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Making Monsters: Bears v Panthers Preview · 2nd City Gridiron

0:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.
0:09
[SPEAKER_03]: All right, welcome back to another episode of Making Monsters.
0:12
[SPEAKER_03]: We're here.
0:13
[SPEAKER_03]: We made it to football season, a long off season for a lot of us, but we're excited.
0:18
[SPEAKER_03]: And we're talking about two playoff teams, week one.
0:21
[SPEAKER_03]: And so it's time to look into that.
0:22
[SPEAKER_03]: Now the bears face the Panthers.
0:24
[SPEAKER_03]: And so we're joined now by Alex Zetlow.
0:26
[SPEAKER_03]: He is part of the Charlotte Observer, writer over there covering the Carolina Panthers.
0:30
[SPEAKER_03]: And that's who the bears will face off with on Sunday.
0:33
[SPEAKER_03]: So Alex, thanks for hopping on and chatting with me a little bit about this matchup.
0:37
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, thanks for having me on the show.
0:38
[SPEAKER_01]: I am so excited for week one.
0:40
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm a little exhausted.
0:42
[SPEAKER_01]: All right.
0:43
[SPEAKER_01]: But I'm excited.
0:44
[SPEAKER_03]: Well, if I get it, I feel like the the off season sometimes drags and then when it gets to the point where it's training camps and I know the Panthers obviously had joint practices where they traveled and there's a lot of things mixed into that and so But we made it we're finally here and I think there's a lot of exciting things on each side of the ball in this game and for each team and so we'll chat some of those we'll start with the Panthers side and I think the most obvious conversation is going to be
1:09
[SPEAKER_03]: around these quarterbacks, I think that in general part of that conversation is you trade, you know, the pick you trade away that the Panthers traded you, you get DJ Moore, DJ Moore no longer on the bears, but there's still some obviously revolving pieces on the Chicago side of the
1:26
[SPEAKER_03]: from that trade ultimately, but let's start with Bryce.
1:28
[SPEAKER_03]: I think down the stretch last year, Alex, you saw a lot of good things from him.
1:31
[SPEAKER_03]: 12 touchdowns, only four picks on that final stretch of games.
1:35
[SPEAKER_03]: You saw the accuracy kind of hone in a little bit and then went toe to toe with the Rams and the postseason and that wild card game.
1:41
[SPEAKER_03]: So chat a little bit about what you've seen from Bryce, especially down that stretch and then now the soft season leading into this year.
1:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, no, when you talk about Bryce Young, the one thing that you're looking for is consistency.
1:52
[SPEAKER_01]: Because everything else he has flashed in space.
1:56
[SPEAKER_01]: He has shown his brilliance about him, particularly in moments of the 20-25 season.
2:04
[SPEAKER_01]: I think back to the game against the Atlanta Falcons last year where he's hurt.
2:10
[SPEAKER_01]: He has an injured ankle.
2:12
[SPEAKER_01]: He actually injured it not once, but twice.
2:17
[SPEAKER_01]: engineers this wonderful comeback when he breaks the Panthers' single game franchise passing ours record previously held by Cam Newton.
2:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, there was just many.
2:29
[SPEAKER_01]: It was just like this wonderful celebratory moment.
2:33
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the next week, he kind of lays an egg and the entire offense lays an egg and the Panthers lose.
2:38
[SPEAKER_01]: And
2:38
[SPEAKER_01]: The Panthers lost in metronomics or one in lost in metronomics succession down the stretch last year.
2:44
[SPEAKER_01]: And they ultimately had a really good showing in the playoffs that yielded a loss.
2:48
[SPEAKER_01]: But I think that playoff game in some ways kind of shadows over all of this other inconsistency that they experienced the rest of the year.
2:58
[SPEAKER_01]: And so that's just the story with Bryce Young.
3:01
[SPEAKER_01]: He, when he is at his best, he's creative,
3:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Dodging tacklers behind the line of scrimmage, she is being this dazzling improvisational quarterback that Panthers fans saw while he was at Alabama.
3:15
[SPEAKER_01]: When he is not at his best is when he's staying in the pocket, when he is not airing the ball out, like you can literally make a direct line last year to his average depth of target, and whether it was a winner loss.
3:31
[SPEAKER_01]: That's just how it went.
3:36
[SPEAKER_01]: And I know that simplifying it like that is could be reductive and could be like unfair.
3:42
[SPEAKER_01]: But that's just what happened last year.
3:44
[SPEAKER_01]: That is precisely what happened.
3:46
[SPEAKER_01]: And so you're going into 2026 and you just need Bryce to take another step if you're this Panthers front office.
3:55
[SPEAKER_01]: They have a lot of decisions to make at the end of 2026, including what they're going to do with Bryce Yang as a future is he a franchise quarterback.
4:04
[SPEAKER_01]: That was like all of the questions that we heard at owner Panthers owner David Tepere yesterday when he was made available for the first time in a couple years like is Bryce a franchise quarterback because if so,
4:16
[SPEAKER_01]: You're probably going to have to pay him, Baker may field money.
4:20
[SPEAKER_01]: You're probably going to have to pay him $50 million a year, $55 million a year.
4:25
[SPEAKER_01]: He, they've already picked up his fifth year contract, so he's here through 2027, but you'd really like to get that contract negotiated if possible before he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
4:35
[SPEAKER_01]: You have to negotiate with all these other teams.
4:37
[SPEAKER_01]: So before any of that can happen,
4:41
[SPEAKER_01]: the Panthers need to make sure that he's the quarterback of the future.
4:44
[SPEAKER_01]: And right now, it is unclear.
4:46
[SPEAKER_01]: His ceiling is unknown.
4:48
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
4:48
[SPEAKER_01]: That needs to be rectified in 2026 and it starts in week one.
4:54
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, you're talking to an organization.
4:55
[SPEAKER_03]: There's a lot about trying to figure out if you're quarterback.
4:58
[SPEAKER_03]: This is a franchise quarterback going through.
5:01
[SPEAKER_03]: Obviously, just most recently with Mitchell Tribiske and Justin Fields in the now Caleb Williams.
5:06
[SPEAKER_03]: And so believe me, we understand it there.
5:08
[SPEAKER_03]: I want to talk a little bit about the past catchers over there.
5:11
[SPEAKER_03]: Tepic Millen, one of my favorite, drafted him in my dynasty league last year right after he was drafted, big fan of him.
5:16
[SPEAKER_03]: And I think outside of that, there may be some question marks of the depth of that group there, but share your thoughts on Tep, but then also those other past catchers and what to expect from them, at least to start the season.
5:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, Tettaro, McMillan, you did a great job picking him up in fantasy.
5:32
[SPEAKER_01]: That yielded some great things for you last year, obviously offense broke you the year.
5:37
[SPEAKER_01]: obviously you know I didn't have the touchdown production early on in the season but then ultimately gotten to the end zone and actually low key kind of a lot.
5:47
[SPEAKER_01]: This passing offense runs through a point link and so and he was in the slot I saw this next gen stat the other day.
5:55
[SPEAKER_01]: He was in the slot about 20% of the time last year.
5:58
[SPEAKER_01]: I imagine that percentage is going to go up
6:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Bryce, I'm simply needs to find more completions than he did in 2025 and that's kind of where Bryce likes to look to.
6:08
[SPEAKER_01]: So I imagine Teteromic Millen will be a 1200 receiver guy this year or 1200 yard receiving yards guy this year.
6:18
[SPEAKER_01]: I imagine he might even get into the end zone 10 times this year.
6:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Like I.
6:22
[SPEAKER_01]: I truly think that he can be a top 10 wide receiver in this league as early as 2026.
6:30
[SPEAKER_01]: Now that is as much of, I don't think that's hyperbole, but that's as hyperbolic as I'm gonna be about this wide receiver room because the rest of the room, like you said, is relatively unproven.
6:41
[SPEAKER_01]: There's a lot to love about Jalen Coker.
6:44
[SPEAKER_01]: who is the wide receiver too.
6:47
[SPEAKER_01]: He has a lot of upside.
6:49
[SPEAKER_01]: He is probably going to take over that slot position that was previously held by Adam Thielin and then Hunter Renfero and then all these things before Jalen Coker Oldsmilly won it last year.
6:58
[SPEAKER_01]: And so he's going to be a factor, but he has been plagued by injuries for his two years in the league.
7:04
[SPEAKER_01]: So we don't know what he looks like if he's fully healthy, 17 games.
7:08
[SPEAKER_01]: Xavier Leggette, the widersiever who was supposed to be this widersiever won coming out of South Carolina, he still has a lot of things to work through.
7:19
[SPEAKER_01]: He has a lot of things to prove going into your three just from just- I just want to talk to him, by the way.
7:24
[SPEAKER_03]: I just want to like have a conversation with Leica.
7:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, he's he's actually wonderful.
7:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Like he's he's so cool.
7:31
[SPEAKER_01]: He's so like he's so amazing And you can tell he really really cares.
7:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and and that is that that's all you can truly ask for But tantras fans who don't get to talk to them are asking for more.
7:45
[SPEAKER_01]: They're asking to for him to keep the sweetenbounds on these really difficult catches that yes, they are difficult
7:53
[SPEAKER_01]: But you were traded up, the Panthers traded up for you in the first round, and he knows he's able to make those catches.
7:59
[SPEAKER_01]: He's got to do that.
8:00
[SPEAKER_01]: He can't be lining off, lining up off side.
8:03
[SPEAKER_01]: He needs to find ways to limit the soft tissue injuries that have hurt him the past two years.
8:09
[SPEAKER_01]: And so, and he has done that.
8:10
[SPEAKER_01]: Two certain extent, he slimmed down 7 to 10 pounds of soft season.
8:13
[SPEAKER_01]: But Xavier Legut is also kind of this unproving guy.
8:17
[SPEAKER_01]: So those are the three that Bear's fans really need to know about.
8:20
[SPEAKER_01]: It goes T-Mac, Jalen Coker, and then Xavier Legut.
8:24
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the tight end situation,
8:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Even if you asked me about the titan situation, I wouldn't know what to say.
8:29
[SPEAKER_01]: The bansers have five.
8:31
[SPEAKER_01]: One is a special team's guy.
8:33
[SPEAKER_01]: One is Darren Waller, who is a former pro-bola, but they picked up off a free agency in the middle of this training camp because no one else was calling him.
8:41
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's tough to figure out what to make of that.
8:44
[SPEAKER_01]: Jutavian Sanders was in the midst of all these trade rumors.
8:47
[SPEAKER_01]: You kind of know what you're going to get at a time in trample of Mitchell Evans Boulevard.
8:50
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm just throwing names at you now, but like that's kind of the
8:54
[SPEAKER_01]: The tight end room for the pants is less couple years doesn't have like a number one guy and they don't really have much of an identity and that's something they need to establish this year as well.
9:05
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, it doesn't quite have probably a constant love Lyndon and a coal commit and the no titan room over there.
9:11
[SPEAKER_03]: Let's talk a little bit about the run game, Chewbah Hubbard and Jonathan Brooks, and Jonathan Brooks is on a lot of people's when you talk about fantasy world.
9:18
[SPEAKER_03]: He was a name that was being spun out there a lot when it comes to maybe those under the radar running backs that you could get maybe a little bit later.
9:25
[SPEAKER_03]: But expectations, let's just say specifically this weekend of what that run game, how they may run the ball, because that was a weakness of the bear's defense last year.
9:32
[SPEAKER_03]: And obviously week one,
9:33
[SPEAKER_03]: You don't know if it's fixed yet.
9:35
[SPEAKER_03]: They tried.
9:35
[SPEAKER_03]: They added a few pieces to try and bulk up that interior defensive line and those line backers to be a little bit better against the run.
9:41
[SPEAKER_03]: But that is something that was a weakness last year.
9:43
[SPEAKER_03]: Is that talked about over there?
9:44
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
9:45
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, it's absolutely talked about in Carolina.
9:48
[SPEAKER_01]: I would imagine, and this might be a shock because I've talked to some people who are particularly bearish fans or whatever the case may be.
9:57
[SPEAKER_01]: And
9:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Also, just the general fantasy football fan is like, well, Jonathan Brooks is like five running backs above Chubahubbert in the ESPN fans football drafts, whatever, whatever the case may be.
10:09
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm trying to tell the world, Chubahubbert is running back one, he's a captain of this team.
10:16
[SPEAKER_01]: Like he is probably the most important voice in that locker room outside of Bryce Young and maybe Derek Brown on the defensive side.
10:22
[SPEAKER_01]: Like he is really important.
10:24
[SPEAKER_01]: He is two years removed or like, well, in 2024, he had a 1,000 yard season and didn't even play every game due to injury.
10:34
[SPEAKER_01]: So like this guy's really good in 2025, he was, he was sideline the little bit with an injury.
10:40
[SPEAKER_01]: And then when he was out, Rico doubted, just went nuts.
10:43
[SPEAKER_01]: And so the Panthers just kept giving the ball to Rico, but it's not like Chupa forgot how to be a good running bag.
10:49
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not like he forgot how to,
10:52
[SPEAKER_01]: to utilize a super power of not losing yards of actually being a really good short yardage back.
10:58
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I just wanna make it clear, like the tuba hub, or we'll probably have 20 carries on Sunday.
11:06
[SPEAKER_01]: And Jonathan Brooks might have like five to seven, they might get them involved in the passing game or something, but if you for some strange reason have both
11:16
[SPEAKER_01]: Panthers running bags on your fancy football team, which if you do, then I got to talk to you.
11:21
[SPEAKER_01]: But you do, you got to start Cuba over Jonathan, because that's what's going to happen.
11:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Jonathan does have a slight ailment.
11:32
[SPEAKER_01]: He does have a growing injury that limited him in practice on Wednesday.
11:35
[SPEAKER_01]: It would talk to him.
11:37
[SPEAKER_01]: He said, I'm totally good to go.
11:39
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm ready, et cetera, et cetera.
11:40
[SPEAKER_01]: But like that's also something that's taken to account.
11:43
[SPEAKER_01]: So when we're talking about this this Russian group Chuba is going to be the guy and Chuba super power is not being explosive, it is kind of being that that three yards in a packet desk guy where Where he can get the job done, but he's not going to break off like a 30 yard touchdown run.
12:01
[SPEAKER_01]: I actually think coincidentally his longest touchdown run of his career was against the bears.
12:06
[SPEAKER_01]: week five a couple of years ago.
12:08
[SPEAKER_01]: Wait, they're just absolutely obliterated the Panthers, but Juma actually put the Panthers on the board early and everyone was like, oh snap, is this what today's going to be like and then Caleb Williams looked like a Hall of Famer and then yeah, I think DJ Moore had like three touchdowns that game.
12:22
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
12:35
[SPEAKER_03]: wear down a defense and that's what the type of running back that you like to have against a defense such struggles against the run because if you keep that defense on the field and you're having eight nine ten minute you know you're on you have that defense on the field for eight nine ten minutes and you can just wear them down that way that's when those you know that maybe it's a three yard three yard then first down those turn into a little bit of longer runs or opens up things for tech and you know maybe some of those tight ends and so
13:01
[SPEAKER_03]: That's when that's what type of back I picked or chew the hover being.
13:03
[SPEAKER_03]: So it'll be interesting with that.
13:05
[SPEAKER_03]: Like I said, it's a lot of unpredictableness on the fair side because they did add they traded Gerondester like a couple weeks ago and so now that defensive front and the middle looks a lot different than it did a year ago.
13:17
[SPEAKER_03]: So we'll see but I don't think there's fans have a ton of confidence especially out of the gate so that's something that you could probably take advantage
13:23
[SPEAKER_03]: I want to ask one more offensive question to move over to the defensive side of the ball, but last year another thing that I think is a positive offensively is that Bryce Young was only sack 27 times and I know some of that is the way he can escape and he could do some things to get away from those pressures and those sacks, but I do think that's some.
13:40
[SPEAKER_03]: credit to the line now there is a new center and then you drafted obviously when wrote freely and then Sam Hect who's behind him which I was a big fan of Sam I wanted the bears to drop to very badly.
13:50
[SPEAKER_03]: But so thoughts on that and what the line looks like right now expectations about the same like are you expecting them to be able to protect him the way they did last year.
13:58
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, the fact that you love Sam is great because I too loved him coming in, that's awesome.
14:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, no, the thing that this panther's offensive line, I think if you look at it from the outside, it's like, whoa, whoa, whoa.
14:13
[SPEAKER_01]: Is, is, are they in free fall?
14:15
[SPEAKER_01]: Like it's the sky falling because you had Ikki Kwanu with a panther's drafted.
14:20
[SPEAKER_01]: He was having a really good year last year and he was having a year so good that the panthers picked up his fifth year option.
14:27
[SPEAKER_01]: And so this was going to be his year to kind of say, okay, I'm worthy of a premier left tackle contract, but and then in the playoff came last year he ruptures his batteller tendon.
14:39
[SPEAKER_01]: and now he's out for a good chunk of 26.
14:44
[SPEAKER_01]: So like, okay, that's the left side of the line.
14:46
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, okay, what about the right side of the line?
14:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Everything's good there, right?
14:48
[SPEAKER_01]: Like Taylor Mohn's fine.
14:49
[SPEAKER_01]: No, this offseason, he had a blood clot in his lung.
14:54
[SPEAKER_01]: And he immediately was out until like in the middle of the year of 26.
14:59
[SPEAKER_01]: So you're starting your left tackle and your right tackle are two guys that haven't played for the Panthers before.
15:09
[SPEAKER_01]: and Rashid Walker on the left side and Monroe Freely on the right side.
15:12
[SPEAKER_01]: And Monroe Freely is, yes, he's a highly sought after rookie but he's still a rookie.
15:18
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I think a lot of people are like, oh my gosh, what's wrong?
15:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, is everything gonna be okay?
15:24
[SPEAKER_01]: The early returns where Rashid Walker I think the early returns on Monroe Freely have been good to okay.
15:31
[SPEAKER_01]: He really struggled against the best past Russian the NFL when the Texans came to the joint practice
15:37
[SPEAKER_01]: That was like low heat disaster.
15:39
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, Bryson got sex.
15:42
[SPEAKER_01]: You can't actually get sex in these practices because they would protect.
15:44
[SPEAKER_03]: They would be what we sex.
15:46
[SPEAKER_01]: But he was probably sex seven times.
15:48
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
15:49
[SPEAKER_03]: Which is it.
15:50
[SPEAKER_03]: It is the Neil and Will.
15:51
[SPEAKER_03]: So that's a tough task.
15:53
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
15:53
[SPEAKER_01]: Exactly.
15:53
[SPEAKER_01]: But like at the same time, like he's not going to have to face Danielle Hunter every week, but like there are really talented.
16:01
[SPEAKER_01]: Um.
16:01
[SPEAKER_01]: just past rusher's in this league and there's a really talented pastroff rusher for the Chicago Bears as well and want to sweat so it's like okay like he needs to fit like they need to figure something out.
16:14
[SPEAKER_01]: But then when you look at the interior offensive line which is where the Panthers really have like invested in like their fine Robert Hunt is back he's a pro bowl or a couple years ago.
16:25
[SPEAKER_01]: looks healthy and it looks powerful.
16:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Damian Lewis, the left guard is just as good statistically as Robert Hunt and he's healthy, they'll be available, and then Luke Forder has done well as well.
16:36
[SPEAKER_01]: So that offensive line on the interior, I don't, I'm not worried about if I will be a Panthers fan.
16:44
[SPEAKER_01]: The outside is where the questions lay, and you don't, you don't know until you know,
16:52
[SPEAKER_01]: Like the painters are going to need to establish running the ball that that is the thing that they need to do if they can figure that out, then you can get Bryce young on these play action things in space let him figure things out when he's outside of the pocket, but if you're like if you are in a second and eight situation if you're in a third and seven.
17:12
[SPEAKER_01]: And you're asking Bryce to just stand back in the pocket after receiving the shotgun and just like stare down a crazy blitz and hope that one of his receivers get separation, that's that's not going to work, that's just something to work.
17:25
[SPEAKER_03]: Dangerous world to live in, it's wild actually because I know Ike Aquano and that play it was the playoff game that he towards the teller right.
17:32
[SPEAKER_03]: and then the bears left tackle Aussie Trapilla tour, his titular tentant and there are first wildcard game against the packers.
17:40
[SPEAKER_03]: The crazy part is he's back in practicing like he's like way ahead of schedule.
17:45
[SPEAKER_03]: And everybody was like, is this real?
17:46
[SPEAKER_03]: But he's this week he was even limited like in on the, on the injury part.
17:52
[SPEAKER_03]: So it's kind of crazy.
17:52
[SPEAKER_03]: But
17:53
[SPEAKER_03]: Um, that injury is usually takes a little bit longer to come back from.
17:56
[SPEAKER_03]: I don't know what he's done to make it a little quicker.
17:58
[SPEAKER_03]: But I know what key Aquano is definitely missed on that line.
18:00
[SPEAKER_03]: Let's look over to the defensive side of the ball a little bit.
18:03
[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, a lot of the additions, uh, the softsies and you talk about a jail and philips.
18:06
[SPEAKER_03]: You talk about Bobby Ocaricade, Devon Lloyd.
18:09
[SPEAKER_03]: Um, so defensively, I think upfront, especially there's a lot of newness up there, but a lot of names that you've added that I think can bulk up.
18:16
[SPEAKER_03]: that D-line in the line-backer room.
18:18
[SPEAKER_03]: So try a little bit about that and what you've seen through camp with those new additions and addition to kind of the pieces you have last year.
18:24
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, the Panthers defensive identities starts with Derek Brown.
18:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Like that is when he is, when he is there and he is healthy, the defense is good.
18:36
[SPEAKER_01]: The defense, like the line of scrimmage won't be utterly dominant.
18:41
[SPEAKER_01]: Outside of him on the defensive line, there's a lot of unproveness in fact the Dan Morgan went out and traded for defensive linemen that was who was on the charges practice squad Tira Edwards and they and he is probably going to be active on Sunday.
18:58
[SPEAKER_01]: So they and they also dragged to this guy Lee Hunter, but outside of Derek Brown on the defensive line, there's a lot of questions moving backward, Devon Lloyd is one of the best.
19:09
[SPEAKER_01]: coverage linebackers in the game.
19:11
[SPEAKER_01]: They went out and got Bobby Okara K who also is just like a tackling machine.
19:16
[SPEAKER_01]: So I feel okay about the inside linebackers spot.
19:20
[SPEAKER_01]: And then on the outside linebackers spot, Jalen Phillips.
19:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Wonderful talent.
19:24
[SPEAKER_01]: He is he like, I really think this could be the year that he breaks through that ten sack barrier.
19:30
[SPEAKER_01]: Because he's getting paid like an NFL premiere pass rusher.
19:33
[SPEAKER_01]: And he knows that that is expected of him this year.
19:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, but the issue is on the other side of the line and this is what if I don't know if we're going to do predictions on the game or whatever, but like the other side of the line Pat Jones is supposed to be the other starter in ej average three four base defense he's supposed to be the other outside line back or other past pressure and he will not play this weekend because of a back injury that Dave can else just told us about yesterday.
20:03
[SPEAKER_01]: And you already lost your supposedly, but the one who's supposed to start at outside linebacker in Nick Scorton, early on in training camp.
20:13
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's like, okay, so you're going to your third string outside linebacker, probably on the right side of this defense.
20:22
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm just curious to see how Ben Johnson can attack that and how he can, like, like,
20:30
[SPEAKER_01]: Pat Jones is a really good run stopper.
20:32
[SPEAKER_01]: He might not be the best pass, but it should be a really good run stopper.
20:35
[SPEAKER_01]: They now don't have someone who can effectively seal the edge that well.
20:39
[SPEAKER_01]: And so if there is one part of this defense that is concerning, it's that.
20:48
[SPEAKER_01]: The Panthers already struggled getting after the quarterback.
20:50
[SPEAKER_01]: If they don't get much of a pass rush, that's just like what it is.
20:53
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just like what has happened.
20:55
[SPEAKER_01]: But the fact that now they might not be able to stop
21:00
[SPEAKER_01]: And I know that's Ben Johnson's thing, like, that is really scary, that's, that is really scary.
21:08
[SPEAKER_01]: And the defensive back field is like well known and well decorated too.
21:12
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if you want me to, I don't know if you were going to prompt me about that.
21:14
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, go ahead.
21:15
[SPEAKER_03]: J.C. Horn kind of leads the way back there.
21:17
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, the name people recognize, but yeah, go ahead.
21:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, J.C. Horn.
21:21
[SPEAKER_01]: And then on the other side, it's Mike Jackson and those guys have two of like Matt staff for last year called them.
21:27
[SPEAKER_01]: two of the best cornerbacks that he'll face in the NFL now Matt Stafford said that in many ways because he turned the ball over three times against them in the regular season.
21:35
[SPEAKER_01]: So maybe some MVP campaigning really bad.
21:39
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
21:39
[SPEAKER_01]: No, no guys trust me.
21:40
[SPEAKER_01]: They're like.
21:42
[SPEAKER_01]: But like.
21:44
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, he was the MVP, they made plays.
21:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Mike Jackson led the league in past deflections last year.
21:50
[SPEAKER_01]: J.C. Warren had five interceptions, which was among the league's best.
21:53
[SPEAKER_01]: So they're good, and the safety room is like, is what it is that you got, you got, I don't want to just keep throwing out names here, but the strength of the defense is the cornerbacks.
22:07
[SPEAKER_01]: J.C. Warren, Mike Jackson, and the identity is Derek Brown.
22:11
[SPEAKER_01]: then everyone else, there are a ton of question marks at the rest of the defense, and that's not good.
22:19
[SPEAKER_01]: You need to kind of know who you are going into such an offensively talented group like the Bears, but it's week one.
22:26
[SPEAKER_01]: It's week one for everyone, so.
22:27
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, our defense is a mystery too, Alex, believe me.
22:30
[SPEAKER_03]: Let me throw this before I let you go.
22:32
[SPEAKER_03]: Just like kind of flipping around to you, the conversations there in Carolina about, let's talk about the Bears offense because I think that is
22:40
[SPEAKER_03]: the talking point of the off-season around the league is can Caleb Williams take that next step, can, you know, the Roman doomsday Lutheran and Colson love and Colcomet, the Andre Swift.
22:48
[SPEAKER_03]: You have a ton of weapons to work with and it's Ben Johnson, who's just kind of proven his brilliance now for several years in a row whether it's an offensive coordinator or a head coach.
22:56
[SPEAKER_03]: So what's the chat there around Carolina?
22:58
[SPEAKER_03]: What, you know, you just mentioned about stopping the run being important because Ben Johnson leads into that.
23:03
[SPEAKER_03]: But when it comes to the past catchers, what is the conversation throughout that and being able to potentially, how do you slow down Caleb Williams?
23:10
[SPEAKER_01]: How you slow down Caleb Williams is not, I don't think that is the question that is circulating Carolina, because he can just be a magician at times.
23:21
[SPEAKER_01]: I think literally we talked to defensive coordinator E.J.
23:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Evero earlier this morning.
23:25
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think he used the word magic when asked to describe what Caleb Wilson, excuse me, Caleb Wilson's on the brain.
23:32
[SPEAKER_01]: Sorry, I, Carolina, you guys.
23:35
[SPEAKER_03]: I was like, we also had, we drafted it.
23:36
[SPEAKER_03]: The bulls drafted Caleb Wilson.
23:38
[SPEAKER_03]: I know.
23:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Sorry, I've been, uh, Caleb Williams.
23:41
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, Caleb Wilson is also magical in his own way.
23:46
[SPEAKER_01]: Caleb Williams, his talent is limitless.
23:49
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to be overzealous about this, but Caleb Williams could be a top five quarterback in the league as soon as this year.
23:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Just based off what I've seen.
24:00
[SPEAKER_01]: And of course, I'm tuning in in in certain moments when he is like holding on to the ball for 11 seconds and running 20 yards behind the line of skirmish and just like chucking the ball 50 yards in the air, whatever for a touchdown.
24:17
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm seeing it in certain ways, and I also saw his best performance as a rookie when he just absolutely obliterated the panther, so maybe I'm a bit skewed here.
24:27
[SPEAKER_01]: But like, I don't know how you can quantify how good Caleb Williams can be.
24:33
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's not good for someone like me to be saying.
24:37
[SPEAKER_01]: But like, but also like, I do want to make it clear.
24:43
[SPEAKER_01]: This coaching staff and these players know that as much as the highlight plays get publicized with Caleb Williams, as much as the trip plays get attached to a guy like Ben Johnson.
24:53
[SPEAKER_01]: They also know that this team is just a good football team.
24:58
[SPEAKER_01]: They are a good offense that runs the ball, that stays on task, that doesn't fall behind first, second, third down, that I know Caleb turned the ball over a lot.
25:09
[SPEAKER_01]: His rookie year, but I don't think he turned the ball over that much last year, right?
25:12
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's like, where is this team's weakness?
25:19
[SPEAKER_01]: It's on defense.
25:20
[SPEAKER_01]: That's really where it is.
25:23
[SPEAKER_01]: The Panthers, if they want to be competitive this week, they have to be prepared to score 30 points.
25:29
[SPEAKER_01]: That's just how it is going to need to be.
25:31
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I think that's most of the conversation out out there with this Panthers franchise.
25:37
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, and I think that the one thing like Caleb doesn't even rookie season didn't turn the ball over a lot.
25:43
[SPEAKER_03]: I think he has like the best if not top three like touched down to interception ratio the last two seasons.
25:48
[SPEAKER_03]: The problem is more so that accuracy there's a lot of and we have all these numbers like turnover were the plays that people say should have been picks or could have been picks and that's the type of things that the accurate you completed under 60% of his past is last year.
26:01
[SPEAKER_03]: So that's something that bears fans are talking about.
26:04
[SPEAKER_03]: need to improve.
26:05
[SPEAKER_03]: And so I do think that from that sense and the bears say the same thing of that they want to win football games this year.
26:10
[SPEAKER_03]: They're probably going to have to score at least 30.
26:12
[SPEAKER_03]: Ben Johnson said he wants to average 37 points per game so we'll see what that ends up being.
26:19
[SPEAKER_03]: But Alex, I really appreciate your time.
26:20
[SPEAKER_03]: I'm actually headed up.
26:21
[SPEAKER_03]: I'm going to Charlotte for the game.
26:23
[SPEAKER_03]: So I have never been to Charlotte.
26:24
[SPEAKER_03]: I'm excited to kind of experience the city and go to the game and hopefully
26:28
[SPEAKER_03]: Hopefully it's a fun one.
26:29
[SPEAKER_03]: I know you guys want to win.
26:30
[SPEAKER_03]: We want to win.
26:31
[SPEAKER_03]: So we'll see how it shakes out on Sunday, but thanks for hopping on and chatting some football with me.
26:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.
26:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Thanks for having me on the show.
26:37
[SPEAKER_01]: It was fun and please enjoy Charlotte.
26:39
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a wonderful city.
26:41
[SPEAKER_03]: All right, thank you for both season is back and I'm personally super excited.
26:44
[SPEAKER_03]: Another thing about me is I get a little bored just betting on the spreads.
26:47
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27:04
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27:23
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28:02
[SPEAKER_03]: All right, let's continue on now.
28:04
[SPEAKER_03]: We're going to chat the bear side of the football.
28:06
[SPEAKER_03]: The fun, the good guys, right now, a Jeff Berkiss, you know, I'm a co-host of Bear and Balance right here on Second City Gridiron.
28:13
[SPEAKER_03]: Jeff, thanks for taking time out of your workday, the channel little bears, but we're back to football.
28:19
[SPEAKER_02]: Back to football.
28:20
[SPEAKER_02]: Let's get it.
28:21
[SPEAKER_02]: Let's get up.
28:21
[SPEAKER_02]: Let's kick it off.
28:23
[SPEAKER_03]: I love it.
28:23
[SPEAKER_03]: I want to start with the offensive side of the ball for the bears.
28:27
[SPEAKER_03]: This is where all of the good talk is coming from the soft season.
28:31
[SPEAKER_03]: There's a lot of questions on the defensive side of the ball.
28:34
[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, on the defensive, but offensively what do you think this weekend will look like?
28:39
[SPEAKER_03]: Do you think they really lean into that run this week?
28:41
[SPEAKER_03]: Do you think they start fast like Caleb open up a little bit?
28:44
[SPEAKER_03]: What do you think this is going to look like your expectations?
28:47
[SPEAKER_02]: I think they want to let a loose right.
28:49
[SPEAKER_02]: I think Ben's going to want to hunt explosives.
28:51
[SPEAKER_02]: I think they're going to try to find a way to do that.
28:54
[SPEAKER_02]: I think the way to do that is going to be through the passing game, try to get the ball into Colson Lovelins hands, Luther Burton looks like he's going to be okay.
29:01
[SPEAKER_02]: Looks like Roman doomsday is okay.
29:03
[SPEAKER_02]: I think they're going to want to let it out.
29:05
[SPEAKER_02]: Let it run.
29:06
[SPEAKER_02]: See what happens.
29:07
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I was just talking to Alex at low color covering the Panthers and he was talking about how they obviously they lost Nick Scorton earlier in the soft season and then now can Alice just announced that the backup to him is now going to be out this off season of this game at least I'm not sure how long I said for probably a few games so I think that's big in the sense of.
29:27
[SPEAKER_03]: listening the the past rush that you're expecting especially with maybe some of those questions that we have at left tackle right now of you know how it wears Braxton Jones and kind of what that level of play is going to look like on that side of the line so what are you thinking about that side when it comes to just protection of Caleb and him being able to be maybe a little bit more stable on the pocket against them.
29:47
[SPEAKER_02]: Obviously, it's going to be a little different than it was at the end of the last year.
29:50
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, every year is going to bring changes.
29:52
[SPEAKER_02]: But for the most part, we know that four out of the five positions.
29:55
[SPEAKER_02]: They feel pretty good about Braxton.
29:57
[SPEAKER_02]: We know has played at least that in acceptable level in the past.
30:01
[SPEAKER_02]: But I think it's more that you know you have good tight ends.
30:05
[SPEAKER_02]: You have three tight ends that you feel really good about that can help in the past protection game.
30:10
[SPEAKER_02]: And then you know that Ben Johnson understands how to maneuver and manage around maybe one guy.
30:16
[SPEAKER_02]: that he doesn't feel totally confident, just saying, okay, you're one-on-one here.
30:20
[SPEAKER_02]: So I think you trust Ben and the rest of the offense of staff to come up with a protection plan that says, you know, we're going to make sure that we give Brax and help here.
30:30
[SPEAKER_02]: We're not going to put him on an island and also you have these tight ends that you have invested heavily in over the last couple of years to make sure that they help both in the past game, but certainly in the past protection game.
30:41
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I think it'll be fun to see just game by game, how Ben Johnson kind of utilizes these weapons because I do think there's an argument you talk to some people and they're like, Luther Bird and it's going to be all loop their bird in the offense is going to run through him and then you talk to other people and they're like it's close to the level and it's going to be close in and then it's like okay, but you need Rome you need that that failed to be stretched a little bit and you need to see Rome.
31:02
[SPEAKER_03]: Back to what we saw early last season and I think that if you get that version of Rome, this offense, I think is going to be unpredictable week to week even a week one when you can kind of just open things and just do a lot of different things.
31:14
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that's the beauty of trying to build an attack with different players with different skill sets, right?
31:20
[SPEAKER_02]: And so you've got Roman Dunesay who, I think a lot of bears fans are down on Rome.
31:25
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't understand it the last, we saw Rome.
31:28
[SPEAKER_02]: He was battling a foot injury.
31:30
[SPEAKER_02]: He had the drop at the playoff game at the goal line.
31:32
[SPEAKER_02]: I get why there's some level of frustration, but this is the player that Ben Johnson originally ran his offense through on the first part of the year.
31:41
[SPEAKER_02]: It wasn't DJ Moore.
31:42
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, the Colson Levelin and Luther Burden walls were still coming along and earning those reps early coming back for injury with the case of Colson Levelin.
31:51
[SPEAKER_02]: And so you've got DJ Moore now in Buffalo where he's a much better fit.
31:56
[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm very happy with a trade for all parties involved.
31:59
[SPEAKER_02]: but you have Rome, healthy.
32:02
[SPEAKER_02]: You have Luther Burton with a full year of the system under his belt.
32:06
[SPEAKER_02]: He moves different, right?
32:07
[SPEAKER_02]: Then you have Colson Lovelin who was just this he was on the superstar trajectory, right?
32:12
[SPEAKER_02]: And so I think everybody has different opinions of which guy is going to emerge, but I think that the answer is yes.
32:21
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's the exciting thing about this offense is that
32:25
[SPEAKER_02]: they're going to, Ben is going to be able to find matchups in every single game.
32:30
[SPEAKER_02]: And so depending on the flow of the game, depending on the defensive personnel, Luther Burton might have a monster game one week and then not do a lot the next week, because Colson Lovelin is the feature player or Roman Dunes is the feature player, right?
32:43
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think it's going to be that dependent sometimes where it's going to have these monster games, and then there's going to be times where it's super balanced.
32:51
[SPEAKER_02]: Or maybe two guys have a
32:55
[SPEAKER_02]: That's what's exciting about this offense is that they have three really legitimate guys.
33:00
[SPEAKER_02]: We haven't talked about Cliff Raymond who's fit for Ben to run that role.
33:04
[SPEAKER_02]: So there's I think really exciting that there's a reason to be extremely excited about this side of the ball.
33:11
[SPEAKER_02]: It's because Ben Johnson has all the ingredients that he meets to make the best meal you've ever seen as a bear swim.
33:18
[SPEAKER_03]: It's crazy to think about like all offseason every podcast interview I've done and I said there I'd be like the defenses, you know, it's struggled.
33:26
[SPEAKER_03]: They weren't really good last year but the offense and everyone was like, isn't that weird to say as a bear's fan?
33:30
[SPEAKER_03]: Yes, it is.
33:32
[SPEAKER_03]: It's weird to talk about a highly efficient offense, expectations and then a defense that you're just trying to figure out what they can be and where the ceiling is at for certain players and I think maybe the ceiling for certain players and we'll get to the defensive side of the ball.
33:44
[SPEAKER_03]: Maybe as maybe there's some
33:46
[SPEAKER_03]: expectations there that okay like you know certain players just get a little bit better or stay healthy and this defense can look better than last year but that's some ifs a big ifs included in that so before we get to the defensive side of the ball Jeff if I were to just ask you what you would like to see from Caleb Williams like the one thing you want to see on Sunday from him what would that be
34:06
[SPEAKER_02]: I think I would like to see him start fast, I think that is one thing that maybe didn't happen with any sort of regularity last year was that it took him a while to get into the flow of games, whether that's, you know, maybe sailing passes a little early, you know, just just not finding that rhythm early on.
34:24
[SPEAKER_02]: he needs to lock in from the start like that might be his next professional step like how do you get into that moment early and so you're not having to rely on some of those late game heroics all the time and he was like better in like the second quarter and the fourth quarter right it was kind of this weird you know weird mix from him last year so i'd like to see him start faster
34:47
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I think that's what we all you want to see that and even early last year I felt like it was a joke because the previous season they never scored in the first quarter and it was this whole thing and then you do early last season be like oh we put points on the board early they scored their first touch on them like a year and the first quarter something like that.
35:04
[SPEAKER_03]: So you do want to see more of that.
35:05
[SPEAKER_03]: And I think the consistency is a big thing for a lot of people to just rather than having these mountain tops within a game where it's like really high and then really low moments maybe just level that out a little bit at least that you know until this offense really gets going.
35:19
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, we'll keep the high moments, but like, let's bring up the load.
35:22
[SPEAKER_02]: Bring up the load, yeah.
35:24
[SPEAKER_02]: That's the next progression is that we get rid of some of those troughs, and they just become, maybe it's a fuel-gold drive instead of a three-and-out or a short drive, right?
35:34
[SPEAKER_02]: It doesn't necessarily, every drive doesn't have to be a touchdown, I mean, that'd be great.
35:37
[SPEAKER_02]: But it's just converting those, those no-point drives into a fuel-gold temps, those fuel-gold drives into touchdowns, and that's how you drive that overall point value.
35:48
[SPEAKER_03]: I let's flip to the other side of the ball.
35:49
[SPEAKER_03]: That's for a lot of kind of probably the questions come through throughout the season, but even this this week and I know the the Panthers were play off team this last year.
35:58
[SPEAKER_03]: Bryce Young was probably playing his best football down the stretch to I think it was like 14 touchdowns four picks down that.
36:04
[SPEAKER_03]: final stretch stretch something like that.
36:06
[SPEAKER_03]: And so he was playing his best football.
36:08
[SPEAKER_03]: I think there's still a lot of questions with Bryce though of you know when he's under pressure some of the things he can do.
36:13
[SPEAKER_03]: He started his feet get his feet get a little lancy when he's under pressure and things like that.
36:17
[SPEAKER_03]: So that'd be kind of what I would expect you try to get something going defensively with that with the pressures.
36:23
[SPEAKER_03]: But we'll see what it looks like.
36:24
[SPEAKER_03]: But what is your expectations when it comes to the game plan?
36:28
[SPEAKER_03]: Against that, do you have Jalen just kind of follow-to-it and say figure out the rest because that's the main weapon you have to really worry about there.
36:37
[SPEAKER_02]: I think overall, I obviously, let's start by saying, every bear is puned and is scared about the defense.
36:45
[SPEAKER_02]: Every person covers a team looks at the defense and says, well, you know, you didn't go out and do the thing that we all identified.
36:52
[SPEAKER_02]: During free agency and the drafts that we expect to do to do and then one of their major free agent signings got hurt, right, in terms of the back end.
37:01
[SPEAKER_02]: So so that there is a reason for the consternation where I want to kind of pull back a little bit is that
37:11
[SPEAKER_02]: There's the talking point that says, you're not going to be able to repeat the turnovers.
37:16
[SPEAKER_02]: That was, and they'd call it luck.
37:17
[SPEAKER_02]: The turnover luck turnover luck.
37:19
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think where you guys not around during the love of years, because those defenses consistently turn the ball over.
37:26
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, they had a Hall of Fame, a middle linebacker.
37:29
[SPEAKER_02]: They had a corner that should be on the Hall of Fame and peanut Tilman.
37:33
[SPEAKER_02]: They have another really good linebacker in Lance Briggs.
37:36
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, they had players that could turn the ball over.
37:39
[SPEAKER_02]: You don't see those same names on the Bears roster today.
37:42
[SPEAKER_02]: However, it is a bit of a mindset.
37:45
[SPEAKER_02]: And if Dennis Allen and Ben Johnson have had these conversations, I say, you know, our goal is to steal a couple of possessions.
37:53
[SPEAKER_02]: And you fill your team with guys that are gonna do that.
37:58
[SPEAKER_02]: And you know what, if you give up a score now and then you give up a score now and then.
38:02
[SPEAKER_02]: But we have confidence on our offense to make that back.
38:05
[SPEAKER_02]: But I want you to steal possessions.
38:07
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's what I expected from Dennis Allen last year, and that's what he delivered.
38:11
[SPEAKER_02]: And so I'm not going to shy away from the idea that
38:15
[SPEAKER_02]: this bears defense can't do that again.
38:17
[SPEAKER_02]: And it's not that it's, you know, they're not going to miss certain players.
38:22
[SPEAKER_02]: But if they're coaching these guys up to that level, I mean Kevin buyer didn't look particularly good last night in that opener, right?
38:29
[SPEAKER_02]: He was great last year.
38:30
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, then the rookie, Dylan Thineman, can he come in and be a difference maker right away.
38:35
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a big ask for rookie, but he was also first on rookie, right?
38:39
[SPEAKER_02]: So I just I just want to kind of
38:41
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know how much is going to change in terms of the approach and over the off season players were added that fit, I believe, what Dennis, that system fit a little bit more, there's just that evolution, so they're gaining players that fit these certain roles.
38:59
[SPEAKER_02]: And so in terms of game plans,
39:02
[SPEAKER_02]: from Dennis Allen.
39:03
[SPEAKER_02]: I think they're going to continue to be these dynamic game plans where you're going to find ways to create pressure.
39:10
[SPEAKER_02]: You're going to, you know, push it.
39:13
[SPEAKER_02]: It's always weird and weak one because you don't have that like recent film.
39:17
[SPEAKER_02]: But I think there's going to they're going to pressure, you know, put pressure on Bryce Young to make some bad decisions and hopefully throw a few to the Navy in Orange.
39:26
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't think that that overall approach is going to change that much.
39:29
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, and they're also missing both their tackles.
39:31
[SPEAKER_03]: They're starting what should be starting tackles are on the left side in the right side or out.
39:35
[SPEAKER_03]: So that opens up some opportunity to get around like that.
39:38
[SPEAKER_03]: And we've talked so much about the past rush Jeff, rightfully so.
39:42
[SPEAKER_03]: It's been lacking the last few years.
39:44
[SPEAKER_03]: But I also, to me, I almost feel like the run defense is more important.
39:49
[SPEAKER_03]: There were just too many games last year where I felt like your defense couldn't get off the field.
39:52
[SPEAKER_03]: Teams figured out they could run on you.
39:54
[SPEAKER_03]: Those drives wouldn't end up being 9, 10, 11 minutes long.
39:57
[SPEAKER_03]: Next thing you know,
39:57
[SPEAKER_03]: Caleb was having to do something miraculous in the fourth quarter because you didn't have the ball offensively a whole lot of time and so do you have a similar mindset in the just that run defense being super important and they they obviously that is something they invested in with a intermediate street and a level gal more and some of those pieces they did at.
40:14
[SPEAKER_02]: So that, I think, is a really good point, Taylor, and that is, can table you a street a better player than, uh, drove on Dexter on paper, right?
40:25
[SPEAKER_02]: He's a street free agent.
40:26
[SPEAKER_02]: His guy's a bounce around a bunch, uh, versus a guy that was a relatively hard draft pick that has a pedigree that has, you know, some real flash moments.
40:36
[SPEAKER_02]: you know, most people are going to say, well, Dexter is obviously the better player, but is he the better player in the system, right?
40:42
[SPEAKER_02]: So he goes back, actually goes back perfectly to that DJ more conversation, right?
40:46
[SPEAKER_02]: It's DJ more a good football player.
40:47
[SPEAKER_02]: No question about it.
40:48
[SPEAKER_02]: He isn't very good football player.
40:50
[SPEAKER_02]: He's a guy that most teams want on their team, right?
40:55
[SPEAKER_02]: Does Ben Johnson want DJ Moore or to see want a guy that is going to run very specific routes the way that he wants them all at the time, right?
41:05
[SPEAKER_02]: And so I think that if you agree with me and you think that Ben Johnson's the idea of a Ben Johnson wider receiver is not DJ Moore, and DJ Moore is going to be more successful in Buffalo's offense.
41:18
[SPEAKER_02]: It's the same thing I think on the defensive side is that you're looking for certain role players, and so they may not jump out as you like, oh man, this guy's a first round pick.
41:27
[SPEAKER_02]: He's going to just destroy worlds.
41:29
[SPEAKER_02]: No, that's not his job.
41:30
[SPEAKER_02]: His job is to collapse the pocket, push back the center and the guard into the quarterback or it's going to be to contain those inside runs and hold their ground and eat up double teams or get off the blocks and make minimal gain,
41:47
[SPEAKER_02]: So, in my, I don't know, I haven't seen street play a lot of football, but can those guys step into that role and play the role that Dennis Allen has vision for his defense?
42:00
[SPEAKER_02]: And if you have more of those better fits for the roles, are we going to see a defense that's greater than the sum of its parts?
42:08
[SPEAKER_02]: That's the hope.
42:09
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, that is definitely the hope.
42:11
[SPEAKER_03]: But let's look at this weekend a little bit before I let you go, Jeff.
42:13
[SPEAKER_03]: And just the thought process on how you feel the game would go.
42:18
[SPEAKER_03]: But let's do it in terms of give me something like this is how the bears win.
42:22
[SPEAKER_03]: And this is why they lose.
42:25
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, well, I don't like the last question, and I think that they could lose, let's start with that part.
42:31
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that they could lose because September football is really weird.
42:35
[SPEAKER_02]: There are some things that could come out that you're just not, you know, you're a little exposed to.
42:39
[SPEAKER_02]: It's going to be hot.
42:40
[SPEAKER_02]: I know it's been hot all summer, so it's not like, well, they're going to Charlotte.
42:43
[SPEAKER_02]: So that's even harder than, I mean, it's been brutal in the Midwest.
42:48
[SPEAKER_02]: It's been brutal everywhere.
42:49
[SPEAKER_02]: So I think they're probably as conditioned, and I don't think Caroline does that thing that Miami does, where they stick the opponents in the, in the sun and they get the shade.
42:58
[SPEAKER_02]: So I think that like both teams are going to be, you know, so I do think there's going to be conditioning issues on both sides.
43:06
[SPEAKER_02]: And so I think that you could see a weird football game at the end where some fresh legs or something happens.
43:11
[SPEAKER_02]: And
43:11
[SPEAKER_02]: you know, someone gets cramped and is out and you're down to your third corner because everybody's battling cramps.
43:15
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that's how those sorts of things can land.
43:19
[SPEAKER_02]: So the weirdness and all that, but I think the bears are a better football team on paper, given everything, and so I'm not completely worried.
43:26
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, they're three point favorite on the road.
43:28
[SPEAKER_02]: They should be, right?
43:30
[SPEAKER_02]: How they win this game?
43:30
[SPEAKER_02]: I think they start fast.
43:34
[SPEAKER_02]: and they just continued implement the plan that they started last year.
43:38
[SPEAKER_02]: They're starting this year at a much higher level than they did last year.
43:41
[SPEAKER_02]: I expect them to be able to understand how to establish the run to connect the run to the past game through play action.
43:47
[SPEAKER_02]: Caleb should be playing with a lot of confidence because of how last year ended with going to the playoffs, winning the division, and being pretty successful overall being that close to winning a second playoff game.
44:00
[SPEAKER_02]: So I think that overall it's just
44:03
[SPEAKER_02]: What's your two look like and dominate a team that you should be better than?
44:09
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, it's interesting because Caleb's talked so much the soft season about, you know, kind of being fed through the fire hose last season and his head spinning a little bit with all of the information he was taking in and Ben Johnson offense.
44:20
[SPEAKER_03]: And you saw that early on.
44:21
[SPEAKER_03]: You saw, you know, the illegal motions and the legal shifts and false starts and it felt like you were constantly moving backwards before you were going forward.
44:29
[SPEAKER_03]: Or at the moment you did, you'd get a first down and get backed up for whatever offensive penalty before that.
44:34
[SPEAKER_03]: I think those things,
44:36
[SPEAKER_03]: are going to be not I don't think gone because you don't play enough snaps in the preseason anymore to really shake all of those things out but I do think we'll see a lot less of that which will help with some of those faster starts than we did last year.
44:47
[SPEAKER_02]: The only new piece is Cliff Raymond, who was in this system in Detroit, and by all accounts and upgrade over all of me just a kiss.
44:55
[SPEAKER_02]: And you've got your two of Luther Burton, your two of Colson-Levelin, you know, Colcompet, you know, coming back, everybody's coming back, right?
45:04
[SPEAKER_02]: So everybody should be running in that higher level because they have experience in the system, the only new pieces,
45:13
[SPEAKER_02]: is the center who's a who's an old veteran center who's been around a long time.
45:16
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't anticipate they're being in any issue there.
45:19
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, and all camp I feel like every report I've heard is how good DeAndre Swift has looked to, which makes you really excited too.
45:25
[SPEAKER_03]: So keep that up.
45:27
[SPEAKER_03]: But I appreciate it.
45:28
[SPEAKER_03]: I'm super excited.
45:29
[SPEAKER_03]: I'm going to Charlotte.
45:30
[SPEAKER_03]: So be out there.
45:32
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
45:32
[SPEAKER_03]: Be out there, bear and down.
45:34
[SPEAKER_02]: Fantastic stuff, bear down.
45:36
[SPEAKER_03]: Have a good one.