Latest / 2nd City Gridiron / Bears Banter Ep. 232: Laurence Holmes advances as Ben Johnson F's the Packers!!

Transcript

Bears Banter Ep. 232: Laurence Holmes advances as Ben Johnson F's the Packers!! · 2nd City Gridiron

0:00
[SPEAKER_01]: After that, epic win, let's blow out your ear drums.
0:32
[SPEAKER_01]: Burn out bears, fans inside for another edition of the Chicago Bears podcast bears, banter, powered by Second City, Grant Iron, Bill Zimmerman with you, and Holy God, the Chicago Bears, have advanced.
0:53
[SPEAKER_01]: to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs in the most improbable epic fashion ever we are going to talk about all of it.
1:04
[SPEAKER_01]: We are going to talk about how they got to where they're going what we're going to get in every thing that you want and we're going to get into it also with Lawrence homes of the score Lawrence is going to be by here in a little bit.
1:15
[SPEAKER_01]: But I've got a lot on my mind that we need to talk about and let's just first talk about this win because I'm older than I think most of my audience listening to this podcast, I am old enough to remember the Super Bowl.
1:30
[SPEAKER_01]: in 1986, January of 1986, I was there in New Orleans as an eight-year-old celebrating that win.
1:39
[SPEAKER_01]: But here's the thing.
1:41
[SPEAKER_01]: So when I talk about the greatest wins in my lifetime, it's really hard to talk about the 1980s.
1:49
[SPEAKER_01]: And I remember that season with the Super Bowl.
1:51
[SPEAKER_01]: And I remember the junkyard dogs poster that I had about my wall and the Blues Brothers poster that I had
2:00
[SPEAKER_01]: It was totally into that team as a kid and I remember the playoff run and I were being at these games and being at the Washington game with Willie Gold's kickoff return for a touchdown and everyone standing up my dad launching me up in the air so I could see like I have memories from 1985 but here's the thing when they're great and they're winning and you have no perspective as a kid.
2:28
[SPEAKER_01]: So like the bears were great and they played the Super Bowl shuffle and they were just supposed to win and they did and you say well yeah they're great and you think they're going to win next year in the year after because you're a kid and you don't understand the struggle and where they came from.
2:41
[SPEAKER_01]: I had no context of what the Chicago Bears were in the 1970s and what they had built up once they hired Dicca and 83 and 84 and building the where they were in 85.
2:52
[SPEAKER_01]: There's no context there.
2:54
[SPEAKER_01]: They were just great and I enjoyed it.
2:56
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think to truly enjoy a game you need that full context, you need to at least probably be 15, 16, 17 to have some of the idea that context or as a full adult, your 20, 30, 40s, 50s, whatever it might be.
3:12
[SPEAKER_01]: So this win against the Packers in the playoffs and how they did it.
3:18
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sitting here going.
3:20
[SPEAKER_01]: Was this the greatest win for me in my lifetime?
3:24
[SPEAKER_01]: Was it course it's not a bigger win than the Super Bowl, but I'm talking about for me and my experiences as a bears fan.
3:32
[SPEAKER_01]: And the one, and I was at this game.
3:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, season ticket holder.
3:36
[SPEAKER_01]: the Saints game to advance to the Super Bowl with the Love E era was that the game like that's the only one for me that can even compete because all the other playoff wins that they've had, whether I was there or not, like there wasn't
3:54
[SPEAKER_01]: an overriding expectation that they won in a typical fashion, you know, beating Seattle or whatever, like there's not a lot there.
4:04
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's not going to be a regular season game.
4:06
[SPEAKER_01]: You can't compete with the playoffs with a regular season game.
4:11
[SPEAKER_01]: So when I'm trying to figure out, was this the greatest wind of my lifetime that I've experienced as a Chicago Bears fan, it's either first or second.
4:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Because again, it's the Saints.
4:22
[SPEAKER_01]: And yeah, they beat Drew Breeze and the Saints were a great team, but this is the green Bay Packers.
4:28
[SPEAKER_01]: This is a team that has made my football life miserable since I was like 14 years old.
4:37
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm getting close to 50, man.
4:40
[SPEAKER_01]: It's been that long and to do it against the Packers and to have the comeback, the way they did.
4:50
[SPEAKER_01]: It like again, resency bias, it might be, it might beat the Saints.
4:55
[SPEAKER_01]: And I understand they went to the Super Bowl.
4:58
[SPEAKER_01]: They won the NFC championship game.
5:00
[SPEAKER_01]: It went to the Super Bowl and they beat the not out of the Saints.
5:03
[SPEAKER_01]: They won by like three touchdowns in that game.
5:06
[SPEAKER_01]: But this, again, emotional roller coaster, and we're gonna get into it, because I, and I tell you all season, what do I say?
5:15
[SPEAKER_01]: I gotta stay off social media, I'm gonna stay off social media, and then the bears play like they do to start that game, and I couldn't help myself.
5:23
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm basically cutting every player on the defense, and I'm overreacting like a fan.
5:30
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm not being objective about anything and we won't talk about this defense weeks from now as we get into the off season because yes, it doesn't need a major overall, but that's neither here nor there right now right now right now we are in the thick of a playoff run.
5:47
[SPEAKER_01]: That's right.
5:48
[SPEAKER_01]: It is now a run because the Chicago Bears are playing their second game of the playoffs and you know what they're doing.
5:55
[SPEAKER_01]: They're playing it at home because they got the two seed.
6:00
[SPEAKER_01]: And I understand that the Rams are the five seed.
6:04
[SPEAKER_01]: So in theory, if they would have slipped, they wouldn't have put the game.
6:08
[SPEAKER_01]: They played the Packers, they didn't play the 49ers who go and upset the eels.
6:12
[SPEAKER_01]: Again, we talk about why it matters about your mindset going into the playoffs and to not take the foot off the gas.
6:20
[SPEAKER_01]: The Bears didn't take the foot off the gas and if they did,
6:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Have they taken their foot off the gas a week, 18?
6:25
[SPEAKER_01]: Are we sure they would have been able to reach down and find what they found in the second half of that football game?
6:31
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know because that's how important it is for Ben Johnson and Dennis Allen and this coaching staff to make sure that this team is real and ready to go at all times.
6:43
[SPEAKER_01]: So let's talk about this a little bit.
6:45
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's talk about this comeback.
6:48
[SPEAKER_01]: And let's start with Ben Johnson.
6:52
[SPEAKER_01]: And I admit to you guys, I talk to you guys all the time that, yeah, you know, I've played football, I've played offensive line, like when I go and watch the all 22, when I watch a gameback, I pay attention the offensive line a lot.
7:04
[SPEAKER_01]: And yes, do I try and look at the receivers and the route concepts and where Caleb well, I'm sure to go on to the ball, go on with the ball potentially here there.
7:14
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, I do it.
7:15
[SPEAKER_01]: And sometimes I think I'm dead on accurate in my analysis and sometimes I'm not sure because.
7:21
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't have the expertise of an offensive-minded coach who can sit down, you know, a quarterback coach who can just break down the tape and no, alright, that was this concept.
7:32
[SPEAKER_01]: He should have gone here.
7:33
[SPEAKER_01]: He went here.
7:34
[SPEAKER_01]: This was a great read.
7:35
[SPEAKER_01]: This was the wrong read.
7:36
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not that good at breaking it down, which is why I say, you know, you should go to QB school.
7:42
[SPEAKER_01]: You should check out some of these other creators who really understand these concepts.
7:48
[SPEAKER_01]: But what I have been seeing, and talking to people around the league, former players, former coaches, former scouts, media members who have never played before, but they're plugged in as well.
8:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Ben Johnson does everything with purpose.
8:09
[SPEAKER_01]: And that is not something we are used to as Chicago Bears fans.
8:14
[SPEAKER_01]: We have not had an elite play call or ever.
8:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Like Mike March was probably the closest thing because Mike March was great with what he did with the greatest show on turf as that team's play call.
8:27
[SPEAKER_01]: We know it didn't work in Chicago.
8:30
[SPEAKER_01]: So when we are talking about, I mean, who's the best offense opponent?
8:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Like I can't even compare it like who second on the list of Ben Johnson?
8:37
[SPEAKER_01]: I know he's the head coach, but you know what I mean?
8:40
[SPEAKER_01]: Who second?
8:40
[SPEAKER_01]: It might even be naggy and he wasn't that good.
8:42
[SPEAKER_01]: He wasn't a playcaller.
8:44
[SPEAKER_01]: Matt and he was a bad playcaller.
8:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Who has been a great playcaller for the Chicago Bears?
8:51
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not even going to hazard to guess.
8:54
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, you may have to go back to the 1940s with the T formation and the innovative offenses they had then.
9:00
[SPEAKER_01]: We have not seen this in Chicago.
9:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Ben Johnson does everything with purpose because he is playing chess.
9:08
[SPEAKER_01]: He is not just calling plays.
9:11
[SPEAKER_01]: He is not sitting there saying, oh, well, they're leaving the B gap open.
9:16
[SPEAKER_01]: So let's run a dive to the B gap.
9:18
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I think that's what a lot of, all right, it's, that worked at second and four.
9:22
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's try and run the football again.
9:23
[SPEAKER_01]: We only got two yards, third and two.
9:25
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's do just like a quick out or a slant.
9:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Try and get the first down.
9:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I don't, like, there's, there's not a lot of cohesion to a bear's play calling, you know, play color in the past.
9:35
[SPEAKER_01]: We talked about all the time with Luke Getsy.
9:37
[SPEAKER_01]: He's just calling plays out of thin air, right?
9:40
[SPEAKER_01]: Ben Johnson does everything with purpose.
9:44
[SPEAKER_01]: So when we talk about this bears team and how they keep coming up with plays in the fourth quarter and they believe, and yes, belief and culture and all that matters.
9:57
[SPEAKER_01]: But it's not the only reason the Chicago Bears are winning these football games.
10:01
[SPEAKER_01]: The Chicago Bears have an elite coaching staff.
10:04
[SPEAKER_01]: And not just by name, right?
10:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Like we talked about John Fox's coaching staff.
10:09
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I think this is like 225, some episodes, 230 episodes of Bears Bander, probably in like episode seven.
10:17
[SPEAKER_01]: We talked about John Fox's coaching staff and Vic Fangeo and Adam Gase and even some of the other assistants like Stan Drayton and some of these other guys that he put in I'm like this is in the lead coaching staff this is a Jay Rogers this is a great coaching staff.
10:36
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm not saying it was just a great coaching staff in name because Vic Fangeo built up that defense even after John Vox left to what they were in 2018 and Jay Rogers was the best defensive line coach then he developed Eddie Goldman and the King Hicks and made that defense even other guys like Roy Roberts and Harris Jay Rogers was great great defensive line coach, but what we haven't seen.
11:00
[SPEAKER_01]: is the coaches at the top playing chess, like this fangeo could gain playing a defense and shut down an offense.
11:10
[SPEAKER_01]: But I'm talking about the chess that Ben Johnson is playing with opponents.
11:16
[SPEAKER_01]: because what he's doing is he is like I said, he's doing everything with purpose.
11:22
[SPEAKER_01]: And he is taking all the information that he is learning throughout a football game from his opponent.
11:28
[SPEAKER_01]: How do they react to this play?
11:30
[SPEAKER_01]: How do they react to this play?
11:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Why did this play gain 25 yards and this play is lost one?
11:35
[SPEAKER_01]: He's taken all this information.
11:37
[SPEAKER_01]: And he is processing it as the game is going on.
11:41
[SPEAKER_01]: So when he gets to the fourth quarter,
11:44
[SPEAKER_01]: he knows what the, he's not guessing what the defense is going to do.
11:48
[SPEAKER_01]: He knows what the defense is going to do when they line up and run a play and he knows exactly where Kale Williams needs to throw exactly where DeAndre Swift needs to run and it is not a coincidence.
12:03
[SPEAKER_01]: that these plays are going for big yards in the fourth quarter.
12:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, Caleb Williams is clutch.
12:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, Caleb Williams is making incredible plays.
12:11
[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to talk about that throw to Roma Dunes a here in a little bit.
12:15
[SPEAKER_01]: But then Johnson is a damn Monet.
12:19
[SPEAKER_01]: He's a van Gogh, he's a Michelangelo name.
12:22
[SPEAKER_01]: Any great artist, that is who he is.
12:25
[SPEAKER_01]: They're all rolled into one.
12:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Him as a play caller.
12:28
[SPEAKER_01]: He is that good.
12:30
[SPEAKER_01]: And you can see guys, I would, and again, I would not have picked up on this on tape.
12:34
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's why I try and watch and observe and learn.
12:37
[SPEAKER_01]: But you can see, you can find it on social media.
12:41
[SPEAKER_01]: people do a great job breaking on the offense.
12:43
[SPEAKER_01]: And you can see what Ben Johnson did with one particular formation, his bunch formation where he's putting free receivers together.
12:51
[SPEAKER_01]: And he's putting them, you know, and he's running like a screen out of it first.
12:56
[SPEAKER_01]: And he's showing block block and it goes to Luther Bird.
12:59
[SPEAKER_01]: And he's showing short yardage and short yardage and what's happening over the course of the game.
13:04
[SPEAKER_01]: The defense is cheating up, is cheating up, is cheating up.
13:10
[SPEAKER_01]: He bunches again towards the end of the game.
13:13
[SPEAKER_01]: The defense cheats up and DJ Moore is not the lead blocker on the screen of Luther Burden this time.
13:20
[SPEAKER_01]: He's not running a quick in and getting the ball and sitting down for a four-yard game.
13:25
[SPEAKER_01]: No, he's releasing out behind the defense wide open, Caleb hits him, touchdown, bears with.
13:35
[SPEAKER_01]: This is what Ben Johnson is doing.
13:37
[SPEAKER_01]: He is playing chess.
13:39
[SPEAKER_01]: He is five, six, seven, eight steps ahead of his opposing coaches.
13:45
[SPEAKER_01]: And he is depensing them in the fourth quarter.
13:48
[SPEAKER_01]: So, yes, this team believes.
13:50
[SPEAKER_01]: And yes, it has the culture.
13:52
[SPEAKER_01]: But when I am not hearing enough, and maybe it's because people aren't even processing it and seeing it, like national media, even some in the Chicago media, I am not hearing enough.
14:04
[SPEAKER_01]: what Ben Johnson is doing on the football field, play, calling, coaching, and what he is doing to put the bears to put all these players in a position to succeed.
14:16
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think Dennis Allen is doing the same thing defensively.
14:20
[SPEAKER_01]: And the way that defense came out and I don't understand why Kyler Gordon wasn't out there at the beginning of the game.
14:26
[SPEAKER_01]: I have no idea.
14:26
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't care at this point.
14:28
[SPEAKER_01]: I thought this was going to be something we're going to be talking about all week because the bears lost.
14:32
[SPEAKER_01]: And they got killed early on and was because they didn't have the right person out there.
14:35
[SPEAKER_01]: I was watching this game.
14:37
[SPEAKER_01]: My brain is already spinning on the next podcast because I was pissed.
14:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Like you're going to go out like this to the Green Bay Dam Packers.
14:46
[SPEAKER_01]: You're going to go out like this 21 to 3 getting your ass kicked by Jordan love these fans going to just torture all of us on social media for eight months until we can get to September I've said how you got to be kidding me that this is good this is how this season is going to end really but no.
15:04
[SPEAKER_01]: And how many I haven't lost faith a lot, but both times happen to be against the Green Bay Packers, and maybe that's my own Packers trauma coming out and say, well, they're not going to do it because it's the Packers, but they do do it in Caleb Williams already has three wins against the Green Bay Packers, which since Brett far was traded.
15:24
[SPEAKER_01]: So the Green Bay Packers in 1991 in Saraplan in 1992, since that has happened and the Packers have dominated this rivalry ever since.
15:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Caleb Williams is already tied over this stretch for the most wins against the Packers with three.
15:42
[SPEAKER_01]: He's got Kyle Orton.
15:44
[SPEAKER_01]: He's got Rex Grossman.
15:46
[SPEAKER_01]: three.
15:47
[SPEAKER_01]: And we want to talk about the leading up to the to this Jay Cutler, Justin Fields and Mitch Tribisky, the three, you know, guys that we hoped were going to be the answer for the bears at quarterback.
15:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Those three guys combined for three victories.
16:03
[SPEAKER_01]: One for Mitch, two for Jay.
16:04
[SPEAKER_01]: And yeah, we remember the Thanksgiving game.
16:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Great.
16:07
[SPEAKER_01]: Jay, thanks for the memories.
16:09
[SPEAKER_01]: None for Justin Fields.
16:11
[SPEAKER_01]: They combined for three.
16:15
[SPEAKER_01]: Caleb's already got three because Caleb thrives under pressure.
16:21
[SPEAKER_01]: And when I was said, Eddie Goldman, that's where my brain is, when Jervand Dexter blew that fumble recovery.
16:30
[SPEAKER_01]: And just, you know, no one was around, Javan.
16:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Just fall on it, man.
16:35
[SPEAKER_01]: It's all you had to do.
16:37
[SPEAKER_01]: But he dives on it, kicks the ball up, knocks it out of bounds, packers of retain possession.
16:41
[SPEAKER_01]: When that happened, I thought for sure the game was over.
16:44
[SPEAKER_01]: I was like, they're just not getting the bounces.
16:47
[SPEAKER_01]: That's it.
16:48
[SPEAKER_01]: It's over.
16:48
[SPEAKER_01]: They're not going to be able to come back.
16:51
[SPEAKER_01]: I was furious.
16:53
[SPEAKER_01]: I usually, now you just probably surprising because I yell and scream on this podcast so much, I'm usually pretty level headed during the football game.
17:01
[SPEAKER_01]: I watch it, I just, I, whether I'm enjoying it or whether I'm trying to break it down at pretty level headed.
17:06
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't get that emotional during a football game.
17:08
[SPEAKER_01]: That might side me surprising a lot of you, but I'm pretty level headed.
17:12
[SPEAKER_01]: That from I screamed at the television, the profanities were flying.
17:19
[SPEAKER_01]: And my dogs ran away.
17:20
[SPEAKER_01]: I got three dogs, they all ran away.
17:22
[SPEAKER_01]: They're like, oh, he's unstable.
17:23
[SPEAKER_01]: We don't need to be near him.
17:25
[SPEAKER_01]: That's where I was.
17:26
[SPEAKER_01]: I was so upset at that point.
17:28
[SPEAKER_01]: And to see, basically after that, it to turn on a dime like it did.
17:35
[SPEAKER_01]: And for the Chicago Bears to win this game, the way they did was incredible.
17:41
[SPEAKER_01]: And did they need help?
17:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Did they need a little intervention, perhaps, with the Miss Kicks, maybe?
17:48
[SPEAKER_01]: But it doesn't matter.
17:49
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not sitting here looking for if the Packers did this, if the Packers did that, the Bears may have lost the game.
17:55
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's possible.
17:57
[SPEAKER_01]: But it doesn't matter because it played out as it played out.
18:02
[SPEAKER_01]: And the Bears came back in one.
18:03
[SPEAKER_01]: And let's talk about Caleb Williams throw.
18:08
[SPEAKER_01]: to Roma do and say, because, and I texted, you know, Chris Mandogru, so you see him on first take, I work with Chris for a lot of years.
18:17
[SPEAKER_01]: And I texted this to Chris because I wanted to know what he thought of that Caleb Williams throw because Chris is really hard on the modern day athlete and to the point where a lot of people will get on him.
18:30
[SPEAKER_01]: where, you know, he on first take when he's arguing with J.J. Rannicky brought up Bob Koosee and J.J. Rannick's like Bob Koosee played with plumbers and it just like Chris loves the history.
18:43
[SPEAKER_01]: And he does so much, and it's just he has an insane brain with the memory of remembering plays and remembering context and everything that happened.
18:53
[SPEAKER_01]: Like he doesn't know about Joe Montana's throw to do my call.
18:57
[SPEAKER_01]: He knows everything about that game, the 81 NFC championship.
19:01
[SPEAKER_01]: And he understands the context of what it was for that throw.
19:05
[SPEAKER_01]: So I asked Chris, like, where does that throw rank?
19:08
[SPEAKER_01]: Because we can talk about great throws in NFL history.
19:11
[SPEAKER_01]: And we've seen some phenomenal throws, especially if you throw in the regular season.
19:16
[SPEAKER_01]: And we've seen phenomenal throws from Caleb Williams where he's had arguably the throw of the year, multiple times this season.
19:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Not like, oh, was it Caleb or was it Patrick Mahomes?
19:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Was it Caleb or was it Josh Allen?
19:27
[SPEAKER_01]: No, it was it Caleb, was it Caleb or was it Caleb?
19:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, that's where we are this year.
19:32
[SPEAKER_01]: with the kind of throws a Caleb Williams has been making all season long, but now we get to this situation.
19:41
[SPEAKER_01]: It is the fourth quarter of a playoff game.
19:45
[SPEAKER_01]: It is fourth down the bears and not fourth and one, fourth and eight, fourth and nine, whatever it was and the bears are trailing significantly.
19:56
[SPEAKER_01]: If this ball is not completed, the bear's season is over.
20:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Like that's it, they're going to run out of time.
20:04
[SPEAKER_01]: They simply could not, if they did not finish this drive, they were not going to win the game.
20:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Math maddically, it wasn't going to work.
20:13
[SPEAKER_01]: And Caleb Williams, rolling out to his left, throwing it like he had to as he's getting tripped.
20:23
[SPEAKER_01]: to loft, to see.
20:25
[SPEAKER_01]: And if you go and see where Roma Dune say was, when he released the football and putting it, where only Roma Dune say could get it in a seat when three packers around him, how good was that throw?
20:39
[SPEAKER_01]: Not just how good was that throw in Bears history.
20:42
[SPEAKER_01]: That's the greatest throw in Chicago Bears history.
20:44
[SPEAKER_01]: Like tell me another throw that can even compete with that.
20:48
[SPEAKER_01]: with that much pressure, with that level of importance.
20:52
[SPEAKER_01]: There isn't a second throw.
20:54
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe Sid Lockhamon had one in 1946.
20:58
[SPEAKER_01]: But here, guarantee you, we didn't have it with that kind of athleticism.
21:01
[SPEAKER_01]: We don't even, I love all time football.
21:04
[SPEAKER_01]: We don't need to compare Sid Lockhamon's athleticism to Kayla Williams.
21:07
[SPEAKER_01]: We know who's got the athleticism edge there.
21:10
[SPEAKER_01]: Nate, name a better throw.
21:12
[SPEAKER_01]: There's not a better throw.
21:14
[SPEAKER_01]: Like you talk about Jim McMan's throws to Willie Gault and the Vikings come back in 1985.
21:18
[SPEAKER_01]: Like we can talk about some great throws.
21:20
[SPEAKER_01]: They're not that throw.
21:22
[SPEAKER_01]: And that went to playoffs.
21:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Bears have had so many little playoffs success over the last 60 years other than the 80s and the 80s they ran the hell out of the ball and beat teams with defense.
21:31
[SPEAKER_01]: wasn't imaginary, you know, magical throws through three, you know, three defenders, threatened needles off balance.
21:39
[SPEAKER_01]: This is against the Green Bay Packers and the playoffs to ignite a comeback on fourth down in the fourth quarter.
21:46
[SPEAKER_01]: It's the greatest row in Chicago Bears history, done and the story.
21:50
[SPEAKER_01]: How good is that throw in NFL history?
21:54
[SPEAKER_01]: It's on the short list.
21:55
[SPEAKER_01]: It might be arguably the greatest throw in NFL history.
22:01
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, Bill, that's hyperbole, you're crazy.
22:03
[SPEAKER_01]: It probably isn't Ben Rothlissburg or throwing it to San Antonio homes in the corner of the end zone to win the Super Bowl.
22:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, and again, was it that level of athleticism?
22:12
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, that insane body angle and throw, no, of course not.
22:16
[SPEAKER_01]: But like,
22:17
[SPEAKER_01]: We can talk with you.
22:18
[SPEAKER_01]: If you want to take, you know, Joe Montana to Dwight Clark, even though, hey, Caleb already did that against the Browns.
22:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Just like, let me do that, but I'll throw it 10 yards further.
22:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, we've seen great throws at NFL history.
22:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Caleb Williams is on the shortlist.
22:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Are youably the greatest throw in NFL history?
22:37
[SPEAKER_01]: If not top five, at least top 10, that's what we saw on Saturday night.
22:43
[SPEAKER_01]: So I asked Chris Russo, he said, where is it rank?
22:47
[SPEAKER_01]: He says, very highly, one of the best I've ever seen.
22:52
[SPEAKER_01]: This is the guy who's been watching football since the 1960s.
22:56
[SPEAKER_01]: His favorite team is the Lombardi Packers.
22:59
[SPEAKER_01]: He doesn't like the Packers anymore, but the Lombardi Packers.
23:02
[SPEAKER_01]: He grew up as a kid loving the Lombardi Packers.
23:05
[SPEAKER_01]: That's how long he's been watching this sport.
23:08
[SPEAKER_01]: And like I said, he's got an insane memory for this kind of stuff.
23:11
[SPEAKER_01]: He didn't bring up, stop, act, or I'm sorry, Bradshaw to swan in the Super Bowl.
23:16
[SPEAKER_01]: He just said, one of the best he's ever seen.
23:20
[SPEAKER_01]: He didn't rank it.
23:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Gonna take too long to do that too much thought to do that.
23:24
[SPEAKER_01]: One of the best he's ever seen.
23:26
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what we're looking at with Caleb Williams.
23:29
[SPEAKER_01]: And some more on's going to talk about completion percentage.
23:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Some idiots going to say he was too inconsistent in the first half.
23:38
[SPEAKER_01]: That's all going to come eventually.
23:40
[SPEAKER_01]: But that, when it does, ladies and gentlemen, the Chicago Bears have a quarterback.
23:50
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know how good this quarterback is going to be, but he is going to be special.
23:54
[SPEAKER_01]: Is he a Hall of Famer?
23:55
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, all this stuff is way too early.
23:57
[SPEAKER_01]: Is he going to win Super Balls?
23:58
[SPEAKER_01]: It's all way too early.
24:00
[SPEAKER_01]: But when you talk, if you if you pulled NFL executives and say you got 10 years, coach quarterback combo, not one in two years, even maybe five years, coach quarterback combo, anyone in the league, you pull NFL executives,
24:17
[SPEAKER_01]: the I Ben Johnson and Kayla Williams, I think win.
24:21
[SPEAKER_01]: I think they win.
24:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Sean McVay and Matthew Staffer, that's another one, they're two old.
24:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Staffer's two old McVay is not, I don't know if McVay's gonna keep coaching, but who else is their KOC doesn't have his guy, Kyle Shanahan and Brock Party?
24:34
[SPEAKER_01]: No, and Kyle Shanahan's great.
24:36
[SPEAKER_01]: We got put Brock Party with Kayla Williams with the potential, with the insane ceiling the Kayla Williams has.
24:43
[SPEAKER_01]: What is the better coach combo?
24:46
[SPEAKER_01]: Andy Reed and Patrick Mahomes.
24:48
[SPEAKER_01]: They've lost the mojo right now.
24:49
[SPEAKER_01]: They can get it back.
24:51
[SPEAKER_01]: They've lost the mojo.
24:52
[SPEAKER_01]: John Hardwell got fired with Lamar Jackson's Act Taylor Stinks with Joe Burrow.
24:58
[SPEAKER_01]: Who is it?
24:58
[SPEAKER_01]: Sean McDermott and Josh Allen.
25:00
[SPEAKER_01]: No thank you.
25:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Caled Williams and Ben Johnson.
25:05
[SPEAKER_01]: The bears are cooking baby.
25:07
[SPEAKER_01]: Might be the best quarterback head coach combo in the league for the next five, six years.
25:16
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, we'll talk about the Rams after the Lawrence Holmes interview, but we've got one more thing to talk about.
25:23
[SPEAKER_01]: And as you know, I do not swear on this podcast very often.
25:28
[SPEAKER_01]: But for the next five, six minutes, I don't know how long it's going to take me to get through this.
25:32
[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to curse because, and we're not going to curse because we're emotionally having an emotional outburst.
25:38
[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to curse because I'm not going to say a letter.
25:42
[SPEAKER_01]: to discuss this next controversy.
25:45
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to say the full word because I think to discuss it, we need to truly discuss it.
25:51
[SPEAKER_01]: And that is Ben Johnson's post-game speech.
25:55
[SPEAKER_01]: And the reaction that it has gotten across the league when Ben Johnson yelled fuck the packers.
26:03
[SPEAKER_01]: And as a bear's fan, as all bear's fans, you should love this.
26:06
[SPEAKER_01]: And I have not seen anyone in Chicago upset that Ben Johnson said, oh, the decorum, hi, he's a head coach.
26:15
[SPEAKER_01]: He needs to hold himself to a higher.
26:16
[SPEAKER_01]: So I have not seen anyone in Chicago say that.
26:20
[SPEAKER_01]: I've seen a lot of people say that, some nationally and a lot of them who live in the state of Wisconsin.
26:26
[SPEAKER_01]: So I want to kind of talk about Ben Johnson and this whole situation.
26:32
[SPEAKER_01]: First of all, he has breathed a ton of life into this rivalry, and if you're a Green Bay Packers fan and I doubt any of them are listening, but if you are, you should love this.
26:45
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, if you wanna sit there and say, no, I want the Bears Packers rivalry to be what it was for the last 30 years.
26:53
[SPEAKER_01]: I want to beat the piss out of the bears and know that every year they're going 5 and 11 or 5 and 12 and that we have a better team and we just beat the hell out of a minute.
27:03
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not even competitive.
27:05
[SPEAKER_01]: If that's what you want, then you don't actually want a rivalry.
27:09
[SPEAKER_01]: That's not what a rivalry is.
27:11
[SPEAKER_01]: The bears were a gormat.
27:12
[SPEAKER_01]: We can all admit it.
27:14
[SPEAKER_01]: They were a gormat to the packers since far showed up.
27:17
[SPEAKER_01]: It's been embarrassing.
27:19
[SPEAKER_01]: The bears had a huge lead in this rivalry in terms of wins and losses 35 years ago, and now the paggers have a huge lead because they beat the piss out of Chicago for 35 years.
27:30
[SPEAKER_01]: So what they did?
27:32
[SPEAKER_01]: And now, Caleb Williams shows up and Ben Johnson shows up.
27:36
[SPEAKER_01]: And Ben Johnson, well, I appreciate Lovey Smith, one of the first things he said if not the first thing is we're gonna beat the Packers.
27:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Like I appreciate that, but Lovey's, he's a mild mannered guy.
27:46
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, other coaches that have said it, they are all mild mannered guys.
27:50
[SPEAKER_01]: Didca, not mild mannered guy.
27:52
[SPEAKER_01]: Didca fucking hated the Green Bay Packers.
27:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Why do you think William Perry became a thing in 1985, because Dica was pissed off at the 49ers who beat him in the NFC championship game the year before and he fought they ran up the score.
28:08
[SPEAKER_01]: So he unleashed William Perry against the 49ers and slammed him into the defensive line.
28:13
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the Green Bay Packers.
28:15
[SPEAKER_01]: He scored two touchdowns against the Packers.
28:17
[SPEAKER_01]: One catching the ball and one running the ball.
28:20
[SPEAKER_01]: He went out against the Packers because because Mike Dicka wanted to embarrass the Green Bay Packers because he didn't like him as a player and Forest Greg was the coach and he was a
28:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Dirty SOB and he had his team play in dirty.
28:32
[SPEAKER_01]: We don't need to rehash the Matt Sui play with Teddy Stills and the Charles Martin play with Jimmyman.
28:38
[SPEAKER_01]: We know what they did.
28:39
[SPEAKER_01]: They played dirty ass football and Dickah fucking hated them.
28:44
[SPEAKER_01]: So he let it fly with William Perry.
28:48
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what he wanted.
28:49
[SPEAKER_01]: When Don Magicowski won the game, and there was a controversy, if I don't remember what year it was 1990 or 89, Don Magicowski threw a game winning touchdown pass for the Packers, and it was right on the cusp of the line of Scrimmage, if he had crossed the line of Scrimmage or not.
29:09
[SPEAKER_01]: And Dick Cuthody had crossed the line of Scrimmage, an instant replay back then,
29:13
[SPEAKER_01]: was fussy, right?
29:15
[SPEAKER_01]: They freeze the game.
29:16
[SPEAKER_01]: It was a little out of focus.
29:18
[SPEAKER_01]: You couldn't quite tell on the screen.
29:19
[SPEAKER_01]: It was right up against the line of scrimmage.
29:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Dica was convinced he was over the line of scrimmage a place shouldn't account it.
29:25
[SPEAKER_01]: The rafs didn't see it that way.
29:27
[SPEAKER_01]: They allowed to touch down Packers won that game.
29:30
[SPEAKER_01]: In the media guide for years, there was an asterisk next to that win and it said instant replay game.
29:37
[SPEAKER_01]: did get hated the packers.
29:39
[SPEAKER_01]: It was a rivalry and the bear speed that hell out of the packers in the 80s because the packers sucked.
29:46
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what it was the dica and then one sack comes in.
29:49
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe he appreciated it.
29:50
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe he didn't.
29:51
[SPEAKER_01]: Teams weren't very good.
29:53
[SPEAKER_01]: Farve comes in, starts turning the rivalry.
29:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Lobby makes it.
29:58
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a little
30:03
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, since what about 2,000 set where really when Aaron Rogers came in, it got really ugly.
30:07
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, far of it was ugly.
30:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Aaron Rogers, it got really ugly.
30:11
[SPEAKER_01]: So now you've got Ben Johnson, breathe in life into it, not not like in Matt LaFlor, bad hand shakes, being pissed off if they lost a game to the packers, which he did and for the first game of the year.
30:24
[SPEAKER_01]: That's a rivalry.
30:26
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what a rivalry should be.
30:29
[SPEAKER_01]: So as the Packers fan, if you truly want to rivalry with the Chicago Bears, you should appreciate that the Bears are no longer a dormant.
30:38
[SPEAKER_01]: You should appreciate that Ben Johnson yelled fuck the Packers, because you should appreciate that these games are going to be wars twice a year, a third if they meet in the playoffs, because these two teams do not like each other, and that they are going to
30:55
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, when the schedule comes out and players, what's the first thing they do?
30:59
[SPEAKER_01]: They look at the buy.
31:01
[SPEAKER_01]: They want to know when they're off.
31:02
[SPEAKER_01]: I get it.
31:03
[SPEAKER_01]: It's their job.
31:03
[SPEAKER_01]: They want to know when they're going to get a few days off.
31:06
[SPEAKER_01]: But when you want bears players to do and when you want packers players to do after they look at the buy,
31:12
[SPEAKER_01]: when the hell are we playing the, when are the bears in the packers playing?
31:15
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what you want in the rivalry.
31:17
[SPEAKER_01]: You want it to matter to everyone.
31:20
[SPEAKER_01]: You want to be just elated or furious when the game ends, depending on what side of the coin you're on in that day.
31:28
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what a rivalry is.
31:30
[SPEAKER_01]: And if packers fans don't want that, then you don't actually want a rivalry and your cowards.
31:35
[SPEAKER_01]: And I don't think all packers fans are cowards, some of them are.
31:38
[SPEAKER_01]: But to clutch your pearls.
31:41
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh my goodness, would Vince Lambertty have said that Ben Johnson is a classless individual.
31:49
[SPEAKER_01]: We didn't know Dan Campbell kept him under wraps.
31:52
[SPEAKER_01]: How could he?
31:53
[SPEAKER_01]: How could he?
31:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Is that how Tom Landry would have behaved?
31:58
[SPEAKER_01]: Would you ever have seen that out of bill wall?
32:02
[SPEAKER_01]: What have the bears become?
32:04
[SPEAKER_01]: They are just a, they're despicable.
32:08
[SPEAKER_01]: How could they be like, what is this bullshit?
32:12
[SPEAKER_01]: Because I'll tell you what.
32:14
[SPEAKER_01]: When Aaron Rogers scored that touchdown and looked up at the fans and he didn't say I own you, he said, I fucking own you.
32:26
[SPEAKER_01]: And it hit all of us in the soul, in the heart, you felt it, and it crushed you, right?
32:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Like it just in that moment, you're like, oh my God.
32:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Like not only does he know he's dumb
32:43
[SPEAKER_01]: and it crushed all of us, and why did it crush all of us?
32:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Because there was no defense.
32:49
[SPEAKER_01]: There was a, oh, yeah, well, what about no?
32:53
[SPEAKER_01]: he did fucking on us for that entire time, which is why I wanted him to play in that Steelers game in the Bears to beat the piss out of him.
33:01
[SPEAKER_01]: And that to be his final taste of Chicago didn't happen.
33:05
[SPEAKER_01]: I'll have to live with the fact that he looked like ass in the playoffs and the Steelers lost again.
33:11
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what it's gonna have to be.
33:12
[SPEAKER_01]: How was that pick six Aaron?
33:15
[SPEAKER_01]: How was that bumble for a touchdown Aaron?
33:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Those are the last two times you touched the football
33:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, but anyways, back to the task at hand.
33:26
[SPEAKER_01]: When Aaron Rodgers said he fucking owned us, we knew he fucking owned us.
33:31
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's why we hated it so much.
33:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Because we knew it was true.
33:35
[SPEAKER_01]: And we knew there was nothing on the horizon to think the Chicago Bears were gonna change this anytime soon.
33:41
[SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't Mitch Shrabiski, wasn't Justin Fields, Jake Kotler had his shot, wasn't any of them.
33:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Aaron Rodgers was too good.
33:50
[SPEAKER_01]: And the Bears couldn't beat him.
33:53
[SPEAKER_01]: That's it.
33:54
[SPEAKER_01]: That was the end of the story.
33:55
[SPEAKER_01]: But I'll tell you what, I didn't see one packer fan going.
34:00
[SPEAKER_01]: That was out of line for Marin.
34:02
[SPEAKER_01]: His beef should be with the bears players.
34:04
[SPEAKER_01]: That's who he's playing.
34:05
[SPEAKER_01]: He's not going up against the fans.
34:08
[SPEAKER_01]: Aaron, that was out of line.
34:09
[SPEAKER_01]: No, they were all just like hell.
34:10
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, they have, you know, Aaron Rogers, owner of the Chicago, like they had it everywhere.
34:16
[SPEAKER_01]: There were t-shirts, they loved it.
34:20
[SPEAKER_01]: So Ben Johnson does it, and it's, oh, the whore, the whore, stop me in so hypocritical.
34:28
[SPEAKER_01]: And if your response is, that's not how a coach is going to be behaving.
34:35
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm sure there are other examples of this, but I'll tell you what, the cameras haven't been in the locker room for very long.
34:42
[SPEAKER_01]: I remember, I'm not too long ago, four, five, six years ago.
34:46
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, years, they blend together.
34:49
[SPEAKER_01]: Antonio Brown live streamed a Mike Tomlin post game speech on his Facebook page, and Mike Tomlin freaked out.
34:59
[SPEAKER_01]: I didn't tell you Brown did a lot of things wrong, and I'm not saying he should have done that because he didn't have permission to do what he just did it.
35:04
[SPEAKER_01]: And Mike Tomlin, I don't remember what it was.
35:05
[SPEAKER_01]: He said a couple things that maybe other people wouldn't have appreciated.
35:11
[SPEAKER_01]: But that's why coaches talk in locker rooms.
35:14
[SPEAKER_01]: And if you don't realize that, if you don't understand how coaches are in the locker rooms with their players, that's fine, but trust me.
35:22
[SPEAKER_01]: This is what goes on in locker rooms.
35:24
[SPEAKER_01]: Football locker rooms especially.
35:26
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of testosterone go around in that room.
35:29
[SPEAKER_01]: So yes, Ben Johnson yelled fuck the packers.
35:33
[SPEAKER_01]: But if you don't think coaches yell something like that, just Google, Brian Billick, fuck the Titans.
35:41
[SPEAKER_01]: And it'll come up, you'll get a YouTube clip because Brian Billick, when the Baltimore Ravens on their run of the Super Bowl, beat,
35:51
[SPEAKER_01]: the Tennessee Titans that are indivision rivals, right?
35:55
[SPEAKER_01]: That's that it was a bit of a rivalry back then because again, then Titans were the Houston Oilers.
36:00
[SPEAKER_01]: They were staying the division and then the South, you know, when they split up into the four divisions, that was when there were three divisions.
36:05
[SPEAKER_01]: When they split up into the four divisions, they weren't in the same run.
36:08
[SPEAKER_01]: But that was a rivalry back then.
36:11
[SPEAKER_01]: And Brian Billick says, hey, turn off all the cameras in the locker room and then he yelled at the top of his lungs, fuck the Titans, but one lock, one camera, he put the camera face in the floor, looked like he wasn't film, but he left the camera rolling.
36:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Brian Billick did that.
36:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Brian Billick, one of the most mild-mannered coaches.
36:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Brian Billick did that.
36:33
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't think other coaches have done that.
36:34
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't think my dick has said things like that about the packers in the locker room.
36:37
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, come on.
36:40
[SPEAKER_01]: Stop clutching your burles.
36:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Stop pretending this was some horrific thing.
36:45
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean.
36:47
[SPEAKER_01]: sound pretending that this is something that needs to be investigated.
36:51
[SPEAKER_01]: Ben Johnson has breathed life back in this rivalry.
36:56
[SPEAKER_01]: He has leveled the playing field, and it's awesome.
37:00
[SPEAKER_01]: Not just for the bears, but for the Packers.
37:03
[SPEAKER_01]: And I put out some stuff on social media about it.
37:06
[SPEAKER_01]: and a lot of Packers fans, we're, oh, how could you defend it?
37:11
[SPEAKER_01]: There were some Packers fans are like, I love it.
37:14
[SPEAKER_01]: The rivalry is back.
37:15
[SPEAKER_01]: This is the rivalry.
37:16
[SPEAKER_01]: And I appreciate those Packers fans.
37:18
[SPEAKER_01]: There's not a lot of Packers fans I can appreciate.
37:20
[SPEAKER_01]: But I appreciate those Packers fans.
37:24
[SPEAKER_01]: because they get it.
37:26
[SPEAKER_01]: They get what this rivalry should be.
37:28
[SPEAKER_01]: And this rivalry hasn't been like this in a long freaking time because I'll tell you what, it was a rivalry in the 80s, but the bears always won.
37:37
[SPEAKER_01]: And in the 70s, both these teams sucked.
37:40
[SPEAKER_01]: You got to go back to the 1960s and the early part of the 1960s when both these teams were good.
37:47
[SPEAKER_01]: And yes, Lombardi beat the bears more not, but the bears still want a championship in 63.
37:51
[SPEAKER_01]: The bears were good football teams.
37:53
[SPEAKER_01]: They did really good defense.
37:54
[SPEAKER_01]: They won games back then.
37:56
[SPEAKER_01]: like you've got to go back 60 years for both these seems to be consistently good where this rivalry not only was it heated but it mattered and over time because both teams stuck in the 70s and the packer still stuck in the 80s and in the 90s I mean the bear's stuck basically for the last 35 years and the packer's dominated we haven't seen it like this this is what the NFL needs this is what the bear's in the packer's
38:26
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what it needs and Ben Johnson and Kale Williams are bringing it back.
38:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Kale at Williams grading cheese on the Amazon post game show with his tongue out.
38:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Hell yeah.
38:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Hell yeah.
38:39
[SPEAKER_01]: It shouldn't matter that not only did you beat the pack as you beat them in the playoffs and you beat them in epic damn fashion.
38:47
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what this rivalry is about and it's.
38:50
[SPEAKER_01]: God damn awesome.
38:52
[SPEAKER_01]: And if you're religious, I'm sorry, and needed to be said, I will get back to the decorum that a podcast host should have.
39:00
[SPEAKER_01]: And I will stop cursing, I think, for the remainder of this podcast, but there was no way we were addressing that story without truly addressing that story the way it needed to be.
39:12
[SPEAKER_01]: All right.
39:14
[SPEAKER_01]: Lawrence Holmes, of the score, he joins me next.
39:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Bill Zimmerman, Bears Banner, will be right back.
39:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome back into the podcast.
39:25
[SPEAKER_01]: Always fun to talk to this man.
39:27
[SPEAKER_01]: He's been a part of the Chicago Sports Media Landscape for a long time.
39:31
[SPEAKER_01]: In fact, I was thinking about this.
39:33
[SPEAKER_01]: I think, when I was a producer at the score a long time ago, one of the first shows I did,
39:39
[SPEAKER_01]: was Jim Tomay getting traded to the white socks and Lawrence Holmes was talking about it's spiegel and Holmes, of course, on the score.
39:47
[SPEAKER_01]: His house of L.U.2 page, make sure you check out all his content there and he joins me now.
39:52
[SPEAKER_01]: Lawrence feels Zimmerman, how you doing?
39:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's been a long time.
39:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, in May, it'll be 29 years.
40:00
[SPEAKER_01]: 29 years, wow, you got a big plan here for the 30th.
40:03
[SPEAKER_01]: You're going to have a blowout in 2027?
40:04
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think I'm going to retire.
40:09
[SPEAKER_01]: That's certainly a good plan too.
40:15
[SPEAKER_01]: Lawrence, let's dive into this, let's, yeah, I want to talk a little bit.
40:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Packers, a little big picture, and obviously you want to get your thoughts on this Rams game coming up.
40:24
[SPEAKER_01]: This Packers game was absolutely wild.
40:26
[SPEAKER_01]: And I talked about it before you came on here that I was
40:30
[SPEAKER_01]: I was pretty beside myself.
40:32
[SPEAKER_01]: I hadn't gotten so upset at watching my television when Javan Dexter blew the the fumble recovery.
40:39
[SPEAKER_01]: My dogs ran away for me.
40:40
[SPEAKER_01]: Like it was an emotional game, but by the end, this is one of the most exciting bears postseason games ever.
40:48
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's it's right up there.
40:49
[SPEAKER_01]: It might be that one of the best in NFL history.
40:51
[SPEAKER_00]: pretty legendary to come back from 21 to 3, like that is, and for it to be against the Packers, like it this happened against like the Carolina Panthers or the Eagles, it would have been cool, but for it to happen against the Packers in the way that it did in soldier field, nighttime audience there, everyone was so fired up, man, it was, it's been cool to watch and watch the,
41:18
[SPEAKER_00]: The way that this is evolved throughout the season, we keep seeing these games that the bears are playing where it looks like they've got no shot to win or they look like they're completely off balance and then they find it and they're able to find it and I don't have a reason for it like I we've been I know you've been talking about it too like that it doesn't make sense and and maybe the it do a little outcomes razor.
41:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it's just that they have a quarterback who doesn't flinch in those moments where other quarterbacks tend to, it's amazing that he's able to do this, especially being as young as he is in the league.
42:02
[SPEAKER_00]: When you add in that it's a new system for him and that he's two years into the league, his the way that he responds in those moments is huge.
42:12
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it really is, and when I bring this name back, I'm not trying to bring up any polarizing things.
42:17
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just when Justin Fields was in the developmental phase the first couple years.
42:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Some of the Chicago media members were bringing in.
42:24
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, but he doesn't look good in the fourth quarter and they're throwing up stats and bear's friends like, Yeah, but he doesn't have a receiver.
42:29
[SPEAKER_01]: He doesn't have this.
42:30
[SPEAKER_01]: He doesn't have that.
42:31
[SPEAKER_01]: And going through everything and we see Fields a few years later, he's still struggling in some of those certain areas, of course.
42:37
[SPEAKER_01]: With Caleb Williams, even while he's trying to figure out all this Lawrence, and he's still in the developmental phase, the one thing we see, even last year with Matt Eberfluss and the debacle around him.
42:51
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I know the commander's game was a loss, but he brought them back and gave Kut Washington very little time.
42:56
[SPEAKER_01]: We saw a game on things to the front game.
42:59
[SPEAKER_01]: We saw so many times where like the ice water was in his veins.
43:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, he did it against the Rams for a win last year too, which is interesting to set up what happens on on on Sunday, but yeah, he's I'm I was adjusting guy and I felt like with proper development and I still feel this way and I know that it looks bad for just as in his career, but I still think with proper development, there's a good quarterback in there.
43:29
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, we're seeing with Caleb is that there's already a guy that.
43:32
[SPEAKER_00]: in those moments is in scared and knows what to do and plays with a, he plays with a freedom and a joy that is rare to see from NFL quarterbacks and seeing that play out the way that it has and and coast and lovelin becoming this epic target like this complete mismatch for defenses.
43:56
[SPEAKER_00]: is those two guys, and you add in Luther Burton, and maybe you add in Rome, and you're talking about one of the best offensive forces, one of the best passing games evolving in the league over the next couple of years, because that's a lot of fun for every bear's fan to wrap their mind around that they're the team.
44:19
[SPEAKER_00]: that defenses have to spend nights burning the midnight oil trying to get prepared for because with Caleb, I know that I've listened to a bunch of different defenders throughout the season goal.
44:33
[SPEAKER_00]: I hate playing against him because you think you have them and then you don't.
44:38
[SPEAKER_00]: And the stuff that he's doing on the move is impressive enough.
44:43
[SPEAKER_00]: When he puts it together and he's been putting it together for the last few weeks, the pocket game too, it's hard to imagine how you're going to consistently shut them down.
44:55
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not saying they'll never lose again, but you have to figure out a way to keep your defensive ends.
45:04
[SPEAKER_00]: Hungry enough to go rush him, but not too hungry that they break contained and let him get outside.
45:12
[SPEAKER_00]: We know that the packers were like, well, we'll push him left.
45:15
[SPEAKER_00]: That's, that's going to be our strategy.
45:17
[SPEAKER_00]: And you push him left and he makes one of the greatest throws this season on that fourth and eight.
45:24
[SPEAKER_00]: So all of the stuff that you think you can do to kind of neutralize him,
45:29
[SPEAKER_00]: I think the only thing that still works is if you get a gap pressure, like if you get pressure up the middle, he retreats, you know, because he's not the tallest quarterback, so he retreats.
45:43
[SPEAKER_00]: But unless you're getting that consistently, if you give him time, he is going to turn your lights out.
45:49
[SPEAKER_01]: And when you've got Jonah Jackson, Joe Toney, and Drew Dalman, who all had outstanding seasons, you're not going to get as much a get pressure.
45:56
[SPEAKER_01]: So that is, that is a huge, I completely agree with that.
45:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, you know, you were talking about like the, you can't quite explain it.
46:03
[SPEAKER_01]: And I agree, you can't.
46:04
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, the amount of magic they, they've pulled out of their hats this year is incredible.
46:08
[SPEAKER_01]: And there's certainly a belief in a culture that Ben Johnson has already built, especially compared to where this team was 12 months ago, that, that is already there in a big part of it.
46:19
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's talked about a little, but I haven't seen it a lot in the national discourse, and even as much in the local discourse is Ben Johnson and even Dennis Allen.
46:28
[SPEAKER_01]: And the coaching that they're doing throughout the body of each one of these games, because I don't think you can overstate what they're doing, in terms of the information that they're bringing in, watching what these opponents are doing.
46:42
[SPEAKER_01]: And Ben Johnson, everything he does has a purpose.
46:45
[SPEAKER_01]: He's not just like, all right, let's call Ron, let's call Pass.
46:48
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, let's do a short yardage play.
46:50
[SPEAKER_01]: Like he is constantly setting things up.
46:52
[SPEAKER_01]: He is playing chess.
46:53
[SPEAKER_01]: And we see what he's doing with like this Packer's game.
46:56
[SPEAKER_01]: We're doing with bunch formations and getting the defense to come up and up and up.
47:01
[SPEAKER_01]: And suddenly he releases DJ more behind him, game winning touchdown.
47:04
[SPEAKER_01]: Like we see what Ben Johnson is doing.
47:07
[SPEAKER_01]: And Dennis Allen,
47:08
[SPEAKER_01]: where they look better in the third and fourth quarters, I truly believe because these coaches are putting these players in a position to succeed.
47:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's keep it a buck.
47:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Matt LaFlor had the better game plan going into the game on Saturday.
47:23
[SPEAKER_00]: They did everything right.
47:25
[SPEAKER_00]: They scored points.
47:26
[SPEAKER_00]: They shut down the bears offends.
47:28
[SPEAKER_00]: They had a 21 to 3
47:31
[SPEAKER_00]: I know that we probably make too much out of the concept of halftime adjustments, because adjustments are happening from series to series, right?
47:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Like you're making your adjustments, but the corrections that the bears made.
47:46
[SPEAKER_00]: in the second half is impressive.
47:49
[SPEAKER_00]: The level of the DA figuring out, okay, I'm going to stay aggressive, but now I'm gonna change how I'm gonna invert some of the blitzing that we're going to do to try and throw Jordan love off.
48:05
[SPEAKER_00]: And then like you said,
48:07
[SPEAKER_00]: him, Ben Johnson being able to set defenses up, going back to that second Packers game, where you're in 13 personnel and you're run it.
48:18
[SPEAKER_00]: You're in 13 personnel and you run it.
48:20
[SPEAKER_00]: You're in 13 personnel and you run it.
48:23
[SPEAKER_00]: And then
48:24
[SPEAKER_00]: you play action off of it and you get DJ Moore or one on one down the field.
48:30
[SPEAKER_00]: You have conditioned the defense to think that you're one thing and then you flip it on them and come up with a game winning play.
48:39
[SPEAKER_00]: He is thinking steps ahead and we're honestly not used to this.
48:44
[SPEAKER_00]: We're not one life.
48:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Like there was a moment in time for both Mike Mart's
48:52
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that he was, he was definitely trying to set some stuff up and, and Matt Neggy, when he finally kind of got through a little bit to Mitch Tribisky, but there hasn't been a lot of this through it, it's kind of been like hanging on.
49:10
[SPEAKER_00]: You have a coach now that can play with the big boys, like he can compete with Le Floor and McVay and KOC.
49:22
[SPEAKER_00]: All of the guys that you think are the really good play colors, the bears now have won.
49:28
[SPEAKER_00]: And for that to be the case, it's blowing the mind of bears fans that they have a coach that can do that.
49:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and like you said, we're not used to this.
49:39
[SPEAKER_01]: I think almost as media members were and look, I know we all watched the NFL.
49:43
[SPEAKER_01]: We follow the entire league.
49:44
[SPEAKER_01]: We're not all just isolated in our bears bubble.
49:47
[SPEAKER_01]: So we know about what McVay's doing in KOC and Chanahan in these great playlists.
49:52
[SPEAKER_01]: But we're not watching it.
49:54
[SPEAKER_01]: week to week and going through it with a fine tooth comb maybe bringing up the all 22 look at everything we're not studying if we're not Brian balding or you know studying like all 16 games every week we you know we're focused on Chicago and these types of things so watching what he's doing is it's so much fun Lawrence from just a coverage perspective of seeing like to me this is like a Monet this is a Van Gogh seeing what he's able to do
50:20
[SPEAKER_01]: like you're bringing up the 13 person now.
50:23
[SPEAKER_01]: He did with them with the package.
50:24
[SPEAKER_01]: He did the same thing with the Eagles where they were just running the heck out of the ball using 13 and then suddenly call comment releases behind the defense and it's a touchdown and puts the game away like this is stuff we're seeing week in and week out.
50:36
[SPEAKER_01]: And the other thing I love about Ben Johnson is his accountability.
50:40
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that's gone, so I bring it up almost every week.
50:43
[SPEAKER_01]: It's gone so far with the players.
50:44
[SPEAKER_01]: And I don't want to bring it all back to Matt Eberfluze.
50:46
[SPEAKER_01]: But him going up there every week and saying, we just need to execute better and we'll be fine.
50:50
[SPEAKER_01]: We had a good game plan.
50:51
[SPEAKER_01]: Kind of just putting it on the players all the time.
50:53
[SPEAKER_01]: If Ben Johnson doesn't like what he did, he stands up to go, yeah, I screwed that up.
50:57
[SPEAKER_01]: And when he would, you do that in front of the media.
51:00
[SPEAKER_01]: And in the locker room, you're asking for that same accountability.
51:03
[SPEAKER_01]: I think it goes so far in the locker room.
51:05
[SPEAKER_00]: you're 100% right.
51:07
[SPEAKER_00]: I remember going up there for training camp and some people up there saying to me is completely different than what they experienced last year and that that difference was in the way that things were presented to players like him walking in the door and saying something
51:31
[SPEAKER_00]: you open up the media guiding.
51:35
[SPEAKER_00]: You see someone who works for the bears.
51:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Olon always says you can just take their title and make it in charge of players, you know, like you're there to optimize the players no matter what your role is.
51:48
[SPEAKER_00]: player development is your job.
51:50
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're in, if you're the cook, if you're the janitor, whatever your role is, player development is what you're about.
51:57
[SPEAKER_00]: And he said that when he walked in.
52:00
[SPEAKER_00]: So then you get to training camp and you hear the stories how eberfluous let veterans kind of stay at home.
52:08
[SPEAKER_00]: And
52:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Ben Johnson was like, no, everyone's at the hotel.
52:12
[SPEAKER_00]: We're all going to be in this together.
52:14
[SPEAKER_00]: So it starts there.
52:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Kevin Bire saying that he hit more in practice this year than the last few years that he was in the NFL and he ends up with an all-proseason.
52:27
[SPEAKER_00]: this guy had a plan and so far the plan has worked to perfection and I love seeing it.
52:34
[SPEAKER_00]: I love how passionate he is about it and when you get the proof of concept, when you get the winning behind it,
52:44
[SPEAKER_00]: then guys start to believe even more and I think that's the snowball that's rolling down hill right now bill like I think that those guys are like whoa coach told us that this was going to happen this was going to happen and this was going to happen and it's happened and you can use that successfully as a tool.
53:03
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, 100% I two more for you Lawrence, obviously I want to get your thoughts on the Rams game, but before I do, I have to ask you about, I don't think it's a controversy, but I know a lot of people north of the Illinois Wisconsin border weren't happy with the viral, you, uh, good, better best with Ben Johnson saying F the Packers.
53:21
[SPEAKER_01]: I loved it.
53:23
[SPEAKER_01]: I, you know, he's not the first coaches did it, Brian Billick did it.
53:26
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, after the Ravens beat the Titans 25 years ago, I love this kind of passion.
53:31
[SPEAKER_01]: I love that he's, you know, fan in the flames and turning this rivalry back into something.
53:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Did you have any issue with Ben Johnson not showing the proper decorum of a net coach?
53:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Not at all.
53:43
[SPEAKER_00]: I had zero problem with it.
53:45
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, I applaud it.
53:48
[SPEAKER_00]: for years, bear's fans have been waiting for an advocate, you know, and we've heard all of the anecdotes about George, for example, you know, going to weddings and having packers, urinal cakes put in the bathroom, stuff like that.
54:08
[SPEAKER_00]: the bears fans have needed someone to stand up to the bully, okay?
54:14
[SPEAKER_00]: And now there's a guy that's done it.
54:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Like he walked in the door and other coaches have said, hey,
54:22
[SPEAKER_00]: we want to beat the packers like that's different.
54:25
[SPEAKER_00]: Like that's a different thing.
54:26
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's different guys.
54:29
[SPEAKER_00]: I covered Lovey Smith.
54:30
[SPEAKER_00]: Lovey Smith was never going to react like that.
54:33
[SPEAKER_00]: We're on he doesn't cost.
54:35
[SPEAKER_00]: But two, it's just not who he is.
54:37
[SPEAKER_00]: As long as it's genuine and from all accounts, this is who Ben is.
54:43
[SPEAKER_00]: And there might be some repercussions of that, but he is being authentic.
54:49
[SPEAKER_00]: And I can't be mad at him for voicing his opinion on this, and being with his guys, and reacting to say, this is why Bear's fans rock with him.
55:00
[SPEAKER_00]: is because he acts like that and he's graded his job that he embodies everything that every bear's fan is ever wanted to say to the packers and to their fan base.
55:12
[SPEAKER_00]: So the fact that you actually have someone that's not just talking the talk, but walking the walk, it matters.
55:20
[SPEAKER_00]: It's connected him.
55:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Everything that you've seen in those videos that the bears have put out from
55:27
[SPEAKER_00]: The winner's circle stuff mattered.
55:29
[SPEAKER_00]: It meant that he was paying attention to the world around him.
55:34
[SPEAKER_00]: That he wants to embrace this community and be its leader.
55:40
[SPEAKER_00]: And so it's going to be hard to, I know there are a couple of people that have clutch pearls.
55:46
[SPEAKER_00]: I am not one of them.
55:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you, if that's how you get down, get down like that, and bear's fans will support it.
55:52
[SPEAKER_01]: They, they will.
55:54
[SPEAKER_01]: And they love the passion and they just, yeah, like I said, it's just it's going through the veins just everyone just feeling Ben Johnson and what he's bringing not just to the bears, but to this entire city.
56:04
[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.
56:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's let's finish up here with the Rams.
56:07
[SPEAKER_01]: I think this is going to be an interesting one there, you know, feel goal for point favor, whatever it is that I don't think that's a surprise bears are an underdog at home seemingly every week.
56:16
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you.
56:17
[SPEAKER_01]: I think with the way this bears offense is playing.
56:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Hopefully they can run the ball a little better this week.
56:22
[SPEAKER_01]: This Rams defense.
56:23
[SPEAKER_01]: They do not have a good secondary.
56:25
[SPEAKER_01]: I think this has a chance to be a high scoring game.
56:28
[SPEAKER_01]: And Lawrence, I have decided I have thrown out the window picking against this team because they just keep finding a way.
56:35
[SPEAKER_01]: How do you see this one playing out?
56:36
[SPEAKER_00]: The secondary is
56:38
[SPEAKER_00]: not good but the past rush is and if they've got a couple of guys that can make your life difficult.
56:45
[SPEAKER_00]: So that is something that I'm worried about.
56:48
[SPEAKER_00]: I do think that there's an hidden advantage.
56:51
[SPEAKER_00]: The bare special teams.
56:54
[SPEAKER_00]: better than LA's.
56:56
[SPEAKER_00]: LA's had a problem.
56:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Cairo Santos has done a really good job like kind of perfecting that dirty kickoff thing and and getting it to the ball to go sideways as it lands in the landing zone.
57:08
[SPEAKER_00]: So I dig like kind of
57:12
[SPEAKER_00]: what they're doing and Devere and Devere and A and I said it on the I've said it on the score the last couple days.
57:18
[SPEAKER_00]: He's the hitting yards like that guy was a hidden hero inside of the game against the packers because he gave them field position.
57:27
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't wait to see what this matchup looks like because Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford are of one mind and I love that like they're so connected.
57:36
[SPEAKER_00]: I think they're the model for what you hope Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams turn into the next couple of years.
57:44
[SPEAKER_00]: and seeing two of the guys that I think are just great at drawing up offenses, go up against each other, is so exciting.
57:53
[SPEAKER_00]: But I, I completely understand your point.
57:56
[SPEAKER_00]: I, guessing whether or not the bears are going to win is,
58:00
[SPEAKER_00]: And it drives people crazy, you know, like maybe you're better off waiting until they get down and if you're going to bet it like bet it when the odds are in your favor big time like if you bet the bears when they were down 21 to 3 you made it grip
58:16
[SPEAKER_00]: off of that.
58:16
[SPEAKER_00]: And there were a lot of games this year where that was the case.
58:19
[SPEAKER_00]: So maybe this is another one.
58:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you don't put your money on the dares before the game starts.
58:25
[SPEAKER_00]: And then right when they're down 10 or 17, you go, got him right where you want him.
58:30
[SPEAKER_00]: And then you you buck up and you get yourself some dough.
58:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I don't know if you saw this when I saw this on Twitter, teams down 10 or more points with six minutes to go.
58:39
[SPEAKER_01]: The bears are three and three.
58:41
[SPEAKER_01]: The rest of the
58:46
[SPEAKER_01]: There he is.
58:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Lawrence homes of the score, of course, speak on homes.
58:49
[SPEAKER_01]: You can catch him there every weekday.
58:51
[SPEAKER_01]: And of course, make sure you check out that YouTube page, the House of L. Lords.
58:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for that interview.
58:56
[SPEAKER_01]: And this is going to be, it's a fun ride already.
58:58
[SPEAKER_01]: And we'll see how much longer this can go.
59:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Bill, I know that you're loving this.
59:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Chicago is on fire, man.
59:04
[SPEAKER_00]: The stuff I've seen over the last 48 hours is amazing.
59:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Watching people just enjoy themselves.
59:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I, I don't live very far
59:14
[SPEAKER_00]: And I went by there on Sunday and there were bear fans like outside and house like closing and they're in their bears gear.
59:24
[SPEAKER_00]: So seeing the city be as happy as it's been has been a real joy for me.
59:31
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, there he is, Lawrence homes everybody.
59:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Lawrence always gives you a good spot.
59:37
[SPEAKER_01]: I really enjoyed that one.
59:39
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't always agree with all Lawrence's takes.
59:40
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't agree with this Justin field.
59:43
[SPEAKER_01]: Say, but that's okay.
59:44
[SPEAKER_01]: We can disagree.
59:45
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, great minds.
59:46
[SPEAKER_01]: Don't always agree.
59:48
[SPEAKER_01]: We disagree there.
59:49
[SPEAKER_01]: But I agree with a lot of what Lawrence had to say there.
59:51
[SPEAKER_01]: And I agree like 100% like and again, enjoy this ride.
59:56
[SPEAKER_01]: It may look
59:58
[SPEAKER_01]: If the bears don't win the Super Bowl at some point there's gonna be a sour taste in your mouth, but that should fade quickly because the Chicago Bears are this is just unbelievable what this team keeps managing to do.
1:00:10
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's get to the male bag.
1:00:12
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's talk about this Rams game a little bit and let's wrap it up.
1:00:17
[SPEAKER_01]: And we could all turn our attention to Sunday.
1:00:21
[SPEAKER_01]: night where the bears will take on the ramps.
1:00:25
[SPEAKER_01]: But let's get to the male bag.
1:00:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's start with Brendan Chigru.
1:00:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Money aside does the recent success of soldier field combined with weather, aiding and home-filled advantage deep in the season.
1:00:35
[SPEAKER_01]: Make you want the bears to just stay there.
1:00:38
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a dump, but it's our dump.
1:00:43
[SPEAKER_01]: I like where you're coming from, Brandon.
1:00:46
[SPEAKER_01]: I do, I get it, and look, if I had my brothers, if you said, Bill, what do you want?
1:00:53
[SPEAKER_01]: I want the Chicago Bears to build a stadium in the city of Chicago on the Lakefront that they can own and get all the revenue streams that they want.
1:01:06
[SPEAKER_01]: with a retractable roof that they do not close for the cold, that they close for the Super Bowl when they host it, that they close for
1:01:20
[SPEAKER_01]: The final four, the Big 10 Championship, any neutral site type game, whatever event that they're going to have concerts in the winter, whatever they can do, close it then, but leave it open 99% of the time for football games.
1:01:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Like if it's going to be a torrential downpour, something like that where it's just going to be dangerous for players to play kind of thing like it was against the 49ers like four years ago, whatever that was you want to close it for that like okay fine.
1:01:54
[SPEAKER_01]: Cold weather, snow, leave it open.
1:01:58
[SPEAKER_01]: Let Chicago be Chicago.
1:02:00
[SPEAKER_01]: Brendan, that's what I want.
1:02:02
[SPEAKER_01]: But that's not on the table.
1:02:04
[SPEAKER_01]: And I get it.
1:02:05
[SPEAKER_01]: I want the Chicago bears to compete the way they need to compete.
1:02:09
[SPEAKER_01]: I want the bears to have the revenue streams that they want to have.
1:02:12
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, what do I want?
1:02:14
[SPEAKER_01]: I want soldier field to be leveled.
1:02:17
[SPEAKER_01]: I want the city to sell the property to the bears.
1:02:21
[SPEAKER_01]: I want the bears to play some place crappy for two years in the enapolis back in champagne, whatever it's going to be.
1:02:28
[SPEAKER_01]: While they build this thing, that's what I want.
1:02:32
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not on the table.
1:02:33
[SPEAKER_01]: And it sucks that it's not on the table.
1:02:36
[SPEAKER_01]: So yes, what I love elements to continue to be a part of Chicago Bears Football, I would.
1:02:42
[SPEAKER_01]: I just just not on the cards.
1:02:44
[SPEAKER_01]: So
1:02:45
[SPEAKER_01]: Is it going to be the same?
1:02:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Is it going to be a little antiseptic when they're playing in a closed roof?
1:02:50
[SPEAKER_01]: It's going to be a dome.
1:02:51
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not going to be a retractable roof.
1:02:52
[SPEAKER_01]: It's going to be a dome.
1:02:54
[SPEAKER_01]: Is it going to suck a little?
1:02:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's going to suck a little.
1:02:57
[SPEAKER_01]: But I would rather, and I think this might be an unpopular opinion, I would rather than the bears be able to build something that actually benefits the team.
1:03:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Because if the bears add more revenue streams, there's more they can do to help the team.
1:03:14
[SPEAKER_01]: And look, we'll just talk about it just a little bit.
1:03:16
[SPEAKER_01]: I just talked to Brad Spielberg about this all the time.
1:03:19
[SPEAKER_01]: People like to say the salary cap is a myth.
1:03:24
[SPEAKER_01]: depends on how much cash an owner is willing to spend, because you can technically be way over the salary cap.
1:03:34
[SPEAKER_01]: If you're willing to convert salary to bonuses, you can convert salary to bonuses, it affects the way things are on the cap, you can spread it out over years, and then you pay that cash to the player, and it's not on the salary cap.
1:03:47
[SPEAKER_01]: So you can convert these salaries to bonuses and pay these guys,
1:03:54
[SPEAKER_01]: and you can go over the salary cap in essence.
1:03:58
[SPEAKER_01]: The bears can't play that game that much because they are a cash, they are a poor cash flow team.
1:04:05
[SPEAKER_01]: They just are.
1:04:07
[SPEAKER_01]: They are billionaires because of their asset not because of their cash flow.
1:04:12
[SPEAKER_01]: So the McCaskees, I'm not saying they're broke.
1:04:15
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not saying they payed Khalil Mack when the Raiders couldn't afford to pay Khalil Mack.
1:04:19
[SPEAKER_01]: They gave Ben Johnson a big contract.
1:04:21
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not saying they're broke.
1:04:24
[SPEAKER_01]: They are not in a position to take seven or eight players, convert their money to bonuses, get their cash.
1:04:31
[SPEAKER_01]: I'll get them, you know, a lot of their money off the cap so they can keep bring it in free agents.
1:04:36
[SPEAKER_01]: The bears aren't a team that can do that.
1:04:38
[SPEAKER_01]: But if the bears have more revenue streams and I think George McCaskey would operate this way, I really do.
1:04:45
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think he wants to put it in his pocket.
1:04:47
[SPEAKER_01]: And then George McCaskey wants to win football games.
1:04:49
[SPEAKER_01]: I think George is a great guy.
1:04:51
[SPEAKER_01]: I think George is a fan.
1:04:53
[SPEAKER_01]: I think George loves the Chicago Bears.
1:04:55
[SPEAKER_01]: I think he wants to go 17 and 0 every year.
1:04:58
[SPEAKER_01]: And he will do everything he can to do that.
1:05:02
[SPEAKER_01]: The problem is George is a bad owner.
1:05:04
[SPEAKER_01]: He doesn't understand football enough.
1:05:06
[SPEAKER_01]: He doesn't understand all the logistics.
1:05:09
[SPEAKER_01]: He makes poor decisions.
1:05:10
[SPEAKER_01]: He's too loyal.
1:05:11
[SPEAKER_01]: He holds on to poor employees too long.
1:05:14
[SPEAKER_01]: And it hurts the Bears.
1:05:16
[SPEAKER_01]: So if George has the assets to help this team, I think he will, I don't know that for sure.
1:05:25
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know the man personally, but I really think that's what he wants.
1:05:28
[SPEAKER_01]: So for the Chicago Bears, I think having the revenue streams that they need, so the sounds crazy, so the billionaire owners can have more money.
1:05:41
[SPEAKER_01]: I think they'll actually invest it back into the team a lot and make the team a lot better and make the team more competitive and make them make this next 20 years of Ben Giants, what I said, the next 20 years is Ben Johnson as the Bears had coach, make it worth our while.
1:05:57
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what I think will happen if the bears have a better stadium.
1:06:02
[SPEAKER_01]: So while is it perfect Brendan?
1:06:04
[SPEAKER_01]: It is certainly not.
1:06:06
[SPEAKER_01]: I think it is still better in the long run for the Chicago Bears for this to happen.
1:06:10
[SPEAKER_01]: How about our guy Mason West from our own second city grid on podcast channel?
1:06:15
[SPEAKER_01]: The city was electric before during and after that game.
1:06:18
[SPEAKER_01]: This week, bears are sending out surveys about Northwest Indiana.
1:06:22
[SPEAKER_01]: What if any difference can this playoff run make for a push to stay in Illinois?
1:06:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Can five can vibes narrow the gap between Illinois and the bears?
1:06:35
[SPEAKER_01]: Mason, I'm glad you brought that up because yes, as the season ticket holder, I did receive this survey and I didn't fill it out.
1:06:41
[SPEAKER_01]: It took quite a while.
1:06:42
[SPEAKER_01]: They had a lot of questions, and a lot of questions I didn't care about, but I still had to answer them.
1:06:48
[SPEAKER_01]: They had questions about
1:06:50
[SPEAKER_01]: food.
1:06:51
[SPEAKER_01]: What kind of food do you want?
1:06:53
[SPEAKER_01]: What kind of alcohol do you want?
1:06:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Like what level of alcohol do you want?
1:06:57
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, you know, like vacas do you want, shmeer and off do you want teedos do you want gray goose do you want kettle one or do you want like labels I've never even heard of because I don't I don't I'm not a kind of sewer of bottles that are three four five hundred dollars a bottle.
1:07:13
[SPEAKER_01]: like which tier alcohol would you most likely drink?
1:07:17
[SPEAKER_01]: They had everything.
1:07:18
[SPEAKER_01]: What kind of food do you want?
1:07:20
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you want Dine in restaurants?
1:07:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you want restaurants off-campus on campus?
1:07:25
[SPEAKER_01]: How do you want to spend your time before the game?
1:07:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you want to go to a restaurant?
1:07:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you want to go to a bar?
1:07:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you want to tailgate after the game?
1:07:31
[SPEAKER_01]: All this stuff.
1:07:33
[SPEAKER_01]: stadium seating.
1:07:35
[SPEAKER_01]: Where would you want to sit?
1:07:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Would you spend as much PSL and PSLs?
1:07:38
[SPEAKER_01]: They do have stuff about financing and you can have your PSLs paid off after 10 years that makes it more palatable, but those numbers are big.
1:07:46
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, they're all five digits unless you're in the upper deck.
1:07:48
[SPEAKER_01]: They are five digits of seat.
1:07:50
[SPEAKER_01]: They are, you are going to have to pay if you are a bear season ticket holder.
1:07:55
[SPEAKER_01]: But like, and how would you spend on those?
1:07:57
[SPEAKER_01]: They had so many, and they had questions about fan experiences with this fee of interest, would that be of interest?
1:08:04
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you want to meet with coaches before the game, and they can go over game plan?
1:08:08
[SPEAKER_01]: So that sound awesome, yet does, do I want Declan Doyle out?
1:08:11
[SPEAKER_01]: No, I want Declan Doyle in the locker room, doing less second stuff.
1:08:15
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't need Declan Doyle talking to fans.
1:08:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Sorry, not interested in that, even though I, the concept sounds fun, but no, I want the bears to win, thank you.
1:08:24
[SPEAKER_01]: But the bottom line here is they also had questions about Northwest Indian and what would your thoughts be about the team being in Northwest Indian?
1:08:34
[SPEAKER_01]: And would you spend time going to a restaurant before the game or after the game or tailgating before the game or after the game?
1:08:42
[SPEAKER_01]: If the bears were in Northwest Indiana and I was honest, I said no, and they came a chance for extra comments.
1:08:50
[SPEAKER_01]: And I said, I think,
1:08:51
[SPEAKER_01]: And don't talk about the Giants and Jets playing in New Jersey.
1:08:55
[SPEAKER_01]: He said, I think if you move the Chicago Bears in the Anna, you are wrecking the brand.
1:09:01
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it's terrible and they're going to lose the whole fan base.
1:09:04
[SPEAKER_01]: No, but you're going to take a really special brand.
1:09:08
[SPEAKER_01]: You're going to knock it down a peg or two.
1:09:10
[SPEAKER_01]: So so Mason, I think moving the Indiana is a terrible idea.
1:09:14
[SPEAKER_01]: I do think it's a leverage play.
1:09:16
[SPEAKER_01]: I do think they want to try and get something done in our own tonight.
1:09:19
[SPEAKER_01]: I think the Chicago, I think that's completely dead.
1:09:30
[SPEAKER_01]: I think Arlington Heights is kind of on the table and I think this will swing eventually to what they need in Arlington Heights.
1:09:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe the NFL will change their rules because the NFL has a rule that they can only loan you $300 million.
1:09:45
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe the NFL's just like, ah, we're going to change that.
1:09:47
[SPEAKER_01]: There's inflation.
1:09:48
[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to change it to a billion.
1:09:50
[SPEAKER_01]: And that you can you can borrow a billion dollars from the NFL or 750 million from the NFL and then that's going to close the gap for the bears and they can be done and they can get their stadium like that's the kind of thing that I think might happen and the owners will vote on it and March and they'll get it through and the bears will do it and it'll be done like I think something like that could happen the NFL will literally change rules for the bears because here's the thing.
1:10:12
[SPEAKER_01]: And I know Bear's fans all the time are like, McCas, he's need to sell McCas, he's need to sell and I get it.
1:10:17
[SPEAKER_01]: They don't have enough cash flow.
1:10:19
[SPEAKER_01]: I get it, they've made a lot of poor choices.
1:10:21
[SPEAKER_01]: I get it, I get it, I get it.
1:10:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Roger Gaddell wants George Hallis' grants on running the Chicago Bears.
1:10:29
[SPEAKER_01]: He does.
1:10:30
[SPEAKER_01]: He wants George Hallis' family in the NFL.
1:10:33
[SPEAKER_01]: He does not want Jeff Bezos owning the Bears and for George Hallis' family to disappear.
1:10:39
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, if the McCasks is one day decide to sell, I don't think George, I don't think Roger could else going to stand in the way, but he may pull on the side, be like, are you sure you want to do this?
1:10:48
[SPEAKER_01]: You sure you don't want to sell 49% of the team, keep it at 51% like he is going to want the howless family here.
1:10:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I guarantee you, if you ask him the one thing he's disappointed in, it's that Virginia wasn't a man.
1:11:03
[SPEAKER_01]: And I don't mean that to be some sexist thing, but it's because she took Macaski's name.
1:11:09
[SPEAKER_01]: And the Roger Cadell would love the name, Hallis, to still own the Chicago Bears, but it's Macaski.
1:11:15
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, that's what I think that name matters to the league.
1:11:19
[SPEAKER_01]: They love that the Chicago Bears are still owned by the Hallis family.
1:11:23
[SPEAKER_01]: And I don't think they want that to change under any circumstances.
1:11:27
[SPEAKER_01]: And if they understand that the bears can't get the stadium, they truly want and the revenue streams that they truly want, it's going to make the bears harder to compete in the current NFL when you have cash flow billionaires coming in.
1:11:39
[SPEAKER_01]: that are worth 15, 20, 30, 40 billion and they buy a team for $8 billion and they still got $25 billion left over.
1:11:46
[SPEAKER_01]: They can build their own stadium for $5 billion, still have $20 billion left over and they still got cash just coming in from everywhere.
1:11:53
[SPEAKER_01]: That's who the bears need to compete with.
1:11:55
[SPEAKER_01]: So they need the revenue streams to be able to compete with it.
1:11:58
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think Roger could all understand that and he's going to want to do what he can do to keep the bears in the house family and give the bears the stadium that they need to get the revenue streams they need to compete with the rest of the league so I think.
1:12:13
[SPEAKER_01]: Northwest Indiana is not going to happen in the long run and I hope that season ticket holders and people that did fill out that survey told the bears that they think Indiana is a terrible idea and I'm sure there's some season ticket holders in Indiana that said hell yeah I want it in my backyard and I get it.
1:12:30
[SPEAKER_01]: If you live, you know, on Roosevelt Avenue in Chicago and you can walk to soldier field, you want the bears to stay at soldier field.
1:12:38
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't want to go out to Arlington Heights.
1:12:40
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I get it.
1:12:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes it's better for you individually, and that's what you want.
1:12:46
[SPEAKER_01]: But for the fan base as a whole Mason,
1:12:49
[SPEAKER_01]: The bears need to stay in Illinois.
1:12:52
[SPEAKER_01]: And I do think the bears will eventually stay in Illinois when this is all said and done.
1:13:00
[SPEAKER_01]: TJ Gobig does the thought of this P.A.
1:13:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Coleman Sheldon revenge game frighten you.
1:13:07
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, after careful consideration, TJ
1:13:11
[SPEAKER_01]: No.
1:13:12
[SPEAKER_01]: No, it does not.
1:13:15
[SPEAKER_01]: We got one more here from Ron Reich question for the male bag.
1:13:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Is there any QB and the NFL you trade straight up for Caleb Williams?
1:13:22
[SPEAKER_01]: If so, who take contracts and age to into consideration, I especially like to hear your thoughts on Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes and Drake May.
1:13:38
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, Ron, that is a good question.
1:13:40
[SPEAKER_01]: That is an interesting question.
1:13:42
[SPEAKER_01]: I am not a hundred percent certain.
1:13:45
[SPEAKER_01]: So let's think about this.
1:13:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's get this through.
1:13:49
[SPEAKER_01]: Is there anyone I would trade for?
1:13:54
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, well, first of all, who, like it's gotta be high up on the list.
1:14:00
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I do my quarterback rankings, right?
1:14:03
[SPEAKER_01]: There are the four elite quarterbacks.
1:14:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Burrow, Mahomes, Jackson, Allen.
1:14:09
[SPEAKER_01]: So there's those four we have to talk about.
1:14:11
[SPEAKER_01]: Then the rest of the top 10, Justin Herbert, Gags in the postseason.
1:14:16
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not interested in Justin Herbert.
1:14:18
[SPEAKER_01]: There are other guys, Trevor Lawrence, Jalen Hertz, Matthew Stafford's two old.
1:14:24
[SPEAKER_01]: We're not gonna consider Matthew Stafford.
1:14:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Jack Prescott, all these guys.
1:14:28
[SPEAKER_01]: All that level of veterans that are not on rookie contracts, no, I'm not trading Caleb Williams for any of those.
1:14:35
[SPEAKER_01]: Drake may on a rookie deal.
1:14:36
[SPEAKER_01]: We've got let's talk about Jaden Daniels to there's none of the other rookies from from you know from recent memory not CJ Straud no way not the way he's playing not
1:14:50
[SPEAKER_01]: Uh, Bryce Young, forget the name, Bryce Young.
1:14:52
[SPEAKER_01]: So CJ's proud Bryce Young Anthony Richardson.
1:14:54
[SPEAKER_01]: No, like we're, we're not talking about any of the, uh, you know, cam word, he looked pretty nice, certainly not cam word.
1:15:02
[SPEAKER_01]: So we're talking the four top quarterbacks, Drake May, Jane Daniels.
1:15:07
[SPEAKER_01]: We got six guys to talk about.
1:15:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's talk about it.
1:15:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's start with Jane Daniels.
1:15:10
[SPEAKER_01]: The answer is no.
1:15:12
[SPEAKER_01]: I know Jane Daniels had a great run as a rookie.
1:15:14
[SPEAKER_01]: Jane Daniels was running an RPA offense.
1:15:16
[SPEAKER_01]: Not the same kind of offense complicated offense that Ben Johnson is running with Caleb Williams.
1:15:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Jane Daniels is getting hurt a lot and I do not trust that
1:15:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Jane Daniels can stay healthy enough to be a quarterback that you can rely on.
1:15:36
[SPEAKER_01]: So Jane Daniels is out.
1:15:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Drake may is interesting.
1:15:40
[SPEAKER_01]: Cause look, Drake may had a better season than Caleb Williams.
1:15:45
[SPEAKER_01]: And look, Josh McDaniels is an excellent offensive coordinate.
1:15:49
[SPEAKER_01]: I think Ben Johnson is better.
1:15:51
[SPEAKER_01]: If Drake may was in the bear's offense, could he potentially be even better than he was?
1:15:55
[SPEAKER_01]: But, actually, I don't know.
1:15:57
[SPEAKER_01]: Drake may is interesting.
1:15:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's put Drake may as a may be, and let's move on to the other four.
1:16:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Joe Burrow, now, this is something that's gonna sound crazy, and it's absolutely biased.
1:16:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Don't get anything by that this is absolutely 100% biased.
1:16:16
[SPEAKER_01]: Joe Burrow is a no and Lamar Jackson is a no.
1:16:20
[SPEAKER_01]: And then it's not to say that I think Caleb Williams is a better quarterback than them.
1:16:23
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm taking contract and I'm taking potential.
1:16:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Lamar Jackson had flashes this year.
1:16:30
[SPEAKER_01]: He did not look like the same quarterback.
1:16:32
[SPEAKER_01]: Joe Burrow gets hurt frequently.
1:16:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Joe Burrow, the way he plays, takes a lot of bad hits.
1:16:37
[SPEAKER_01]: Joe Burrow.
1:16:38
[SPEAKER_01]: How old is he?
1:16:39
[SPEAKER_01]: He's got to be getting close to 30.
1:16:40
[SPEAKER_01]: He's got to be 28.
1:16:41
[SPEAKER_01]: 29, right?
1:16:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Joe Burrow is 29 years old.
1:16:46
[SPEAKER_01]: So Joe Burrow is about to hit 30.
1:16:48
[SPEAKER_01]: And yes, Joe Burrow could play until he's 40, but Joe Burrow with kind of hitty takes may only be effective till he's 35.
1:16:53
[SPEAKER_01]: So do I want five years of Joe Burrow?
1:16:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Just a good chance with Ben Johnson.
1:16:57
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to win a Super Bowl.
1:16:58
[SPEAKER_01]: But I don't all about the long term success there and say with Lamar Jackson Lamar is getting bang to decent amount Lamar Jackson MVP caliber player, but Lamar Jackson is on a down year, do I want to commit to Lamar Jackson when he is 29 years old as well?
1:17:14
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if I want to.
1:17:16
[SPEAKER_01]: And now you're talking about Patrick Mahomes.
1:17:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Patrick Mahomes is a little older than them.
1:17:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Patrick Mahomes is now on the wrong side of 30.
1:17:26
[SPEAKER_01]: He's going to be 31 towards the start of this NFL season.
1:17:31
[SPEAKER_01]: I think you have to say yes to Patrick Mahomes, but not as confidently as I would have a year ago or two years ago.
1:17:39
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, Patrick Mahomes, this chief's offense did not look good this year.
1:17:43
[SPEAKER_01]: Was it Patrick Mahomes' fault?
1:17:45
[SPEAKER_01]: Was it Matt Nagy's fault?
1:17:46
[SPEAKER_01]: Was it Andy Reed's fault?
1:17:48
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know.
1:17:49
[SPEAKER_01]: I didn't watch enough chiefs game on the all 22 and breakdown and see exactly what the problem was.
1:17:54
[SPEAKER_01]: But I do know that chiefs were broken this year.
1:17:57
[SPEAKER_01]: And do I want to trade Caleb Williams straight up for a quarterback that may not be the same guy?
1:18:03
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know.
1:18:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Josh Allen.
1:18:07
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, Josh Allen is an interesting one because Josh Allen is insane.
1:18:13
[SPEAKER_01]: He is insanely good right now.
1:18:16
[SPEAKER_01]: And he is carrying a pretty mediocre football team to success.
1:18:21
[SPEAKER_01]: And he just want to play off game.
1:18:22
[SPEAKER_01]: Josh Allen's going to be 30 in the offseason.
1:18:25
[SPEAKER_01]: Josh Allen, obviously makes the ton of money just like my homes.
1:18:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Josh Allen is Superman.
1:18:33
[SPEAKER_01]: I think you can make the argument now that Josh Allen is the best quarterback in the NFL, including Patrick Mahomes.
1:18:38
[SPEAKER_01]: I have not taken my homes off that pedestal in years.
1:18:41
[SPEAKER_01]: Basically, since Brady, since he passed Brady, when he passed Brady, you know, when Brady's last year in Tampa, whatever it was, I haven't even considered saying anyone's better in my homes.
1:18:52
[SPEAKER_01]: I'd consider saying Josh Allen is better than my homes.
1:18:55
[SPEAKER_01]: MVP caliber player every year.
1:18:57
[SPEAKER_01]: Obviously, one last year could make the argument he wanted this year, he didn't win enough games, master staff or Drake may, we'll see.
1:19:03
[SPEAKER_01]: Josh Allen is that good.
1:19:05
[SPEAKER_01]: So to me, there's only three names I would consider.
1:19:09
[SPEAKER_01]: And that is Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, and Drake may.
1:19:14
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, I don't think, Drake may talk a lot of sacks still this year.
1:19:17
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think Drake may, he's athletic, but he's like John L. way athletic.
1:19:20
[SPEAKER_01]: He's not Caleb Williams, athletic.
1:19:23
[SPEAKER_01]: I think knowing what Caleb did in his first year with Ben Johnson, and again, this isn't the question.
1:19:31
[SPEAKER_01]: I want to see another full year with Ben Johnson because I think a year from now, one year from January 13th when we're recording this podcast, I would say that there's a good chance that Caleb Williams will be the better quarterback in the 2026 NFL season.
1:19:50
[SPEAKER_01]: And because of what I think these short term success would be with Ben Johnson, I'm going to say yes to Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen and I don't even like saying it, you know, because I love Caleb Williams that much and I'm so excited that he's this good of a quarterback Ron, I'm going to say yes to those guys.
1:20:13
[SPEAKER_01]: But reluctantly say yes.
1:20:16
[SPEAKER_01]: And if you told me, no, you don't get them, that's fine.
1:20:19
[SPEAKER_01]: I will ride and die with Caleb Williams.
1:20:22
[SPEAKER_01]: I love what he's done for the bears.
1:20:23
[SPEAKER_01]: I love what he's done for this offense.
1:20:25
[SPEAKER_01]: I love what he's done for the city of Chicago.
1:20:31
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, let's talk about this ram's game.
1:20:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's wrap up this edition of Bears Band.
1:20:35
[SPEAKER_01]: And I've had a lot of fun talking Chicago Bears.
1:20:38
[SPEAKER_01]: I can't remember the last time I've had this much fun having a podcast and doing a podcast episode.
1:20:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe when Caleb Williams was lightened up early on in the Maddie refuse, yeah, I know it sounds funny.
1:20:48
[SPEAKER_01]: Those first couple games, Jacksonville and Carolina, when it looked like chaos was about to break out, those were fun podcasts.
1:20:53
[SPEAKER_01]: I was flying high with those podcasts.
1:20:56
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's a lot of opportunities because I've started doing this podcast, but a lot of bad bear seasons.
1:21:02
[SPEAKER_01]: So let's talk about this game.
1:21:04
[SPEAKER_01]: Rams are favored.
1:21:06
[SPEAKER_01]: When the LA Rams play their best football, I truly believe they're the best team in the NFL.
1:21:14
[SPEAKER_01]: But the LA Rams don't always play.
1:21:18
[SPEAKER_01]: They're
1:21:20
[SPEAKER_01]: brand of football.
1:21:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Like if I brought up the L.A. Rams schedule and we said when was the last time the L.A. Rams were playing elite football.
1:21:31
[SPEAKER_01]: All right.
1:21:32
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to bring this up.
1:21:33
[SPEAKER_01]: I got to clear my throat here hang on.
1:21:36
[SPEAKER_01]: All right.
1:21:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Here we go.
1:21:38
[SPEAKER_01]: They beat the Panthers in the wildcard round 3431.
1:21:41
[SPEAKER_01]: They did not play well.
1:21:44
[SPEAKER_01]: They pulled away late against the Arizona Cardinals in
1:21:50
[SPEAKER_01]: They lost to the Falcons in week 17.
1:21:53
[SPEAKER_01]: They did not play well.
1:21:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, they did have a good game for a chunk of the Seahawks game.
1:22:04
[SPEAKER_01]: They lost that one 38 to 37.
1:22:07
[SPEAKER_01]: They had a good three quarters.
1:22:09
[SPEAKER_01]: They fell apart in the fourth quarter of that game.
1:22:12
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe the Rams Lions game.
1:22:15
[SPEAKER_01]: They won that one, 41 to 34.
1:22:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Crush the Cardinals the week before that, but then they lost to the Panthers, but then they crushed the bucks and beat the seahawks and the 49ers week before that.
1:22:25
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's the stretch we're talking about.
1:22:27
[SPEAKER_01]: They had a really good stretch.
1:22:29
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm gonna wind all the way back here.
1:22:31
[SPEAKER_01]: October 12, beat the Raven 17 to three, beat the Jaguar 35 to 7, beat the Saints 34 to 10, beat the 49ers on the road 42 to 26, beat the C Hawks at home 21 to 19, beat the box 34 to 7, blip against the Panthers 31 to 28, crush the cart and they lost that one, crush the
1:22:57
[SPEAKER_01]: had a really good first three quarters against the seahawks on December 18th, since that fourth quarter against the seahawks and overtime, and the Falcons and the Cardinals and the Panthers game, they have not played good football.
1:23:11
[SPEAKER_01]: They are not peaking at the right time.
1:23:13
[SPEAKER_01]: They have passed their peak.
1:23:15
[SPEAKER_01]: The L.A. Rams are beatable.
1:23:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, if they, if McVey rallies to troops and get some the play like they were playing over a month ago,
1:23:23
[SPEAKER_01]: You could see the bears lose and lose by maybe 10 points, 17 points, 14 points.
1:23:28
[SPEAKER_01]: It's possible if the Rams get back to their play style, the way they were playing.
1:23:34
[SPEAKER_01]: But we haven't seen that.
1:23:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, the bears.
1:23:38
[SPEAKER_01]: I think they can exploit this ram secondary.
1:23:40
[SPEAKER_01]: It is not very good.
1:23:42
[SPEAKER_01]: I think Caleb Williams is going to have open receivers.
1:23:44
[SPEAKER_01]: I think Ben Johnson is certainly going to scheme open guys.
1:23:47
[SPEAKER_01]: I think Caleb Williams is going to be able to have success against the secondary.
1:23:51
[SPEAKER_01]: You heard Lawrence Holmes mentioned.
1:23:52
[SPEAKER_01]: They have a good pass rush.
1:23:53
[SPEAKER_01]: They do.
1:23:54
[SPEAKER_01]: No Aussie, Trapillo.
1:23:56
[SPEAKER_01]: That's going to hurt.
1:23:56
[SPEAKER_01]: The Obenedit is not.
1:23:57
[SPEAKER_01]: It's good of a pass blocker as Aussie Trapillo.
1:24:00
[SPEAKER_01]: I assume it's going to be Benedit and not Braxon Jones.
1:24:03
[SPEAKER_01]: Braxon Jones plays.
1:24:04
[SPEAKER_01]: We have no idea what he is at this point.
1:24:05
[SPEAKER_01]: He hasn't played in months.
1:24:07
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe he's better, maybe Braxon Jones is back to where he was.
1:24:10
[SPEAKER_01]: And he was not healthy early in the season.
1:24:12
[SPEAKER_01]: We don't know.
1:24:13
[SPEAKER_01]: But right now, we should assume that the Bears left tackle is not as good as Ozzie Trepello coming into this game.
1:24:20
[SPEAKER_01]: and the brands can get to you around the edge.
1:24:23
[SPEAKER_01]: I trust the, you know, like I told Lawrence, I trust Tony, Dalman, and Jackson to get the job done on the interior, but yes, the bears can get exposed a little on the edge.
1:24:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Darnell Wright can hold his own, but you know, guys like Jared Verst, they are really good football players.
1:24:37
[SPEAKER_01]: And Caleb Williams, as we know, still has a tendency to hold on in football a little too long.
1:24:42
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not complaining about it.
1:24:43
[SPEAKER_01]: He makes a lot of great plays.
1:24:45
[SPEAKER_01]: It's fine.
1:24:46
[SPEAKER_01]: It's quicker than it is most, you know, then it was.
1:24:49
[SPEAKER_01]: But it still, you know, he still tends to hold on in football a little too long.
1:24:52
[SPEAKER_01]: If the Rams pass, Russia's really rolling, that can cause a problem.
1:24:56
[SPEAKER_01]: But overall, I am not worried about this bears offense against this Rams defense.
1:25:01
[SPEAKER_01]: I think there's gonna be plenty of success.
1:25:03
[SPEAKER_01]: I think the bears are going to be able to run the football better than they did last week.
1:25:07
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm surprised they had as much struggles running the football as they did.
1:25:09
[SPEAKER_01]: I think the bears are certainly going to have a good passing game.
1:25:13
[SPEAKER_01]: I could see Caleb tossing over 300 yards again a couple of touchdowns.
1:25:18
[SPEAKER_01]: but then it also gets to this ram's offense against the bear's defense.
1:25:23
[SPEAKER_01]: This is Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford.
1:25:26
[SPEAKER_01]: That is a better offensive combo, coach and quarterback than Matt LaFluer and Jordan Love.
1:25:30
[SPEAKER_01]: And Matt LaFluer and Jordan Love are an excellent coach quarterback combo.
1:25:35
[SPEAKER_01]: They got out to a 21 to three lead.
1:25:38
[SPEAKER_01]: against the Chicago Bears.
1:25:40
[SPEAKER_01]: So, Matthew, Stafford, and Sean McVay with better receivers with Pook and Akua and Devante Adams against a bear secondary that may not be healthy.
1:25:49
[SPEAKER_01]: We don't know what we're going to see with this secondary.
1:25:52
[SPEAKER_01]: That scares me a little.
1:25:54
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not, and look, watch it bite me in the ass.
1:25:57
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not a big guy, I'm William's guy.
1:25:58
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not a Blake, core, I'm guy.
1:25:59
[SPEAKER_01]: They're okay, I wouldn't, I don't think Kyron's elite, but at the same time, I think the Chicago Bears are going to be able to stop the run enough.
1:26:12
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't see the Rams going off on the run game.
1:26:15
[SPEAKER_01]: I am concerned about what Stafford and McVay can do to this secondary.
1:26:19
[SPEAKER_01]: The Bears are not going to be able to pressure Stafford.
1:26:23
[SPEAKER_01]: So they're going to give Stafford all day if they don't blitz.
1:26:25
[SPEAKER_01]: And if they do blitz, Stafford is going to hurt the blitz because he's an excellent quarterback.
1:26:29
[SPEAKER_01]: So I have real concerns about what this brand's passing offense is going to do.
1:26:34
[SPEAKER_01]: But I also have confidence that this bears offense is going to have success as well.
1:26:41
[SPEAKER_01]: So I think this is a scoring game.
1:26:44
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, I know in Chicago on Sunday, they're talking about, you know, negative wind chills, single digit temperatures, potentially.
1:26:52
[SPEAKER_01]: That favors the bears.
1:26:53
[SPEAKER_01]: I would much rather have Caleb Williams in the cold and Matthew Stafford.
1:26:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, Matthew Stafford has shown that he can play in the cold.
1:27:00
[SPEAKER_01]: This is not, I understand when to Georgia, I understand Detroit dome, Los Angeles.
1:27:06
[SPEAKER_01]: He hasn't had to deal with it, but like, game he played against Philly in the playoffs last year and crappy temperatures and snow, he could play in the cold.
1:27:16
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think Stafford is just gonna be 10 of 24 for 112 yards because of cold temperatures.
1:27:23
[SPEAKER_01]: I think Matthew Stafford's going to play well.
1:27:25
[SPEAKER_01]: I do like that there's going to be some elements involved because I do think that favors the bears.
1:27:28
[SPEAKER_01]: I think they're thriving in the cold right now.
1:27:31
[SPEAKER_01]: So I think this game is going to be close in the fourth quarter.
1:27:34
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if this is going to take another miracle comeback.
1:27:37
[SPEAKER_01]: I think there's the potential on the table for a miracle comeback because if Dennis Allen makes the adjustment he needs to make and can minimize Stafford's abilities in the second half, even if the Rams have a lead, I think the bears can come back especially against that Rams' secondary.
1:27:53
[SPEAKER_01]: So when I look at this, I think it's a coin flip game.
1:27:57
[SPEAKER_01]: And when it's a coin flip game, I am not picking against the Chicago Bears team.
1:28:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Not a chance in hell.
1:28:04
[SPEAKER_01]: This team continues to show that they can win in any circumstance.
1:28:10
[SPEAKER_01]: No matter what the win probability odds are, the Chicago Bears can win football games.
1:28:15
[SPEAKER_01]: And I am be damned.
1:28:17
[SPEAKER_01]: If I'm gonna bring bad juju and try and sit there and outsmart everyone else and go, well, I picked the Rams.
1:28:22
[SPEAKER_01]: I knew this was gonna happen if the Bears don't win.
1:28:25
[SPEAKER_01]: I am picking this Chicago Bears team.
1:28:27
[SPEAKER_01]: I am riding the wave with this Chicago Bears team.
1:28:31
[SPEAKER_01]: I think this Chicago Bears team has something special going on.
1:28:35
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's going to take something special from another team trying to stop what this Bears team is doing.
1:28:41
[SPEAKER_01]: So I am going to pick the Chicago Bears to win this game.
1:28:45
[SPEAKER_01]: I think there's going to be points on the board.
1:28:48
[SPEAKER_01]: I called it 31 to 27 last weekend.
1:28:51
[SPEAKER_01]: What was the final score?
1:28:52
[SPEAKER_01]: 31 to 27.
1:28:54
[SPEAKER_01]: It played out exactly.
1:28:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, I thought it was going to.
1:28:57
[SPEAKER_01]: If you don't believe me, go back and let's check out the audio of the last bear's banter last couple minutes of the episode.
1:29:02
[SPEAKER_01]: I called the score exactly.
1:29:06
[SPEAKER_01]: So this one, I'm going to say there's even more scoring.
1:29:09
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to say the bears win this one.
1:29:15
[SPEAKER_01]: the Chicago Bears Advance to the NFC Championship game and if the 49ers can get it wrong, I don't know if they can, no George Kittle on the road, Seahawks defense is tough.
1:29:26
[SPEAKER_01]: The 49ers can get it wrong.
1:29:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Then the Super Bowl is common through Chicago.
1:29:33
[SPEAKER_01]: If not,
1:29:35
[SPEAKER_01]: Bears will be in Seattle against a tough defense.
1:29:40
[SPEAKER_01]: But what we know is Sam Darnold can turn into a pumpkin at any time.
1:29:45
[SPEAKER_01]: The Bears are two wins away from making Super Bowl 60.
1:29:51
[SPEAKER_01]: It is a great time to be alive and be a Bears fan.
1:29:53
[SPEAKER_01]: We will talk about it next week.
1:29:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Bear it out, everybody.
1:29:58
[SPEAKER_01]: Good luck.
1:29:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Enjoy this game, baby.
1:30:02
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll talk to you next week.
1:30:03
[SPEAKER_01]: Adios.