Latest / 2nd City Gridiron / Bears Banter Ep. 251: Matt Spiegel talks Bears-Packers week and White Sox!

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Bears Banter Ep. 251: Matt Spiegel talks Bears-Packers week and White Sox! · 2nd City Gridiron

• 0:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
• 0:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: dominate the New York Jets.
• 0:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: The game was a lot more lopsided than the score.
• 0:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: The bears absolutely dominated this one from start to finish.
• 0:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: Control the ball.
• 0:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: Did everything they needed to do the Jets didn't stand a chance.
• 0:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: We will talk about that.
• 0:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: We will talk about packer week.
• 0:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: We will talk about even some baseball with the scores Matt
• 0:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's going to be by here in just a little bit, but before he joins the podcast you get me for a little bit you're probably going to get me will see how my voice holds up here because I am battling some sort of bug some sort of cold I don't know what's going on, but I don't know if my throat is going to last for the usual 20 25 minutes for many of you you're probably pleased is punch about that, but we'll see how far.
• 1:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: we can take this model all before we get to Matt.
• 1:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: And let's start with this game and look, I wanna focus on the coaching staff and what they are accomplishing here because look, it's only four games in.
• 1:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I understand that they just beat the jets.
• 1:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: They didn't exactly go into Buffalo and win, they didn't, you know,
• 1:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: go into Kansas City and win.
• 1:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: It was a home game against the New York Jets team where I think Aaron Glenn, he might be a good motivator, his players might like him.
• 1:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know all the ins and outs of that Jets locker room.
• 1:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: But what I do know is that I can confidently say,
• 2:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: confidently say that Aaron Glenn on Sundays is one of the worst coaches in the NFL.
• 2:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: He does not know how to manage a game and just knowing that Aaron Glenn was on one side and Ben Johnson was on the other side, the amount of confidence that I had in this game because
• 2:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think maybe we just downplayed it because we didn't know his bear's fans, or maybe we just didn't want to admit it because we knew that Maddie refuse wasn't the guy.
• 2:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: We knew that Mark Tressman wasn't the guy.
• 2:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: We knew.
• 2:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: that things weren't firing with John Fox like we knew even pretty quickly after 2018 that Matt Nagy certainly wasn't in a lead head coach like we've known many times about this Chicago Bears coaching staffs and that's why when we get a good coach like Vic Fangeo we got a
• 2:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: grab on to him and never let him go because the coaching staffs in Chicago for many years have not been that strong.
• 3:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: Even Lovey Smith and Lovey Smith was definitely since before Ben Johnson, Lovey Smith was the only coach worth a damn basically between Mike Dicca and Ben Johnson.
• 3:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like we under Lovey Smith is on the Mount Rushmore of Chicago Bears had coaches.
• 3:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like he had
• 3:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, he wasn't dominating when in five or six divisions in a row and go in a multiple Super Bowl and winning one, he didn't have that level, but he did get to a Super Bowl.
• 3:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: He did appear in multiple playoffs.
• 3:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: He did appear in multiple NFC championship games.
• 3:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: You wouldn't suddenly lose some, but love he was a quality coach.
• 3:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: Love he wasn't in a lead coach.
• 3:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: But what we are seeing here in Chicago is that the bears have an elite coach.
• 3:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: They have an elite coach that gives them an advantage.
• 3:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: Basically every week, they play.
• 3:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now, sure, when they play the 49ers, Kyle Shannon, and him, that's going to be, you know, that's going to be a duel.
• 4:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: When they play Sean McVey in the Rams, that's going to be a duel, the chiefs with Andy Reed, and Andy Reed might be fading a little, but that's, you know what I mean.
• 4:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's going to be a duel.
• 4:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: At Bryan Flores, he may not be a head coach, but that's a chess match right there.
• 4:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: We understand that Ben Johnson is not the only elite coach in the NFL, but he has one of them.
• 4:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: And we're going to get to a point where we're going to start saying, is Ben Johnson the best coach in the NFL?
• 4:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: He doesn't have the resume yet.
• 4:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like you can't put him up against Kyle Shanahan who's also an elite play caller who's got brought pretty playing, you know, like Tom Brady out there.
• 4:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know Kyle Shanahan, you give his followers to he's a great coach.
• 4:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's been the multiple superballs.
• 4:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: He hasn't one one and Ben Johnson right now has only been the one playoff.
• 4:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: He won one and lost one of those games So we're not putting Ben Johnson that we can't sit here and say Ben Johnson is the best coach in the NFL, but he's getting close and here's the thing he's getting better
• 5:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's what's crazy with Ben Johnson.
• 5:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's only coached, what do we got?
• 5:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's 17, 18, 19.
• 5:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's only coached 23 games.
• 5:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: This is a head coach that matters.
• 5:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: He has not been, he doesn't have the resume as some of these other guys, because he hasn't been doing it as long.
• 5:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: He is going to get that resume.
• 5:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's going to keep getting better.
• 5:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: This is head coach's developed too.
• 5:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now I understand he was developing as a coach, as a tight-ends coach, as an offense of coordinator.
• 5:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: He was building the becoming a head coach.
• 5:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: But once you become a head coach, there's still things you got to figure out along the way.
• 5:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: You don't step in day one and you're in a lead head coach.
• 5:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: And you don't get better.
• 5:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's going to continue to improve.
• 5:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's going to keep figuring things out.
• 5:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: what he has, bringing in Dennis Allen is brilliant and perfect complimentary football to what Ben Johnson wants to do because both of them want to be aggressive.
• 5:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: both of them in essence want to play the same way.
• 5:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: Dennis Allen wants to create turnovers.
• 6:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: Dennis Allen wants to create big negative plays.
• 6:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: What has been Johnson do?
• 6:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: Ben Johnson wants to not turn the ball over, but yet still have explosive plays.
• 6:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: They are literally perfect compliments to each other.
• 6:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: And right now,
• 6:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: you can definitely talk about these two being the best play calling duo in the NFL offensively and defensively.
• 6:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: You can absolutely do that.
• 6:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: That if they aren't number one, they are no worse than top five.
• 6:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: that that's how good this coaching staff is.
• 6:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: It gives them a leg up every week.
• 6:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: And now we go into Packers Week where the Chicago Bears are a road favorite for the first time in 20 years, 20 years, the Bears haven't been favorite at Lambo Field.
• 6:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: And they don't have Caleb Williams.
• 6:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: Jordan Love is starting against presumably Tyson Bajit unless case keynote goes out there and takes a snap again.
• 6:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: That by the way, quick side note.
• 6:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: I can't love that enough.
• 7:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: I can't love that enough, that Ben Johnson just wants to give a middle finger to the media.
• 7:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe he was playing with the Jets heads a little bit, like why, why is Kase Keenam out there?
• 7:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe, but I, this was Ian Rappenpoor's report.
• 7:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: This was a middle finger to the media saying, you think you know what I'm doing?
• 7:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: You don't.
• 7:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: Even out, they did.
• 7:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: Let's be honest.
• 7:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: The major report was correct.
• 7:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: He just decided to give a middle finger to Rapp and say, nah, Kase Keenam started.
• 7:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: Kase Keenam got that win, and that is,
• 7:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: Funny thing about quarterback wins with that one, right?
• 7:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: But same thing here, Matt LaFlor is outmatched by Ben Johnson.
• 7:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: Matt LaFlor knows he's outmatched by Ben Johnson.
• 7:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: Ben Johnson is swimming around in his head.
• 7:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: He does not know how to deal with it.
• 7:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: Ben Johnson makes comments.
• 7:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: Ben Johnson, you know, with the flippant hand shakes and some of the things he's done, he has Matt LaFlor rattled.
• 7:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: It was clear last year,
• 8:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: And now Matt LaFlor is trying to downplay it.
• 8:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, this is about the players.
• 8:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: This isn't about the coaches.
• 8:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now, this is about the franchises.
• 8:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: The Chicago Bears franchise and the Green Bay Packers franchise have a gigantic rivalry that spans over 100 years.
• 8:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's what this rivalry is about.
• 8:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: It is about the players, but it is about the coaches.
• 8:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's about the owners.
• 8:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's about the front office.
• 8:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's about the draft.
• 8:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's about everything that these two teams do.
• 8:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: to try and beat each other.
• 8:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now, it's been beyond lopsided for 30 years.
• 8:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: We know that.
• 8:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: We know Sid's Brett 35, since Brett Farb showed up here that Packers have won 90% of the games, whatever it is.
• 8:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: We don't love he had a little success.
• 8:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: Naggy won won.
• 8:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: Everyone's won here, there against the Packers.
• 8:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: The only coach that's never beaten the Green Bay Packers is Maddie Burflus, because the only Packers win there was under Thomas Brown's belt.
• 8:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: To me, that's kind of perfect, because Maddie Burflus is the worst coach.
• 8:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: the bears have ever seen.
• 8:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, Abe Gibron, all that doesn't matter.
• 9:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maddie, Eberfluous was the worst coach.
• 9:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: The bears have ever seen.
• 9:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: And the fact that he's the only one that has to beat in the packers.
• 9:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: Chef's kiss, that's the way it ought to be.
• 9:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: But...
• 9:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: Ben Johnson is here.
• 9:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: Ben Johnson is taking this rivalry to another level and I look, I don't know if we're going to be at a point where the bears start dominating the bears dominated the packers in the 80s.
• 9:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: The packers fan does doesn't want you to remember that packers fans couldn't beat the bears so they tried to beat the packers players.
• 9:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: I should say couldn't beat the bears so they tried beating up the bears.
• 9:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: and Mike Dicca and Forest Greg were heated rivals, Bears Packers back when they played in the 60s that carried over to coaching in the 80s and Forest Greg knew he did not have the talent to beat that Chicago Bears team in the 80s so he played his at his players played dirty.
• 9:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: Dirty football, Charles Martin, we know, the Jim McMahon hit in 86, one of the dirtiest hits in the history of the NFL.
• 9:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: And that happened.
• 9:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: And people don't even talk about this.
• 10:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: He had a towel tucked into his pants with numbers of players hit hit hit like a hitless number nine was on there and he went after him one of the dirtiest place like we know that this rivalry gets heated and it gets heated for the players as well Aaron Rogers screaming I own you was because he was he he likes beating the bears and he should.
• 10:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: I hate Aaron Rogers because of it.
• 10:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: I hate him for a lot of other things too, but I hate that he dominated it.
• 10:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: And when you just have a quarterback that you can't do anything about, I didn't realize it was this bad.
• 10:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: I found out this this past week.
• 10:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: Tom Brady was 33 and 3 against the Buffalo Bills.
• 10:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like, how do you feel about Brady if you're a Buffalo Bills fan?
• 10:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: You just know you there's nothing you can do about it.
• 10:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: Nothing you can do about it.
• 10:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now Buffalo has gotten good basically since Brady is left, so they didn't get really an opportunity to kind of come back at him.
• 10:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: But bottom line there, Aaron Rodgers, similar dominance against the bears, and it mattered to him.
• 11:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: It absolutely mattered to him.
• 11:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: And then he tried to downplay it last year and Pittsburgh, oh, you know, let bygons be bygons kind of thing.
• 11:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: No, because you made a point to make sure you told bears fans where they stood against you and that packers organization.
• 11:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: And that's fine, that's part of the rivalry.
• 11:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: Part of the reason we hate Aaron Rodgers is because he's so damn good and he beat the bears every time.
• 11:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: If he sucked, we wouldn't hate Aaron Rogers.
• 11:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: We'd all great Aaron Rogers is playing this week.
• 11:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: Bear should win.
• 11:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's what happens if you suck.
• 11:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: But when you dominated team like that, yes, you're gonna build up some animosity towards a player and that's fine.
• 11:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: And that's what this rivalry is.
• 11:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: And Matt LaFlor knows that's what this rivalry is.
• 11:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: But at the same time, he doesn't want to embrace it the same way publicly because he knows he can't do it the same way Ben Johnson can't.
• 11:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's not cut from the same cloth as Ben Johnson.
• 11:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Doesn't necessarily mean that Matt LaFlor is a bad coach.
• 11:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think he is actually a pretty good coach, even though he may be getting fired after this year, the way the Packers are playing, because this Packers team is bad.
• 12:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: This is the arguably, the worst two and two team in
• 12:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: the NFL.
• 12:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: But getting back I have gone like I have just you know you just see there where you see your brain and you just take a right turn and a right turn and a right turn hopefully we took enough right turns to get back to what I was talking about which was just how good Ben Johnson and Dennis Allen are and the advantage it gives and what we are going to see here I believe moving forward.
• 12:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: is something that only happens to good organizations.
• 12:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I know we always talk about the bear's tax in terms of the officials and maybe the bear's not getting all the calls, forget that.
• 12:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: When I talk about a bear's tax here, I'm talking about the bear's many of years needing to pay a little extra to get free agents to come here because you need players coming to Chicago to chase the money.
• 12:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: not chase rings, chase the money.
• 13:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: And when they chase the money, they get, you gotta make sure that you are offering more money than anyone else.
• 13:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: And look, that's still gonna be the case for plenty of free agents.
• 13:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: We're gonna wanna maximize their dollars.
• 13:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: They got small windows to make millions of dollars they need to do it.
• 13:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I will never fall to player for chasing money if that's what they need to do.
• 13:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: If that's what's important to them, making sure that they have enough money to live a comfortable life, and their kids can live a comfortable life, you go do what you need to do.
• 13:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's fine.
• 13:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: But at some point, players who are 30, 31, 32 years old, they're, you know, good players, very good players, great players in some instances.
• 13:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: And they go, I have not won a Super Bowl.
• 13:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: Where can I go to try and win a Super Bowl?
• 13:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: The answer is gonna start becoming the Chicago Bears.
• 13:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: Even if the Bears haven't won, like great veterans come to the San Francisco 49ers because they think they have a chance to win a Super Bowl because Kyle Shanahan's there and there's other talented players there.
• 13:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: even though the 49ers have a one one.
• 14:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: You don't have to have been.
• 14:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: the New England Patriots with tons of rings to get to lure players to come to Chicago.
• 14:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's where we're going to see with Ben Johnson and Dennis Allen at the top here.
• 14:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I think stabilizing this coaching staff, because I think both of them are going to be here for many years.
• 14:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: You're going to start seeing veteran players wanting to come to Chicago, taking less money to do it, because they think they have a chance to win with Dennis Allen, and of course,
• 14:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: is that we are seeing how the bears are viewed across the league.
• 14:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: And they are viewed across the league as a quality franchise, as a well-run franchise.
• 14:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: They have been an abomination of a franchise.
• 14:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: Basically since George McCaskey took over, but it does go before that because Michael McCaskey running things, you know, RIP, but he was not good at his job.
• 14:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: He didn't feel he needed a GM.
• 14:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: He tried to make a lot of moves himself.
• 15:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: He made some of the worst moves.
• 15:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: He basically ran the team in the 90s and the 90s is arguably one of the worst decades.
• 15:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: in Chicago Bears history.
• 15:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: They had very little success.
• 15:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: Couple of division titles that the beginning of the decade under Mike Dicca, Wands that comes in.
• 15:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: Never does better than nine and seven.
• 15:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: Dick Duron comes in at the end of the decade.
• 15:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: You got the K-Magnown disaster.
• 15:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: You have the disastrous Rick Meyer trade.
• 15:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: Just a complete lack of talent in the 90s.
• 15:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like who are the great players?
• 15:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like who's the player that played in the 90s?
• 15:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: Not maybe was there in 98 or 99.
• 15:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: who are the players that played in the 90s, where you say, oh, man, that guy should be in the Hall of Fame.
• 15:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: You can't come up with any, the voice is starting to crack here.
• 15:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: We'll see how much longer you can go.
• 15:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: You can't come up with any because that's Michael McCaskey.
• 15:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: So the bears organization is turning a corner and they are getting to a point where they are special.
• 16:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: This organization is becoming special, and it's becoming special because of Ben Johnson.
• 16:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like, we cannot talk enough about what he has done and how he has changed this organization.
• 16:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: This is, and again, it's hard for me, honestly, to wrap my head around it.
• 16:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: The, you know, the lovey Smith Bears were good.
• 16:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: They reached a Super Bowl.
• 16:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: Obviously, Earl Walker and Hester and Hall of Fame caliber players, you can make the arguments for the croutes and the tillman's as well that maybe they should be in one day, then quality talent.
• 16:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: Jerry Angela did a good job getting you Matt Forte, a little later, but Matt Forte, Jerry Angela got some talented players.
• 16:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: on the roster.
• 16:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: And obviously, that goes a long way.
• 16:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: But for the most part, even when Jerry Angela was drafting better, Michael McCaskey was still running things, you didn't have like this next level organization, which is where the bears are headed towards right now.
• 17:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I think it's hard for a lot of people that have gotten used to the bears being in the basement, for the bears being a poorly run organization, especially north of the border in Wisconsin.
• 17:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I think we're starting to see that.
• 17:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: Packers fans starting to get a little nervous, and if they aren't nervous outgoingly publicly when they're social media commons or whatever, you're starting to see it more and more in terms of them lashing out.
• 17:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: And it's not lashing out in the same way it used to be making fun of the bears.
• 17:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's lashing out in a way where you'd all shut up, all stop it.
• 17:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, the Packers fans are unearthed.
• 17:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I personally have enjoyed this,
• 17:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: is a really bad team.
• 17:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: Let's talk about that for a second here before we get to Matt, because this Packer's team is sitting at two and two.
• 17:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: They played an undrafted rookie quarterback last week, and they won by three points.
• 18:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: If Baker may feel as healthy, they almost certainly lose that game.
• 18:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: And prior to that, there are other win came against the New York Jets, where Aaron Glenn completely mismanaged the fourth quarter and basically gave the Packers that win.
• 18:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: If the Jets had a semi competent head coach managing that game, the Packers lose that one as well.
• 18:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: And the Packers are at 0 and 4.
• 18:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: The Packers right now are playing like one of the worst teams in the NFL.
• 18:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: Not necessarily v-worse.
• 18:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: Think the titans are playing worse.
• 18:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think the dolphins are worse.
• 18:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think you can argue the chargers of all teams are worse.
• 18:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: But the packers are right there.
• 18:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: The packers right now, the way they are playing, they can be two and two.
• 18:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: And kudos to them for getting a couple victories.
• 18:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: They got a little lucky.
• 18:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: But the Packers are right now playing like one of the worst five or sixteenths in the NFL.
• 18:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: Their offensive line is a complete disaster.
• 19:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: They cannot protect Jordan love.
• 19:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: Their running game without Josh Jacobs is a complete disaster.
• 19:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: They cannot establish the running game.
• 19:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: They can't get a balance offence of a tech.
• 19:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: And again, the running backs aren't very talented, but this still goes back to the offensive line.
• 19:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: their packers are sighting guys off the street that are 33, 34 years old and they've not been in the league because they are desperate to find anyone who can semi-competently block.
• 19:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: Their defense is, you know, it's going to get better when Micah Parsons gets back because he is an multiplier.
• 19:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: He will elevate that defense around him.
• 19:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: But Micah Parsons is not playing right now and without Micah Parsons, that defense is very beatable.
• 19:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: I know we do the prediction at the end, and I will stick with that.
• 19:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: We will do the prediction at the end of this podcast, but I am brimming with confidence.
• 19:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: It is, my cup is overflowing with confidence, and I don't think I have ever, ever been in a situation in my adult life.
• 20:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: So we're just started at 18, which is 1996, for those of you scoring at home.
• 20:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: more confident about a Bears Packers game than this one coming up on Sunday.
• 20:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think the Bears are going to cruise to a win in this one.
• 20:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think they're going to win by double digits.
• 20:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't think it's going to be particularly close.
• 20:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think this is going to be because the Packers still have the name value and they don't have an O and 4 record.
• 20:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: They have a 2 and 2 record.
• 20:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think this is going to be the game where everyone kind of turns their heads and goes, oh,
• 20:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: the bears are this good.
• 20:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: We did it a little bit in week one with the 59 points against Carolina.
• 20:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: Then follow that up with the muck game against the Vikings.
• 20:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: And since when they've been playing well, but with no Caleb Williams, they're not really in the forefront of conversation.
• 20:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think Tyson, Bageon, and the bears, specifically Ben Johnson, are going to run circles.
• 21:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: around this Packers team.
• 21:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think they are going to dominate them.
• 21:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: I am brimming with confidence because I believe the coaching staff in Chicago is much better.
• 21:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: The talent level in Chicago is much better.
• 21:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think the Bears are just top to bottom better right now than the Green Bay Packers.
• 21:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: And it doesn't matter if the game is in Lambo.
• 21:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't matter if the game is on a neutral side.
• 21:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't matter if the game is in Soldier Field.
• 21:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: I am that confident that the Bears
• 21:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: for the first time since I was a kid, 1987, 1988, like that's what we're talking about.
• 21:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: For the first time, I am confident that the Chicago Bears are a far better team than the Green Bay Packers.
• 21:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: I love it, I hope you love it, we should all love it.
• 21:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: Because the Chicago Bears are here.
• 21:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: This is a new Chicago Bears.
• 21:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: We talk about it all the time, but it's really true.
• 21:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's genuinely true.
• 21:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: We just don't as bears fans, because it's again.
• 22:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: Think about, I'm old.
• 22:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm approaching 50 years old.
• 22:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: I was a kid and remember the 80s.
• 22:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like you have to, you can't be younger than me and remember the last time the bears were consistently, you're like a Super Bowl container, because the bears, obviously, 84, they win the division.
• 22:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: They make it to the NFC championship game, Super Bowl container, 49ers beat them.
• 22:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: 85,
• 22:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: They win it all.
• 22:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: 86, no, Jim McMahon, absolute quarterback disaster, the playoffs.
• 22:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: They lose to Washington.
• 22:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: Same thing in 87, 88.
• 22:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: They lose to the 49ers in the NFC championship game.
• 22:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: And again, all these years, no good quarterback play.
• 22:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe McMahon played a little bit, maybe he didn't, but you're seeing the guys like Doug Flutey and Mike Tomzack.
• 22:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: and these are the guys, the bears are trotting out under center.
• 22:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: And how on earth are you supposed, whether it was in soldier field or not, what's it was?
• 22:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: 28 to three, I believe was the final.
• 22:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: How can you possibly be Joe Montana and Jerry Rice with Mike Tomzack?
• 22:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: You just can't do it.
• 22:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: That was the last time, though, the bears were super bulk contenders within those mid to slightly late 80s.
• 23:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, they were there a little bit with Lovey Smith, but it wasn't sustained.
• 23:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: They were a good team, they were not a great team.
• 23:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: And we are now at the point, thanks to Ben Johnson.
• 23:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: And we weren't the bears, we're just entering this.
• 23:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: But I can confidently say that the bears are entering a stretch that obviously it's going to be built differently because it's going to be built with offense.
• 23:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: The Chicago Bears are entering
• 23:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: like the 1980s again.
• 23:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: We are in like 1984 right now, where the Chicago Bears are on the cusp of being a genuine Super Bowl contender, year-in and year-out.
• 23:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: In the reason, we want to say it's Caleb Williams that certainly helps, but the reason is Ben Johnson.
• 23:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: We're going to talk about all that with Matt Spiegel.
• 23:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: He joins me next.
• 23:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: Bill Zimmerman, Bears Banner, will be right back.
• 24:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: Well, come back into the podcast.
• 24:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: Always excited to have this gentleman, and he's always very cordial with his time.
• 24:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: And we've had some interesting things that discuss over the years.
• 24:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: He came on just a day or two after the Montes.
• 24:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: Sweat trade.
• 24:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: And now he is coming on with the white socks in the middle of a playoff run and the Chicago Bears just beating down the New York Jets and the Packers on the Horizon.
• 24:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: He is Matt Spiegel, of course, of 104-3 the score Spiegel in Homes in the afternoon.
• 24:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: and a big contributor over at Fox 32 sports as well.
• 24:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: He joins me now.
• 24:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: Matt Bill Zimmerman, how you doing?
• 24:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Bill Goodman, nice to see you.
• 24:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Nice to talk with you always.
• 24:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: What's going on?
• 24:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and not much and excited to talk to you about this.
• 24:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: I want to talk to baseball with you.
• 24:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: We're going to do that at the end.
• 24:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: Let's start with the football.
• 24:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: And let's, you know, there's Packers, there's plenty to do this week, but I just want to get your thoughts here on this Jets game.
• 24:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: This performance to me, this was, this was a work of art.
• 24:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you're seeing all the heads talking about the level of domination this is, and we can kind of get into all the specifics, but to me, what this is really coming down to is Ben Johnson and Dennis Allen are really becoming possibly the most lethal play calling duo in the NFL.
• 25:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's fun way to think about it.
• 25:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think the off season was pretty underwhelming in terms of big name free agents, and even the draft in terms of addressing direct needs.
• 25:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I kept telling myself, got good coaches, got real good coaches.
• 25:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: But we've had a lot of years of kind of expecting previous coaching staves to coach up the talent and scheme up the talent in good ways.
• 25:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: But we really have guys who know how to do that, right?
• 25:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, and we can talk about the offense a lot, and we will, and we have
• 25:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: But Dennis Allen seems to have figured out how to be himself and use the personnel in ways that really fit and it's exciting.
• 25:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was super aggressive last year in the playoffs, especially the Ram's game in terms of his blitz rate and he's picked right up there, especially in week two and week three, those were his two highest blitz rate games as a bear's defensive coordinator.
• 26:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it makes sense retroactively when you look at the success and try to figure out what's happening.
• 26:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: But also on the front end, because you're like, who are the editors?
• 26:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: You got to worry about.
• 26:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: There are no superstars here.
• 26:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: But he has made his bones as a DC and the league without having those guys.
• 26:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we really thinks about it holistically and really builds it from the back forward.
• 26:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's been a great secondary coach, his whole career.
• 26:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: and I think he's doing wonders immediately again with this secondary with a rookie safety and no Kobe Bryant, but they're figuring out a way to not just be functional, but excellent.
• 26:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm really impressed with Dennis Allen through this first month.
• 26:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: And what's cool about the combo is that Ben Johnson coached him up.
• 26:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ben Johnson said, overtly, in the off season, we've got to coach the defense better.
• 27:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: And when Dennis Allen spoke for the first time in the off
• 27:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: I need to do a better job and he has.
• 27:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that's been really exciting.
• 27:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's been remarkable and just another one on the defense because I'll be honest.
• 27:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: I came into this season and I thought the Bears would be good.
• 27:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: I thought they'd make the playoffs, you know, 10 and 7 probably something like that.
• 27:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: Because I looked at this and went, this is going to be a top five offense in the league.
• 27:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe even better.
• 27:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: But this is also going to be a bottom five defense in the league, maybe worse.
• 27:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: I just kind of saw this as they're going to win every game like the Bengals did, you know, 38 to 35 kind of a thing.
• 27:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: But with what Dennis Allen is doing, do you still have concerns about the overall talent level on this defense or do you think they can continue to play like this the way D.A.
• 27:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: is making the play calls?
• 27:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, I do have concerns about the overall talent level, like, you know, a superstar, like a well chosen trade deadline edition to make them even better, would increase the possibilities, because sometimes the margins are real thin and big moments, and it helps when a superstar steps up, you know?
• 28:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, so I still have some concerns for sure, but I feel like D.A.
• 28:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: is doing a lot to create an identity here.
• 28:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's building momentum with some very good players as they kind of understand who they are.
• 28:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: And like this thing that he does where he's bringing up seven or even eight guys to the line and simulating pressure and then dropping a few back into coverage.
• 28:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: they love that they're confusing opposing quarterbacks and that makes them more confident and I'm a believer in those kind of things kind of feeding on each other and making you know decent players good and making good players sometimes great when they have a belief in scheme and belief in concept.
• 28:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think we're seeing that on the offense.
• 28:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I think I think it can happen.
• 28:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: I have some concerns
• 29:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: If kind of the Gordon's an actual return option, so big.
• 29:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's massive because of the skill set that he brings, the way that he fits, but also you just slot him in at the nickel, then Malik Muhammad can be an outside corner and really challenge Tyrex Stevenson for playing time or be an additional corner when they need depth.
• 29:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think the Kyla Gordon potential return, which I thought was doubtful and now seems plausible if not possible is really, really exciting.
• 29:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, no, he would provide a huge boost for a secondary that, you know, honestly, needs it.
• 29:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: And Tyreek Stevenson, if we're being honest, probably needs to have more plays on the bench than he does on the field.
• 29:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: And he does make plays.
• 29:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not saying that he's completely useless out there.
• 29:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: But the problem is is the inconsistencies, the problem is the amount of times we see him chasing his guy down the field because he got beat past him.
• 29:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: We saw it even on Sunday against the jets.
• 30:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now again, he maybe he needed safety help there.
• 30:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: I know there's more that goes into it.
• 30:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: But I think that's right now, possibly the biggest weakness on the team right now is how often Tyrex even on the defense.
• 30:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: At least I should say how often Tyrex Stevenson's getting beat.
• 30:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think, I think so, but he's getting pushed by Malik Mohammed and hopefully that'll be the case.
• 30:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: One more thing on the D-Line, Dio Dengbo is now being used on the inside on passing downs and it's exciting.
• 30:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: They seem to have unlocked that as a thing.
• 30:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: So now we're seeing an improved defensive front on passing downs because Dio is stout enough to just hang out and kind of be a block.
• 30:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: a blockade and let other people maybe make the plays, but he really stunts well with Austin Booker and with Montez sweat and they're actually getting some past rush from having three defensive ends active on that defensive line.
• 30:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: I want to ask you about Ben Johnson the offense, but before I do the defense here, I think as we, you know, over the next few weeks, approach the deadline, the trade deadline.
• 31:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think the bears are going to be bandied about and I don't think it's going to be any offense of players.
• 31:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's going to be adding defensive players and I obviously they could add something in the secondary, but I think everyone circled the defensive line here and look, there's some interesting names and the first one that every bear's fan is going to talk about is that
• 31:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: by the chargers.
• 31:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: Do you want to see the bears and the 20 27 draft classes supposed to be amazing?
• 31:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: Let's let's keep that in mind, not just the first round, but the top three four rounds.
• 31:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: You're supposed to be able to get a lot of great players in this draft.
• 31:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: Do you want to see the bears kind of go all in this year?
• 31:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I don't think you're going to need to give up on.
• 31:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: super high pick for Khalil Matt, but do you want to see them go after a guy like Khalil Mack or if some of these other big name defensive linemen perhaps become available?
• 31:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: Are you okay with them trading second, third, fourth Ron picks, whatever it takes to bring in someone like that?
• 31:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think I want to trade second.
• 32:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think I think I've gotten to the point where like
• 32:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't feel in need to go out and do a Micah Parsons type deal or something like that we're giving up extravagant stuff that's going to cost you for a real true difference maker.
• 32:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, the max cross-be thing, I was enamored with in the off-season and, you know, if you offered me that now, I'd still be tempted that the raiders aren't interested obviously
• 32:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, I would I would trade a mid round pick or a combo of mid and late round picks to give yourself a shot and go for it, but I just wouldn't be extravagant and really cost yourself.
• 32:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: I trust the coaches too much to do that.
• 32:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, okay.
• 32:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: That is a fair point.
• 32:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'd like to see them add something to the defensive line.
• 32:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I think someone like Khalil Mack, who's 35, who doesn't have any future contract.
• 32:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's basically just a rental.
• 32:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think it's probably only, you know, he was a second-round pick five years ago.
• 32:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's probably only like a fourth-round pick something like that at this point, which I think the bears, if that's a possibility, they should jump on.
• 33:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: make sense.
• 33:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: So let's look over the offense, but before we heading into the specifics of the offense, I do want to bring up Ben Johnson and one thing he did, and that's that's the case kingdom handoff to start the game, which to me, just plays in the how much of a psycho he is, because I guarantee you, he saw that Ian Rappaport come out on Friday that that Tyson Bay is going to start and he was it's stop about it.
• 33:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: So what does he do?
• 33:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: He gives the NFL Insiders of Middle finger and starts case
• 33:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: before he puts dice in beige and out there and you have to wonder like what is Aaron Glenn in the coaching staffing like actually is it actually case key to like what's happening here just playing mind games withers with the jets whether it's with the NFL media I can't get enough of this guy.
• 33:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah I think
• 33:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's in a film media, and I think it's the locals too.
• 33:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's Jason Leisure, the sun times.
• 33:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's Dan Weader of the Athletic.
• 33:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's the guys who directly and aggressively were peppering him with questions all week long and he successfully volated back.
• 34:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: And everybody's playing that game.
• 34:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: We have Jonah Jackson on every week on Spiglen Homes and the guard for the offensive line.
• 34:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: We asked him who was playing quarterback last week and he said, I don't know.
• 34:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: I haven't even been looking behind me when we're practicing.
• 34:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not even looking like he's just
• 34:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Everyone toys with it.
• 34:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I think Ben was, you know, yes, rapper, but even the locals and he just, he likes to play that that game and he's not afraid to use a play on the field to indulge himself.
• 34:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: And they got two yards, no big deal.
• 34:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Case got out there and Ben got to be playful and feel like he was still in control, which he clearly enjoys.
• 34:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, no.
• 34:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: He has a lot of fun with this.
• 34:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's always looking for a mental edge and I think like you talked about it about buying in on the scheme and everything and you look at where this offense is and where it is with Ben Johnson and how much they trust these guys.
• 34:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I know he's a defensive player, but Devon Bush in the in the video, the good better best goes, I came here to win.
• 35:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: I was confident like this team could win.
• 35:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's why I wanted to come aboard here.
• 35:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: He wasn't just chasing dollars.
• 35:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I think that's what we're starting to see here is the amount of trust across the league.
• 35:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: And this is going to come together.
• 35:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I think we're going to start seeing this moving forward over the next two, three, four years is those really good veteran players who want to come here
• 35:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: because of Ben Johnson, because it's a, I can't believe I'm about to say it's about the Chicago Bears, because it's a winning organization, because it's a competent coaching staff, because it's the things that, if you're chasing a ring in your 32 years old, like the bears are gonna be a team, it used to be the chiefs, it's always been Buffalo and Baltimore, the Eagles, we know these teams.
• 35:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think the bears are about to get into this mix of one of these teams that people across the league notice
• 35:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think you're right, man, and this has been the dream and you gave a nice list of the modern comps and I think the one that probably resonates the most of the modern comps for me right now and the dreams is Kyle Shanahan and San Francisco go out there to win knowing that whatever quarterback plays and obviously the locked and loaded with Brock Perty but they made it super bold with Jimmy Garoppolo for God's 6.
• 36:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know knowing that whoever they have it's going to work
• 36:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'll go back to the 90s and the Packers in Mike Homegren, because I felt like any quarterback that played was good enough to be better than the Bears, whether it was Tim Hasselbeck or it was Aaron Brooks, and eventually it's Matt Flynn, like all these guys who ever it was was like, oh my God, how did they fight another one?
• 36:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: How did they find another one?
• 36:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: How did they find another one?
• 36:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: And the truth is they had Mike Homegren and eventually they had Mike McCarthy as an extension of it.
• 36:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: And you look at all the coaches under Homegren there, right?
• 37:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we know that Gruden was there and we know that Murray Uchi was there and all that stuff.
• 37:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: They had a guy who understood how to talk to quarterback's deal with quarterbacks and build an offense.
• 37:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's what we've got with Ben and eventually we'll trade Tyson agent for draft picks.
• 37:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, and they'll find somebody else to be in that tool.
• 37:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: because Caleb has the talent where you're going to want to work with that guy for as long as you possibly can.
• 37:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: But remember that Reggie White went to Green Bay to be with Mike home grin and try to win a Super Bowl, you know, and to your point, I think the bears are going to be that destination and that's incredibly exciting and that's that's always been the dream and I think we've found the guy to really make that dream a reality here.
• 37:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and, you know, just one more on Ben Johnson and, you know, a bit on the negative side here, and that's with DeAndre Swift's fumble problems, and I think, and this has been my theme for the last couple years here with Ben here is accountability, and not just accountability with the players, which clearly now DeAndre Swift is dealing with.
• 38:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if we want to say he's in the doghouse, but he clearly got benched.
• 38:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: They asked about it after the game, asked if it was the knee, and he goes, no, it was nothing like that, and didn't get into the specifics as to why,
• 38:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, I assume Swift's going to be back out there and plan again.
• 38:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't think he's, you know, they just gave him a handsome extension.
• 38:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: But the coaching staff takes accountability, like you said, Dennis Allen before this season.
• 38:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: I have to coach better Ben Johnson say, you know, admitting mistakes he's made in post-game press conferences.
• 38:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: The coaching staff taking accountability when a player has issues, fumble issues in this case for Swift, and he gets removed.
• 38:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like,
• 38:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: that the accountability goes so much more, I think, because of the accountability, not just across the 53 in the locker room, but the coaching staff as well.
• 38:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Hey, man, we've known this for decades in terms of how coaches are supposed to work.
• 38:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: And if you can point at thumb and comfortably do so,
• 38:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can really engender trust and good will and that's all anybody wants we watch Maddie Refuse not do it, and it was a disaster now.
• 39:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: We see Ben Johnson do it and we understand how it works And he didn't bury the Andrey Swift publicly.
• 39:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't have to I will say this about Swift and monungai monungai needs to be the goal line back period
• 39:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: Um, and anything inside the five you go ahead and you make sure that guy's there and Ben's done this before with the Andre Swift in Detroit a few years back.
• 39:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: He had Jamal Williams with 17 touchdowns, the Andre Swift with the other ball carrier on that team and DeAndrey did a nice job and they split touches and they were both productive.
• 39:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: But Jamal Williams was the guy inside the five as Kyle and I'm guys should be now.
• 39:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, absolutely.
• 39:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: So this week now, we've got Packers week and the bears are favored on the road.
• 39:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: Something they haven't been in basically 20 years since love.
• 39:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: He smith those teams that that is the last time the bears were favored in Lambo field.
• 39:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: And and look, I'll be honest here Matt for basically since Brett far of showed up.
• 40:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: I can't remember where I sat there confidently saying I'm not there were seasons the bears were better than the packers not many but there were a handful but I never even in those seasons I confidently felt that the bears were better top to bottom largely always because of the quarterback.
• 40:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: Right, there's always far, there's always Rogers, and there was always a better quarterback in Green Bay than there wasn't Chicago.
• 40:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: And this week, assuming Caleb Williams doesn't play, theoretically yes, the better quarterback is still in Green Bay.
• 40:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: But it almost, it doesn't matter with how Ben approaches this, how serious he takes this rivalry.
• 40:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: Matt LaFours already trying the down play it and kind of, I don't know if you wanna say, take in shots at Ben Johnson, but, you know, it's certainly going back and forth.
• 40:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: And everything that's happened in the last 18 months,
• 40:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if I've ever felt this confidant.
• 40:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: And obviously, it's in Lambo, the Bears could lose.
• 40:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: But I don't know if I've ever felt this confidently about a Bears Packer's game since pre-Bret farer.
• 41:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's probably right.
• 41:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, there may be there's a couple package or a couple pockets, I should say, of time in there in the last 30 years.
• 41:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I don't think we've ever had enough season like this, where we could confidently and comfortably say,
• 41:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: The bears were better than the packers.
• 41:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: They beat him two out of three.
• 41:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Caleb Williams was on a better path and a better track than Jordan Love played better than him in those games and Caleb on the upswing and getting more MVP bets than Jordan Love, right?
• 41:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: And Ben Johnson unequivocally better than Matt LaFlor.
• 41:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: We haven't had an offseason like this.
• 41:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: in our lives to be able to say that.
• 41:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: So we've got all that as like the wind behind the boat.
• 41:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: And now we've got the first four weeks of the season where the packers offensive line is an absolute disaster.
• 41:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: They signed three different street free agents to throw out there on the offensive line and give themselves a shot.
• 41:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: Jordan loves been playing scared football.
• 42:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're lucky not to be one in
• 42:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: their one and three and Aaron Glenn gave them that game that they beat the jets and he missed a man jet for a quarter they could be on four it's not just on this stretch they could easily be on four so yeah no enjoy the confidence man roll with it obviously it's green bay anything and happen but the bears are a favorite with a backup quarterback in green bay it's it's unbelievable and it's not just on the strength
• 42:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: of Ben Johnson and the offense.
• 42:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's it's this belief that Dennis Allen and the defense can scheme and and find a way to pressure Jordan love.
• 42:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I bet there's going to be some crazy ass blitz is going right at Jordan love to try and get him to play scared from the get go.
• 42:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: I can't wait.
• 42:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I can't wait either.
• 42:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: I look at this.
• 42:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: And like you said, the offensive lines of MS, they can't run the football, which is probably the weakest part of Dennis Allen's scheme right now is given up some rush.
• 42:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's not terrible, but given up some rushing yards here there.
• 42:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: But at the same time, the way they've been able to cover the past, you know, I mean, Jordan loves getting in these games where he ends up throwing them all 50 times because they can't establish the run.
• 43:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: They become one dimensional.
• 43:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: And when at offense becomes one dimensional,
• 43:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's when Dennis Allen just gets in his bag and starts tea and off on these quarterbacks, and I just I have never been at a point even when I thought the bears could win a game like the second game in 2018 You know, you felt pretty good at soldier field when the bears were rolling that they were probably gonna win that game and they did It was only by seven points, but they did
• 43:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like, man, I'm coming into this game and I feel like the bears could easily win this in double digits.
• 43:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like, I think they could cruise, and it's just like, there's part of me, it's because of the, you know, 30 years of damage that this riflery has done to me, where I'm like, you're, some things wrong for you to think that way.
• 43:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm trying to train myself to be like, no, I believe you can actually think this way now.
• 43:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you know, it's funny.
• 43:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm a big believer in trying to live in the moment and just let yourself feel the confidence and enjoy it and not dissect it.
• 44:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: But NFL culture bill means we've got all week to break this one down and think about it and find a way to put cracks in that confident shell, right?
• 44:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: And maybe we'll still find a way, but don't let the past,
• 44:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: be part of it.
• 44:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Don't don't let yourself do it.
• 44:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: It is a new world since Ben walked in there and everybody knows it.
• 44:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: And Matt LaFlor knows it too.
• 44:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's resistance.
• 44:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: His resistance at wanting to talk about him and Ben is because he got rattled last year when Ben talked about him.
• 44:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was obvious.
• 44:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Matt brought it up several times like, what did Ben Johnson, what does he have against me?
• 44:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I know from sources close to Ben that like,
• 44:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ben is just kind of enjoying the fact that Matt's a little rattled, you know, and you can see all of that.
• 44:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: So Matt doesn't have the decades of dominance in forming his arrogance anymore.
• 44:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Don't let the decades of being underneath the packers inform your mindset this week.
• 45:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I completely agree.
• 45:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: All right, before I let you go, we gotta get to some baseball here because my Chicago white socks at the time of this recording are up to O on Cleveland.
• 45:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, absolutely enjoying this and look, I'll be honest.
• 45:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think I even texted you about this last week.
• 45:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't think they're going to get by Houston.
• 45:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: I was pessimistic about the whole thing.
• 45:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: But the vibes they got, they got going on, they got players eating ice cream cones in between innings.
• 45:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: They got Merakami has become like the most popular player in pay small with his celebrations and his post game interviews and everything.
• 45:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like there are some vibes going with the bright sex.
• 45:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like how far do you genuinely think this team could go?
• 45:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, first of all, the vibes are elite and they're wonderful.
• 45:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: And they have been all year since Murakami got there.
• 45:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think Murakami getting there is the first thing that kick started all of this.
• 45:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then it's just been, I mean, it's just an incredibly fun and resilient and scrappy and weird group of position players.
• 45:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: And the way that they bond together is just awesome.
• 46:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then the pitching infrastructure is intelligent.
• 46:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: It is creative.
• 46:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: It is at the forefront of modern baseball theory, which is not something you used to associate the white socks with.
• 46:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: So the whole thing is just really, really cool and really, really fun.
• 46:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's for how far they can get.
• 46:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like, if they do advance and they play Tampa, like give us a kind of a theoretical preview of that one.
• 46:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, it'll be harder without the off days that this particular round against Cleveland provides.
• 46:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: It'll be harder when thinking about more games as opposed to just a two or three little wild guard card set because they'll have to go deeper into the pitching bag.
• 46:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: As it stands right now, they can go like every other day between using an opener like Hagen Smith with a bullpen game and using Sean Burke.
• 46:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: and Sean Burke is an elite starting pitcher or a bulk pitcher who would be in everybody's playoff rotation.
• 46:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: They don't have another guy like that on the pitching staff.
• 46:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: They don't.
• 47:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: We haven't even seen Davis Martin who would be the number two.
• 47:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're four games in.
• 47:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: We haven't seen him throw pitch.
• 47:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, you'd have to see Davis Martin and you'd have to count on him.
• 47:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: You might have to see more of Eric Fettie in bulk and more of Anthony Kay in bulk and that's scary to consider against a team like Tampa who does everything right plays button up and has a ton of really good arms and they have the longest tenured manager in baseball and Kevin Casher just knows what the hell he's doing.
• 47:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that is a daunting thing to think about.
• 47:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: But sometimes you figure some stuff out along the way and confidence builds and it becomes this sort of freight train where everything's rolling together and the white socks certainly have those characteristics right now.
• 47:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm not going to put it past them to get by Tampa.
• 47:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think it'd be incredibly fun, but that'd be the first real daunting circumstance for the reasons I just brought up.
• 47:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: All right.
• 47:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: Let me ask you one other thing about baseball because the white socks are in a position to advance.
• 48:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: Tampa's in a position to advance.
• 48:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: Milwaukee's doing well in the national league.
• 48:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: The Dodgers, obviously, are still in the mix here.
• 48:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: But with some of these lower payrolls, small market, I know white socks are Chicago.
• 48:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: Whatever you want to, however you want to put this, having success in the postseason.
• 48:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: Does that potentially help?
• 48:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: in terms of avoiding a potential lock out, I know we keep hearing there will be no baseball in 2027 because no one can win other than, you know, the Dodgers basically, but now you're having some mid-market small markets success.
• 48:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: How do you think 2027 baseball is impacted if at all by these playoffs?
• 48:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's about the solidarity of the ownership and before the season began, the solidarity of the ownership was stronger than ever before because what the Dodgers have done was break the spirit of even the richest owners.
• 48:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: like the guys at the very, very top of the big market behemoths were like, are you effin' kidding me with the Kyle Tucker contract and more?
• 49:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that's the solidarity.
• 49:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like the dudes on the lower end, the ownership on the lower end in terms of, you know, a smaller market, they want the cap.
• 49:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: They might not want the floor, but they're not going to get a cap without the floor.
• 49:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, and so I don't think that the success of the small market in a, in a, in a myopic, you know, postseason viewpoint like this is going to really affect it.
• 49:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's going to be about whether those, those owners on the top,
• 49:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: are really willing to bond together in the face of what they see as a problem.
• 49:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think unfortunately, they are gonna bond together and are gonna see a work stop and hopefully not for too long.
• 49:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, hopefully not too long.
• 49:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: All right, just do a 20 second answer here because we did white socks, but we gotta be fair to the Cub's fans out there as well.
• 49:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: Do we?
• 49:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: What?
• 50:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't have to be a specific player, but what's one thing you'd like to see the Cub's do this offseason heading in the 2027?
• 50:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, they're going to have to spend some money on swing and miss in the bullpen and velocity, at least one starting pitcher and I think at least one big time bullpen acquisition that have swing and miss and that has to go along with what I suspect will be organizational changes on pitching philosophy.
• 50:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think there'll be some turnover in the front office and there should be and they need to really change the way they look at pitching because they don't have enough
• 50:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: All right.
• 50:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: There he is.
• 50:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: Matt Spiegel 1043 the score.
• 50:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: Spiegel and Holmes.
• 50:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: And of course, you can catch him over doing stuff for Fox 32 as well.
• 50:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: Matt, thanks for so much time.
• 50:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: Enjoy that conversation.
• 50:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: Enjoy the rest of the baseball playoffs.
• 50:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: And enjoy.
• 50:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: Packer week.
• 50:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: All right, Bill.
• 50:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let's go, man.
• 50:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Why not the bears?
• 50:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Why not the bears?
• 50:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: There he is, Matt, speaking to everybody.
• 50:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thought that was a great interview.
• 50:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: I thought Matt gave you a lot of good content.
• 51:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: If you're a baseball fan, we're not a little baseball there at the end.
• 51:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: Sox vibes are rolling.
• 51:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: What are the cups need to do to improve?
• 51:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: Is there gonna be baseball in 2027?
• 51:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: Well, we'll see what happens with baseball.
• 51:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like Matt's on the same page, I am with what Ben Johnson and what Dennis Allen have created here.
• 51:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: The culture they're establishing, accountability, everything that is happening has the bear's pointed in the right direction.
• 51:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: So let's get to the mail bag and then we'll finish up with the prediction.
• 51:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: We've got Dolmite 79.
• 51:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: What do you think is a realistic trade for an edge or a defensive
• 51:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now, I think this is interesting because I think we are seeing some names starting to pop up.
• 51:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, the trade deadline still a few weeks away, but we're kind of getting to that point where veterans are going to start appearing in media reports about teams that are struggling.
• 52:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: and with those players be available.
• 52:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I think the one that is going to keep coming up to Chicago as long as the Chargers keep struggling is Khalil Mac.
• 52:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now, I have no inside information.
• 52:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know what's going on.
• 52:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: I would assume the Chargers would trade Khalil Mac.
• 52:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: There's zero point for them to keep Khalil Mac.
• 52:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't mean if Khalil Matt doesn't want to play next year that he can't go back to the chargers if he gets traded, if he wants to keep his house in L.A. and everything.
• 52:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: He can do that.
• 52:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's fine.
• 52:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: But at the same time, Khalil Matt, to me,
• 52:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: feels like a guy that would be hard pressed to show up and play for the Jacksonville Jaguar.
• 52:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: So now I'm not saying he couldn't, and the Jaguars are a very good team and they want to add some players and look, maybe he's fine going to Jacksonville Florida.
• 52:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: But to me,
• 52:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: I feel like Khalil Mack isn't going to want to go to just some random team and Jacksonville would be some random team.
• 53:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: I feel like it would have to make sense for him.
• 53:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: If the Dallas Cowboys called could I see him going to the Cowboys and playing for Dallas, I could see him doing something like that.
• 53:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: But if the Raiders decide their contenders, I could see him wanting to go back to the Raiders and kind of go back there and have another opportunity with the Raiders, especially with how that ended.
• 53:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if he'd want to go back, but I could see that.
• 53:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: The Bears make so much sense.
• 53:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: The Bears have tried to get him the last couple years.
• 53:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: They couldn't lure about a ballet.
• 53:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think hang on.
• 53:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: as we keep hacking into the microphone, hopefully I hit mute properly there.
• 53:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think Khalil Matt coming to Chicago makes so much sense.
• 53:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I think if he is gonna end up on another team and I think it's definitely over 50% likely that he's gonna get traded.
• 54:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think Chicago is just a sensible destination.
• 54:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: He loved his time in Chicago.
• 54:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's a brand new coaching staff.
• 54:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's not coming back to Matt and Aggie or Vick Van Gogh or Chuck Pagano or Sean Desire or any brand new coaching staff.
• 54:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: Dennis Allen would be able to utilize him in some creative ways.
• 54:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: He'd get to play in Chicago.
• 54:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: He'd have a chance to chase a ring.
• 54:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think Khalil Mack makes a ton of sense.
• 54:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: I heard Albert Brear mentioned Chop Robinson in Miami.
• 54:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if the dolphins would let him go.
• 54:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's young.
• 54:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: The dolphins are rebuilding.
• 54:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if that makes a ton of sense for Miami's perspective.
• 54:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now, I do think, and again, not quite a Denis Allen type fit, but I do think Zack Seeler of the dolphins, who's, you know, 32, 33 years old, and still has a couple years under contract.
• 54:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: That I could see.
• 54:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: being available from the Miami squad.
• 54:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Jordan Brooks, if the bears wanted to add a line back, I know you asked about defensive linemen, but if the bears wanted to add a line back, or I think Jordan Brooks could be had from the Miami Dolphins.
• 55:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: I can't see Chop Robinson.
• 55:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: He hasn't been particularly good at the NFL level, so I don't know.
• 55:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: I know he had a big play last week, but I don't know.
• 55:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: if Chop Robinson isn't needle moving move.
• 55:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: Chop Robinson to me, like when the bears either added Joe Trion, I think it's kind of that one of those moves.
• 55:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's a bigger impact move than that.
• 55:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: But right now, and again, I'm not watching Dolphins games religiously, but I do have Chop Robinson on a IDP dynasty league.
• 55:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: So I can tell you, I've paid attention to his three seasons,
• 55:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think Austin Booker is a better player than chop Robinson right now.
• 55:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: So chop Robinson added depth piece to the edge room, something like that.
• 55:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: Sure, that that can be a notable move, but I don't think it's a needle mover.
• 55:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: Colleal Mac to me would be a needle mover.
• 56:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: Um, the defensive tackles.
• 56:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think it's a little more difficult to figure out right now who's available, who would make sense.
• 56:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now, we can look at the box and see that the bucks are on for.
• 56:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: would collide your can see be a guy that they would move on from.
• 56:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: He is awesome.
• 56:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think he and Dennis Allen system would be incredible.
• 56:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: He is the type of interior disruptor in my opinion that can change the defense.
• 56:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now, he's a hard time staying on the field.
• 56:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: And you're going to bring him in.
• 56:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: And you're going to have to decide if you want to give him a contract extension.
• 56:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: And he's going to want a lot of money because he can be a very good player when he's healthy.
• 56:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: But he does not stay healthy very often.
• 56:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: Can't see is a weird guy.
• 56:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know what the bears want to do there.
• 56:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know what the cost would be for someone like that.
• 56:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: Because like I said, he's a high quality player, but he does not stay healthy.
• 57:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: So I don't know if he'd be available.
• 57:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's the guy I could consider.
• 57:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: But overall,
• 57:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think there's probably more edges that would make sense that are available.
• 57:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: Josh Sweat from Arizona is definitely going to be available.
• 57:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now he's going to be priceier than Khalil Mack.
• 57:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: To me, Khalil Mack is a fourth round pick.
• 57:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think that just makes a lot of sense.
• 57:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's kind of where people on the wrong side of 30 veterans kind of, that's kind of they're going right these days.
• 57:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like for example, Jonathan Grinard,
• 57:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: got two threes.
• 57:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's where the Vikings got when they traded Grinar to the Eagles.
• 57:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: Two threes.
• 57:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: Figured that the Eagles are a good team, so there's going to be in the bottom 10 picks of the third round most likely.
• 57:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: So that, you know, when you'd kind of do the math, that works out to one high three.
• 57:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: So, Jonathan Grinard was worth one high-free.
• 57:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Jonathan Grinard is 28, 29 years old.
• 57:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's got multiple years left on his contract.
• 58:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: That makes sense.
• 58:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: So, I don't think you can say, Kaleel Mack can get that much.
• 58:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: So, I think Kaleel Mack for a fourth round pick makes a lot of sense.
• 58:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's possible.
• 58:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: You might even be able to get him for a fifth round pick, but I think a four makes the most sense.
• 58:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: So there's a handful of names for you.
• 58:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: We'll see what Ryan polls ends up doing, but he should 100% add something to this defensive unit.
• 58:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: Let's see here.
• 58:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: The man about tech, I know you cover the bears, but need to get your thoughts on this.
• 58:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: If Tyson Bayesian rolls in the Lambo and hands the Packers that L, do you think Matt LaFlor is back next season as Packers had coached?
• 58:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: All right, man, about tech.
• 58:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think that's a very fair question, and I think here's the situation with Matt LaFlor.
• 58:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: There, the bears can win or lose that game.
• 58:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't think that's necessarily going to impact LaFlor status for next season.
• 59:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think it is what can Matt LaFlor do with the rest of this season?
• 59:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: If he gets the packer ship righted, Mike Caparson comes back and they play better.
• 59:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: They go ten and seven, they make the playoffs, even if it's the seven seed again and they get bounce.
• 59:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think he's probably back for another year.
• 59:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: They just signed Matt LeFord to a contract extension.
• 59:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: I do believe that contract extension.
• 59:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't reported.
• 59:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: I do believe that contract extension was probably only two years, which means.
• 59:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: The contract extension kicks in.
• 59:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: He had one year left.
• 59:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: He did not want to afford to not want to go into this season as a lame duck head coach.
• 59:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: He wanted an extension.
• 59:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: The Packers gave him an extension.
• 59:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: It was reported that it was a multi-year extension.
• 59:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: So they did not just give him a one-year deal.
• 59:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: I do believe they gave him a two-year contract extension, which means they can get out of it after this year.
• 59:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Packers aren't flushed with cash.
• 59:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: They're kind of similar to the bears in that regard.
• 1:00:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: I do think LeFloor, if this bottoms out, if they go 5 and 12, 6 and 11, which I don't think is impossible the way this team is playing right now.
• 1:00:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now again, when Parsons comes back, they are a completely different team.
• 1:00:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: When Micah Parsons was there last year, they were a Super Bowl contender.
• 1:00:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: When he got hurt, they didn't win another game the rest of the season, and not like
• 1:00:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now they come out this year, yes, they won two games, but as we said at the beginning of the podcast, they were two lucky games to win.
• 1:00:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: They'd be a UDFA quarterback and a head coach gave them another victory.
• 1:00:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: So when you're looking at it in that situation,
• 1:00:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: The bottom line is the Packers are a bad team without micoparsons.
• 1:00:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: If they get elevated after this year and become a, or after this year, after micoparsons returns, and they start playing much better football, that's gonna change the entire outlook on this Packers team.
• 1:01:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: But the way this Packers team is playing right now, moving forward, seven and 10 feels like the ceiling of this team right now.
• 1:01:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: And if that's the case,
• 1:01:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: I just think there's a chance that Matt LaFlor is going to go.
• 1:01:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: They eat two years of the contract extension and they start looking elsewhere.
• 1:01:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: They've already committed a Jordan Law, and they should commit to Jordan Law.
• 1:01:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's the top half quarterback in the league, but if things aren't working with Matt LaFlor, the fan base is starting to get fed up with Matt LaFlor.
• 1:01:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: They're starting to boo at home, Tucker Crafts getting mad about that.
• 1:01:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: you can see this thing is teetering a little bit.
• 1:01:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: So I do think, absolutely, it is a possibility that Matt LaFlor gets fired after this year.
• 1:01:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: I just don't think it's, if Tyson Basin goes in the Lambo and wins, I don't think he's automatically fired at the end of the year, still too much meat left on the bone to make that decision.
• 1:01:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Um, we've got a couple others here, uh, cut.
• 1:02:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: I got, you know, I got flooded, I sent out a post that went viral and now it's difficult to find the rest of, um, of all this, um,
• 1:02:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: uh... pa- uh... bears packers is be is a great rivalry but bears fans watch with their eyes packers fans watch with their imagination that's from vinson vulpie uh... right now the packers fans are clinging to things that aren't really there i agree with you
• 1:02:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: And bears fans have real live data in front of them that shows that the bears are a far superior team than the Green Bay Packers.
• 1:02:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: And we've got one other one here from...
• 1:02:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: uh... where to go where to go where to go i know this is always what you love seen as someone looking through their twitter to find an art for to find a tweet that disappeared apparently uh... from jd forty seven here it's jd forty seven wants to know
• 1:03:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: should the Chicago Bears make any additions to the offense before the trade deadline?
• 1:03:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I think the answer to that is no.
• 1:03:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: We're going to keep talking about the defense as we should.
• 1:03:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: But offensively, what do you want to add would be my point?
• 1:03:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: You want to, you know, Swift and Manonga are there.
• 1:03:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: The Andre Swift, I don't think is, you know, on his way out of town, you know, in a rough stretch here with the ball and Ben Johnson's making a point to make sure he does not continue to have a rough stretch with ball security.
• 1:03:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: Calvin, guys, good.
• 1:03:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: That bears have three quarterbacks, they trust.
• 1:03:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: They have Cole Comet and Cole's in love on the tight end.
• 1:03:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: Sam Raosh keeps playing.
• 1:03:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's a little tough to take.
• 1:03:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: The offensive line, the Obenidets andite, that piece, Ozzie Trepello's coming back soon.
• 1:03:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not sure what you want to add offensively.
• 1:03:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like I saw Bears fans talking about Tyree Hill.
• 1:03:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: Why, why, why?
• 1:03:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Why do the Bears want to add Tyree Hill?
• 1:03:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: I get it.
• 1:03:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: He was a great player five years ago.
• 1:04:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's a jackass.
• 1:04:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: But he was a great player five years ago.
• 1:04:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: What, what, who do you want, who do you not want on the field?
• 1:04:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: Do you not want cleave raven on the field?
• 1:04:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: Who's playing incredibly well?
• 1:04:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: Do you not want Luther Burden on the field?
• 1:04:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: Do you not want Roman Dunes on the field?
• 1:04:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: Who's, who's coming off the field for Tyree Hill?
• 1:04:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: I just bear's fans always complain that John A. Walker doesn't get enough snaps.
• 1:04:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now we're going to bring in Tyre Kill, who, by the way, has not been very good and is coming off a massive injury.
• 1:04:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: He was, we don't know what Tyre Kill is.
• 1:04:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: Plus Tyre Kill is almost certainly going to end up a member of the Kansas City Chiefs.
• 1:04:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: All right.
• 1:04:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: Let's wrap this up with the prediction.
• 1:04:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: I was kind of getting at it in the opening segment here.
• 1:04:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think the bears win, and I think the bears win comfortably.
• 1:04:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: I do not think this is going to be close.
• 1:04:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: I do not think the packers really have a chance.
• 1:04:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think we're going to hear boobers at Lambo.
• 1:04:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think that's going to bother the floor.
• 1:04:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think it's going to bother the players.
• 1:04:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think the way Dennis Allen has this defense playing right now.
• 1:05:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: The packers are not going to be able to establish the run.
• 1:05:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know which offensive linemen are actually going to play is, is any of these is back dinners, eat or any of these guys are going to actually play.
• 1:05:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know, but at the same time, the offensive line, even if they help a little bit if they're better than what they have out there, they're not going to help a ton.
• 1:05:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: The offensive line is still going to struggle.
• 1:05:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: The packers are not going to be able to run the football just on the lack of having a bad offensive line and bad running backs.
• 1:05:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: Bears are going to make them one dimensional.
• 1:05:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: Dennis Allen is going to tee off on Jordan love.
• 1:05:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: The packers offense is going to struggle.
• 1:05:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: The bears are going to be able to handle the packers pretty easily.
• 1:05:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think on the offensive side of the ball, I think Ben Johnson has Matt LaFloore's number.
• 1:05:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't think their defense is particularly good without Mike Parsons.
• 1:05:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think the bears win this one by double digits, and not by 10, not by 11.
• 1:05:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think this game is closer to a 20 point victory.
• 1:06:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think we're going to see something we are not accustomed to seeing in Chicago.
• 1:06:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: And that is the Bears handle the Packers.
• 1:06:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I think not only do they handle the Packers, I can't even remember the last time they handled the Packers in Lambo.
• 1:06:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'd have to look it up.
• 1:06:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe I'm a little too overconfident, but I am going Chicago Bears.
• 1:06:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: 31.
• 1:06:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: Green Bay Packers 13.
• 1:06:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: You heard it here.
• 1:06:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: 31 to 13.
• 1:06:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: The bears roll.
• 1:06:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: We'll talk about it next week.
• 1:06:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: Bear down everybody.
• 1:06:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: Talk to you soon.
• 1:06:55
  [UNKNOWN]: You