Latest / 2nd City Gridiron / Bears Banter Ep. 233: Bears lose to Rams, but what a season!

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Bears Banter Ep. 233: Bears lose to Rams, but what a season! · 2nd City Gridiron

0:01
[UNKNOWN]: Thank you for watching this video and I'll see you in the next video.
0:10
[UNKNOWN]: Bye!
0:17
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I fair now bears land inside for other of the Chicago Bears podcast bears banter power by second city grid iron bill Zimmerman with you and we are with you for the last in season bears banter podcast We will quickly pivot to the off season podcast
0:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Probably as early as next week as we start looking ahead to the 2026 season and the Chicago Bears and how this team can look moving forward.
0:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Not going to do a lot of that today.
0:54
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, I decided I don't want to do a guest today.
0:57
[SPEAKER_00]: You're just going to hear me babble for a while.
1:00
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll do the male bag at the end of the show.
1:03
[SPEAKER_00]: But I just want to talk kind of about the game.
1:10
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't really want to have a guest on, because if I have a guest on, right?
1:13
[SPEAKER_00]: If I have Brad Biggs, if I have Courtney Cronan on, my brain is going to start pivoting to 2026 and talk about which linebackers are coming back.
1:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Are they going to revamp the secondary?
1:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Is the depth in the offensive line strong?
1:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, that's where my brain's going to go.
1:28
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what we're going to talk to beat writers about.
1:30
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's not this week.
1:32
[SPEAKER_00]: This week is about the Chicago Bears.
1:34
[SPEAKER_00]: This extraordinarily successful season for the Chicago Bears, the position they are in moving forward, and basically we'll get into the game with the Rams.
1:48
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll get into the loss.
1:50
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, this is going to be mostly positive.
1:52
[SPEAKER_00]: I've got a couple things that I need to discuss.
1:56
[SPEAKER_00]: But hey, let's talk about this.
1:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's start with the Rams game.
2:02
[SPEAKER_00]: And then we'll do big picture Chicago Bears.
2:04
[SPEAKER_00]: And the Rams game.
2:06
[SPEAKER_00]: was a tough pill to swallow because in a lot of these games like you felt like the Bears pulled us out the Packers Wild card game.
2:16
[SPEAKER_00]: It didn't feel like the Bears had any business winning this game until they took control of that game the second half of the fourth quarter and started doing the having the magic and doing what they do.
2:27
[SPEAKER_00]: This game against the Rams was
2:31
[SPEAKER_00]: all game long, whether they were leading or tied, they were, you know, even trailing, they were never down, meeting a giant comeback for this.
2:40
[SPEAKER_00]: They, they were in the game.
2:41
[SPEAKER_00]: The Rams did not play a crisp game.
2:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Matthew Stafford was not MVP caliber until that final drive where he made the frozen needed to make.
2:54
[SPEAKER_00]: That was tough.
2:55
[SPEAKER_00]: That's why you don't give Matthew Stafford an opportunity like that because he's going to hurt you.
3:00
[SPEAKER_00]: And the fact that they did avoid a Matthew Stafford scoring drive in over time.
3:06
[SPEAKER_00]: One time, you're not going to avoid that.
3:10
[SPEAKER_00]: choice.
3:11
[SPEAKER_00]: So, tip of the cap to Matthew, Stafford, and Sean McVay.
3:14
[SPEAKER_00]: I think Sean McVay made some mistakes.
3:16
[SPEAKER_00]: I think Ben Johnson made some mistakes.
3:18
[SPEAKER_00]: But overall, that is a very good Ram steam.
3:22
[SPEAKER_00]: They are not playing their best football.
3:25
[SPEAKER_00]: They haven't for quite a few weeks now.
3:27
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's probably going to cost them a victory against Seattle unless they get back to where they were kind of in October, November when they were really humming.
3:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Since they had that loss where they blew the lead to the Seattle Seahawks and early mid December, whenever that was, they have not been the same football team.
3:47
[SPEAKER_00]: And we saw that on Sunday evening, we saw they weren't the same football team.
3:52
[SPEAKER_00]: The Rams, when they were peaking were the best team in the NFL, they are not the best team in the NFL.
3:57
[SPEAKER_00]: They are definitely not better than the Seattle Seahawks.
4:01
[SPEAKER_00]: And the fact that that's on in Seattle, I have a hard time seeing the LA Rams winning that one.
4:07
[SPEAKER_00]: the way they played against the Chicago bears.
4:11
[SPEAKER_00]: But in this one, the Chicago bears just couldn't quite get enough.
4:17
[SPEAKER_00]: And I get it.
4:18
[SPEAKER_00]: I think there's some bears fans out there that want to criticize Ben Johnson.
4:22
[SPEAKER_00]: He definitely got a little run heavy at times in the short yardage.
4:26
[SPEAKER_00]: That's where to me.
4:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Like if I'm going to question Ben Johnson and you have heard me all season long talking about
4:32
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think I should really question Ben Johnson and we'll talk about his offensive line decision here in a minute that I did question and I think prove to be inaccurate by me, but I don't question Ben Johnson too much because I think he does do stuff with purpose.
4:48
[SPEAKER_00]: He does do stuff with a plan to try and set things up for future games, future plays later in a particular game.
4:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Some of the short yardage calls.
5:01
[SPEAKER_00]: I think he went back to the same things over and over again.
5:04
[SPEAKER_00]: They weren't quite working.
5:06
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's fair to question some of that stuff.
5:08
[SPEAKER_00]: I've made a conscious effort, not to do that, because I know how much more Ben Johnson knows about offensive play calling than I do.
5:16
[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm not going to pretend to be on the same level with Ben to try and question things.
5:20
[SPEAKER_00]: And for example, I question the Joe tuning move out to left tackle, because to me, when I thought you were doing, and again, we'll use Jordan McFadden's
5:32
[SPEAKER_00]: You're taking a all pro in Joe tuning and making him a average left tackle.
5:41
[SPEAKER_00]: We saw Joe tuning in Kansas City bump out to tackle.
5:44
[SPEAKER_00]: He did not play particularly well there.
5:47
[SPEAKER_00]: So my thought was, all right, you're gonna put Joe tuning left tackle where he'll be okay.
5:52
[SPEAKER_00]: And then you're going to replace them at left guard with someone who's going to be okay.
5:57
[SPEAKER_00]: So now you have an okay left tackle and an okay left guard rather than an all-pro stud Hall of Fame caliber left guard and a less than okay left tackle in Theo Benedict.
6:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Now,
6:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Having Joe Tuney and Jordan McFadden next to each other, I thought was certainly going to hurt the run game, Theo Bennett and Joe Tuney was a much better combo there, but they bears clearly had concerns about Theo Bennett being able to handle the Rams edges.
6:27
[SPEAKER_00]: And Ben Johnson clearly wanted to make sure his passing game was going to work against the Rams.
6:32
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm guessing he expected the Rams to score points, and he thought he was going to have to counter
6:37
[SPEAKER_00]: and score a lot of points as well, and you don't usually do that if you run the ball 45 times in throw at 18, right?
6:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Like you need to be able to pass the football.
6:46
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think against an explosive ram's offense, he thought he was going to have to go punch to punch with Sean McVay and he needed a passing attack.
6:56
[SPEAKER_00]: And the best way to have that passing attack,
6:58
[SPEAKER_00]: was to have Joe Tunney bump outside and have Jordan McFadden play left guard.
7:03
[SPEAKER_00]: And I questioned it.
7:04
[SPEAKER_00]: I put out a tweet.
7:04
[SPEAKER_00]: I said, I'm not here to put my trust in this coaching staff because I believe it's an excellent coaching staff.
7:12
[SPEAKER_00]: But I don't know why you would want to make Joe Tunney a lesser player.
7:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Then we see Joe Tunis basically not giving up any pressures, plays out standing and McFadden doesn't McFadden made a couple mistakes on run plays that I saw.
7:26
[SPEAKER_00]: I did not go back and watch the all 22.
7:29
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just going based on what I saw on the broadcast.
7:31
[SPEAKER_00]: But I do think McFadden made a couple mistakes, but overall McFadden played pretty well.
7:36
[SPEAKER_00]: Or we're certainly not pointing the finger at McFadden or Tunis not being good enough out at left tackle.
7:43
[SPEAKER_00]: I think
7:44
[SPEAKER_00]: that was the right decision that gave Caleb Williams ample time in the pocket for most of his dropbacks and that was the right move.
7:53
[SPEAKER_00]: So again, this is why I sit here and say, I'm not going to make a habit of questioning Ben Johnson because I think a lot of the times Ben Johnson makes the right call.
8:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, for example, and he got away with this mistake, Ben Johnson made
8:11
[SPEAKER_00]: end of the game approaching the two minute warning things of Ben Johnson he said and I will question this one and I am a hundred percent confident about it and he got away with it because Sean McVay also does not do a great job in these two minute situations it's been like his bugaboo like when you talk about the Sean McVay is a great coach, great this, great that
8:33
[SPEAKER_00]: how he handles clock management at the end of the games, how he protects leads fourth quarter management is Sean McVay's biggest issue.
8:40
[SPEAKER_00]: And he had it here, because this is what happened.
8:44
[SPEAKER_00]: When the bears are trying to get the ball back with two minutes to go,
8:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Sean McVay.
8:51
[SPEAKER_00]: So Ben Johnson, instead of taking the time out right away, let's the clock tipped down before the end of the second down before the third down play and calls the time out with 208 to go.
9:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, what that did was opened up the door on 3rd and 10 for the Rams to pass the football, 3rd and 9 whatever it was.
9:15
[SPEAKER_00]: For the Rams to pass the football, but Sean McVay decided to slam a running back into the middle of the line of scrimmage and the bears got away with it.
9:23
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not saying that Matthew Stafford 100% would have gotten the first down, but there was zero reason to run the football there.
9:31
[SPEAKER_00]: What Ben Johnson did, and I remember there was, I think it was Jason Carrot, there was an issue in a Dallas Cowboys playoff game years ago, the same issue happened, the Cowboys screwed it up, but the opposing team passed because they, they, they got set up where they didn't have to worry about running the football because the clock was going to stop anyway with the two minute warning.
9:52
[SPEAKER_00]: So with 208 to go, the Rams were in a perfect position to pass on third down to try and get the first down.
10:02
[SPEAKER_00]: But they didn't, they decided to run the football.
10:05
[SPEAKER_00]: So Ben Johnson got away with that.
10:07
[SPEAKER_00]: And here's why I say, you could do that.
10:08
[SPEAKER_00]: You pass the ball on third down, you get an incomplete pass.
10:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's say you don't get it to the two minute warning.
10:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's say it was a fairly quick play and there's still 203 to go.
10:19
[SPEAKER_00]: your punting and after you run the punt play, you're still on the other side of the two minute warning.
10:26
[SPEAKER_00]: So the clock is going to stop anyway.
10:28
[SPEAKER_00]: The clock would stop with an in-completion.
10:30
[SPEAKER_00]: The clock would stop with a change of possession after the punt.
10:33
[SPEAKER_00]: You're still eliminating the two minute warning.
10:35
[SPEAKER_00]: So Ben Johnson mess that up.
10:37
[SPEAKER_00]: That is not I don't have to worry about you know Ben Johnson knowing more football than me.
10:42
[SPEAKER_00]: I know enough football to know that Ben Johnson did not handle that time on properly.
10:46
[SPEAKER_00]: He got away with it because Sean McVeigh handled the situation worse.
10:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Sean McVeigh should have let his MVP throw the ball to Pukana Kua, trying to get the first down and bury the bears.
10:55
[SPEAKER_00]: But it didn't happen.
10:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Bears got the opportunity.
10:59
[SPEAKER_00]: So that was a mistake there.
11:01
[SPEAKER_00]: But overall, I think it comes down to the bears had opportunities and just couldn't execute them enough without the course of the game.
11:13
[SPEAKER_00]: I think Dennis Allen deserves a tip of the cap.
11:16
[SPEAKER_00]: I think a lot of people wanted to fry Dennis Allen after the first half against the Packers in the wildcard round, and I understand why.
11:23
[SPEAKER_00]: And then we saw the last six quarters of what Dennis Allen did
11:31
[SPEAKER_00]: from the defensive coordinator, that's why bears fans should be excited that they have Ben Johnson and Dennis Allen calling plays together.
11:40
[SPEAKER_00]: And I've seen Ben all bright talking about how the bear should trade Dennis Allen to the Broncos.
11:45
[SPEAKER_00]: I have Dennis Allen should not go anywhere.
11:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Just because the bears had bad statistical defense does not mean that Dennis Allen is a bad
11:58
[SPEAKER_00]: We saw situational football.
12:01
[SPEAKER_00]: We saw a bad defense getting much better in the red zone throughout the season.
12:06
[SPEAKER_00]: We saw a bad defense get much better on third down throughout the season.
12:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Wasn't perfect.
12:12
[SPEAKER_00]: But, and this is like I said, we're not going to talk about what the defense needs to do.
12:18
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's a lot, and I think it will be a lot.
12:20
[SPEAKER_00]: But we're going to talk about that on future episodes, not this episode, because I want to focus on this game and this season.
12:29
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's talk about Caleb Williams and his three interceptions.
12:34
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think a lot of people are looking at box scores and go, well, look at that.
12:37
[SPEAKER_00]: He threw five interceptions in the playoffs.
12:40
[SPEAKER_00]: It was all bound to come crashing down for Caleb Williams, and they're not actually watching the games.
12:47
[SPEAKER_00]: And when you want proof that they're not watching the games, all you have to do is search Caleb Williams lucky.
12:57
[SPEAKER_00]: in your Twitter slash x search bar because the amount of people and I'm guess that I didn't click on all of them.
13:04
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm guessing a lot of them are Packers fans.
13:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe some lions and Vikings fans in there as well, but a lot of Packers fans that the throws Caleb Williams is making at the end of the games are lucky.
13:17
[SPEAKER_00]: And Caleb Williams has the throw of the year.
13:21
[SPEAKER_00]: four times and you could argue there's more plays than just the four.
13:29
[SPEAKER_00]: This is how good these throws are and the idea that people are just saying he's lucky the idea it's and I maybe I've said this on a podcast before maybe I have it but the idea that Caleb Williams
13:48
[SPEAKER_00]: And you partner that with Caleb Williams, being the least intercepted quarterback through a thousand passing attempts, it doesn't make any sense.
14:00
[SPEAKER_00]: And I mean that in a really good way, it does not make any sense that Caleb Williams does not turn the ball over
14:11
[SPEAKER_00]: has to, and still is able to make these throws that are either completed or incomplete not turned over.
14:21
[SPEAKER_00]: It's an incredible job that he is able to do that.
14:26
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't understand it.
14:27
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't comprehend it because a lot of people want to harken back to Brett Farve.
14:32
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think there is not really a comparison of Caleb Williams.
14:37
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not quite Patrick Mahomes, it's not quite Brett Farf, but I do get the idea of the Brett Farf mentality.
14:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Brett Farf, they always used to like to call him a gunslinger.
14:46
[SPEAKER_00]: He'd go out there, he'd chuck a football, and I saw one bear's fan, he's arguing with me in my mentions that Caleb Williams is a lot like Rex Grossman, the effett and chuck it rhymes if you don't actually edit yourself.
14:59
[SPEAKER_00]: mentality that Rex Grossman had is the same mentality Caleb Williams had and it can't last.
15:05
[SPEAKER_00]: And the difference there is simply talent level.
15:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Rex Grossman is not a great quarterback.
15:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Caleb Williams and he's not a great quarterback yet.
15:14
[SPEAKER_00]: He's going to be a great quarterback and you can see that with how he plays the game of football.
15:20
[SPEAKER_00]: So Caleb Williams will have that attitude
15:28
[SPEAKER_00]: a little bit like white like J. Cutlerwood, but Brett far still got intercepted frequently because of how often he did that.
15:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Caleb Williams is at a point where he's not.
15:40
[SPEAKER_00]: And yes, some of the five interceptions is too many.
15:43
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not going to say it's not in the post season, but at the same time, a couple of those weren't his fault.
15:48
[SPEAKER_00]: We're certainly going to talk about one of them here in a little bit.
15:51
[SPEAKER_00]: But Caleb Williams is not throwing high interception rates despite throwing amazing passes.
16:00
[SPEAKER_00]: And the idea that critics of Caleb Williams, some of them are bear's fans.
16:07
[SPEAKER_00]: I saw something from a bear's fan.
16:09
[SPEAKER_00]: It was a post from like a month ago saying, do you want to give Caleb Williams four, 220 with 75 million guaranteed?
16:16
[SPEAKER_00]: I sure don't.
16:18
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm sitting there going one, he's gonna get a lot more than that.
16:21
[SPEAKER_00]: He's gonna get a lot more than guaranteed.
16:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Like these are the kind of like ball knowers who you sit there and go, these are the critics of Caleb Williams.
16:28
[SPEAKER_00]: The guys that don't get ball at all.
16:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Because if you're gonna sit there and tell me, Caleb Williams.
16:35
[SPEAKER_00]: makes the throw of the year in mid December to DJ Moore against the Cleveland Browns.
16:40
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, mimics the catch the 49ers Cowboys NFC Championship game on TAN at a Clark.
16:47
[SPEAKER_00]: But it's 10 yards further.
16:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, that was lucky.
16:51
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, he shouldn't have thrown it.
16:52
[SPEAKER_00]: It almost got intercepted because it went basically, you know, just over the hands of a defender.
16:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Or he put it where only DJ Moore could get it.
17:01
[SPEAKER_00]: But that was lucky.
17:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Then we get to the Packers game.
17:05
[SPEAKER_00]: We're not even talking about the game tying past the Jadae Walker.
17:08
[SPEAKER_00]: We're only talking about the game winning throw to DJ Moore.
17:14
[SPEAKER_00]: The throw of the year, he did the throw of the year the week before, then goes back to the throw of the year again.
17:21
[SPEAKER_00]: This time winning the game against the Packers in over time to DJ Moore.
17:28
[SPEAKER_00]: And then
17:29
[SPEAKER_00]: we get to the Packers game in the playoffs.
17:33
[SPEAKER_00]: And he throws the ridiculous pass to his left to Roma Dunzean fourth on the entire season on the line.
17:41
[SPEAKER_00]: and he completes that pass.
17:44
[SPEAKER_00]: A pass where he's got the Jump Man logo where people are talking about how it's one of the greatest throws in playoff history.
17:52
[SPEAKER_00]: When you talk about it, it's in the playoffs.
17:55
[SPEAKER_00]: It's fourth down.
17:56
[SPEAKER_00]: The season's over if he doesn't complete the pass.
17:59
[SPEAKER_00]: All the pressure that's on that throw and he makes a ridiculous throw in a sea of packers, places it right in between them to Rome, Adunse.
18:09
[SPEAKER_00]: And then the following week to the LA Rams, he drops back and fades back in extra 20 yards to avoid the rush.
18:19
[SPEAKER_00]: So he can step into a little as he can, a throw 50 yards down the field to Cole come at places it where either Cole
18:38
[SPEAKER_00]: And all the critics can say is that Caleb Williams is lucky.
18:44
[SPEAKER_00]: If that's your analysis, you don't know ball.
18:48
[SPEAKER_00]: That's it, plain and simple.
18:50
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't know ball, because you can't have that level of luck.
18:56
[SPEAKER_00]: That's it.
18:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Like Caleb Williams needs to go play the mega ball, mega millions, and when 500 million dollars, because that's the kind of luck to make those four throws, the improbability of those throws.
19:13
[SPEAKER_00]: If you took an average quarterback with some athleticism and said, I need you to make all four of these throws.
19:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
19:23
[SPEAKER_00]: If you said that, and I think a lot of they don't even think he's average, right?
19:28
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of people think Caleb Williams is still going to be a bust if they're still criticizes and criticising him.
19:34
[SPEAKER_00]: So if that's what your takeaway is of Caleb Williams, I'm trying to think of a quarterback like Tua.
19:39
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I think Bear's fans, you're not Bear's fans, critics of Caleb Williams, think like he's like a Tua level quarterback.
19:45
[SPEAKER_00]: If you told Tua, you have to make all four of these, so there's not a chance in hell.
19:50
[SPEAKER_00]: He's gonna make all four of those throws.
19:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Like he made those throws because he's insanely skilled and insanely athletic.
20:00
[SPEAKER_00]: That's why Caleb Williams made those rows.
20:02
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you don't want to admit it, then like you said, then like I said, you either don't know ball or you just refuse to admit that you were wrong and change your opinion and hold up your hand.
20:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Say, I was wrong.
20:19
[SPEAKER_00]: I shouldn't have believed that.
20:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Caleb Williams is going to be a good quarterback.
20:24
[SPEAKER_00]: That seems to be a big problem in the United States these days.
20:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Admitting when you were wrong about doing something in your past, we're not going to get into that right now either.
20:33
[SPEAKER_00]: But.
20:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Caleb Williams, the throw to Cole Comett was absolutely insane.
20:40
[SPEAKER_00]: If you haven't seen it, go to Stacey Dale's Twitter, scroll back, you'll find it.
20:45
[SPEAKER_00]: She was in the corner of the end zone and shot an incredible video of that game winning catch.
20:51
[SPEAKER_00]: She caught it all.
20:52
[SPEAKER_00]: It's amazing.
20:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Cole Comett does his baseball swing in her face, basically, to the camera.
20:57
[SPEAKER_00]: It's awesome, I recommend you all check it out.
21:00
[SPEAKER_00]: So Colcomet gets a 14-yard touchdown pass that traveled like 55 yards in the air.
21:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Because Caleb Williams is that damn good.
21:09
[SPEAKER_00]: And Caleb Williams is going to be the bear's quarterback for the next 10 to 15 years.
21:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Unless something drastically bad happens within the organization.
21:19
[SPEAKER_00]: And I just don't see that happening with Ben Johnson here, where there's some kind of fracture and he demands to be traded.
21:25
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not saying that's gonna happen.
21:27
[SPEAKER_00]: But I'm saying that's the only way Caleb Williams isn't gonna be here for the next 10 to 15 years because on skill level,
21:33
[SPEAKER_00]: talent level, his ability to execute Ben Johnson's offense, which was only year one, and it's going to get better in year two Caleb Williams is here to stay.
21:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, let's talk about Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson in a second and what this this duo means for this franchise, but before we do There is one man that we need to talk about and his name is D. J. Moore
22:01
[SPEAKER_00]: And I know there are so many bearers fans that love DJ Moore and I get it.
22:07
[SPEAKER_00]: He's got an electric smile.
22:10
[SPEAKER_00]: He's insanely talented.
22:12
[SPEAKER_00]: He made a lot of great catches this year.
22:15
[SPEAKER_00]: It is not a coincidence that when I'm talking about the throws of the year by Caleb Williams, that two of them are to DJ Moore.
22:23
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a reason.
22:24
[SPEAKER_00]: He's an excellent wide receiver.
22:27
[SPEAKER_00]: And when I say this, I am not arguing that he is not an excellent wide receiver.
22:33
[SPEAKER_00]: He is.
22:34
[SPEAKER_00]: He is a very good football player.
22:38
[SPEAKER_00]: But we are here again with DJ Moore.
22:42
[SPEAKER_00]: And I blasted him a lot after the 2024 season and during the 2024 season, and a lot of bears fans said, I don't know what I'm talking about.
22:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, he was heard against Washington.
22:54
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't walk off the field.
22:56
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, he did.
22:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Caleb Williams was scrambling and he walked off the field.
23:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, he knew he stepped out of bounds.
23:04
[SPEAKER_00]: So he was doing him.
23:05
[SPEAKER_00]: He did not jog out of bounds.
23:08
[SPEAKER_00]: He was not interested in the play.
23:11
[SPEAKER_00]: He walked off the field with his head down and sat on the bench while the play was going on.
23:19
[SPEAKER_00]: it is one of the most quitting things I've ever seen in professional sports.
23:24
[SPEAKER_00]: So he did that and he powed it a little bit and didn't run some great routes and there were plenty of things going on.
23:32
[SPEAKER_00]: And I criticized DJ Moore.
23:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Bill, you don't know what the hell you're talking about.
23:36
[SPEAKER_00]: Get off his back.
23:38
[SPEAKER_00]: My mentions were filling up comments on Wendy's city Grinniang, everybody blasting me that I had the audacity to criticize DJ Moore.
23:47
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's a bear's draft, Luther Burden.
23:50
[SPEAKER_00]: And I put out a tweet in May that said, I wonder, you know, paraphrasing.
23:56
[SPEAKER_00]: This might be DJ Moore's last year in Chicago.
23:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Luther Burden and DJ Moore have similar skill sets.
24:03
[SPEAKER_00]: Plus with kind of how DJ Moore behaved last year, that's not the way Ben Johnson is gonna want his guys to operate, cause I had talked to people who knew Ben Johnson.
24:13
[SPEAKER_00]: talk to Rick Smith and his interview that he did on this podcast almost a year ago talking about Ben Johnson.
24:20
[SPEAKER_00]: So I an idea of what Ben Johnson was going to be looking for.
24:24
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know if DJ, DJ Moore, he was going to have to really clean up his act for Ben Johnson to keep DJ Moore around four years to come.
24:35
[SPEAKER_00]: So then we got to the regular season.
24:37
[SPEAKER_00]: And I've laid low with my DJ more criticism because the bears were winning games and I didn't feel like singling out DJ more.
24:47
[SPEAKER_00]: But I kept watching all 22s and particularly watching the scrambled drills.
24:55
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not saying it was 100% of the time, but the amount of times that DJ Moore failed to run Scramble Drill with Caleb Williams rolling out was way too high, which is why on a lot of Scramble Drill's Romanoons I ended up getting the football.
25:12
[SPEAKER_00]: And if Romanoons I didn't get the football it was all of me days at keys.
25:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Now Luther Burden wasn't getting a lot of those looks early on because he wasn't on the field as much rookie learned in playbook, yada yada yada, but scrabble drills, they rarely went to DJ more because DJ more didn't do what he was supposed to do.
25:28
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't come to the football.
25:29
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't flow with the way Caleb Williams was rolling.
25:32
[SPEAKER_00]: He'd sit there.
25:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Even the, uh,
25:36
[SPEAKER_00]: excuse me.
25:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Even, I'm trying to think of what it was, the, uh, which game it was.
25:42
[SPEAKER_00]: We're DJing more with standing in the corner of the end zone waving and Caleb Williams on the, uh, the San Francisco game.
25:48
[SPEAKER_00]: the end of the 49ers game, where the pass fell in complete and the bears lost to the 49ers.
25:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Everyone's point in the DJ more, who's standing in the corner of the opposite corner of the end zone, 50 yards away from Caleb Williams, who's at the 10 yard line, wave and going, you got to throw it to me instead of coming back towards the football.
26:06
[SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't do it.
26:08
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know why he doesn't do it.
26:10
[SPEAKER_00]: He does not do it as regularly as he should.
26:13
[SPEAKER_00]: So now we're here with DJ Moore who I'm trying not to criticize because the bears are winning football games in the vibes are great and I'm sitting there going, what is this guy doing?
26:22
[SPEAKER_00]: What is this guy doing?
26:23
[SPEAKER_00]: What is this guy doing?
26:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Then he starts making some incredible catches and big plays for the bears and he's we're in the cheese grater hat.
26:30
[SPEAKER_00]: We're all loving DJ Moore, but it's still, they're still there, these underlying things with him and I don't understand it and then we get
26:41
[SPEAKER_00]: to the NFL divisional round of the playoffs.
26:45
[SPEAKER_00]: And we get to the final play of the Chicago Bears offense for the season.
26:52
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's a Caleb Williams Interception.
26:56
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's a Caleb Williams Interception because of DJ Moore.
27:00
[SPEAKER_00]: And I said it was 100% on D.J.
27:03
[SPEAKER_00]: more and people want to argue logistics.
27:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, you can't blame it all.
27:06
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to say it's 90%, 95% if you don't want to say it's 100% I'm going to say it.
27:13
[SPEAKER_00]: The way I saw this plane and simple D.J.
27:16
[SPEAKER_00]: more lost the Chicago bears this football game.
27:20
[SPEAKER_00]: You could talk about any other issues that you may have had an issue with, that this player screwed up or that player screwed up or Ben Johnson should have done that, none of it matters.
27:29
[SPEAKER_00]: DJ Moore ended the Chicago Bears season with how he decided to run the final play that of the Bears offense for the 2020-25 season.
27:40
[SPEAKER_00]: That's it.
27:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Plain and Simple.
27:42
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you don't believe me, go look at, you know, so, oh, he doesn't know ball.
27:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Fine, this Chase Daniel knows ball.
27:48
[SPEAKER_00]: This Daniel or Laskino ball, this Chris Collins worth no fall, this Kurt Warner knows ball, this Bobby Peters knows ball.
27:56
[SPEAKER_00]: All these guys could be school all JTO solve and all these guys look at this way and go DJ more after that whole thing up Some of them were willing to challenge his effort some of them didn't want to challenge his effort, but either way effort, I think absolutely can be challenged
28:16
[SPEAKER_00]: he did not run that route full and he did not run a crisp and he cut his route off and kind of ran a banana post instead of cutting it off if you watch the play and you got like you go to chase Daniel I thought he did a really good job breaking it down.
28:34
[SPEAKER_00]: where he's supposed to be breaking that off and going more parallel to the line of scrimmage, there is a huge amount of green.
28:42
[SPEAKER_00]: So much green.
28:43
[SPEAKER_00]: The call that Ben Johnson made was perfect because if he breaks off the route and runs parallel like he's supposed to, there's not a packer within 10 yards of him in any direction.
28:56
[SPEAKER_00]: and Caleb Williams hits it and he's going to be at maybe the 30 to the 35 yard line.
29:02
[SPEAKER_00]: He's going to gain a few more yards and the Chicago Bears are in field goal range.
29:07
[SPEAKER_00]: And the way Cairo Santos has been playing, I don't see him missing a 47 yard field goal or a 44 yard field goal even in the conditions.
29:16
[SPEAKER_00]: He has been nails.
29:17
[SPEAKER_00]: Tip of the cap to you Cairo Santos.
29:19
[SPEAKER_00]: You've been criticized on this podcast.
29:21
[SPEAKER_00]: You've been criticized by Bears fans.
29:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Kyle October 1st of next year, if you're still the bear's kicker, you're gonna miss a 53-yard field goal.
29:29
[SPEAKER_00]: It's gonna fall short and we're all gonna be talking about how we need a new kicker and Cairo Santos can't be a kicker in the current NFL because he doesn't have a big enough leg.
29:38
[SPEAKER_00]: And then we're gonna get to December and he's gonna be nails on 48 yard field goals with swirling wins and negative 10 degree winchels in Chicago.
29:47
[SPEAKER_00]: And all will be forgiven.
29:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Then we're gonna have the same route again with Cairo Santos, but he's been nails.
29:52
[SPEAKER_00]: in these conditions the last few weeks.
29:55
[SPEAKER_00]: And there was no way he was missing that field goal bears win the game there in the NFC championship game against the sea hogs.
30:01
[SPEAKER_00]: DJ Moore, whether it was effort, whether it was running the wrong route, whether it was a combination of both.
30:07
[SPEAKER_00]: He blew the game and Kaila Williams covered for his ass in the press conference because that's what leaders do and DJ Moore when it was time to stand up to the media and the media is a representation of you the fans they are the conduit to you the fans that's what the media's job is to do is to tell you the fans what is going on with this team
30:30
[SPEAKER_00]: They will try to be objective, sometimes they'll try to be biased and homers.
30:34
[SPEAKER_00]: They all have different approaches as to how they're going to do it.
30:37
[SPEAKER_00]: But they are a conduit to you.
30:39
[SPEAKER_00]: They are your look into how it's all.
30:41
[SPEAKER_00]: You can't go in the locker room and ask questions.
30:44
[SPEAKER_00]: They can.
30:46
[SPEAKER_00]: It is their job to get you the information so you know what is going on with your team that you follow closely 12 months a year.
30:54
[SPEAKER_00]: And they went in there to talk to DJ Moore and ask him what happened on that last play and he had ran off and left.
31:03
[SPEAKER_00]: He did not have the fortitude to stand up there until the fans via the media, what happened on that last play, because he knows he screwed up.
31:15
[SPEAKER_00]: And he knows that he blew this game for this entire team.
31:19
[SPEAKER_00]: So we can talk about how good of a player he is and he is an excellent player.
31:25
[SPEAKER_00]: DJ more and whatever he's doing when he's not making the big place.
31:30
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'll go all the way back to Ben Johnson in week four or five, whatever it was when he said, we need to take a firm look as to how it looks with certain players when the ball is not in their hands.
31:45
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd it's not the exact quote, but that's basically what it was.
31:49
[SPEAKER_00]: And when you're talking about that, he didn't mention names, but he's clearly talking about offensive skill position players.
31:55
[SPEAKER_00]: And Colcomet was blocking his ass off and Luther Bern wasn't on the field enough.
31:59
[SPEAKER_00]: And Olemede is the keyest coaches best friend, Roma Dune Zays doing blocking and doing the things he needs to do.
32:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't think he's talking about Dion.
32:08
[SPEAKER_00]: It was pretty damn clear.
32:10
[SPEAKER_00]: He was talking about DJ more and you saw DJ more's targets drop pretty much after that.
32:17
[SPEAKER_00]: They started coming up again towards the end of the year.
32:21
[SPEAKER_00]: So here we are with the highest paid player on the offense, and what does he decide to do, but give you that on the most important play of the bear season.
32:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Because at that point, every play was the most important play of the bear season.
32:37
[SPEAKER_00]: It was over time in the divisional round.
32:41
[SPEAKER_00]: It was one of that play like it was OTA's.
32:44
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what we got from DJ Moore.
32:47
[SPEAKER_00]: So when I tell you in May that DJ Moore may not be a fit for this football team and we got that all season long.
32:56
[SPEAKER_00]: And yes, we can marry it with all his great plays and say, well, he's great, but yes, but he's also all this.
33:04
[SPEAKER_00]: This is what we get and this is why I do not think DJ Moore is going to be on this football team in 2026 and I told you that all eight months ago and nobody wanted to listen and Bill was just being an ass again with his hot takes but I'll tell you this my takes a lot I'm not right 100% of the time my takes aren't wrong they're early you're not ready to hear it.
33:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Because that's not like an ego-tistical ass.
33:33
[SPEAKER_00]: It certainly does, but that's how I feel.
33:36
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I say some things like this.
33:38
[SPEAKER_00]: It's no different when I said in October of 2023, the Bears need to pivot off Justin Fields.
33:44
[SPEAKER_00]: He's not the guy Caleb Williams is the guy they need.
33:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Everybody jumped on my ass then, too.
33:49
[SPEAKER_00]: They're not wrong.
33:51
[SPEAKER_00]: They're early.
33:52
[SPEAKER_00]: And I told you in May that DJ Moore was not going to be a fit for Ben Johnson in this offensive Luther Burton had similar skill sets
34:01
[SPEAKER_00]: We're here and DJ more literally costs the Chicago Bears their season.
34:07
[SPEAKER_00]: And you may think that is an overstatement and that I'm being unfair to him.
34:11
[SPEAKER_00]: But I don't think I am because if he runs that route at full effort and don't give me this his knees sore within get off the damn field, call us and love when jogged off the field with a concussion because he didn't want to cost the bears anything.
34:25
[SPEAKER_00]: Azita Pillow couldn't walk and his 6, 8, 330 pound ass hopped off the field.
34:32
[SPEAKER_00]: So if DJ Moore's D is hurting too much and get off the damn field because these other guys want to be on the field and they understand what's on the line.
34:40
[SPEAKER_00]: So if that's where we're at, then don't play.
34:44
[SPEAKER_00]: But if that's all you can do, don't play.
34:48
[SPEAKER_00]: But if you're on the field, I expect as a fan that you're gonna give a better effort than that.
34:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Cause damn it, this is the freaking playoffs.
34:57
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is the Chicago Bears and they haven't been this good since Lovy Smith and Devon Hester and Brian Rocker.
35:04
[SPEAKER_00]: That was the last time they were this good.
35:06
[SPEAKER_00]: This is better, this seems better in 2018.
35:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Team I know they're 12 and 4, I know the defense was elite.
35:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Not even comparison.
35:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Sorry, this team's better.
35:17
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't care if the record wasn't as good.
35:18
[SPEAKER_00]: This team is more interesting and better than the 2018 team had a better opportunity to potentially win in my eyes because of the quarterback because you don't win supervoles with Mitch Trevisky.
35:31
[SPEAKER_00]: You just don't.
35:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Like you don't win them with Rex Grossman.
35:35
[SPEAKER_00]: This Chicago Bears team had an opportunity.
35:38
[SPEAKER_00]: What happened?
35:39
[SPEAKER_00]: DJ Moore gave you that.
35:41
[SPEAKER_00]: And that played directly resulted in the Chicago Bears losing the football game.
35:46
[SPEAKER_00]: He runs the right route.
35:47
[SPEAKER_00]: That is a completed pass.
35:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Field goal range game over Bears win.
35:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Is it 100% that the bears win?
35:54
[SPEAKER_00]: No, there could have been a fumbled snap.
35:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, things could happen.
35:57
[SPEAKER_00]: I guarantee you, we always like to talk about win probability.
36:01
[SPEAKER_00]: If that, whatever that was, if that ball is completed to DJ Moore, that's like a 99.2% at that point.
36:09
[SPEAKER_00]: It's gonna be that high.
36:11
[SPEAKER_00]: The Chicago Bears didn't get that opportunity because of DJ Moore.
36:15
[SPEAKER_00]: So I am pissed off at him.
36:17
[SPEAKER_00]: I am proud of the Chicago Bears team.
36:20
[SPEAKER_00]: I am proud of the season they put forth.
36:23
[SPEAKER_00]: I am excited about what is coming up for this team because Bears fans should be excited.
36:28
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's where I'm gonna end.
36:30
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll take a break.
36:30
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll do the mail bag on the other side because Bears fans, despite my right and right even for however long it was about DJ Moore.
36:37
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think all Bears fans should be pissed that.
36:40
[SPEAKER_00]: You should be excited.
36:42
[SPEAKER_00]: And it didn't take me too long to get over this game because of how excited I am for this Chicago Bears team.
36:48
[SPEAKER_00]: And here's why they're gonna change a lot.
36:51
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm pretty sure on this.
36:53
[SPEAKER_00]: This roster, I think DJ Moore could be gone.
36:57
[SPEAKER_00]: I think Cole Cummett's going to return probably a restructured contract, but Cole Cummett could be gone.
37:03
[SPEAKER_00]: The Andre Swift could be gone.
37:04
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think so, but he could be.
37:05
[SPEAKER_00]: You get to the defensive side of the ball.
37:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Eddie, one of those 11, because if you honestly said, who on those 11, can you be confident 12 if you want to do nickel and base?
37:15
[SPEAKER_00]: You'd be confident that three years from now are still going to be on this roster.
37:19
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think there's Eddie.
37:21
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think there's any defenders right now that you can be confident or going to be here in three years.
37:26
[SPEAKER_00]: I think the bears are going to flip this entire defense over the next two to three years.
37:31
[SPEAKER_00]: I think you're going to see a lot of changes defensively.
37:35
[SPEAKER_00]: So.
37:36
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't care for the most part about who's on the roster right now, because I've told you, Ben Johnson showed up.
37:43
[SPEAKER_00]: This is a regime change.
37:44
[SPEAKER_00]: This is not Ryan Polls' team.
37:46
[SPEAKER_00]: This is Ben Johnson's team.
37:48
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think Ben Johnson has more power at House Hall than Ryan Polls.
37:51
[SPEAKER_00]: I think very similar to the New York Giants.
37:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Make John Harbaugh is answering the Joe Shane, or is he talking to John Meryl?
37:59
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what this is.
38:00
[SPEAKER_00]: If Ryan Polls isn't reporting to Ben Johnson, I don't think he is, they're both reporting to Kevin Warren, George McCaskey, whatever it is.
38:10
[SPEAKER_00]: There is not a Ben Johnson's reporting to Ryan Polls, not a chance.
38:13
[SPEAKER_00]: This is Ben Johnson's team, and Ben Johnson's going to want to see a lot of roster change.
38:18
[SPEAKER_00]: This is the regime change.
38:19
[SPEAKER_00]: This is like when
38:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Ryan Pace took over for Phil Emory.
38:24
[SPEAKER_00]: He only kept the handful of guys.
38:26
[SPEAKER_00]: He kept Kyle Fuller.
38:28
[SPEAKER_00]: He kept Sherrick Mingmanus.
38:29
[SPEAKER_00]: He kept the, you know, kind of long kept the handful of guys.
38:33
[SPEAKER_00]: out of everyone else.
38:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Then Ryan Balls comes in.
38:37
[SPEAKER_00]: He only keeps a handful of pace guys.
38:39
[SPEAKER_00]: He keeps Jalen Johnson.
38:40
[SPEAKER_00]: He keeps Cole Comet.
38:42
[SPEAKER_00]: He only keeps a handful of guys.
38:43
[SPEAKER_00]: Cairo Santos.
38:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Han Full of guys.
38:45
[SPEAKER_00]: That's it.
38:47
[SPEAKER_00]: And now yes, Ryan Balls is still here.
38:49
[SPEAKER_00]: But this has been Johnson's regime now.
38:51
[SPEAKER_00]: And he's going to get rid of most of these guys.
38:53
[SPEAKER_00]: And if we look at the offense already, we're already seeing a ton of nice to get rid of Caleb Williams.
38:59
[SPEAKER_00]: No, of course not.
39:00
[SPEAKER_00]: We're already seeing an offensive line with four new offensive line.
39:03
[SPEAKER_00]: You're going to keep darn out, right?
39:05
[SPEAKER_00]: An either flu sky in essence?
39:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, he's going to keep darn out, right?
39:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe cold command.
39:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe Roman doomsday.
39:13
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't even know if that's a guarantee at this point.
39:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Certainly don't think he's
39:19
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, we're gonna see massive changes on the offense.
39:22
[SPEAKER_00]: We're gonna see massive changes on the defense.
39:24
[SPEAKER_00]: There's not gonna be a lot of guys left here.
39:26
[SPEAKER_00]: So how can I be so confident in the Chicago Bears?
39:30
[SPEAKER_00]: If I think the entire roster is gonna change, because you tell me for the next five years if I say 10, it's too easy.
39:41
[SPEAKER_00]: For the next five years, give me a coach quarterback combo
39:49
[SPEAKER_00]: then Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson, I'll wait.
39:56
[SPEAKER_00]: Still waiting.
40:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Still waiting.
40:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Who you got five years?
40:04
[SPEAKER_00]: Gonna say maybe Andy Reed and Patrick Mahomes, you know if Andy Reed's gonna be around five years from now, you might retire.
40:10
[SPEAKER_00]: You want to take them?
40:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
40:13
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not gonna argue if you want to take the chiefs.
40:17
[SPEAKER_00]: They just went, you know, what, six and eleven?
40:18
[SPEAKER_00]: I think there's some questions there.
40:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Lamar Jackson doesn't have a coach.
40:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Joe Burrow with Zack Taylor.
40:28
[SPEAKER_00]: No thanks.
40:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Josh Allen doesn't have a coach.
40:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Sorry, these are the, these are the all-time great quarterbacks.
40:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Will I take Jordan Love and Matt LaFlor?
40:36
[SPEAKER_00]: You more confident in them?
40:38
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not.
40:39
[SPEAKER_00]: Matthew Staffer, not gonna be here in five years, you don't get Staffer to McVay.
40:43
[SPEAKER_00]: Five years, name a coach quarterback combo, you'd rather have over Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams.
40:50
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think there's one.
40:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I said, you wanna take the chiefs, go ahead take the chiefs.
40:55
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not taking the chiefs.
40:56
[SPEAKER_00]: So I don't know if Andy Reed has his fastball still.
40:59
[SPEAKER_00]: He might, maybe Matt Nagy screwed up that whole offense, but that offense was bad.
41:03
[SPEAKER_00]: With Andy Reed and Patrick Moms.
41:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Not a question it right now.
41:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Got a question if that's still humming like it was a couple of years ago.
41:12
[SPEAKER_00]: So Ben Johnson is here.
41:14
[SPEAKER_00]: The bearers have a coach.
41:15
[SPEAKER_00]: The bearers have a coach who's playing chess against the rest of the league.
41:19
[SPEAKER_00]: Caleb Williams is here.
41:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Guy that can make throws that nobody else in the NFL can make.
41:24
[SPEAKER_00]: That other people, other fans have so little of understanding of what level of skill he has in those moments that they just assume it's luck.
41:34
[SPEAKER_00]: And when he does it again next year in the year after that, maybe eventually they'll stop calling it look, but that's what they're calling it right now because they don't understand so the Chicago Bears have the coach and they have the quarterback it doesn't necessarily mean they're going to win the Super Bowl and doesn't necessarily mean they're going 15 and 2.
41:54
[SPEAKER_00]: But it does mean that they are going to have a place at the table each and every year.
42:01
[SPEAKER_00]: When you have a coach like that and you have a quarterback like that.
42:04
[SPEAKER_00]: You win football games.
42:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Might be 10 and 7 next year.
42:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Might be 12 and 5.
42:09
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't know.
42:10
[SPEAKER_00]: But what we do know is the Chicago Bears are going to be competitive, because they have a coach, and they have a quarterback, and you can make the argument that they have a better combination over a five year outlook than every other team in the NFL.
42:29
[SPEAKER_00]: We're gonna take a break.
42:30
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll do the mail bag on the other side.
42:32
[SPEAKER_00]: This is Bill Zimmerman, Bears Panther.
42:34
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll be right back.
42:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back into the podcast.
42:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's get to the mailbag as we work to wrap up, like I said, the final in the season.
42:46
[SPEAKER_00]: It's technically off post season.
42:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Since the season ended a couple of days ago, but in season podcast for Bears Bander, before we pivot fully to the off season podcast, where we will be talking, draft, we will be talking,
42:59
[SPEAKER_00]: free agency will be talking all sorts of things draft going to be fascinating this year because the Chicago Bears have the 25th pick in the draft feels like they either don't have a first run pick because they traded away or a top 10 pick if seems to be where they've been at four years and years but right now the 25th pick I believe is where the bears are going to be picking next year.
43:23
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's get to the mail back hey.
43:25
[SPEAKER_00]: We got one from at Grand Iron Born, our guy Jeff Berkett from Second City, Grand Iron.
43:30
[SPEAKER_00]: Speaking of pivot,
43:32
[SPEAKER_00]: how nice is it to have a capable center?
43:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Like Drew Dalman, actor this offensive line moving forward, feels like we haven't talked about him enough.
43:41
[SPEAKER_00]: JB, I have a big fan of what Drew Dalman did this year.
43:46
[SPEAKER_00]: I was Luke warm on it.
43:47
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't hate it.
43:49
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't love it in the off season.
43:51
[SPEAKER_00]: My thought on Dalman was you're gonna overpay him.
43:54
[SPEAKER_00]: He's not as good as his salary.
43:56
[SPEAKER_00]: And Dalman to be really effective.
43:59
[SPEAKER_00]: needs to have two very good guards next to him.
44:03
[SPEAKER_00]: He's not a guy that elevates on his own.
44:06
[SPEAKER_00]: He's a guy that gets elevated when there's good play around him.
44:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, JB, here's the thing.
44:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Once I write about that, we don't know because certainly Domain was great and had two tremendous guards next to him.
44:17
[SPEAKER_00]: I will actually say this.
44:19
[SPEAKER_00]: I was wrong about Jonah Jackson.
44:21
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I was right about Drew Dalman.
44:22
[SPEAKER_00]: I think he's the player.
44:23
[SPEAKER_00]: I think he was.
44:24
[SPEAKER_00]: I've not Jonah Jackson was going to be kind of the guy we kind of went.
44:28
[SPEAKER_00]: That one didn't really work out too well.
44:30
[SPEAKER_00]: Jonah Jackson was awesome this year.
44:33
[SPEAKER_00]: He was awesome next to Darnell Wright and Drew Dalman.
44:36
[SPEAKER_00]: Joe Toney, we knew was going to be awesome and he certainly was first team all pro.
44:41
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't say I watched guard tape from other teams, but I feel like Jonah Jackson could have been an all-pro.
44:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe not first team, maybe it was second team.
44:51
[SPEAKER_00]: I think he played that well this year.
44:52
[SPEAKER_00]: He was tremendous all season.
44:54
[SPEAKER_00]: So when you have an all-pro first team on one side, a second team all-pro tackle, and a guy who I think maybe was third team all-pro, I know, such a thing doesn't exist, but I think he was that good of a player at right guard.
45:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Certainly, Drew Dalman is going to look really good in that as long as he does it well.
45:12
[SPEAKER_00]: And he did, he played very well.
45:14
[SPEAKER_00]: This is not me trying to take anything away from Drew Dalman because the center position for Chicago has been so bad for so long.
45:21
[SPEAKER_00]: They have just not found a guy consistently to be there.
45:24
[SPEAKER_00]: If the bears wanted to extend Rudolman this year and it was a three year deal probably not going to do that this year that probably going to wait until after next year.
45:33
[SPEAKER_00]: But I wouldn't have a problem with it if they wanted to tack on a couple years I think he is a guy that is going to be like you said he's going to solidify the line is going to be a competent player he's going to work well with Caleb Williams.
45:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Snaps were pretty good.
45:46
[SPEAKER_00]: They weren't perfect.
45:47
[SPEAKER_00]: I know we had a couple bad ones.
45:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Snaps were pretty good.
45:49
[SPEAKER_00]: We didn't really worry about those in shotgun all year exchanges were pretty good all year line calls were good all year Everything was positive with Drew Dalman.
45:58
[SPEAKER_00]: So that was yes that is a win for Ryan Polls and Ben Johnson and this coaching staff that was the right move I know it was an obvious one like who's the best center available Drew Dalman.
46:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, they should get Drew Dalman
46:09
[SPEAKER_00]: That was as we're all of us were that's where the bears were too.
46:13
[SPEAKER_00]: That's who they sign.
46:14
[SPEAKER_00]: So yes, a great move with Drew Dalman that worked well all season long.
46:20
[SPEAKER_00]: I was a little worried about his durability that also proved to be fine.
46:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Hopefully Drew Dalman continues to play 17 games every year.
46:28
[SPEAKER_00]: move forward.
46:30
[SPEAKER_00]: How about this one from bear dubs?
46:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Rank the bear's draft needs by positioned.
46:36
[SPEAKER_00]: You see a big swing for an edge russia via trade or free agency.
46:40
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll answer these because we're doing a mailbag and everything goes.
46:43
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to focus more on the offseason starting with the next podcast.
46:48
[SPEAKER_00]: But right now, draft needs by position.
46:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Like if you told me and this kind of goes with draft needs, right?
46:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Like how if the bears don't make any trades and this is just they have their their their selections that they have here.
47:02
[SPEAKER_00]: What do you want them to do?
47:04
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll tell you what I want them to do.
47:06
[SPEAKER_00]: With the first pick in the first run.
47:09
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, I understand things may not break this way.
47:13
[SPEAKER_00]: When I say, I want them to draft an edge with the 25th pick, all the edges might be gone that are that caliber and there may be a dip and if they take an edge at 25, it's gonna be a stretch.
47:23
[SPEAKER_00]: So I understand when I'm saying this, I understand it may not work out this way.
47:28
[SPEAKER_00]: But ideally, I would like to see them take an edge in the first round.
47:34
[SPEAKER_00]: I think the Aussie Trepello situation is interesting.
47:37
[SPEAKER_00]: The bears are going to have to take a look and see where is he going to be, is he going to be okay by training camp?
47:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Is he going to miss time in the regular season?
47:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Is he going to kind of miss all of the season?
47:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Where are we with Aussie Trepello?
47:52
[SPEAKER_00]: And how much can we rely on Aussie Trepello for this next season?
47:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, is it where we could have issues with Aussie Trepello being a starting caliber player moving forward?
48:03
[SPEAKER_00]: I've talked to some people who are, you know, physical therapists, doctors of physical therapy, you know, Mason West, great guy, part of the second city gridiron channel, and he knows that stuff.
48:15
[SPEAKER_00]: It can be a significant injury, especially for a big guy like that.
48:18
[SPEAKER_00]: So we don't know where Ozzie Trepello is.
48:19
[SPEAKER_00]: That certainly could play an aspect in things.
48:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Do they need to go back to tackle in around one or around two?
48:25
[SPEAKER_00]: But let's say, for the sake of this question, that Trepello is OK.
48:31
[SPEAKER_00]: I think you draft edge, then when you get to day two,
48:36
[SPEAKER_00]: I think they should absolutely draft a safety because I think you got to probably let brisk her walk and you can sign Kevin Byron for cheap on a short deal, but Kevin Byron is in his 30s.
48:48
[SPEAKER_00]: So you got to start replenishing that I would absolutely draft a safety.
48:52
[SPEAKER_00]: I would even be okay if they drafted like a linebacker in round three.
48:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Also, would be fine with something like that in round four.
49:03
[SPEAKER_00]: I would not be upset if they drafted another wide receiver if they won the offensive side of the ball.
49:08
[SPEAKER_00]: I would not be upset if they drafted another running back.
49:11
[SPEAKER_00]: I think there's some flexibility here, bear's dubs, in terms of what they can do with the draft.
49:17
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think you have to focus right now on being able to create pressure.
49:22
[SPEAKER_00]: They have to figure that out.
49:24
[SPEAKER_00]: I think they draft an edge.
49:25
[SPEAKER_00]: I think they should also make a swing for an edge.
49:27
[SPEAKER_00]: That might mean that Montez sweat no longer fits as part of the team's plans.
49:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe he does.
49:33
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not sure yet at this point.
49:36
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think, yes, it's possible.
49:38
[SPEAKER_00]: They could make a swing for an edge rusher in free agency.
49:41
[SPEAKER_00]: They need to maneuver the cap a little bit.
49:44
[SPEAKER_00]: It's maneuverable, but they need to remove some guys off the team.
49:48
[SPEAKER_00]: They need to restructure some guys.
49:50
[SPEAKER_00]: They've got some things they need to do.
49:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Assuming they can make all the cap space work, I think the best move here is to really focus on edge, draft an edge in round one, and try and pick up a major edge in the offseason, a veteran edge.
50:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Ed Helinski, what significant changes should we see with players and coaches with the bears in the offseason?
50:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, Ed, let's check on that for the next podcast, but like I said, in the last segment, I think TJ more needs to go.
50:21
[SPEAKER_00]: I think we're going to see a significant revamping of the Chicago Bears defense.
50:27
[SPEAKER_00]: In terms of coaches, I don't think we're going to richard high towers to question to me.
50:32
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think if he wants to stay, if the Bears wanted to stay, he could probably stay.
50:36
[SPEAKER_00]: I know they had a couple really shaky games in special teams.
50:40
[SPEAKER_00]: I know I even said like we're being honest, he shouldn't have his job anymore.
50:44
[SPEAKER_00]: But overall, there were some really positive things the special teams did.
50:48
[SPEAKER_00]: We're covering on side kicks.
50:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Cairo Santos's kickoffs were really good down the stretch.
50:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously he was nails as a field goal kicker.
50:56
[SPEAKER_00]: Really hard to sit there and say Richard Heitauer should lose his job, although I may have.
50:59
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, insinuated that in the middle of the season.
51:03
[SPEAKER_00]: But yes, with position coaches were absolutely going to see some tweaks there.
51:07
[SPEAKER_00]: I really can't get into specifics about that.
51:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Looks like the bears might already be making some changes at tight end coach.
51:13
[SPEAKER_00]: That's something we're already seeing rumbly on social media.
51:16
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll see what happens.
51:18
[SPEAKER_00]: there.
51:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Cav Manning, great year, zero complaints.
51:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Our Super Bowl was beating Green Bay.
51:23
[SPEAKER_00]: It was house money after that.
51:25
[SPEAKER_00]: How realistic is it that DJ is traded in a package for someone like Crossbee?
51:29
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm a bit done with the Moss effort when he knows he isn't first option plus no chemistry with Caleb.
51:35
[SPEAKER_00]: We could talk about DJ more a little bit, Cav, because I think you bring up the interesting thing with Crossbee.
51:41
[SPEAKER_00]: DJ Moore makes a lot of money.
51:43
[SPEAKER_00]: So having him involved in a swap
51:46
[SPEAKER_00]: makes a lot of sense.
51:48
[SPEAKER_00]: DJ Moore's value is in the toilet.
51:50
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
51:51
[SPEAKER_00]: Like you guys probably don't want to believe me.
51:53
[SPEAKER_00]: You're like, oh, we can get like a second round pick for DJ Moore.
51:56
[SPEAKER_00]: No, you cannot.
51:57
[SPEAKER_00]: You're getting a day and less the bears eat a ton of money.
52:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Which they're not going to want to do because they're going to open up cap space.
52:04
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't have extra cap space that they can burn on a player.
52:08
[SPEAKER_00]: unless they want to eat a ton of money of DJ more DJ more contract is they want to get it off the books because he is not living up to the amount he's getting paid like you said there are issues there with DJ
52:20
[SPEAKER_00]: You can get like a fourth round pick at best.
52:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe a fifth round pick.
52:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I get much for DJ more.
52:26
[SPEAKER_00]: They're going to want to just kind of salary dump them and get what they can get.
52:29
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's going to be the end of it with DJ more.
52:31
[SPEAKER_00]: So can they trade them as a piece for Max Crosby?
52:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, but it's not like you know, if the price for Max Crosby is two ones.
52:41
[SPEAKER_00]: And DJ Moore is a second round caliber pick.
52:45
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not like you're like, all right, we'll give you a first and a third with DJ Moore for Max Crosby.
52:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, get, I don't know what the price is going to be for Max Crosby.
52:53
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm saying two ones based on sauce Gardner, based on Khalil Mac, and the sauce Gardner's not as good as Max, but I'm just saying he got two, the Colts gave up two ones for a, for a, you know, a potentially elite corner back when he plays, how he can play.
53:08
[SPEAKER_00]: So if it's two ones,
53:10
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're putting in DJ more to soften the blow on two ones, maybe it's a one in the two.
53:15
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't soften it too much, you're still going to look at a high price.
53:21
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think DJ more is going to, you know, get people's eyes to pop open and ears to perk up for other teams to go, DJ more is available.
53:29
[SPEAKER_00]: I guarantee you 31 teams already expect DJ more to be available.
53:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Steve Janks, which players should be expected to be better next year do an injury recovery and don't need to be replaced similarly, what players exceeded their abilities and are likely to progress and should be considered for a replacement.
53:50
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, Steve, well, we can kind of go through this quickly, you know, again, I think Byrd could potentially be what he was.
53:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, he'll probably regress a little because of his age, but I think you keep Byrd around.
54:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Briscar, I don't think we're going to see Briscar around Gordon.
54:05
[SPEAKER_00]: You would think if he can say healthier, he'll be a much better player, Jalen Johnson, assuming he's back.
54:11
[SPEAKER_00]: You would assume healthier, he's going to be a much better player.
54:14
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, Tyreek Stevenson kind of is what he is at this point.
54:17
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know about the linebackers, you know, T.J. Edwards has a major injury.
54:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Tremaine Edvin's makes a lot of money.
54:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, Schermar Turner, you would hope you're going to get more out of Schermar.
54:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Turner next year, you would hope he improves.
54:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Grady Jarrett's older.
54:30
[SPEAKER_00]: If he's back on the team next year, I don't know what you can expect out of him.
54:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Montez Sweat.
54:35
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think we're looking at a regression or, you know, a progression.
54:39
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's kind of an as is thing with Montez Sweat.
54:42
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, Austin Booker hopefully takes another step and gets better.
54:46
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what you want to see out of someone like his caliber that he keeps improving every year.
54:49
[SPEAKER_00]: As he trippill, you're going to have to see what kind of recovery he's going to have.
54:53
[SPEAKER_00]: You're going to have to talk to a medical expert that's certainly not me.
54:56
[SPEAKER_00]: And even if trippill can get back on the field next year, how effective is he going to be is the knee injury going to continue to bother him.
55:05
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a big question and certainly when we can answer right now.
55:08
[SPEAKER_00]: The Andre Swift looked very good in this offensive system.
55:10
[SPEAKER_00]: There's no reason to get rid of Swift right now.
55:13
[SPEAKER_00]: It's, he's at a decent salary price.
55:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Rome, a doonset, you would hope would get better.
55:17
[SPEAKER_00]: In a second year in this system, Luther Burden, Colson, Lovelin, you should expect to get better.
55:22
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think DJ Moore is going to be here.
55:24
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think Colt commit is kind of settled into the role where he is going to be.
55:28
[SPEAKER_00]: And obviously, Steve DeBigone, Caleb Williams, year two in the Ben Johnson system.
55:34
[SPEAKER_00]: we should expect to leap with Caleb Williams.
55:36
[SPEAKER_00]: Caleb Williams next year should be doing a much better job hitting the layups than he did this year.
55:41
[SPEAKER_00]: He was learning a new system, it's a complicated system.
55:44
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot going on there.
55:46
[SPEAKER_00]: So Caleb Williams, that's the guy we could talk about, all these other guys, circle Caleb Williams, Steve, that's the guy we need to see a big improvement on.
55:54
[SPEAKER_00]: And yes, we got a big improvement from year two, from year one a year two, but now we see need to see another
56:02
[SPEAKER_00]: And if he makes that jump, you're talking about a guy and I know it's just raw statistics, but based on where he was this year, you're talking about a guy, if he plays 17 games, should throw for 4,300 yards, should throw 35 touchdown passes, you know, keep the interceptions, you know, maybe they creep up a little, but keep the interceptions fairly down, and he does something like that.
56:24
[SPEAKER_00]: He's going to be in content should burn MVP if the
56:29
[SPEAKER_00]: what we need to see from Caleb Williams.
56:31
[SPEAKER_00]: We need to see a big chop.
56:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Caleb Williams has a similar year that he has this year.
56:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Then we could sit there and wonder, are we going to be dealing with an inconsistent quarterback who can play like a top five quarterback?
56:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Some may argue he's a top 10 quarterback.
56:43
[SPEAKER_00]: Some may argue he's not even a top 15 quarterback because of the inconsistencies.
56:48
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what we need to see with the improvement from Caleb Williams, iron out those inconsistencies, and he should make a step into being solidly in the top 10, in terms of a quarterback next year.
57:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Tom Fenn do Dennis Allen and Trey Hendrix and have any type of relationship for when DA was in New Orleans.
57:07
[SPEAKER_00]: If so, would that be the way to go to
57:17
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I said, Tom, I do think that Edge is going to be a high priority for them.
57:24
[SPEAKER_00]: I do think they are going to try and bring in some kind of veteran.
57:28
[SPEAKER_00]: I think Trey Hendrickson is a possibility.
57:30
[SPEAKER_00]: But what is the price tag on Trey Hendrickson?
57:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you have to pay him $35 million a year?
57:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Because he was hurt a lot of this year and he wasn't that good when he played.
57:38
[SPEAKER_00]: And I understand he held out.
57:39
[SPEAKER_00]: There was a whole work to do about that.
57:41
[SPEAKER_00]: This is the guy on the wrong side of 30.
57:44
[SPEAKER_00]: He may go to a team next year and have 15 sacks to be awesome.
57:48
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not saying he's toast, but what I am saying is you have to go into that one cautiously because you do have a guy who may be falling off a cliff and may not be the same player anymore.
57:59
[SPEAKER_00]: But to answer your question, yes, Dennis Allen and him, we're there in New Orleans, they do have a relationship.
58:06
[SPEAKER_00]: And I would think if Trey Hendrickson hits free agency, which we all expect him to do, and he's looking for a new team that the Chicago Bears, if they are interested, would be a team based on where they're at, based on Dennis Allen, that he would be very interested in coming to Chicago.
58:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Ron Reich, what do you see as the Bears floor in ceiling
58:30
[SPEAKER_00]: uh... the floor i don't see any reason why and get barring catastrophic injuries right kaleb Williams terraces a c l and week two
58:40
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, things change.
58:41
[SPEAKER_00]: So we're not talking about that.
58:43
[SPEAKER_00]: It's the team is relatively healthy.
58:46
[SPEAKER_00]: The floor to me is nine wins.
58:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Like there's no reason why this team isn't going to have a winning record again.
58:52
[SPEAKER_00]: The schedule is going to be a little harder.
58:54
[SPEAKER_00]: They may reload the defense a little bit.
58:56
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not, you know, again, it's way too early.
58:59
[SPEAKER_00]: They trade for Max Crosby and land another huge fish in this roster's loaded.
59:03
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to be sitting there saying Super Bowl contenders.
59:06
[SPEAKER_00]: And they might be Super Bowl contenders right now.
59:09
[SPEAKER_00]: But at this point with the roster where it's currently at, I don't think sitting here and saying, you know, all the floor is 12 wins because they want to love in this year and they should be better.
59:21
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not necessarily how the NFL works.
59:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I said.
59:24
[SPEAKER_00]: potentially a more difficult schedule or reload a defense that may take some time to get some footing kind of who knows where they're going to be at.
59:31
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think nine wins is the floor.
59:33
[SPEAKER_00]: I think more likely 10 wins is the floor.
59:36
[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, they could they could win 13, 14 games, if things go really well in Caleb Williams is an MVP caliber player.
59:43
[SPEAKER_00]: The bears can win the Super Bowl next year.
59:46
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, they were a DJ more, DJ more loaf away from being in the final four this year.
59:51
[SPEAKER_00]: Why can't they win the Super Bowl next year?
59:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Based on how they played this season.
59:55
[SPEAKER_00]: So I look at it and say, yes, a Super Bowl is the ceiling.
59:59
[SPEAKER_00]: And the floor is nine, 10 wins.
1:00:01
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's where I think most fans should be at with the bears.
1:00:04
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a pretty wide swath right now where they could fall.
1:00:08
[SPEAKER_00]: But
1:00:09
[SPEAKER_00]: If you look through everything, what am I saying?
1:00:12
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm saying the Chicago Bears are a playoff team again.
1:00:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Next, season.
1:00:17
[SPEAKER_00]: And skinny lunger says, how fast is Ryan Paul's trade for Max Crosby?
1:00:22
[SPEAKER_00]: That's going to depend on price.
1:00:24
[SPEAKER_00]: That's going to depend on a lot of things for the Chicago Bears again.
1:00:28
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't know what Crosby's price is going to be.
1:00:30
[SPEAKER_00]: I certainly think Crosby was tweeting how awesome Caleb Williams was over the weekend.
1:00:35
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think we could certainly see if Max Crosby has a list of teams he would want to go to that the Chicago Bears would be one of them.
1:00:42
[SPEAKER_00]: I certainly think Ryan Polls would be interested in trying to make a trade that would work.
1:00:45
[SPEAKER_00]: But at the same time, if the Raiders are being totally insane with the asking price.
1:00:52
[SPEAKER_00]: If they're asking prices, two ones and two twos, the Bears aren't going to pay that much.
1:00:56
[SPEAKER_00]: So it'll be really interesting to see where that goes.
1:00:58
[SPEAKER_00]: But we'll start pivoting more to off-season and we'll take a firm look at the roster, who should be back, who should be gone, where they should focus on the draft positions, we'll get into all that.
1:01:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Over the next couple of months leading an NFL free agency, and then of course the draft, we will continue to cover it right here on bears banter.
1:01:24
[SPEAKER_00]: was one hell of a season, it was a fun season.
1:01:29
[SPEAKER_00]: And as bitter as we can feel about how it ended because you can taste it, you could taste that victory for the Chicago Bears, but it didn't quite happen.
1:01:39
[SPEAKER_00]: That's okay.
1:01:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, and I know there's some fans where the students are never seen bears, any team of any fan base of a team, so happy about a loss.
1:01:49
[SPEAKER_00]: No one's happy the bears lost you both those.
1:01:52
[SPEAKER_00]: We're happy that after years of futility, it looks like the bears have the key pieces in place versus stained success.
1:02:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Does it mean Super Bowl championship is a might?
1:02:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Might be, you know,
1:02:06
[SPEAKER_00]: And Johnson might be so good.
1:02:07
[SPEAKER_00]: He's here 25 years and wins 300 some football games.
1:02:11
[SPEAKER_00]: That could happen.
1:02:12
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not saying it will, but it could happen.
1:02:15
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't know what the Chicago Bears are going to be yet.
1:02:18
[SPEAKER_00]: But for the first time in a long time, we see the window open for the Chicago Bears to be good, consistently moving forward.
1:02:30
[SPEAKER_00]: And that is something that we've clung to.
1:02:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, Tribiski and Nagi is it, no, it's not.
1:02:36
[SPEAKER_00]: But we've seen the skill level of Caleb Williams a lot better than Naggi with Trubiski.
1:02:44
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, it's very hard for Sissi.
1:02:46
[SPEAKER_00]: You can't be great for 10 years with a bad offense and an awesome defense.
1:02:51
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't happen.
1:02:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Defensive regression and consistency on the defense is too hard.
1:02:57
[SPEAKER_00]: You cannot consistently win games 16 to 13 with a great defense.
1:03:02
[SPEAKER_00]: to be sustained, good, you need a coach and you need a quarterback.
1:03:07
[SPEAKER_00]: You need, again, they didn't win Super Bowl's, but you need John Harbaugh and Lamar Jackson.
1:03:13
[SPEAKER_00]: That's gonna get you 10-11, 12 wins every year.
1:03:15
[SPEAKER_00]: You need Mike Tomlin and Ben Roughlessberger.
1:03:18
[SPEAKER_00]: You need Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rogers.
1:03:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Bell a check and Brady, obviously.
1:03:23
[SPEAKER_00]: My homes and read.
1:03:25
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what you need.
1:03:26
[SPEAKER_00]: If you want sustained success, McVay was getting it with golf.
1:03:30
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't think it was enough.
1:03:31
[SPEAKER_00]: He goes out and gets Stafford wins a Super Bowl.
1:03:33
[SPEAKER_00]: You need the coach.
1:03:34
[SPEAKER_00]: You need the quarterback.
1:03:35
[SPEAKER_00]: If you have that, and you have a competent GM, just why I get a little concerned about Ryan Polls, filling out the rest of the roster.
1:03:43
[SPEAKER_00]: You end up
1:03:45
[SPEAKER_00]: with a quality team every year.
1:03:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Doesn't mean they're a great team every year, but they're a quality team every year.
1:03:51
[SPEAKER_00]: You have a bad GM.
1:03:53
[SPEAKER_00]: You end up with Josh Allen and Buffalo with a bunch of garbage around them and somehow Brandon Bean kept his job.
1:03:59
[SPEAKER_00]: That's for a Buffalo Bills podcast that they can discuss because, whoa baby, you're gonna fire Sean McDermott, you better fire Brandon Bean.
1:04:07
[SPEAKER_00]: But instead, he gets promoted God bless the NFL.
1:04:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Be proud of this season.
1:04:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Be proud of your Chicago Bears.
1:04:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Be excited for 2026.
1:04:17
[SPEAKER_00]: We will be talking about 2026 throughout the off season.
1:04:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Bear it out, everybody.
1:04:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Talk to you soon.