Latest / 2nd City Gridiron / Making Monsters: Bears v Lions week 18

Transcript

Making Monsters: Bears v Lions week 18 · 2nd City Gridiron

0:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome back to another making monsters weirdly enough.
0:13
[SPEAKER_01]: It is week 18, the final week of the regular season and the 2025 NFL season, which is crazy.
0:19
[SPEAKER_01]: It flew by it, it feels like it now.
0:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Join by Jeremy Riceman, you guys know him.
0:23
[SPEAKER_01]: He's joined me many times on making monsters for many reasons.
0:26
[SPEAKER_01]: It's been a while since we chatted, though, because since week two, we haven't played, but now here we are, bears lions, week 18.
0:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Probably a little different look than what we thought it was.
0:36
[SPEAKER_01]: especially after the two weeks there, but Jeremy, thanks for helping all with me again.
0:40
[SPEAKER_01]: I really appreciate it.
0:41
[SPEAKER_01]: I hope you found a Merry Christmas and get it ready for a happy New Year.
0:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, thank you for having me.
0:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Always happy to talk football even if the situation isn't where I would personally want it to be.
0:53
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
0:53
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's start with that, because normally I would talk about straight the game right away and the storylines in this game, which there still are many storylines.
1:00
[SPEAKER_01]: And so we will get to some of those, but I want to chat a little bit about these seasons and the Lions perspective of things because I know it has to be a little bit of a little frustrating.
1:09
[SPEAKER_01]: I think now they've lost four of the last five games and it's down a stretch when you still did have playoff hopes at the end and so.
1:16
[SPEAKER_01]: What are the, what's the mindset there when it comes to kind of how the offense has been going?
1:21
[SPEAKER_01]: I've seen a lot of back and forth about David Montgomery not being used at, you know, how people want him to be used and the Dan Campbell took over play calling.
1:28
[SPEAKER_01]: So, chat a little bit about that just from week two when we talk to you last, to now of what's been going on offensively with Detroit.
1:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's definitely pretty interesting because a lot of what we saw in week one against the Packers still kind of an issue where it was, the offensive line wasn't in cohesion, the running game wasn't getting going, the past protection wasn't particularly sound, and then the lines ran off like 50 against the bears, four against the ravens and everyone's like, oh, everything's fine.
2:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Turns out it wasn't.
2:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Turns out some of the running game
2:05
[SPEAKER_00]: fixes were just really explosive plays where they would, they went on the stretch of having, I don't know, one or two, 40 plus a herd rushes a game over a stretch of like four or five games, but like the down to down efficiency, the the success rate of the run game has just not been there.
2:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Really all season and now is the lines of played some progressively harder defenses in the back half of the schedule of the Vikings.
2:31
[SPEAKER_00]: the the Steelers, the Rams, that some of the run game issues are are becoming bigger exposed.
2:38
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think, you know, I'm not going to sit here and say Ben Johnson leaving didn't have anything to do with it.
2:43
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think the major reason is is the the overall on the interior of the offensive line.
2:48
[SPEAKER_00]: You, you lose Frank Ragnar, your all pro center.
2:51
[SPEAKER_00]: You let Kevin's like they're walking free agency or your right guard who's was playing at a pro bowl level.
2:56
[SPEAKER_00]: And then, you know, now you have Christian Mahagani, a second-year player, a day three pick from last year, starting at left guard.
3:04
[SPEAKER_00]: You have a rookie starting at right guard and you have Graham Glasgow veteran playing at at center, but he's kind of towards the tail end of his career center.
3:11
[SPEAKER_00]: It was not a position.
3:12
[SPEAKER_00]: He's played a ton of it's been a few years since that was his primary position.
3:16
[SPEAKER_00]: And
3:16
[SPEAKER_00]: The line's offense is kind of taking that step back that you would expect when you take a significant step back on your offensive line that the real frustration I think here in Detroit though is that it never really got better.
3:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Usually this team is so accustomed to playing its best football in December.
3:33
[SPEAKER_00]: figuring out issues and finding solutions.
3:36
[SPEAKER_00]: They never really seemed to find the solutions this year.
3:38
[SPEAKER_00]: And in fact, they did get worse as the season went on.
3:41
[SPEAKER_00]: And there were times, here, dumb stretch were it seemed like maybe they were writing the ship.
3:45
[SPEAKER_00]: They put up a lot of points on the aforementioned rams.
3:48
[SPEAKER_00]: They beat up on a cowboy's team whose defense is not particularly good.
3:52
[SPEAKER_00]: But it never settled in to a point where everything seemed figured out and that leaves things in kind of a precarious situation going into the off season.
4:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think if any team can understand what an offensive line can do or not do in the business and then I mean this year and you especially the interior you talk so much about left tackle and you know that's protecting your quarterback's blind side obviously if you have a right handed quarterback and how the importance of that but the interior especially in this league now where you're seeing these guys who can just you talk about the run defense on teams but the guys that can create pressures up the middle and how difficult that is.
4:29
[SPEAKER_01]: for a lot of quarterbacks to be able to handle that, that type of pressure, and you're seeing that.
4:34
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, the bear is replaced their entire middle side because it was bad.
4:39
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I do think that, I remember having this conversation, we kind of did a talking point in August of the biggest off-season losses that maybe people aren't talking about enough.
4:50
[SPEAKER_01]: And I put Ragna online because if you go back and you look at how
4:54
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, he was such a crucial part of that run blocking.
4:57
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I do think that, yes, you lose that.
5:00
[SPEAKER_01]: And you're trying to figure out an offensive line.
5:02
[SPEAKER_01]: I think it takes time for an offensive line to start yelling too.
5:05
[SPEAKER_01]: That's something we've seen in Chicago, not only not really having the weapons, but you also or the guys who can play very good offensive line.
5:12
[SPEAKER_01]: But also when you're having to constantly do make shift lines and switch people around and you're dealing with injuries, that affects a lot of things too.
5:20
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I do think that if anybody can relate,
5:22
[SPEAKER_01]: to that side of things.
5:23
[SPEAKER_01]: It's definitely fair spans, but I do think that when you look at especially week two, you know, bear's lines playing week two, it did kind of feel like, okay, well, they're fine.
5:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, they'll be fine without Ben Johnson, Ben Johnson had something in place that they can just move on and succeed with, and you know, you have enough weapons, and you have really good running backs.
5:42
[SPEAKER_01]: And
5:43
[SPEAKER_01]: However, the case may be so it's interesting.
5:45
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm honestly shocked at the way that it kind of went throughout the season because I thought that I didn't really know what bears when percentage would be.
5:53
[SPEAKER_01]: I had it around eight wins so they've done better than what I thought, which I think that's most people's case.
5:58
[SPEAKER_01]: But I did think it was going to be like, Lions, Packers, Bears, all kind of vying for something at the end.
6:03
[SPEAKER_01]: And I felt like that's what it was going to be.
6:05
[SPEAKER_01]: But chat a little bit of defensively.
6:08
[SPEAKER_01]: Flashier, a lot of the talk was injuries this year too.
6:10
[SPEAKER_01]: Unfortunately, the Lions have had
6:11
[SPEAKER_01]: to deal with a lot of injuries on both sides of the ball, but defensively too.
6:16
[SPEAKER_01]: So try a little bit about that, defensively what have you seen this season that it has it been something that you feel like has been the same kind of storyline as the offense?
6:25
[SPEAKER_00]: A little bit, it certainly felt the pattern of just kind of falling apart towards the end of the season, which again, it's a little bit shocking, given everything we know about the surgime, everything we know about them rising to the occasion and not giving up towards the end of the year, anything like that.
6:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, a first time coordinator on that side of the ball to Calvin Shepard taking over for Aaron Glenn.
6:47
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, both him and John Morton were hires that I think were supposed to be these frictionless hires where they're just kind of continuing the system that was left in place.
6:55
[SPEAKER_00]: John Morton was more than familiar with what the lines were running because he was an offensive assistant in 2022.
7:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Calvin Shepard has been a coach here in Detroit since Aaron Glenn took over.
7:04
[SPEAKER_00]: First is, you know, a linebacker assistant and the linebacker's coach and now the defensive coordinator.
7:09
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think the issue that they've run into is too fold.
7:16
[SPEAKER_00]: I think part of it is they were looking for a little bit.
7:19
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I think Calvin Shepherd was trying to put his stamp on the defense a little bit and be a little bit more flexible.
7:24
[SPEAKER_00]: And I generally think that's a good thing to have for defense.
7:28
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't necessarily need to be married to one system, especially once the injuries come, you have to play the players that you have strengths.
7:36
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think they failed to find the identity that they really were looking for in this year.
7:41
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if there's one like tent pole of what this team does well defensively that they could rely on.
7:47
[SPEAKER_00]: For the past few years, it's been the run defense.
7:49
[SPEAKER_00]: They've been a really good run defending team.
7:51
[SPEAKER_00]: And it started out that way this year and then things kind of slipped towards the end of the season.
7:55
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think part of that is losing your top two safeties.
7:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Those guys play a pretty huge role in defending the run.
8:03
[SPEAKER_00]: And I know that doesn't sound normal for
8:05
[SPEAKER_00]: a normal defense, but that's who the lions really rely upon.
8:10
[SPEAKER_00]: They need their corners to fill run gaps.
8:12
[SPEAKER_00]: They need their safe fees to fill run gaps.
8:13
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's where the weakness has been towards the end of the season.
8:17
[SPEAKER_00]: The other part of it is just this past rush philosophy that I think Lions fans have now just like absolutely hated.
8:26
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't like the philosophy of basically having this past rush that
8:31
[SPEAKER_00]: encloses the pocket around the quarterback, but in a slow manner, like they don't want guys winning right away and getting to the quarterback, because that opens up rushing lanes, it can get the quarterback out of the pocket where they can, you know, make plays.
8:43
[SPEAKER_00]: What obviously would be a concern this week against Caleb Williams who's so good outside the pocket and so good with his feet?
8:49
[SPEAKER_00]: But the problem with that is it takes a while to slowly close in the pocket around the quarter back and it puts more pressure on your outside corners and the lines really love to play a lot of man, you know that I think they're second to see your man percentage and so you're putting so much pressure on that guy on those guys that they're they're getting beat a lot they're giving up a ton of explosive plays they're getting called for a lot of penalties like they have been for the past three or four years and I think the most frustrating part of it for me is that early on
9:16
[SPEAKER_00]: their idea of a defense was to stop them on first down, stop them on second down and then you can kind of boost up the pass rush on third down.
9:23
[SPEAKER_00]: They actually largely succeeded in the first two steps there.
9:26
[SPEAKER_00]: They were getting into a lot of third down.
9:28
[SPEAKER_00]: They were getting do a lot of third and favorite rules.
9:30
[SPEAKER_00]: The problem was they couldn't get the pass rush home.
9:32
[SPEAKER_00]: and then they give an explosive play on third down.
9:34
[SPEAKER_00]: They're by EPA and success rate, I think they still are, but certainly were a couple of weeks ago, a top five team on first and second down, and then a bottom 10 team on third down.
9:45
[SPEAKER_00]: And that was so, because they're doing everything that the system is supposed to do,
9:51
[SPEAKER_00]: That's got to be the most frustrating part for Calvin Shepard.
9:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Is that they were able to get into third and manageable?
9:55
[SPEAKER_00]: They were able to turn the aggressiveness up on third down, but like the blitzes weren't getting home.
10:00
[SPEAKER_00]: The past Russian wasn't getting home.
10:02
[SPEAKER_00]: And the outside corners under performed, I think, to expectations.
10:06
[SPEAKER_00]: There was, again, more injuries.
10:08
[SPEAKER_00]: At corner this here, you lost DJ Reed for a large portion of the season.
10:12
[SPEAKER_00]: He is back now, you lost Terian Arnold, your first run pick from last year, about halfway through the season, but largely I think there were some schematic weaknesses that really showed up, especially as we got towards the end of the season here.
10:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, another relatable thing, not being able to pass Russia, get the blitz to work.
10:30
[SPEAKER_01]: We know that one too, very well this year.
10:32
[SPEAKER_01]: It is a weird conversation having as a bears fan saying, I trust my offense way more than I trust the defense that hasn't been something I think since I've been able to say.
10:44
[SPEAKER_01]: The defense has a lot of issues and I will get to those in a second because I didn't want to ask about the David Montgomery stuff.
10:51
[SPEAKER_01]: That's something obviously.
10:52
[SPEAKER_01]: that I see on my Twitter a lot and because David Montgomery was in Chicago, it hits closer to home for us when it comes to that.
11:00
[SPEAKER_01]: But I see in just some comments about lack of usage and I know he was banged up a little bit so he wasn't practicing or he was sick and so there's been some other factors into it.
11:09
[SPEAKER_01]: But what is that David Montgomery situation right?
11:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so this year represented a definitely a change in strategy with their running backs, Dave Montgomery had always been the starter, you know, and it would be, it would still lean to me or gives like a 6040 split, maybe sometimes even 65 35.
11:28
[SPEAKER_00]: but it was David Montgomery, who was always in there first.
11:31
[SPEAKER_00]: He would set the tone.
11:32
[SPEAKER_00]: He would be physical.
11:34
[SPEAKER_00]: That swapped.
11:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Jamir Gibbs says I believe started every single game this year where David Montgomery is kind of just come in.
11:39
[SPEAKER_00]: In random spots, sometimes it's the the second drive, sometimes it's the second quarter, sometimes it's the second half.
11:45
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's
11:47
[SPEAKER_00]: I understand this strategy, right?
11:49
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm Jamir Gibbs is the most explosive bit more, more explosive back.
11:53
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, they're starting to use him more outside as a receiver in the slot.
11:59
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, he was, he was in the offensive player the year discussion like a month ago.
12:03
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, I think,
12:09
[SPEAKER_00]: I think what maybe they lost in putting less on David Montgomery's plate is that physicality is that ability to set the tone and wear down defense.
12:18
[SPEAKER_00]: But if I'm being completely honest, I don't know if they would have leaned more on David Montgomery if it would have made much of a difference at all because of everything I just said before, which is the interior of that offensive line has not played good all season.
12:29
[SPEAKER_00]: And David Montgomery stats are not that great all season either.
12:32
[SPEAKER_00]: And they started to kind of lean on him a little bit more as a late.
12:36
[SPEAKER_00]: They leaned on him a more on that Christmas game and he was doing nothing.
12:39
[SPEAKER_00]: I think people like the idea of playing Dave Montgomery more because it feels like an easy solution, but I think this was a more complicated problem with the running game that Dave Montgomery probably wouldn't have solved.
12:52
[SPEAKER_00]: I still like the idea of playing a little bit more in short yardage situation.
12:56
[SPEAKER_00]: He still has the same physicalness, ability to break tackles and all that stuff.
13:01
[SPEAKER_00]: But I mean, if you want an explosive play, which is how the lines offense lived in the first two months of the season,
13:07
[SPEAKER_00]: You're more likely to get one out of junior gives than David Montgomery and that's what the lines need right now.
13:12
[SPEAKER_00]: They need explosive plays because they're not consistent enough to be able to grind out four or five six yard runs consistently right now because it's been more like one two yard runs and that's not doing anyone favors whether it's junior gives or Dave Montgomery.
13:27
[SPEAKER_01]: It really shows you between last year and this year how drastically when you talk about offensive lines that's part of it schematically that's going to be a part of it, but also using the backs and their strengths rather than just using the running back to use the running back at something that we've seen here in Chicago, you know, do you want to switch off your people are ready to kick them off the team the soft season and then now.
13:48
[SPEAKER_01]: is to pass, you know, that thousand yards and the the dynamic between him and Kalmanon guy has fit really well.
13:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Kalmanon guys more of that run.
13:56
[SPEAKER_01]: People over bruiser short down back and looking also be explosive.
14:00
[SPEAKER_01]: We've seen that too.
14:01
[SPEAKER_01]: But Swift has always been that more perimeter runner runner, you know, like he can be shifting when he absolutely needs to, but he's not really technically that type of back.
14:10
[SPEAKER_01]: And so having
14:11
[SPEAKER_01]: an offensive coordinator who can identify that and understand that.
14:14
[SPEAKER_01]: And then a line that can follow through with that has just made a huge difference.
14:19
[SPEAKER_01]: And so it is kind of a tale of two stories when it comes to the swap of the run game, especially between these two teams.
14:27
[SPEAKER_01]: But let me ask you because I know you were one of the people when I talked to you earlier.
14:32
[SPEAKER_01]: I think I talked to the softsies in and then obviously again week two and we had the conversation about
14:36
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of people saying that Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams weren't going to work for multiple reasons.
14:41
[SPEAKER_01]: You were one of the people that were more optimistic at least from the NFC North side of things.
14:45
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of the people, Lions, Vikings, and Packers with media and fans that I talked to were did not think it was going to work.
14:51
[SPEAKER_01]: You were more on the side of this could be really dangerous if it does work.
14:56
[SPEAKER_01]: And I don't, I think there's a shot it does was kind of the mindset that I felt like you had early on.
15:02
[SPEAKER_01]: It feels like it's working.
15:06
[SPEAKER_01]: can it not be just this year a fluke of, you know, kind of what looked like a hard schedule being an easier schedule until you get down the stretch, but he's playing his best football honestly right now too.
15:16
[SPEAKER_01]: So what's your thoughts on that?
15:17
[SPEAKER_01]: What you've seen from Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson adjusting to the type of quarterback Caleb Williams is, but also Caleb Williams trying to learn this playing and structure in some of those things.
15:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, the first thing that jumps off the table is still the run game, right?
15:31
[SPEAKER_00]: It's fantastic.
15:33
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just as I remember last year here in Detroit where it's not just that they're like super efficient.
15:39
[SPEAKER_00]: It's that they're so multiple.
15:41
[SPEAKER_00]: They can play so many things.
15:42
[SPEAKER_00]: My first like real look into the Chicago Bears this off season was that black Friday game against the Eagles.
15:47
[SPEAKER_00]: And I was just, I was stunned because I was kind of part of that crowd where it's like,
15:51
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, the bears are playing, you know, the record is better than than what they're actually playing.
15:56
[SPEAKER_00]: They're they're getting, they're just scurting by and all these teams.
15:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Once, you know, they part face off against this tougher part of the schedule, we might see the real Chicago Bears, but the one thing that I was also saying at that time was like, well, okay, maybe they weren't a great team when they were, whatever, six into or whatever it was, but
16:13
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm also opening up to the possibility of they're getting better, and then once they hit the stretch, they might just be a better football team that does closely resemble their record, and that Black Friday game was definitely eye-opening at that point where it's like, oh no, that offense is starting to click, they're starting to figure things out.
16:31
[SPEAKER_00]: That team is a team to be reckoned with, and it was the run game that kind of stood out to me.
16:35
[SPEAKER_00]: When it comes to the passing game, I think there's, I think recently, like these past few weeks, like you said, I agree that what I've seen Caleb Williams is definitely playing his best football, like there's still some of the accuracy issues that I was a little bit concerned about with the fit just because so much is timing related in Ben Johnson's passing offense and the details need to be perfect.
16:56
[SPEAKER_00]: But, you know, I've seen a couple of stats about how it was deep all.
16:59
[SPEAKER_00]: accuracy as improved in the past six weeks.
17:03
[SPEAKER_00]: You're starting to see him calm down.
17:05
[SPEAKER_00]: And then yeah, I think Ben Johnson has also done a really good job leaning into his mobility.
17:09
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, the most striking set to me is the sack numbers, right, where he was in the 60s last year.
17:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Now he's in the 20s, like that's
17:17
[SPEAKER_00]: that's incredible and and for as much of the offensive line probably deserving a lot that credit.
17:22
[SPEAKER_00]: I very much think sex is partially a quarter back stat as well and his mobility is ability to get rid of the ball quicker his ability to give up on place quicker which I think is an important aspect is avoiding those negative plays and so you know taking a throw out of the bounds when you're on the run and and not trying to force while the you know the turnovers are also way down.
17:42
[SPEAKER_00]: So, I think he's starting to learn some of the things that you would normally learn as a second year quarterback, but I think he's learning a meta quicker pace than you'd expect, especially while learning an entirely new offensive system.
17:52
[SPEAKER_00]: So, generally speaking, I've been pretty impressed with him.
17:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, they haven't had to lean on him too much right like there's a reason why he needs what 270 yards to finally become that 4,000-yard pastor.
18:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Like,
18:03
[SPEAKER_00]: And he's in a lot of those moments he has stepped up and delivered.
18:11
[SPEAKER_00]: I do like that's that's the next step for me though with with him is like okay.
18:18
[SPEAKER_00]: in these games where maybe you're going to have to throw it 35 times.
18:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you carry the offense?
18:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you be the operator that your golf has been into Troy under the same offense?
18:27
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm sure golf certainly got a lot of help from his running game over the past few years, but he didn't this year and still produce some pretty good numbers.
18:35
[SPEAKER_00]: I do wonder if Caleb can carry that load, but they don't need him to right now and they probably won't need him to next year necessarily either.
18:44
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just those moments where
18:46
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, it's on you, and like I said, early returns are good this year in terms of like those fourth quarter got to have it drive outside of, you know, the, the one intercepted me through was that green bay and the final play the game, but, you know, since then, even sometimes before then, he's he's been very impressive.
19:04
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, the accuracy has been a thing we've talked about, you know, on my podcast weekly where it's something you want to see get better.
19:10
[SPEAKER_01]: I do think it has throughout the year you've seen some of those throws that he was massively missing the one thing I noticed about Caleb is.
19:16
[SPEAKER_01]: He does get antsy and the antsiness turns into rushing throws and that rushing throws turns into over throws and that's what you see.
19:24
[SPEAKER_01]: I also feel like sometimes it's more set like he had he throws the ball so hard I'm like you don't have to do that when they're eight yards away Great when you know you go back to the Packers when they beat the Packers that was a 57 yard throw into 20 mile per hour When you've got to throw that ball hard, but you don't have to do that when they're 10 yards away And that's when you kind of see them sale.
19:45
[SPEAKER_01]: So I agree with you in the sense of like that next thing I want to see is that when you talk about
19:50
[SPEAKER_01]: Even the game manager and people kind of like laugh at that that that term.
19:54
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think it's a bad term.
19:55
[SPEAKER_01]: I think a game manager quarterback is somebody who knows in the right moments when to get rid of the ball.
20:00
[SPEAKER_01]: They know when to take off and run.
20:02
[SPEAKER_01]: They know when and so he started checking some of those boxes, but he hasn't fully done it in the in the light of it's just you see some of these past the sales.
20:11
[SPEAKER_01]: They do have a lot of drops.
20:12
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it's almost a thing is like 317 yards.
20:15
[SPEAKER_01]: They've lost and drops too.
20:16
[SPEAKER_01]: which was an issue last year for some reason this year it is so there are some other factors but I agree with you in the sense you still want that next jump of the accuracy and kind of managing the game as a whole.
20:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's switch to this week in a little bit.
20:29
[SPEAKER_01]: There are a few injuries you're looking.
20:31
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm in raw.
20:32
[SPEAKER_01]: I think is on the injury report and a stool on the injury report a few other guys.
20:36
[SPEAKER_01]: So chat about those expectations.
20:37
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you think because Dan Campbell said, you know, he's going to start a starters but he'll also shut his eyes down who have been dealing with injuries.
20:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think the lines will be, I don't want to say healthy because there's certainly not healthy at this point in the season, but yeah, as you said, Dan Campbell fully intends to play this game like a normal regular season game, the only difference being like those 50, 50 guys, he might be a little bit more conservative on the end.
21:02
[SPEAKER_00]: It's only Wednesday when recording this, so I can't tell you exactly what
21:06
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm on a, like, I'm on a peninsula, I think are the two headliners where I don't know where that one's going at this point, both those guys do not practice on Wednesday, but Taylor Decker has been a guy that's been dealing with the shoulder injury all season.
21:18
[SPEAKER_00]: And I thought, from me, was kind of like, oh, yeah, maybe you just shut him down and finally gave him a rest.
21:23
[SPEAKER_00]: But it seems like all go with him.
21:26
[SPEAKER_00]: He's limited today.
21:27
[SPEAKER_00]: We talked to him a little bit today.
21:29
[SPEAKER_00]: There's also like a little bit talk about maybe retiring and so the scheme might mean a little bit more to him, although he's trying to kind of try not that noise and not think about it yet.
21:38
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, like anyone else that, you know, I don't think they're planning on shutting down many guys, even if they've got kind of, you know, it's the whole, you know, are you heard or are you injured?
21:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, yeah, guys that are hurt are very much going to play in this game.
21:50
[SPEAKER_00]: And so,
21:52
[SPEAKER_01]: everybody's hurting.
21:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Everybody's hurting at this point.
21:55
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, like I said, the most impactful injuries, they're not getting either of those starting safety's back at this point.
22:06
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, they've been rotating a bunch of guys in it.
22:09
[SPEAKER_00]: The interior of the offensive line Graham Graham Glasgow, they're they're starter for most of the year.
22:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Seems like he's going to be back at the center this week after missing the past two weeks.
22:16
[SPEAKER_00]: A bunch of their offensive line is sick right now, which, I mean, that's just going through every clubhouse I think right now being in the winter.
22:25
[SPEAKER_00]: So we'll see who's healthy enough to play once we get there.
22:28
[SPEAKER_00]: But if you're, if you're, you got enough fluid in you and you know, you can walk straight.
22:34
[SPEAKER_00]: I think you're going to be out there for this one.
22:37
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it'll be interesting on the bare side because there's definitely another team they've had a lot of injuries.
22:42
[SPEAKER_01]: They dealt with when you talk about,
22:43
[SPEAKER_01]: Jalen Johnson and Kyler Gordon, both missing the majority of the season, Kyler still out, talk about missing all three line backers at one a good portion of the season, getting TJ and Tremaine back.
22:55
[SPEAKER_01]: That didn't really help much last week anyways, but they've had to do a lot of kind of makeshift defensive stuff.
23:00
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's why I think part of it, why the defense has been struggling part of it is, they just can't get any pressure whatsoever.
23:06
[SPEAKER_01]: So every quarterback has five seconds to figure out where they want to get the ball.
23:10
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, and I can't stop the run.
23:12
[SPEAKER_01]: So if you'd want to, they'll take away the ball, but they'll do nothing else.
23:15
[SPEAKER_01]: I was afraid of what it is.
23:17
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what it's meant.
23:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, it's worked for them.
23:20
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
23:20
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it does just enough.
23:22
[SPEAKER_01]: It gets you 11 wins at this point, maybe 12 this next week.
23:24
[SPEAKER_01]: But it will be interesting how Ben Johnson addresses this, because he's been kind of downplaying the Caleb possibly getting 4,000 yards downplaying this, that's the lion's, you know, revenge.
23:37
[SPEAKER_01]: whatever that storyline may be.
23:39
[SPEAKER_01]: He's more so like we've got playoffs to win.
23:43
[SPEAKER_01]: So we'll be interesting to see what he does because Luther Burton won, who got injured this last week, they said he could possibly go, but do you risk that in this game?
23:50
[SPEAKER_01]: You already don't have room and haven't had room for a while.
23:53
[SPEAKER_01]: So there are definitely some things that I'm kind of wondering like how Petty has been Johnson going to be in this game by pushing like
24:01
[SPEAKER_01]: the importance of this just that means technically nothing other than a two three seed the father should drop in down as the three seed you know so what would you think what would you think he did just from covering bent throughout his years do you think he wants to help Caleb get that 4,000 and just kind of shove it to the lines a little or do you really think he's looking at the plus season.
24:19
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a good question and it's hard to know the answer to I would say I don't think there's a lot of play a bad blood between the lines in the bears in terms of you know
24:30
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, we talked to Taylor Decker today.
24:31
[SPEAKER_00]: He's like, I love Ben.
24:32
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to give him a big hug after the game.
24:34
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just like he wants to beat us and we want to beat him.
24:37
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't think it's anything bigger than that.
24:39
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, Ben, Ben might be a little bit petty because the lines were in up 50 points on them.
24:45
[SPEAKER_00]: But I honestly don't think so because he's been in this regime like he knows why they did it.
24:50
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not because they wanted to prove a point.
24:52
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not because they wanted to stick it to his former offensive coordinator.
24:55
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just like they want to.
24:57
[SPEAKER_00]: compete as hard as they can from the first whistle to the last whistle every single week.
25:03
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, if he's taken anything from Dan Campbell, I think the 4,000 thing might matter to him.
25:08
[SPEAKER_00]: I like, I think because I was talking to someone, you know, another bear's right at this week and they're like, that matters to bear's fans.
25:15
[SPEAKER_00]: That that probably matters to Caleb Williams to be the first one to ever do that.
25:20
[SPEAKER_00]: And
25:21
[SPEAKER_00]: One thing that was pretty common here in Detroit, it's pretty common across the NFL at this point is when you have like money incentives, like contract incentives, the lines would go out of their way to make sure that they hit their incentives in week 18.
25:35
[SPEAKER_00]: And so this isn't quite the same, but because of how much it means in the history of that franchise, because of how much I think it would mean to Caleb Williams.
25:44
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, if he's sitting at 250 passing yards and it's a fourth quarter and the game's already over and there's two minutes left, yeah, I think he's going to throw a couple of screen passes and hope they they break them for 20 yards.
25:54
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, I had a similar sentiment last night on the locked on bear show I do because they were both kind of like no don't push it like it doesn't really matter and I'm like it doesn't in in reality and like the big ultimate picture of everything but that stadium will go nuts like the moment if he gets 4,000 on this game and it flashes up on the on the scoreboard like Caleb Williams hits 4,000 yards whatever.
26:20
[SPEAKER_01]: The stadium's gonna go nuts because it has been kind of like the mockery of all things like, oh, it's only team that hasn't done this and you're probably not getting the 30 touchdowns.
26:29
[SPEAKER_01]: So the 4,000 is the hope.
26:30
[SPEAKER_01]: He's like a hundred and eight from setting the bears record.
26:34
[SPEAKER_01]: The personal like actually hitting the bears all time leading receiving yards.
26:38
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, passing yards.
26:39
[SPEAKER_01]: So he has a hundred and eight to that.
26:41
[SPEAKER_01]: So that looks seems a little more realistic.
26:43
[SPEAKER_01]: But I do think it means a little something extra just because that's just been the like,
26:48
[SPEAKER_01]: something that someone always gets to make fun of the bears for it.
26:51
[SPEAKER_01]: If you could check that off, and I will, Caleb was one of the most competitive people in the entire world too.
26:55
[SPEAKER_01]: So for him to be the guy that does it in year two of his NFL career, he would be, you know, like there'd be a little something extra with that for him.
27:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no doubt, no doubt.
27:04
[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, listen, if I was Ben Johnson, I'd push for it.
27:06
[SPEAKER_00]: And to me, again, like I don't think it means anything more to do it against your former team or anything like that.
27:12
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's just internal.
27:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Like it's all intrinsic motivation there in Chicago.
27:18
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I don't think they need the extra stakes of, oh, they got us in week two.
27:22
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
27:23
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, before I let you go, how are you feeling this weekend?
27:25
[SPEAKER_01]: What are you thinking this looks like?
27:28
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not feeling great to tell you the truth.
27:30
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm kind of ready for the season to be over a little bit.
27:36
[SPEAKER_00]: It's been a tough year for Lions fans and the team.
27:41
[SPEAKER_00]: The thing that, I don't know, like I kind of had an epiphany this year.
27:44
[SPEAKER_00]: This week really is
27:47
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, we saw Matthew Stafford walk out of the building and immediately win a Super Bowl and now we're seeing Benja to immediately leave the team and win an RC North and win a two or three seed and who knows what happens in the playoffs.
28:00
[SPEAKER_00]: And so it's just it's been a tough build a swallow in this, you know, did short.
28:05
[SPEAKER_00]: five years or so it's been under this regime.
28:08
[SPEAKER_00]: But because the bears are just so good of a running football team right now and because that seems to be a little bit of weakness in Detroit, I think this one could be kind of a little bit of a blowout.
28:21
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I don't want to say that the lines have given up or, you know, they're not, they're not buying into the culture anymore, Dan Campbell's loss of locker mental.
28:28
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think any of that is true, but I think they're just not playing good football right now while the bears are the the teens are just trending in completely opposite directions right now.
28:36
[SPEAKER_00]: and I think a lot of the bear strengths match up poorly against the Lions weaknesses.
28:41
[SPEAKER_00]: I do think maybe there's hope for the Lions run game to return to form this week because obviously you mentioned all the struggles with the bears on in that fast into the game and if they can't pressure Jared golf, well he's a quarterback that can really take advantage of that time.
28:54
[SPEAKER_00]: So certainly could be a shootout.
28:56
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I'll have that depends on what the weather is going to look like in Chicago, but generally speaking I just think
29:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Chicago is playing better, more consistent football right now, and that's that's what Winja football games.
29:07
[SPEAKER_01]: I was about to say if you want to get your run game right, just play the bears.
29:11
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what it's felt like.
29:12
[SPEAKER_01]: We gave Ashton Gentie his breakout game.
29:14
[SPEAKER_01]: It's been bolts of both this season that they've, it's just been, I mean, Christian McCaffrey made us look like a middle school defense this last week, and so that wasn't very fun.
29:23
[SPEAKER_01]: But I appreciate your time again, Jeremy.
29:25
[SPEAKER_01]: I know believe me, these roles have been reversed.
29:28
[SPEAKER_01]: And I, I feel your pain.
29:30
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, the you're already starting to look at mock drafts pain rather than the postseason, but I appreciate you hopping on during this and I hope you have a happy new year.
29:39
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you, you too.
29:40
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you.