Bears vs. Eagles: Can Chicago knock out the defending champions?

The Chicago Bears will face a big test in front of a national audience when they travel to play the Philadelphia Eagles on Black Friday. Shaw Local's Michal Dwojak and Joe Aguilar give the latest news from Halas Hall and break down the key matchup for Friday's game.


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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, and welcome to the latest episode of the SHAWL
Local Bears Insider podcast. I Am Chicago Bears. Be Reporter
Michael Dwojick here with the Northwest Heralds Joe Aguilar As.
We are joining you guys on Wednesday morning. It's that
time of year, folks, when it's the holiday season when
we mess up the schedule a little bit here and
we're joining you guys on a Wednesday, but we're excited

(00:22):
to do it. We are going to be previewing Friday's
Black Friday game for the Bears against the Philadelphia Eagles. Joe,
a matchup of just it's the matchup that we expected
at the beginning of the season, two eight and three
teams battling it out for a top seed in the NFC.
Just you know, Joe, we'll get into the breakdown and matchups,

(00:46):
all that sort of stuff, but just a crazy, just
a crazy moment even for the Bears to be in
this moment at this point, you know, eight and three
going against the defending champion Eagles on Friday in front
of a national audience.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yeah, this is the game we had at the beginning
of the year. Pretty much everyone had circled as a loss, right,
you figure? And now I don't know what to think
about this game because even though both teams are eight
and three, both teams have their issues as most teams
do in the league. But it's just give me. We're
watching the Bears on a Friday. Have they ever played
on a Friday in their history of this organization?

Speaker 1 (01:22):
They have three times. The Athletics Kevin Fishbain actually had
this out the other day. I forget where it is,
but the Bears have played three times on a Friday,
and it is. Come on, Kevin, where is it there?
It is the last time the Bears played on a
Friday was in nineteen sixty six that was lost in

(01:42):
the Los Angeles ramp. You weren't around there, Joe. And
then and then the Bears also played on a Friday
in nineteen thirty nine and the win over the Cleveland Rams,
and then also in nineteen thirty one in a win
over the Cleveland Indians. So just the fourth time, Joe,
that they're playing on on a Friday. Thanks to Kevin

(02:05):
Fishpinger of the Athletic for that staff. But yeah, it's
been a while since we've had a Friday game here,
especially for the Bears.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
Yeah, it's gonna throw off everyone's schedule. It's like when
you have the holiday in the middle of the week anyway,
that throws you off. You think Friday feels like Saturday
or vice versa. It's just all weird. But this will
add to the weirdness. But it's football, NFL football. You
can just everyone shops online anyway. You're home anyway as
well watch the game unless you're going like you.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
Yeah, for sure. I mean, I mean, listen, this is
why they're kind of doing here, right, I mean, there's
a reason this game is on Prime Video. Oh, like,
let's go on Prime Video. Oh look, this thing is
on sale also on Prime dot Com. Like, and I
want to hit this on. I'm sure I'm gonna get
this question a million times. This game is on Prime
Video on Friday, but locally in Chicago, it will be

(02:54):
on Fox thirty two only in Chicago. Is it going
to be on Fox? If you guys, are you know
anywhere else in the country, you're gonna have to watch
on Prime Video. But because of the law of the
rules where you have to have it over the air
and in the home market, that game is going to
be on Fox. Thirty two for Chicago people. I know
I'm gonna I'm gonna get that question a lot. I'm
gonna get how do you get the Prime Video and

(03:15):
all that sort of stuff. I'm sure I'm gonna get
some family asking Michael, how am I supposed to watch
that game? You're in Chicago, it'll be on Fox. But also,
if you want to join Prime, go for it. And
if you aren't already a Prime member. If you're a
ready a Prime member, you get Prime Video already probably,
so you're you're you're probably set.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
But yeah, about two weeks, Yeah, you were asking me
there going to be blacked out, but you assured me
we're all good.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
So yes, we're all good. Don't worry. You're gonna be
able to watch your bears on Friday. So usually when
we start this podcast, we like to go over the
injury report. Since we're doing this on a Wednesday, we
only have one injury report to talk about, and it
was a walkthrough, so they didn't technically practice. So we're
kind of on very loose, you know, loose loose terms here.

(04:04):
We're not exactly on strong footing about making predictions about
who's going to be playing in this game and who's not.
But based on on an estimation from Tuesday, uh TJ.
Edwards and Noah Sewell and Tyreik Stevenson would not have practiced.
Reuben Hippolyte, Luke Newman and Dominique Robinson also would not
have practiced. Some encouraging newsto Bennett Kyler, Gordon Travis Homer,

(04:26):
Jalen Johnson and Kaalum and Nung Guy all would have
practiced on Tuesday. Wednesday today is going to be the
big day. That's the only time that they're going to
be practicing this week, you know, ahead of this game,
so we'll learn about a lot about what things kind
of look like. But Joe, based on this trajectory, I
mean even you know, I'm kind of conflicted here because

(04:49):
you know, obviously they'll try to get guys in as
much as possible. But if if TJ. Edwards doesn't practice today,
I assume he's not playing. You can't even throw him
back out there. I'm assuming that it's the hamstring injury
that's bothering him because he had surgery on his hand
a couple of weeks ago. They clubbed that up and
you should be ready to go. So I'm assuming that
it's a hamstring injury that's bugging him at this point.

(05:09):
So if even if TJ does practice or is limited,
and so is Noah stool like I, I don't know
how encouraged I would be about them playing on Friday,
just because you know, even today's practice on Wednesday is
going to be sort of like, you know, not a
hard practice, like these guys are trying to recover their
bodies quickly in order for a game on Friday. So

(05:31):
at this point on Wednesday, before talking to Ben later
on this afternoon, I would assume that the Bears are
still going to be without their starting linebackers.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
Here seems like it, And Edwards is the one I
worry about, like you wonder, you know, hamstrings can be tough,
and again you don't want to rush back. And look,
I mean, regardless of what happens on Friday against the Eagles, Uh,
they're in a playoff race. They will be again regardless
of what happens the following week at Green Bay. So

(06:00):
one is you're gonna need him in December for those
final three four games. And I'd rather have that than
taking a chance in risking and coming back early and
then he's not ready, and then he's out, and then
he's done for the year. So that's that's tough. But
they know better than than us. But I certainly would
not expect him play. I wouldn't expect him to play

(06:20):
the Green Bay game either, So but you know, that's
just got feeling on my part. I don't know, but uh,
I'm kind of looking uh at his at his at
it as he's not going to play Friday, and that's
again every time he's out, they're they're not as good
a football team. I no offense to uh Beniga, but Beniga,

(06:43):
I know I'd butcher that name. I knew it. And
DeMarco Jackson, you know, he's still better than those guys.
No offense, but he but he's just a good football player.
But I don't expec him to play Friday. But you
know better than me.

Speaker 1 (06:56):
Yeah, Rick asking a good question here. This will be
the fourth game that he would miss. That's TJ Edwards.
Why did he not put him? Why did the Bears
not put him on I R for a roster spot?
And that is a valid question here. I'm trying to think,
what was it? It was Cincinnati? He played in Cincinnati,
this would be I'm going through my bear schedule right now.

(07:19):
Wouldn't this be the third game that he would be
missing right now? Because they played against the Vikings and
then they played against they played against the Giants, and
then they played against the Vikings. Oh, this is the
fourth this is the fourth game. Yeah, you're right here, right,
I'm doing I'm doing my mental calendar right now, So yeah,
I I am. I think that kind of just shows
you that they really thought that he would be back sooner.

(07:42):
I think that just kind of shows how nagging of
a hamstring injury this has been. And again, this is
something that we always talk about with with soft tissue injuries.
At the beginning of the year, you don't want to
deal with that and you would want to get that
nipped up because you've seen what's happened to TJ this
whole year, right Like, he got that that hamstring injury
and it's just been a killer for Hi him for
the whole season. So I think that's a valid question.

(08:04):
I think that we haven't asked Ben about that, but
I would assume that it's just because they probably thought
that he could come back eventually and they want to
put him on ir especially given you know their injuries
in that area. But yeah, it's it's an interesting I
don't know if you feel strongly about it, Joe one
way or another, but to me, that just kind of
gives out the impression that they thought that he can

(08:24):
maybe come back and this hamstring injury is just not
it is continuously flaring up for him.

Speaker 2 (08:30):
That would appear to be the case, right They They
probably thought they'd get him back in a couple of
games and it hasn't happened. So now you just wonder
how long is this going to be. But nothing we've
heard has been encouraging, so in retrospect, I mean, they
just said Towny soft tissue injuries. I'm sure they go round.

(08:51):
Every team has a lot of them, but my goodness, uh,
you know, I don't want to, you know, because people
are gonna want to point fingers like, well, you know,
what's what's the you know, the training staff doing it.
These guys got to get fired. What's going on? I
don't know, but it's just too many. But you see, again,
it's not only on this team.

Speaker 1 (09:10):
It's just a league thing. There's so many different sof
tissue injuries that around the league.

Speaker 2 (09:15):
And you know, and and training and the science of
it has never been better. We have so much information.
There a lot of smart people trying to figure this out.
But I don't know. These guys train as you know,
you know, twelve months out of the year. All these
guys are are built like machines. Maybe there's just too
much of it. There's there's got to be a balance,

(09:35):
because it's just it's one thing if it's a contact injury,
you know, you're playing on what grass or you pull something.
But my goodness, it seems like guys, you know, walk
off the team bus. They still take a bus to
the game, and they're getting hurt. So it's not good.

Speaker 1 (09:50):
No, I mean, and I don't want to divulge to
or go you know, go off the path too quickly.
But they are playing on a Friday here, like it's
just the NFL schedule at this point. Like before then
there was just like play sixteen games, you're on a Sunday.
That said, like now it's like, oh, like we're just
gonna cram you guys, like you guys just went through
a car accident on Sunday, Pierre, go back and play

(10:12):
on Thursday and go through another car accident.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
It's just that's a really good point. That's just spread out.
It's not just everyone plays on Sunday, so now guys
are forced to play. You don't get that full week
to rest of rest. So that think that's a good point.

Speaker 1 (10:26):
Michael, All right, let's get into this matchups here. It's
a really interesting game because you mentioned Jim at the
beginning of the live stream that you don't really know
how to feel about this game, and I quite honestly,
you know, at the start of this live stream podcast,
I haven't really chosen whether I think the Bears are
gonna win or lose. Here. You just look at the
stats and you're just kind of like, huh, how are

(10:46):
both of these teams eight and three?

Speaker 2 (10:48):
Right?

Speaker 1 (10:48):
Like, if you just look primarily at the stats, I
know you know that that's not what the game is.
Obviously there are emotions and all that kind of stuff
and momentum, but when you look at the stats, you're
just kind of like, Oh, the Eagles are eight and three,
how is that happening? Oh the Bears are eight and three, Like,
how are they doing that with that defense? But in
some way, both of these teams are eight and three?
Obviously the Eagles are very talented. They've obviously got a

(11:10):
lot of playmakers on that team. So I guess, Joe,
what what big matchup are you looking for when you're
going to be watching on Friday afternoon.

Speaker 2 (11:19):
Well, I'll take the obvious one. Thanks for let me
choose first. I'll take just Ben Johnson's offense against Vic
Fangio's defense. This is the real the chess game. Here
two of the brightest minds. One guy's really young to
other guy's pretty old in Big Fangio, but he's still
regarded as one of the top defensive minds in the
game still today. And you know, it's funny because you

(11:42):
look at past Vic Fangio defense is remember he was
here the year they had all the sacks. It was
it was really a high number. But normally, like you know,
they're very disciplined teams. They take the ball away Philly,
I'm not sure about penalty wise, but like they're not
taking the ball away a lot. And if you look
at the stats, and again as fans, we get too
carried away with looking at the stats, me included, but

(12:05):
you know, there's no no guy Jalen Carter is not
having like you know, ten sacks season, there's none of
those guys. They're not taking the ball away a lot offensively.
Jalen Hurts has been good but not great. His numbers
are pretty comparable to Calebs, but his percentage of completion
percentage is much better. I like it's sixty seven percent.

(12:26):
Calebs is below sixty now fifty nine point change, you know,
but I think Caleb has thrown from more yards he
has than than Jalen Hurts. The receivers, you know, Devonte
Smith is outstanding, but now he's heards got a shoulder
with the shoulder or chest issue. We're not even sure

(12:46):
if he's gonna play Friday, right, so that that would
be big for the Bears with this secondary and you know,
banged up versus banged up. But if if DeVante Smith
has been real durable throughout his career, if he can't play, uh,
that's a big break for the Bears, certainly. But to me,
just the whole chess game here with Ben Johnson against

(13:07):
Vic Fangio is worth worth watching here because this will
be I mean, every game is a good test for
the Bears, especially how you know they've how many close
games they've had throughout the season. So that's the one
I'll be watching just to see how that. I'm not
a big x's and oh's guys, that's not my expertise
by any means, but just to see how that plays out.

(13:30):
And I think it'll probably be fun for both coaches
Fango and Ben Johnson.

Speaker 1 (13:34):
I like that matchup a lot. I am very excited
to see how this kind of looks. Just we know
what Vic fangiol he has, right Like He's transformed defenses
in this league over the last twenty five years. His
defense is no big explosives, stop you at the line
of scrimmage, and they're gonna disguise stuff and confuse your quarterback.
That's just what Vic fang We saw that in Chicago, right,

(13:55):
Like obviously they all those turnovers that they had, Like
Eddie Jackson had himself a year and with uh with
Vic Fanjo and Kyle Fuller also like had himself a career.
You're under Vic Fangil, Like those are you know, talented guys,
but I I'm trying to take anything away from them,
but he really brought the most out of them. And
that's a lot because of Vic Fangio's scheming right, Like,

(14:17):
he makes the quarterback think the entire time, and even
after he gets a snap, he's like, oh shoot, I
thought I was seeing this. Instead I'm seeing this. So
Caleb was really excited to you know, for well, you know,
I won't put words into his mouth. He was encouraged
or you know, he liked the chest match and that
sort of stuff. And I think it'll be a really
good test just to see how Caleb handles that, because

(14:40):
you know, Vic Fangio, I don't know if you heard
Joe was very complimentary of Ben Johnson the other day
when he met with reporters. He said, he's a fantastic
offensive mind, he's a great coach, he said all the
right stuff. You're obviously gonna hear that. But for Vic
Fangio to say that about about Johnson, I feel like
that's kind of a nice little you know, ego boost,
a nice little like, oh, like Fangio actually like think

(15:01):
something of me as opposed to you know, obviously all
these other hotshot coaches. But I think this is gonna
be a really interesting test for Kayleb because we've seen
how he's like kind of like that check chess match
with Brian Flores now, you know, four times, and it's
gonna be a similar thing. Now, the Eagles they'll blitz
a good amount, but I don't think they're gonna blitz

(15:21):
a crazy amount as much as as the Steelers and
the and the and the Vikings did. But I do
think that it'll be a chess match of all Right,
I'm seeing this cover this corner doing this, I think
the snap happens and it's like, oh, he's actually going
into you know, zone instead of man and that sort
of stuff. So it'll be a really interesting thing to

(15:41):
see because I feel like that's something that we're still
looking at Caleb right Like we're still trying to see
how does he process what he's seeing out there. Is
he able to you know, dice defenses up. Is he
able to kind of you know, force defenses into into
some mistakes because big Fangio isn't gonna give you a
lot of big explosives. So it really is gonna come
down to Caleb seeing those seven yard passes, those five

(16:03):
yard passes, those ten yard passes to really move the
ball down the field.

Speaker 2 (16:11):
Yeah, and again, what he's been good at all year,
Caleb is not turning the ball over. So you know,
let's avoid the interceptions, let's avoid the big plays. It
might not be a pretty game come Friday. I'm not
expecting this to be, you know, a good, you know,
thirty five to thirty two shootown kind of game or anything.
We'll get to that later. But this just could be

(16:32):
just another one of these, you know, kind of what
them has been all years, survive in advance kind of thing,
you know, find a way to win a football game.
But that'll there'll be another good challenge for him. And look,
I mean, considering he's still in the learning phase, growing
into the position, all those things, you know, this is
good for him. This is good for him, and this

(16:52):
this whole remaining the next month and a half here,
well we got left six games will all be good
tests for him, and including this one.

Speaker 1 (17:01):
All right, Joe, I'm gonna get to my matchup. My
key matchup is just it's kind of general, but like,
just don't let the Eagles playmakers become playmakers. Like I
feel like we've seen a lot of inconsistencies from these
guys you mentioned. Devonte Smith. Davonte Smith is having a
great season. We'll see how much he's going to be
playing with if at all he's going to be playing well.

(17:23):
Learn more about his status a little bit here on
Wednesday's injury report. But you know, Saquon Barkley isn't having
a Sequon Barkley season by any means. I think he's
only rushed for one hundred yards once this season. But
the thing is, I think it was Dennis Allen who
said this on Tuesday. He at any instant he has

(17:44):
the ball can make nothing out of something like he
it doesn't matter like where you have him, like you
can really he can really turn something into nothing into
something for a big play. So I think that's going
to be key. Limit you know, Saquon Barkley to those
five yard runs. Let him, you know, get a couple
of those big plays, but you can't let those type

(18:05):
of players burn him. AJ Brown is the same deal, right.
I know a lot of people are a little bit
tired of AJ Brown. I don't know if Eagles fans
are tired of AJ Brown obviously with all the all
the off the field stuff and the complaining and whatever.
But he's still a very talented wide receiver. And at
this point we're under the assumption that Jalen Johnson and

(18:25):
Kyler Gordon are not playing yet. That could change on Thursday.
They could be activated, they could be playing. But even
if those guys do play, they'll be playing in unlimited fashion.
So and right now you're dealing with Tyrek Stevenson, you know,
not practicing and having an injury. So you can't let
the playmakers kind of take over Friday's game. AJ Brown,
you know you can't hit let Jalen Hurts kind of

(18:46):
get settled in the pocket and hit him for a
fifty yard pass and move the ball down the field.
You can't. It's kind of what the big Fangio defense
is at this point, right like limit the damage, don't
let him get big explosive plays. Because this this I
know they haven't looked like statistically like the Bears are
a better offense than the Eagles are, but we know
that the Bear that the Eagles offense has a lot

(19:08):
of playmakers that can really turn the game around pretty quickly.

Speaker 2 (19:12):
Yeah, Saquin's averaging three point seven to carry. I mean,
you know, and I still think he's one of the
best running backs in the game. But but Aj Brown,
I mean, that guy's a beast. Philadelphia doesn't want him.
There'll be thirty thirty one other teams that want him.
He's that good. And look, he's just a big dude.
He can do everything. Smith is good. The Bear secondary

(19:35):
banged up. It can seems like we see this. We
I say this every week, like I don't know how
they're gonna stop this team, and then they find a
way to get two turnovers and win the football game.
But that's probably what it's gonna have to take again.
But Smith scares me. Aj Brown really scares me. And
Barkley Like you said, Michael, I mean, we've seen too

(19:56):
many running backs bust one off against the Bears. Too
many guys have run well against the Bears. Going back
to Ashton Genty, who's really not having a great season,
the boy he looked everything like way all the hype
when they played the Bear, when they played the Raiders
earlier this year, the Bears a gent looked really good.
So there's just too many guys who went gashing the Bears.

(20:17):
And Barkley still has the big playability. I know he's
banged up to lower body with something with him, so
there's I just don't see how they're gonna win this
football game. But Philly. I don't know, it seems I mean,
it seems like it's a soap opera there every week,
even though they're you know, they won the Super Bowl
h this past season, so but you're right, the big

(20:40):
playability and Dallas Godders having a good year too for
for for Philly. So they got some they got more playmakers,
and they still got the same guys.

Speaker 1 (20:49):
Who you who.

Speaker 2 (20:50):
Hurt teams last year in the Super Bowl. They're all
they're still and and they're and they're healthy again. We'll
see about Smith and and I mean Saquad, I don't
think he's not going to play, but they're they're Philly.
I mean they concern me as a Bears.

Speaker 1 (21:07):
Fan obviously a bit a big loss for Philly as
Lane Johnson isn't there right offensively, I mean, that's just
he's a phenomenal tackle, like he is a fantastic player,
and that's a big break for whatever the Bear's pass
rush is at this point.

Speaker 2 (21:22):
And you would.

Speaker 1 (21:23):
Figure that you would want to pressure Jalen into some
mistakes as much as you can. Lane Johnson not being
there is going to be a huge benefit for this
defense if he's one of the he's a phenomenal tackle.
I love his game. He's such a good player. So
it'll be that is again another break that the Bears
are catching. You know, everyone's injured at this point. I

(21:43):
mean the Bears might not have their entire starting linebackering
corps and most of their secondary. So before we go
over surprise predictions, since we're talking about the defense here,
I want to talk about this at least quickly a
little bit here because I didn't mention Jalen Johnson and
Kyler Gordon during the injury report. Both of them were
full participants. They've been full participants last week. The Bears

(22:03):
will have until Thursday at I believe it's three pm
to activate them onto the active roster off injured reserve
in order for them to play on Friday's game. I
guess we'll see what the practice. We'll see what they
if they end up practicing today. But if let's let's
assume either or both are back on Friday, what are

(22:24):
you doing with that secondary? Because you know it's been
it's been a topic here up at halls all the
last couple of days where it's like, I mean, what
do you do in Nashon? Right he's leading He's tied
with Kevin Byer leading of the league with interceptions with
five interceptions. You can't take away a playmaker like that
out there. So I guess let's assume that we're assuming

(22:44):
right now that Kyler and Jalen are both back, and
I guess we can make the assumption that that uh
Tyreek maybe won't be playing, especially since he's got that
nagging hip injury. So do you just kind of keep
nay Sean in that you know in that in that
Tyreek spot, you put Jalen in Jalen spot, and then
do you just put CJ. Gardner Johnson in that hybrid

(23:07):
linebacker spot that we kind of see like, I wouldn't
be surprised that the Bears play a lot of dime
like they did against the Steelers, because I think CJ.
Gardner Johnson has shown you that he could play that
hybrid linebacker spot pretty well.

Speaker 2 (23:19):
Yeah, his versatility is is a huge plus and a
big part of his game Gardner Johnson, So I mean,
I think you keep your best players on the field,
you find a way to play him. I think Nashawn right,
I think even Ben may have alluded to that, you
know better than me.

Speaker 1 (23:33):
Him and Dennis Allen both were of the of the
and Al Harris, the defensive backs coach, all like, we're
gonna put our best eleven out there, So I don't
think there's a chance it might look different. I will,
we'll see what the what Dennis Allen is gonna scheme up.
But I don't think nay Sean Wright is going to
the bench by any means after what he's done this year.

Speaker 2 (23:49):
Absolutely, And I think especially if in fact Jalen Johnson
and Kler Gordon are back playing, I don't think they're
gonna play like ever. Snap rights probably gonna be limb it.
So there's there's plenty of opportunity there for guys to
get their playing time. Ideally, though, you just you know,
we talk about, you know, how some guys can can pad.

(24:13):
They're not pad their numbers, but have high tackles numbers.
It's because you can't get off the field right, So
then those numbers, someone's making the tackle, even if it's
eight nine yards down the field. So somehow they've got
to find a way to get off the field. But
I think those guys play. I'm really hoping Dalen and
Gordon come back because he said he's got weapons. Now,

(24:35):
I mean, going into the season, we thought those were
arguably their two best defensive players. I think Jalen Johnson
was your best defensive player regardless, and then Cayler's maybe
you know, number two behind Sweat, or maybe it's it's
you know, you know, both tied for second, or whatever
however you want to look at it. But those are
great football players. And I was certainly excited to see

(24:56):
what Kayler Gordon could do with Dennis Allen. Dennis Allen,
how he would use him more. But yeah, I think
c J. Gardner Johnson is gonna see the field, and
you know, if everyone if everyone's healthy, he'll still find
a way to see the field.

Speaker 1 (25:13):
Did you like the dying packages? I was a fan
of I feel like they did. I feel like they
did really well in those dying packages. And I think
guys like uh like Nick McLeod and Elijah Hicks did
really well kind of stepping in there when they were
sending Brisker and c J. Gardner Johnson to pressure uh
Mason Rudolph a little bit. I I I enjoyed those

(25:34):
those dime packages.

Speaker 2 (25:36):
I mean too, and I think again the you know,
the they're football players, right, I mean, and some of
these dbs are kind of built like linebackers anyway in
the league. You know, they're all they might not be
six four like Tremaine Edmonds, but but they're compact or strong,
they're they're physical, they're fast, they can move, so you
can disguise it. Especially there's there's so much of that
going on in the NFL anyway, that again, find ways

(26:00):
to get your playmakers on the field. So, I mean,
you see that a lot in high school. I know
it's a big difference high school to pro, but you
know it's not too much of a stretch for a
guy like CJ. Gardner, Johns or some of those guys
to to kind of be like a hybrid kind of
kind of player. And it worked and for the most part.
I mean, it's not like they completely shut down at Steelers.

(26:21):
We've we've been over that, but it worked for the
most part.

Speaker 1 (26:26):
Yeah, And that's a big credit to Dennis Allen and
his coaching staff, right, Like he the players talked about
about how they've been cross trained to know to step
in in different positions. Like Kevin Byrd was talking about
how like the safeties are you know Kyler Gordon, for example,
he gave like Kyler has been working as a cornerback,
as a safety, as a slot cornerback, like he's been

(26:47):
all over the place. And other guys like Tremaine and
tj were also you know, cross trained and that sort
of stuff. And you see the benefits of that style, right,
Like you see the benefits of guys like if they're
thrown into different spots, they're now like, oh shoot, I
haven't played this since college, or I haven't played this
since you know, my rookie year. With this team, like
everyone is prepared for what they could potentially have to

(27:08):
do if they have to switch to row. So that
is a big credit to Dennis Allen and to you know,
Al Harris and the Cannon, all those different guys, you know,
Rick Smith, all those different guys who are on that
defensive coaching stafford getting those guys ready and for the
obviously for the players to buy in and be like
all right, Like I would rather be focusing on I'm
going to be playing quarterback most of the outside quarterback

(27:28):
most of the time. I would rather focus on that.
But it's a big credit to the guys for preparing
and putting in the work that you know if there
is an injury and they need to be moved to
a different spot, that they're ready to go in that spot.

Speaker 2 (27:39):
Yeah, well that's shit. And and I don't want to
sound like you can play dB you can play linebacker.
I mean, what do I know? I never played out
of the position. But to me, it is about your
preparation because the more you're moving around, the more you
got to learn, the more it gets harder. Right, You've
got too many things going on in your head and
where should I be it? And it only takes one
guy to you know, one guy out of eleven to

(27:59):
screw up, uh, for the other team to be able
to break off a big play. So but I just
still think they're athletes. But it's more about the preparation
during the week and then let your athleticism and ability
take over on the field. That'd be my guess.

Speaker 1 (28:14):
All right, Joe, what is your surprise prediction for Friday's game?

Speaker 2 (28:19):
Surprise perdiction? You can't say they're gonna take the ball
away because that's not a surprise anymore. You just kind
of almost assume it's going to happen. That's tough here,
because I still the more I study this game, the
more I think maybe the Bears can win this game.
But then you know, I don't, I don't. I don't know.
It seems like they're you can't just be escaping with

(28:41):
with one or two or three point victories every week.
But a surprise prediction. Boy, I'm almost stumped her. And
I've been thinking about it, Michael, I think there. I
think Deandres I don't know if it's really surprise Pricks.
I think DeAndre Swift gets back on track after I
kind of jinxed him last week and said he was
gonna be my envy b and then he maybe had

(29:02):
his worst game of the season. But I think DeAndre
Swift gets back going and they get back to running
the ball more effectively than they did, certainly against the Steelers.

Speaker 1 (29:11):
Yeah, I could see that. I you know, the Eagles
are again with every statistic that I kind of looked at,
they're kind of mid tier and everything right now, like offensively, defensively,
like I don't think they do anything phenomenally, but they
also don't do anything poorly. They're just kind of like
mid tier and everything like that. And I guess maybe
that's what you kind of have to do in the
regular season obviously to get to a super Bowl. But

(29:32):
I would agree with that. I think that this has
a possibility, especially I haven't looked at the forecast in
Philadelphia on Friday. I think it's supposed to be like fine,
like whatever, like November. It's not supposed to be like
a snowstorm like Chicago on Saturday. But I do think
that DeAndre, you know, he kind of goes through these

(29:52):
hot and cold moments where you know, some games it
just doesn't work, some games it does. So I could
see him having a big game and kind of you know,
putting the team on his back. I guess he's been
kind of writing the running attack as well, So especially
if you know they're not able to clog the Eagles
aren't able to clog the Bears running attack, I can
see that kind of being a big factor moving forward.

(30:15):
My surprise predicta go ahead, Joe, if.

Speaker 2 (30:17):
You're gonna say, I'm just gonna say, and maybe you know,
I I don't know how much of the old playing
against your old team uh matters anymore, but I would think,
you know, and he had a great year in Philly,
what two years ago, DeAndre Swift, and I think he
could get a probably want to show like, hey man,
it wasn't just a great offensive line. It was great,
But you know, I'm a player, man, I'm gonna I'm

(30:39):
gonna unshine say Quat today. So I would think, you know,
he's certainly aware of that and would want to have
a big game. Maybe he's more motivated. Again, does that
matter with players today? I think it does. Right. It's
like your old employer. I mean, you always want to
show them off a little bit, like you know, whether
football or your your your day job, whatever where it is,

(31:00):
you still want to kind of like show your old
boss and your old employer that you should have hang
on to me. You should have found a way to
keep me somehow.

Speaker 1 (31:10):
All right. For I've been debating my surprise prediction, and
I don't really know how much of a surprise. I
don't know what people are expecting on Friday. I don't
know whether people are expecting Jalen and Kyler to both play,
So maybe my prediction won't be that big of a
surprise prediction. But I think both of them are activated
and they're playing on Friday.

Speaker 2 (31:29):
I think I don't know.

Speaker 1 (31:31):
Whether people are of the consumption that they're going to
be playing against Green Bay maybe a short time, but
they've got practices in and I think the mindset was,
let's not play them on Sunday against the Steelers and
then force them to come back quickly and play against
the Eagles on Friday. So that's why they were inactivated
for Sunday's game. But I do think that they will

(31:51):
be activated for Friday's game. They got a chance to
practice last week. Kyler was full, Jalen was full twice
last week. Kyler was full once week and that was
on a Friday, So Fridays or more of you know,
your short distance days and that sort of stuff. And
we'll obviously see what happens today. So maybe by the
time I'm maybe by the time this podcast is out

(32:13):
you're listening to this on Wednesday afternoon, that my surprise
prediction is wrong, But I was right last week. I
will say that. But my surprise prediction is that both
of those guys are playing on Friday. I think both
of those guys have been itching. I think both I
think the Bears have been very cautious with these injuries,
especially with these soft issue injuries, because they don't want
them to prolong. You've seen it with you saw with Kyler,

(32:36):
you saw it with Jalen, you saw it with TJ.
You've seen it with Tremaine, You've seen it with all
these different guys who've been injured. So I think they
are activated and they play on Friday. I'm not here
to say that they're going to play one hundred percent
of the snaps. There's no shot at that happening. But
I do think that both of those guys are going
to make their debut or are going to come back
on Friday and have some impact plays. And I really

(32:58):
think that really changes what the egos are to do.
I think it's been a while, but I think we
forget that Jalen Johnson is still the best defensive player
on this on this team, He's like, it has been
impressive that the secondary has done all this without their
best player for for the entire season. And Kyler Gordon
you saw. I feel like that first game he was

(33:18):
kind of a little bit, you know, trying to get
back in the swing of things. For that second game,
I think goes against New Orleans, he started to make
an impact and he was getting after the quarterback, so
I think both of those play. My sur price prediction
is both of those players are going to be activated
and they will be active on Friday.

Speaker 2 (33:34):
Well, let's let's hope you're right like you were last
week when you said Aaron Rodgers was not going to play,
which he didn't of course, so no, but I and
I like what you're thinking there. If this is their
strategy was if you came back against Pitchburg, now they're
probably needed. Like in the NBA they kind of call
it what a mints restriction, you know, where then you
have to rush them. Now you're going on the short

(33:56):
week and now you expect them to be ready again
and you don't want to sit him out for this week.
So let's let's not play against Pittsburgh, which they did
in and now let's have him ready. But I that
would be a huge boost, I think just emotionally too.
And again they're not gonna have to play every snap
that I mean, they might have to, but they're not
going to. You gotta be careful and you just hope

(34:17):
there's not the rust factor. And again, it's not like
you're going up against some JV team or some team
with you know, all their top wide receivers are out,
it's still Devonte Smith and A J. Brown and got it,
and you got the whole, you know the whole. Arsenal
coming at you still. But that would be a wonderful
surprise for the Bears fans, because again, those are we have.
One of the guys asked last week in the pod,

(34:38):
you know, how how do they get can they get better?
How do they get better? They get better at getting
guys back, especially guys who can make plays, and both
those guys can't.

Speaker 1 (34:46):
Do you put assuming that Jalen does come back, are
you putting him on a J. Brown? Are you kind
of easing him in? Is your mindset that if he's
healthy enough to play, he's healthy enough to take down
A J. Brown? Or is your mindset of easing him?
And I'm I, I personally don't know how I feel,
and I'm curious to see what you think.

Speaker 2 (35:02):
Boy. To me, it's up to Jaylen, It's like, look
and I'm sure they do this, Like, dude, be be
real with me. It don't. We don't need to be
a hero. We don't need to be tough. Guy. I
know that's the way they're wired.

Speaker 1 (35:14):
You can't take that away out of the player though.
They're always going to tell you that.

Speaker 2 (35:19):
But it's because it's like, if you're ninety eight percent,
it's not good enough, especially because that dude's a beast.
Aj Brown as we know. But Jaylen's a competitor. We
know the edge, We know how he kind of feels.
You know, he gets that, you know it's no one
believes in me. And how long was he clamoring that
he should be top paid, he's you know, he should
be a pro bowler. Then he finally proved it, so

(35:41):
we know that that that drives him. But I I'm
thinking he's saying, give me a J. Brown, give him
to me. I'm ready. So that's what that would say. Okay,
I'm gonna trust you. And the good news for the
Bears is they know now you don't want to see
him getting hurt. You don't see any get he hurt.
But they have this this depth where they're just used

(36:04):
to this next man up. You know that that everyone
talks about every team, high school, college, pro us, next
man up. But the Bears were shown and next man up,
that next man pretty decent, or at least he's he's capable,
and he's not going to hurt you so, but I
think if Jalen's ready, give me j Brown, Let's let's

(36:26):
see how it goes.

Speaker 1 (36:27):
Yeah, I'm kind of the mindset. I agree, now that
I've kind of thought about it. The Bears don't put
their players out there unless they're one hundred percent. That's
kind of what I've learned about the support staff that
you know, Ben Johnson and that kind of stuff, like
they're not going to risk injuries just to risk injuries.
They'll play listen, they'll play around and whatever, and they'll say, oh,
are we going to play them? Are we not going
to play them? Like? They will do that, but if

(36:49):
they're not one hundred percent, they're not going to put
those players out there. I know some Bears fans were
mad about Jalen coming back in the Week two game
against the Lions, whether he was rushed back. You know,
Ben and the support staff and everyone have kind of
said that it's just a freak thing that happened, that
he happened to suffer another growing injury. I personally don't
you know, if the player is ready, the player is ready,

(37:11):
Like you can't baby NFL players right, like, I mean eventually,
like it's just it's just luck. At some times. Sometimes
you just get injured because you take a wrong step
and something happens. So yeah, I think if he's out there,
I think they'll probably put him on a J. Brown
or on Devonte Smith, depending if he plays, because obviously
I think I think Devonte Smith has been more of
a target for Jalen this season than AJ Whick has been.

(37:34):
But I do think that if Jalen does play, he's
your number one corner and he's on the number one
receiver most of the time. All right, Joe, let's get
some We had some other surprise predictions here, Rick CJ
chiming in saying that Rome gets back to ten targets
in this game. I could see that Rick chiming in

(37:54):
pick six even though Hurts only has one interception on
the year that I don't think the interception is a surprise.
The pick six would be a surprise. I think the
Bears only have one of those this year, right. I
think uh Na opening one against JJ McCarthy to start
the year was the only one. Robert with his I
assume as for surprise, pig and Caleb goes ten for
ten to start the game, which would be a good start.

Speaker 2 (38:16):
I would.

Speaker 1 (38:17):
I feel like they've done well. I feel like they've
done well with the script. Obviously last week in Minnesota
wasn't too great with the script plays to start off games,
but they they they were doing well with that, so
I wouldn't be surprised triple R getting us here with Montez.
Monteze keeps the sack streak going. That's a good one

(38:38):
as well. All right, Joe, what who is your Uh,
We're gonna do our most valuable be here. Make sure
you guys get those. And I am on a three
game winning streak here after I chose Caleb and obviously
you chose DeAndre Swift last week, who had one of
his down games. Caleb wasn't crazy by any means, but
he had three or three touchdowns and through a lot,

(39:00):
So that's good in fantasy world. So I am leading
us eight to five. I'm on a three game winning
streak after I blew my big lead to start the year. Joe,
I think I went first last week. So who is
your most valible bear? Just a reminder that Joe and
I each have one more quarterback pick left the season.

Speaker 2 (39:20):
Yeah this see, you're the experts, so you might have
to be started, like giving me strokes like on the
golf course. Now, uh, give me like four strokes here.
I have to check the bylaws on as for as Shaw,
Media Bears Insider podcast rules. But can I just pick
a Johnson? Can I just go there?

Speaker 1 (39:39):
Because Johnson?

Speaker 2 (39:44):
You know, CJ. Gardner Johnson, you got, you got, you
got Jalen Maybe he played Rochean. I don't know. He's
not gonna be an MVP anyway, a m v B
and they got Ben Johnson, So uh, I feel pretty
confident in a Johnson. I may go with CJ. Gardner
Johnson again and the old you know you got rid
of me and traded me. I was good for you,
help you win a Super Bowl. I'm gonna show you

(40:06):
I still got game. And he's been a little quiet
since the first two games, you know, with the three sacks,
the forest fumble. But he's still making plays out there.
He's still by a great quote unquote trade acquisition. That
was their trade to me with CJ. Gardner Johnson. And
I expect him to be ready to play and I
expect him to make an impact. But Philly again, they
there's a reason why they wanted Super Bowl. It's more

(40:27):
than just good players and good coaching. They're not stupid,
I mean, and they don't they don't do the like
what's helped the Bears win. They don't turn it over
they get turnovers. They're they're wired that way too. Like
the guy one of our watchers here was saying on
the pot one interception for it for Jaln Hurt. So
you know, it seems like every week like that, Oh

(40:48):
what's going on with Taylor Hurts? So he's got one
interception and he's thrown seventeen tds. So they take care
the football. They're not going to fall start themselves out
of field goal position or you know, field goal range
that stuff. It's not it's not what they do. But
I I'm I'm expecting some of them from the Eagle here, uh.

Speaker 1 (41:08):
C J. Gardner Jackson, Yeah, there there are a lot
of revenge games actually in this game. You know DeAndre Swift,
you like you mentioned, is coming back. CJ. Gardner Johnson.
The the Eagles traded him over the offseason to the
Texans after he helped them win the Super Bowl last year,
and Kevin Byer spent a year with his hometown team
A couple of years ago too, and that was a

(41:29):
fun experience for him. He joke, you know the other
day that he's not expecting a tribute video or anything
like that, Like he didn't spend that much time and
make that big of an impact with during his time
with the Eagles. But a lot of a lot of
you know, a lot of revenge games here on Friday,
So it'll be interesting. Not that I think that. I
don't think Kevin Byrn is better at the Eagles, or

(41:49):
I don't put anything that Swift is better at the
Eagles or anything like that. C J. Gardner Johnson might be.
I don't know, we'll see, but just based on him
being traded after he helped them win the Super Bowl,
that obviously never feels great. But if you like that pick,
I think that if there is someone who's going to
make an impact defensively, then maybe's being a little bit overlooked.

(42:10):
That probably a CJ. Gardner Johnson. I think he's gonna
stay in the lineup. I think Denis Down is going
to use him, and I think he's going to use
him in that hybrid linebacker spot to pressure the quarterback
at times. So he'll drop back and coverage. He'll do
a little support and that kind of stuff up the
middle of the field and kind of on those edges.
But I do think that they will use CJ. Gardner
Johnson to blitz Jalen Hurts a couple of times, especially,

(42:33):
you know, you want to test that backup tackle now
that Lane Johnson isn't there. I think it's a really
you know you've seen. I think opposing teams have become
more aware of it. But you know, CJ. Gardner Johnson
has kind of taken advantage of Oh, like, I'm just
kind of lost in the shuffle here, no one's paying
attention to me. Then I blitzed as soon as the

(42:53):
as soon as the snap goes off. So I like
that pick. I like I like CJ. Gardner Johnson making
an impact in Friday's game. I'm going to go with
I'm going to go with Coaston Loveland. I think that
this game, Robert chimes and it hits his MVB. He
says that our titands are going to have a day.
I think I think that Caleb is going to use
the Titlands a lot on Friday. I think that the Eagles,

(43:17):
like we talked about earlier. Vic Fangio's defenses don't allow
big plays, they don't allow you know, explosive plays, but
they do allow you to pick up yardage. And that's
exactly what Coaston Loveland has done, right Like he Caleb
has used Colston Loveland as a safety net to pick
up those seven yards ten yards. And you saw we

(43:37):
didn't We didn't spend too much time about it. On Monday.
Robert kind of, you know, jokingly gave us a hard
time about it. But that touchdown pass to to Colston
Loveland on Sunday was really impressive. If you look at
the route that he ran, it was a great route
and it's really hard to defend because that's a route
that most wide receivers take. But it's obviously Colston is

(43:57):
in a titand's body and he's got fantastic the Cans.
So I've been really impressed with what Colston has done.
He's been building upon a really good rookie season after
he dealt with some injuries at the beginning of the year.
So I can see Colston, you know, I even Cole.
I can see him getting more involved, though I think
Ben likes to use him a little bit more as
a blocker than as a pass catcher. But I think

(44:20):
Colston Loveland can have a really big game here, especially
if the you know, if the Eagles secondary does a
good job of taking away you know, Luther Burden or
Roma Dun's their DJ Moore.

Speaker 2 (44:31):
Yeah, well, you know where I stand at Colston Loveland.
I'm a fan. I someone mentioned earlier they don't want
to see Rome get ten targets. I like to see
Colston Loveland get ten targets. And you know it doesn't
always have to be you know, the game when he
touched down play against the Bengals, that was epic. But
you know, hey, there's nothing wrong with a four yard
game passing the tight end. You get four yards every

(44:52):
player you're moving down the you're moving down the field.
But feed Loveland, man, I'm on the I'm on the
bandwagon here with him. I hope you're right, Michael, But
and I want to see him because we're getting teased
a little bit here with what his upside is, what
his ceiling is. Okay, I think there's a lot there,
and I think I'm just hoping like as they get

(45:13):
more comfortable and we might not all see it, you know, Uh,
reach its pinnacle this season, but even going forward next
year that he definitely can be one of the best
tight ends in the game. And where's we're seeing that
because again, a big strong, he doesn't doesn't drop the
football knock on wood, He catches it and he runs

(45:36):
guys over and like I said, he's kind of a
hybrid tight end wide receiver, which some of these guys
are in the league today, like you know, the Boers
and those guys. So uh, keep feeding, keep feeding the
number ten pick.

Speaker 1 (45:51):
All right, guys, if you're joining us on Facebook or
the live stream, make sure you give us your most
valuable bears. Rick Chiming or Robert like I said, is
going with Loveland. Rick is going with Luther burd And
I can see him. He's been kind of itching here
a little bit here in the last couple of weeks.
CJ going with Cole Comet and Robert Chiming into Loveland

(46:11):
has ten targets. I'm confident he has nine to ten catches. Yes,
he's been very dependable in the opportunities to Uh. If
Caleb gets the ball relatively close to Colston, it's gonna
get caught, which is a huge safety net for Caleb,
just to have that kind of guy who's able to
make out those types of catches. All right, Joe, two
pm on Black Friday, the Bears are taking on the

(46:33):
Philadelphia Eagles and Lincoln Financial Field. It will be on
Prime Video and locally on Fox. All right, we've been
hemming and hanging about what's gonna happen. We have to
make our predictions here, Joe, What is going to happen
Friday afternoon in Philadelphia?

Speaker 2 (46:49):
Well, I hope I'm wrong, and normally I am wrong.
So I'm gonna I'm gonna take Philly here. I just
think it's still They're still the better football team. But
I especially at Philadelphia and they had that stinker. Well,
I turned out I was watching some of that Philly
Dallas game. That's twenty one nothing, this is over. I

(47:09):
turned it off when did something else? And then they
lose to the surging Cowboys. What's going on there? But Philly? Man,
maybe that was a little little butt kick for them,
you know, kicking the butt for them, And I just
see them winning. I don't think it's gonna be thirty eight,
thirty five or anything like that. I still think it's
gonna be a low, lower scoring in not ten to seven,

(47:33):
God forbid. But I'll go Philly, I'll go I'll go
twenty five twenty.

Speaker 1 (47:40):
I don't think I agree with you. I just think
I'm listen. The pairs are on such a terear right now.
They've won eight of the last nine games. They've won
in crazy fashion. At some point the regression goes back
to the mean, right like, at some point like this,
this is life in the NFL, Like you're gonna lose
some game like this. I think it's been fun for

(48:03):
this Bears to get to eight and three. I think
it's been it's proven that Ben Johnson knows what he's doing,
that he's a good coach, that Caleb Williams can be
your future quarterback. It's proven a lot of things for you.
But I think at some point you're going to lose
a game here that against a better team. And I
just think Philadelphia, despite their like we've been hemming about

(48:23):
their statistical mediocrity all that different stuff, they're still the
defending champions. They've been in the Super Bowl too the
last three years. They guy, they have guys who know
how to make plays and key moments. And I still
think that the Bears are learning how to do that. Like,
I'm not trying to take away anything from the Bears.
They're eight and three, their record is what their record is.
But a lot of those close games should have been

(48:46):
ten point wins and they just weren't because they weren't
able to put away good teams yet. And I think
that's just where the Bears are right now, where they're
still developing, they're learning how to win, they're still trying
to figure things out. And when you're going against the
defending champion, number two seed in the NFC, those mistakes,
you can't make those types of mistakes. And maybe I'll
be proven wrong, maybe the Bears have learned from those

(49:07):
mistakes and they'll be able to kind of take advantage
of those, But I just think that your defense is
too depleted at this point still. Even if Jalen and
Kyler come back, they're guys who are coming back from
long stints on the IR. I just think that this
is this is just And you mentioned that that game
against the Cowboys show. I think that hurts the Bears

(49:29):
even more, quite honestly, Like I think if the Eagles
had beat the Cowboys and they're kind of like, all right,
like we're nine to two, we're feeling good. We beat
a division opponent. Now we got a short week of
going against the Bears. Maybe they would take it, not
that they would take it lightly, but they would just
be kind of like, all right, like this isn't a
division game. We took care of business. I'm sure that.
I'm sure losing to the Cowboys blowing a twenty one

(49:50):
point lead that woke them up, that that that is
not that's not a position that the Bears wanted the
cow the Eagles to be in. So I don't think
it's a seven point game. I don't think it's a
seven point spread. But I do think the Eagles win
this game. I'm going to go with what am I
gonna go with here? I think it's a twenty one
to seventeen win for the Eagles. I think the Eagles

(50:12):
just make enough plays here where they've been there, they've
done that before. The Bears are still learning how to win,
how to you know, create plays and key moments, and
eventually they do have to lose one of these types
of games, right, So I think the Bears have to
be encouraged. I know they're not looking for brownie points,
moral points, all the kind of stuff. But I do
think that they have to be encouraged that they go
to Philadelphia. They're not blown out, but I don't think

(50:35):
they find a way to win on Friday it.

Speaker 2 (50:37):
Which certainly would be quite the story. If they did win.
And let's say they win again a squeaker, they win
by two, they win by three, They're still gonna be pretty.
America is probably still gonna be saying I don't believe
in the Bears that you know, Philly's a wreck. What's
going on with them? Bears have been lucky all year.
That's probably gonna be the narrative unless they just manhandle them,
which they haven't done that all year than maybe the

(51:00):
Dallas game where they look and that's right, that's their
best game to date of the eleven they've played. But yeah,
it's regardless of who's playing, who's not playing for either team,
it's gonna be tough to pick the Bears here, you know. So,
but we'll see. And you know, again, I'm wrong a lot,
and hopefully I'm wrong again on Friday, almost such Sunday

(51:23):
on Friday, the game is Friday.

Speaker 1 (51:25):
I've tried it throughout the week or whatever. The last
couple of days have I've been doing prep I'm kind
of like trying to be like, I'm not trying to
talk myself into a Bears win, but I'm kind of like,
you look at the numbers and you kind of look
at the stats, and you're kind of like, this, this
isn't as daunting as a task as I thought it
was going to be. Even heading into this, even after
they narrowly beat the Steelers last week, I was kind

(51:47):
of like, well, I this is not great, Like they've
been beating these bad teams barely. But then you look
at the numbers for the Philadelphia Eagles and you're just like,
I don't know if it's gonna be as bad, but yeah,
you and I both have the Bears losing. I don't
think it's detrimental to the team. Eventually, this team has
to lose, right And then you've got two games. I
think the big thing is you got ten days off
because of this, and then you have a good time

(52:08):
to prepare because you play the Packers twice in the
next three weeks, and honestly those not The Eagles game
matters because it's a conference game. It depends on tie
breakers and all that kind of stuff. But those two
Packers games are much more important for what the Bears
want to do this season than the Eagles game on Friday.

Speaker 2 (52:24):
Yeah, one hundred percent. You still love the Packers twice
and you got the Lions, and that's that's final score.
Fifty two thirty one or fifty two to twenty one,
that that should be all over Hallas Hall when that comes.
That's that's a while down the road here. But those
are the game because even if you lose, whether you
lose by twenty, you lose on the last second field goal,

(52:44):
come Friday, you're still in the same spot you kind
of wore before. Yeah, you've got the big stretch coming
up here, and let's you know, let's face they still
got the Niners two out out West, and they got
the Browns and Miles Garrett, so you know, it's it's
going to be a grind the rest of the way out
these last six games and starting Friday.

Speaker 1 (53:05):
All right, Rick is believing in the Bears. He's going
with a seventeen to thirteen win. I do think that
if they do whin that that's what the score would
look like. I think the egos offense would have to
have a bad day for that to happen. See j
Chiming in twenty four to seventeen Eagles. Hope I'm wrong though.
All right, folks, we've got to get out of here.
We've got our Friday Night Drive preview podcasts coming up
here soon, so we are going to say goodbye. Just

(53:28):
a quick reminder that you can make sure if you're here.
We appreciate all the comments, guys, Love all the comments,
love all the predictions. Appreciate it. Make sure you give
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(53:49):
you're listening on the podcast over this holiday weekend, thanks
so much for listening. Make sure you subscribe wherever you
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at Joe Aguilar sixty four. He's got you covered Ford
mckenry County sports as they enter the winter season. And
make sure you're following me at m duo JAG ninety four.
I'll be in Philadelphia on Friday, so I'll give you
all the latest coverage and we'll have the latest coverage

(54:10):
from Hell's Hall this afternoon as the Bears make their
final preparations for playing the Eagles. Thank you so much
to every for everyone for joining us. I hope everyone
has a great Thanksgiving. Really thankful to everyone who joins
us each and every week. We appreciate you, guys. We
appreciate your listenership, your questions, all that fun stuff. I
hope you all have a great and fun and fat Thanksgiving.

(54:33):
Enjoy the football. We're supposed to have a great slate.
Enjoy the Bears game on Friday, and then we will
talk to you folks next week on Monday. Have a
good holiday weekend, guys,