your well, I'm going Daniel Hardy. Daniel Hardy. The
Speaker 1: expectations of this player. He was a man out there.
Speaker 1: He was a beast on special teams. He was tied
Speaker 1: with Bmiga with eleven tackles on special teams. Had the
Speaker 1: black punt in Week one that was a scoop and
Speaker 1: score for Jonathan Owens. Had a few penalties on special teams,
Speaker 1: no question about that, but just his demeanor demeanor on
Speaker 1: game day was hair on fire, physical, aggressive, violent, and
Speaker 1: I know you were asking to have him on the
Speaker 1: pass rush and he did sneak in there a couple
Speaker 1: times this year. I'd like to see that player continue
Speaker 1: to develop. You know, have you have you have any
Speaker 1: history of players that started on special teams at a
Speaker 1: defensive lineman like that. I mean, he may he was
Speaker 1: moving man and he's not a small guy and then
Speaker 1: became a rotational figure on the defense and then get
Speaker 1: you five or six sacks a year or something like that.
Speaker 2: Right, all right, I'm going to go to one and
Speaker 2: this is super obscure, and I'm thinking of the future,
Speaker 2: not necessarily present, but because of what I saw out
Speaker 2: of Austin Booker as an incoming freshman, incoming rookie for that,
Speaker 2: he's got the innate of skills, the innate ability to
Speaker 2: be able to rush the passer. And he's the type
Speaker 2: of guy that you know, if you get him through
Speaker 2: that initial year of football, you get him to invest
Speaker 2: time in an offseason, he's in the weight room, he's
Speaker 2: eating correctly, he's getting stronger, he gets a larger arsenal
Speaker 2: of pass rush skills. Now you're talking about a guy
Speaker 2: that can go from whatever number he had this year
Speaker 2: up to near double digits within a one year jump.
Speaker 2: So everything, I'm not disappointed Austin Booker. I wish that
Speaker 2: he would have had more pass rushing opportunities. However, I
Speaker 2: think that he still has a tremendous upside and can
Speaker 2: develop into that counter rusher to montest sweat that the
Speaker 2: Bears they need in part of their rotation.
Speaker 1: Well, first of all, he's only twenty two years old.
Speaker 1: That's number one. He was for the most part of
Speaker 1: this year. He turned twenty two in December. He was
Speaker 1: a twenty one year old guy. If he would have
Speaker 1: stayed a Kansas he might have been a first round pick.
Speaker 1: And I looked at my old notes from the Senior
Speaker 1: Bowl that I'm getting ready for again, and he was
Speaker 1: considered the guy who had the best bend and that
Speaker 1: arc to get to the quarterback. He's his body flexible enough,
Speaker 1: and I think we saw that quite a bit. He
Speaker 1: was in there. He was disruptive. So for the year,
Speaker 1: he wound up with twenty tackles, which is very good,
Speaker 1: right for a part time defensive lineman. Twenty tackles for
Speaker 1: a part timer, that's pretty darn good. A sack and
Speaker 1: a half he had one against Carolina, half a sack
Speaker 1: against Detroit on Thanksgiving, a stuff and a half, four
Speaker 1: quarterback hits, three tackles for loss, and one special teams tackle.
Speaker 1: But you're talking about a guy that was one of
Speaker 1: the team leaders in tackles for defensive lineman. That's pretty good.
Speaker 2: And you know, the thing about Austin is what I
Speaker 2: want to see in the future is he's got a
Speaker 2: couple pass rush moves that he didn't use very much,
Speaker 2: and they're very really hard to teach. Like I think
Speaker 2: maybe it might have been his first or second pass
Speaker 2: rush in full pads this year in training camp. He
Speaker 2: did an inside spin on the offensive tackle and he
Speaker 2: left the offensive tackle, you know, kind of sitting still,
Speaker 2: and he made immediate pressure.
Speaker 3: And so from some of the guys throughout my.
Speaker 2: Career that I've seen that have that move, that isn't
Speaker 2: really teachable because you have to have superior balance and
Speaker 2: quickness and then you have to have the timing that
Speaker 2: you get the offensive tackle off balance. Those are the
Speaker 2: types of things that I have expectations for Austin Booker
Speaker 2: to be that near double digit sacker in the immediate future.
Speaker 1: He'll get stronger in this offseason, have that benefit, you know,
Speaker 1: and again and you you're.
Speaker 2: Just not gonna have that senior college draft fatigue that
Speaker 2: you have. Now he's gonna finally have a chance to regroup.
Speaker 2: And you know, remember the shock of us seeing Dominique
Speaker 2: Robinson when he showed up back this year and what
Speaker 2: what how different he looked. I don't necessarily need to
Speaker 2: see that out of Austin Booker, but I do need
Speaker 2: to see him look like he's added a little bit
Speaker 2: to his frame, because I think strength is speed, and
Speaker 2: speed his strength. That's a quote from our dear friend
Speaker 2: Clyde Emrick. Two hundred and eighty three snaps.
Speaker 1: So he played twenty six the defensive snaps, and so
Speaker 1: I think the production, you know, that's that's that's all right,
Speaker 1: all right, strongest position group of the year.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna I'm gonna go with defensive backfield.
Speaker 2: You know, I I know that, you know when you
Speaker 2: look at Jalen making the Pro Bowl.
Speaker 3: They brought in Kevin Bayern.
Speaker 2: He was an immediate influence on this football team. Too
Speaker 2: bad happened to Takwan Brisker. You still have Kyler Gordon
Speaker 2: back there. You have Terrelle Smith, you have Tyreek Stevenson.
Speaker 2: I think that Tyreek again, I think he's the most
Speaker 2: ferocious tackler. Of the defensive backfield, Tyler Gordon is the
Speaker 2: most deployable. You have other guys like black Josh Blackwell
Speaker 2: and Elijah Hicks and stuff that were contributors to the
Speaker 2: defensive backfield. So of one of the hardest positions to
Speaker 2: play in the NFL, I think they had really good
Speaker 2: coaching there and they had a group of guys that
Speaker 2: were able to contribute at a high level.
Speaker 1: I am going to give the wide receivers the strongest
Speaker 1: position group because in the end, the Trio all got
Speaker 1: over one hundred targets and again Caleb finished in the
Speaker 1: top twenty in passing yard. So that directly is attached
Speaker 1: for the most part to your wide receivers. And not
Speaker 1: going to discount what Cole Commeet or Deandres Swift did
Speaker 1: in the passing game. But you know, some good stuff there.
Speaker 1: We already talked about what DJ did, what A Dunes did,
Speaker 1: and also Keenan Allen made some big third down catches
Speaker 1: as he's done his entire career. Steinhoffels is our sponsor
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Speaker 1: dot com. All right, last one hardest working player of
Speaker 1: the year.
Speaker 3: You know it may be have Golye.
Speaker 1: See.
Speaker 2: I mean there's a lot of choice of TJ with that.
Speaker 2: But you know, the guy that I really liked that
Speaker 2: finished the season injured was Andrew Billings because he has
Speaker 2: a really thankless job and you really don't notice him
Speaker 2: until he's gone. You don't know what he means to
Speaker 2: the work the workmanship of the defensive line until he's gone.
Speaker 2: And when Andrew Billings left the defense, they were a
Speaker 2: little bit more susceptible to interior runs. And so Andrew
Speaker 2: Billings is you know, he's not going to be there
Speaker 2: standing at the podium, you know, meeting the media that often.
Speaker 2: But his production, his persona, his swagger, his alpha neess
Speaker 2: in the locker room is something that the Bears need.
Speaker 2: So from the time I saw Andrew Billings start training
Speaker 2: camp this year to being in control of the calls
Speaker 2: of the defensive line, I think he's a guy that
Speaker 2: worked extremely hard because his work is not only during
Speaker 2: the season, it's also in the weight room in the offseason.
Speaker 2: And I do think that's the type of influence that
Speaker 2: you need that walks into that locker room and walks
Speaker 2: onto the practice field.
Speaker 1: And that was mentioned by Ryan Poles as one of
Speaker 1: the biggest losses no question, turned into one of his
Speaker 1: favorite players, and that's Andrew Billings. And he's on his
Speaker 1: way back, ready to go, says he'll be here.
Speaker 2: You know, Andrew Billings, he played havoc in the training
Speaker 2: camp when he was making the calls for the defensive
Speaker 2: lineman to move and shift, whether it was against his
Speaker 2: own offensive line or when Cincinnati came here. He was
Speaker 2: a type of guy that really challenged the communication discipline
Speaker 2: on the offensive line because of the calls he makes.
Speaker 1: I'm going with Kyler Gordon. And the reason is, yes,
Speaker 1: he's a hair on fire type of player all over
Speaker 1: the field, but it's one of the more difficult positions
Speaker 1: to play. You gotta We've documented this. You gotta know
Speaker 1: everybody's responsibility. You got to handle tight ends, running backs,
Speaker 1: wide receivers, working the slot, work outside stuff in the
Speaker 1: run game, blitz, which he did a fair amount. Wound
Speaker 1: up with a career high seventy five tackles and no
Speaker 1: less than four in all but one game when he
Speaker 1: had three against Detroit. He had ten hits on the quarterback.
Speaker 1: That's an element of the blitz game. And he allowed
Speaker 1: only twenty nine pass completions all year. So I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go him. And if I had to give a one
Speaker 1: a because I really like this player, Tom, I really
Speaker 1: like DeMarcus Walker. DeMarcus Walker, I agree. In his last
Speaker 1: twenty five games as the Bear, he's got twenty seven
Speaker 1: hits on the quarterback. Montest what has twenty six hits
Speaker 1: on the quarterback in the last twenty five games with
Speaker 1: the Bears, So you know the production is there. He
Speaker 1: just doesn't get a lot of attention. Now you know
Speaker 1: he hits on the quarterback, they matter obviously we want
Speaker 1: to see sacks, and if the guy gets rid of
Speaker 1: the football by the time he gets there, it's still
Speaker 1: hit on the quarterback. I just think he really does
Speaker 1: a nice job of putting the heat on the quarterback.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know everybody's name you just mentioned and I
Speaker 2: was just thinking this because you kind of made me
Speaker 2: think of it. I think my favorite hit on a
Speaker 2: quarterback all year was this last week, Kevin Bayern hitting
Speaker 2: the Green Bay quarterback because he defeated a block at
Speaker 2: the line of scrimmage. The quarterback had no idea he
Speaker 2: was coming, and he never slowed down and he lit
Speaker 2: him up. And of all the you know the sacks
Speaker 2: you talk about on this team, all the big hits
Speaker 2: and stuff, that was probably my favorite quarterback hit of
Speaker 2: the year.
Speaker 1: Three point three seconds and next Gen stets had it
Speaker 1: three point three seconds to hit the quarterback on that one.
Speaker 1: I went and tried to look up all year with
Speaker 1: the pastest one I believe of Tremaine Edmunds Week one
Speaker 1: against Tennessee was a three second sack and Will Levis,
Speaker 1: but that's pretty good, man. That was the That was
Speaker 1: one of the best hits of the year, no question.
Speaker 2: The way it was, you know, and too you know,
Speaker 2: the first of all, defeating the block at the line
Speaker 2: of scrimmage with such a mediac to get him in
Speaker 2: position to close the distance and make that hit. There's
Speaker 2: a lot that went into that play. And when you
Speaker 2: talk about the different roles in the different lineup position
Speaker 2: of a guy like Kyler Gordon, I was exciting to
Speaker 2: see that. In the latter part of the year they
Speaker 2: were given Kevin byern some of that opportunities.
Speaker 1: All right, A couple other stats were done with the
Speaker 1: players of the year. That was a fun exercise. Actually,
Speaker 1: this is just something in the category of kind of
Speaker 1: a wow. Cole Comette had the highest catch percentage of
Speaker 1: any receiver in the NFL, regardless of position. He caught
Speaker 1: eighty five point four or five percent of his passes.
Speaker 1: Nine of the top eleven in top catch percentage were
Speaker 1: tight ends in the NFL. So what we're saying is, yes,
Speaker 1: we'd like to see him more involved in the offense
Speaker 1: somehow someway.
Speaker 2: Well, you know the thing about it is when we
Speaker 2: talk about the lack of production in the first half
Speaker 2: and in the first quarter specifically, that's got to be
Speaker 2: a coal Comet time because I do think that the
Speaker 2: matchup difficulties for the opponents against Cole Comet is evident
Speaker 2: and obvious.
Speaker 3: You're not going to be able to get a running.
Speaker 2: Back that's a linebacker that's going to run well with Cole,
Speaker 2: and you're not going to have a defensive back that
Speaker 2: can have the size requirements that you do against Cole.
Speaker 2: He's courageous in his catches, He's got really good hands.
Speaker 2: He he stands on his feet after he makes the catch,
Speaker 2: and he gets yards after the catch. So if you
Speaker 2: want to say, Okay, what am I going to immediately
Speaker 2: start thinking about to increase my production in the first
Speaker 2: half next year, it's going to be about targets for Coal.
Speaker 1: And listen so is. He also had the highest average
Speaker 1: separation yards on average of any receiver on the team
Speaker 1: at three point nine. So I got a four yard
Speaker 1: advantage of separation on his opponent. So that tells me,
Speaker 1: I mean, top fifteen in the NFL regardless of position.
Speaker 1: That's pretty good. That means he's getting open and.
Speaker 2: He can come out of every stance. He can come
Speaker 2: out of a two point stance. That's just relaxed a
Speaker 2: little bit from the line of scrimmage. He can come
Speaker 2: out of a three point stance. He can line up
Speaker 2: as a wide receiver, he can line up as an HPAC,
Speaker 2: he can line up as a full back. So the
Speaker 2: different areas that you give him his start is a
Speaker 2: lot of different ways to create open opportunities for him.
Speaker 1: All right, good news, Chicago United Airlines is getting brand
Speaker 1: new planes with all the bells and whistles, like Bluetooth
Speaker 1: conductivity screens at every seat in room for everyone's roller
Speaker 1: back again nighted proud to fly the Chicago Bears, and
Speaker 1: you too, hope that was a fun exercise for you.
Speaker 1: Tommy enjoyed it. Some good stuff to look at as
Speaker 1: a building platform for the next season, and the Bears
Speaker 1: did do plenty of good things that should have in
Speaker 1: most cases could have resulted in more wins. So moving
Speaker 1: on and we'll start looking toward the future as we
Speaker 1: go through our podcast in the coming week, says the
Speaker 1: coaching search is well underway.
Speaker 2: I'm excited to see what's ahead and I can't wait to,
Speaker 2: you know, to get a chance to talk about everything
Speaker 2: that's going on. But listen, I got a Notre Dame
Speaker 2: Penn State game to start worrying about right now, so
Speaker 2: you know, good luck good that's gonna occupy a little
Speaker 2: time too.
Speaker 1: For time there, I'm Jeff Jonahyek. Thanks for listening to everybody.
Speaker 1: Please subscribe now in the Chicago Bears official app, Apple, Spotify, YouTube,
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcast. Spear down, everybody,