November 14, 2025 • 51 mins
The Chicago Bears will return to NFC North action on Sunday when they travel to play the Minnesota Vikings. Shaw Local's Michal Dwojak and Joe Aguilar provide the latest news from Halas Hall and preview the key matchups in Sunday's game.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome to the latest episode of the Shaw
Local Bears Insider podcast. I Am Chicago Bears be reported
Michael duo Jack here with the Northwest Heralds Joe Aguilar.
As we are talking to you guys on Friday morning.
We are a couple of days away before the Bears
travel over to Minnesota to play the Minnesota Vikings on
(00:20):
Sunday afternoon. A really fun matchup here, but Bears are
coming into six and three, They've got a lot of
momentum on their back, but they're owing to in the
NFC North. Joe, a really good opportunity for this Bears
team to you know, not only show that hey, they
deserve to be a playoff team and they can kind
(00:41):
of start this hard, you know, second half of the
schedule with the big division win, but also just get
back in the division. Yep. Yeah, And you can't go own.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Three in the division to start out with, right, So yeah,
and you can't get swept by the Vikings because if
you look at you know, look back to the start
of the season, you thought, well, well, if they're ever
going to get out of the NFC North cellar, who
can they beat? Who should be maybe a little down.
Who can they beat? Minnesota will be the first team
to think of. You wouldn't say Detroit, probably wouldn't see
(01:14):
say Green Bay. So this is the team that you
should at least finish third in. Not that's you know,
that's saying much, but that's the team you should beat.
They beat you once. You should have had that game
opening night. A lot has changed, especially for the Bears
since then. And uh, you know, look all credit to
JJ McCarthy and the Vikings in that fourth quarter when
(01:35):
they kind of shocked the Bears and shocked everyone watching
to pull that game out. But bottom line is they
want it, so you hate to go zero and two
against them this season.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Yeah, you know, a lot has obviously changed, you know,
since Week one for every team, right, Like, obviously the
Bears are different than what they were and the Vikings
are different from what they were in the Week one matchup.
But I agree, this is a big opportunity for this
Bears team to you know, you're going into a hostile environment.
It's not going to be easy by honey means. Obviously,
(02:05):
I'm excited to get that first experience at US Bank
Stadium on Sunday, but it's gonna be a tough environment
and Brian Flores is very unpredictable. We'll get into that
when it comes to the matchups and all that sort
of stuff. So a really good test for this Bears
team as we get ready here as we go into
week number eleven, which is pretty wild at this point
that we're already at week eleven, but that's how things
(02:27):
kind of go here. If you're joining us in a livestream,
thanks so much for joining us on this Monday morning.
Make sure you get all your comments in there. Obviously,
you guys know what we like to do. We like
to do matchups, surprises and most Valuable Bears, all that
kind of stuff. So make sure you guys get your
predictions in there and we can get them in the
podcast as well. And if you make sure you give
(02:47):
us a like, hit that like button right over there.
That's the best way to support us and help us
grow the brand and also help you guys figure out when.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
We're going to be joining you every Friday and Monday.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
If you're listening to us on the podcast, thanks so
much for listening as well, And if you want to
be part of the conversation on these live streams, make
sure you check us out on our social media's. We'll
usually do Sunday or Sunday morning, Friday morning, and Monday morning.
Sometimes the Bears schedule gets in the way of that,
travel gets in the way of that, but we try
(03:18):
to stay pretty consistent here with our schedule.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
All right, Joe, Before we.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Get into all the different matchups and and that stuff
and stuff, let's talk about injuries here to get things started.
And the Bears are very clearly following this pattern of
if you're if you got anything going on at this point,
you're just gonna end up not practicing on Wednesday. That's
kind of that seems to be the way that Ben
Jonson and his coaching staff is approaching it. We've seen
(03:47):
a lot, you know, Roma Dunesday and DJ Moore have
continuously been on the injured you know, they don't practice
on Wednesday, then they come back on Thursday and ramp
up a little bit.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
We saw that with some other key guys as well,
you know, DJ what Roe, mdoons.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
They like I said, Kevin Byer didn't practice. Cole comet
was limited you had, you know, obviously, Joe Toney's gonna
get his you know, rest days. Joe Tony, he could
do whatever. He doesn't have to practice for me. For
Joe Tuny, I don't care. He's ready for whatever is
uh he needs to do on Sunday, So I'm not
worried about him at all. The two players that I
(04:21):
am concerned about are the two players that didn't practice
on Thursday. One of them is TJ Edwards, And obviously
last week we talked to you folks that he had
hand surgery after he broke it, but he's also dealing
with a hamstring. He hasn't practiced this week, and I
would imagine that he probably won't play in this game
unless something happens this Friday afternoon, whether he gets into
(04:44):
like a limited fashion or whatever. But that hurts show
because I think TJ has kind of proven to you
how important he is not only for that defense, but
just for that run defense, especially going against a player
like Aaron Jones, who has sometimes taken advantage of the
Bears this, you know throughout his career with the Packers
and with the Vikings. TJ is an important player to
(05:05):
have in there, and you miss a lot when he's
not out there.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Yeah, that's the big loss.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
TJ.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
O I mean when he hasn't played this year, which
has been most of the season, they haven't been as good.
I think probably statistically, statistically that would be backed up
by what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Uh, but we know what a sure tackler he is.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
And even if he could play with the broken hand,
and we're in the club that limits him, you know,
and again he's not We've talked about TJ a lot.
I mean, he's not the most athletic linebacker you're ever
gonna see that. You know, he's not built like Tremaine Edmonds.
That guy's just a freaking beast uh physically.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
But TJ's missed and he's smart. He's smart, and he's
sure handed, you know that. But if he's out again,
they're just gonna have to survive with on him. Hopefully
they can get him back soon because again we got
to still have half the season to go. Uh So
they're just gonna have to deal with that. And you know, uh,
Noah seul uh Today's brother. He's got to be a
(06:03):
little more consistent and better. Like I noticed him during
games sometimes I noticed him not for the right thing.
So just more opportunity for him and to him. You
know to get better and you need that that kid
like I think that guy. We haven't talked a lot
about him, but I think he's a guy who's capable
of making some good plays, you know where you're like,
babe man that that you know, talk about guys who
(06:24):
are key to the win.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Him.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
So, I think he's got a game in him. I'm
not saying he's gonna be my envy bear this week,
but that's an opportunity for him. And and then the
other one, Brisker. It's it's not the it's not the head,
it's it's what it's a soft tissue with Jakwan.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
So Jaquan has been out with the back injury. I
saw him obviously. He he dealt with that back injury
on on at Sunday's game when he went up for
that fourth down pass breakup. I was impressive play, but
he landed on his back awkwardly. Uh and uh. So
he hasn't practiced this week. I'm curious. I would take
a lot of stock into what Friday's designation is. If
(07:08):
he gets back in limited fashion, maybe he can get
back out there. Obviously, the Bears don't want to rush
him back if it is a lingering thing. But yeah,
Brisker is the other big starter that we will be
looking for on Friday afternoon once the injury report comes out,
because listen, you need Brisker and I think CJ. Gardner
Johnson has kind of taken on that that you know,
(07:29):
that blitzing corner, slatting that courter that Kyler Gordon has
done before, and Brisker has played a lot of you know,
actual safety instead of blitzing safety. So and you're gonna
need him. You're going against Justin Jefferson. I mean, you're
gonna need a lot of support, you know, either whether
it's just Ston Efferson, whether it's Jordan and Addison, You're
gonna need that support. So it'll be really interesting to
(07:50):
see what that designation is for Jakwan Brisker because you know,
obviously you need him back out there. I know people
have you know, critiqued them for his you know, secondary
play sometimes in some lapses, but I mean he's still
a very talented player that you need out there. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
I mean, I don't think he's had a great year.
I mean I think we can we can all agree
on that, but.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
You need him.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
He's a starter, and especially for a secondary that's already
so depleted by injury. Speak of that A little going
off the wet off the side here unrelated, but I
gotta ask you a question, Michael. Sorry didn't ask you
before we started the stream, But so I saw a video.
You know, Nicholas Moriano, who does really good work on
(08:33):
the Bears beat, he had a video where he was
talking to a J. P. Richardson was on the practice
squad about a drill of the Bears. It was good content. Anyway,
in the video, I noticed in the stall next to
j P. Richardson is Ze Frasier Stall and he's got
a helmet. This is the kid, the late round draft
pick who hasn't played all year.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
He's out for the year. But is he I don't
even know. We never hear about it.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Is he practicing with the team this year?
Speaker 1 (09:01):
I don't think I have never seen him on a
practice field. He's he's in the building, he works out,
he hangs out like he does stuff. I think they're
obviously obviously trying to, you know, give him the support
that he needs, and obviously trying to build him up
and all that sort of stuff. I you know, we
obviously don't have any we can't talk to him. Obviously,
he's not around in that sort of stuff, but he
(09:22):
does have a locker room and he is he is
around from time to time. But yeah, he is around
from time to time. And that's obviously a guy that
you would want, would have wanted, but obviously some unfortunate
circumstances kind of led to him not being around in
his rookie season this year.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Yeah, they call it personal reasons, right that he's out
for the year. But I didn't even know if he
was eligible to practice or he was practicing. But I
saw the locker staw right next to J P. Richards
Sims and about well, I didn't know that kid, like
if he's allowed to practice, I didn't know his full status.
So thanks for clearing that up.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Yeah, some other guys that are actually some actually good news.
Josh Blackwell, h it's been a full participant in his
entire week. He obviously had a concussion and is obviously
not only a big special teams player, but if you
are a little depleted in that secondary, that'll be big
to have him come back. And Dominique Robinson went from
limited to full on Thursday. That's really big because you know,
(10:16):
you also, you know, not only do you him on
special teams, but given the Dio injury and the Shamar
Turner injury, he's a really good reinforcement as well.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
So that'll be good to have him in the pass
rush and.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Maybe that'll kind of open things up a little bit
more for Austin Booker and Montest. What if you're able
to kind of get you know, get up a couple
of reps in there, to kind of get Dominique in there,
just to kind of pressure because you know, I you know,
people have for years been talking about Dominique, and I
think Dominique is a good depth player. I think he
comes in there, he'll get you a good sometimes he'll
get you a sack. Sometimes he'll get you a quarterback hit.
(10:48):
But he does great pressure when he does get in there.
So I think it's good to have him back in there,
especially going against this, you know, going against J. J.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
McCarthy and this Viking's pass attack.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Yeah, I think he's proven in this year that he's
an NFL player. Again for the reasons you said, not
that he's gonna be, you know, the next starting d
end and make a Pro Bowl or anything like that.
But I mean for a guy going into the season, Michael,
I thought he might be one of the surprise cuts
before this season, not gonna make the team.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Then he made the team.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
And the limited time he's played, whether it be special
teams or you know, when he gets a down on
the field, he's produced. So I think he's again he's
not great, but you need every team, whether you're you know,
gonna be the Super Bowl champions or you're gonna be bad,
you need you need depth, right, and he's a guy
who I think if he stays healthy and maybe gets
(11:39):
a little better, he can play, you know, several years
in this league and make himself some good some good
money for sure.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
All Right, let's get into this matchup Sunday afternoon at
US Banks Stadium. I think it's it is a Fox game.
Bears are traveling to the Minnesota Vikings to play their
third NFC North game, playing the Vikings for the second
time in the season. Already, Joe, what is a big,
major matchup that he'll be looking for on Sunday afternoon.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Well, the best player on the field plays wide receiver
for the Vikings. Because he's one of the best players,
certainly receivers in football, that's Justin Jefferson. So when you
got hand, you got all the j's, you got Justin,
Jalen Naylor and Jordan Jordan Ais and those three receivers
are good. And the quarterback situation we will talk about that,
(12:29):
But to me, I want to see how JJ McCarthy
uses these receivers because, look, I not to jump the
gun here a little bit, but I picked the Bears.
I think you picked the Bears. A lot of people
are picking the Bears. This is kind of gona be
a fifty to fifty game, but those receivers are good.
And knowing the Bears secondary how depleted it has been
(12:50):
still is, I want to see can Chauncey Gardner Johnson
make an impact again three games in as many games?
Speaker 1 (12:58):
I want to see how how he.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Maybe you know, we CJ's behaved himselves so far, Uh,
that's good, but can he be more of an impact
like he has, maybe not not even necessarily blitzing the quarterback,
but just in coverage. But these are good receivers, and
you know, JJ's not having a great year. He's been hurt.
(13:22):
It's basically his it's his rookie year. They don't call
it that in the NFL, I don't. I don't get
that either. He should be he should be considered a rookie.
He didn't play out all last year, but whatever. But
but those guys are good and that you have to
be concerned about him because they can make plays.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Yeah, it's one of my big storylines looking forward to
in this game where you know, in the in the
first game, you actually did a pretty good job of
limiting you know, justin Jefferson, he had four catches for
forty four yards. Obviously, Joined Addison didn't play because of
his suspension to start the year. But listen, you're gonna
need to stop those two guys because I mean.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
You're gonna need the force turnovers.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
And I think that's the major thing you're gonna have
to do because listen, the Bears are giving up yards
even in the when the when they were you know,
forcing at least three turnovers in a game during that
four game span. This team just gives up a bunch
of passing ears. There's six in the league right now
with the most per game two hundred and forty point three.
They did it against Joe Flacco, they did it against
(14:24):
you know, there were times last week when Jackson Dart
was doing a good job of getting it to Darius Slayton.
So yes, the Bears are just going to need to
limit the damage because Justin Jeffer. You know, it's so
interesting because there's kind of been trouble in Paradise back
for lack of a better term, you know, Justin Jefferson
got frustrated after an interception last week that JJ McCarthy threw,
(14:48):
and there was some talk about you know, oh, like
you know, he wasn't running after the play, he just
kind of walked off during the interception return. And you know,
Justin Jefferson talked about it this week where he was
talking about I'm not blaming the quarterback. I'm not blaming
you know, the play calling or anything like that. I
just need to play better the way I have in
the past. And I think that's kind of scary for
(15:11):
Bears fans in for the Bears, because I think you're
gonna get a pretty You're gonna get a Justin Efferson,
Justin Jefferson that is going to be motivated going against
the pass defense that is pretty soft this year. You're
dealing with two injuries to Kyler Gordon, Jalen Johnson, Tyrek
Stevenson has been dealing with the with the shoulder injury.
I think the Bears have done a good job of
(15:33):
forcing turnovers, but I think if they don't force a turnover,
it could get pretty ugly. So they'll really need to
limit that, whether it's the pass rush, whether it is
sending out CJ. Gardner Johnson for for blitzes. You're gonna
need to find a solution here because if you let
Justin Jefferson or Jordan Addison get going in this game,
(15:54):
it can get away from you pretty quickly.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yeah, and Jettis has had big games against the Bears
in the past.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
We don't know that.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
And as far as his frustration on the field, I
get it. I'm sure you get it. Every fan gets it. Right,
They're not playing great football. They had high expectations. Uh
they had a great season last year with Sam Darnold
Leonder center, and uh so, I mean jennes is an
elite player. I mean, this guy is you know, if
he stays healthy, he's gonna be in Canton one days.
(16:22):
He's that good. So the frustration I get. But at
home it's a different vibe. You know that crowd will
be loud. It will be loud in that building. And
if you're not concerned about him, you're not paying attention.
So I mean, the Bears know that. I mean, but
it is what it is. With the secondary, it's not
it's not good, but they got to get the turnovers.
(16:43):
They're good at getting the turnovers. You're right, Michael. That
has to continue because they don't get any turnovers and
the pass rush being what it's been all season, this
could be. Then it then becomes a shootown ish and
I don't know if you want to do that right
now for the even though they've they've won shootouts CEE, Cincinnati,
(17:04):
so we'll see. But the defenses has to continue doing what.
It's like the guy who's bad on the golf course me,
but then you can make a long you know, he
make four long punts during the round. Well that's not
me either, but that's just like, well, this guy's not good,
but how do you how's he shooting this score?
Speaker 1 (17:21):
What?
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Cause he's making a lot of long puntchs. So the
turnovers to me other at the long punts they value
out when you're really not playing well.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
And the Bears have do a good job with that. Yeah,
I think you're gonna have to confuse J. J. McCarthy
as well. I think, you know, Dennis down is gonna
have to send a lot of different fronts. I think
he is prone and that's another storyline that you know,
you guy should check out later on when we published him.
But JJ is prone to make mistakes as he is.
I mean, what is this like his like seventh NFL
(17:49):
game or I even forget it's like his fourth or
fifth NFL game he's playing this year. So I mean
you're gonna have to confuse them because he he will
sling it.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Sometimes he will throw it and may mistakes.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
He did that against the in the season opener with
Naseean Wright, you know, picked off a pretty a pass
that he just read right away and returned it for
a touchdown. So you're gonna have to confuse JJ on
some things, and I think Dennis Allen will do that.
The pass rushes and what it wants to be at
this point, I think it is what it is.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
At this point.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
You'll get Montes what gets some pressures. Maybe Austin Booker
can land in the pocket a couple of times, but
you're just gonna have to defensively confuse JJ McCarthy and
force him into mistakes. And that's how you're gonna limit
you know, justin Jefferson and Jordan Aison my big match up.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Oh go ahead, Joe, but go ahead.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
No, I was just gonna move on. But if you
have something else, go ahead. You know. I'm just gonna say.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
You look at McCarthy's numbers overall, they're they're not good.
I mean, he's certainly completing. We talked about Caleb's you know,
lack of you know, you know, lack of completing passion,
his percentage not being good. McCarthy's just like a little
more than fifty three percent. I mean he's been sacked
what fifteen times? Fifteen times? Person went to that who's
(19:01):
done for the year now shoulder surgery, It was sacked
nineteen times. McCarthy's good, but as we saw in opening night,
he's capable of leading a team to victory.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
All right, my mate, MAJORI adschup is going to be
kind of what we talked about in the first week,
and that's Caleb going to Caleb slash Ben Johnson going
against Brian Flores. And it was so interesting just watching,
listening to Ben and Caleb talk about Brian Flores, and
you know, Caleb said that, you granted, he's a year
(19:34):
and a half into his career, he hasn't gone against
every defensive coordinator in the in the NFL, but he
said that going against Brian Flores is like one of
the hardest and most challenging just because you don't.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
Know what you're gonna expect out of him.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Like I feel like that in that Week one matchup,
all we talked about was the Vikings were gonna blitz.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
They're gonna blitz the entire time. How the Bear's going
to protect that?
Speaker 1 (19:53):
And then they end up blitzing on twenty five percent
of the snaps, which is way down from their forty
I think, what is it forty five that they're averaging
this season? You just don't know what you're gonna get
from Brian Flores. And Ben Johnson made an interesting point about,
you know, it kind of brings them back to his
Miami days when they would go against the Patriots because
(20:13):
the Dolphins coaching staff wouldn't know what Bill Belichick would
do every single week because he would just change up
defensively what he was gonna do, whether he's blitzing, whether
he's running this cover, whether he's doing that. And you know,
it's really interesting because you know, obviously Brian Flores spent
ten years with Bill Belichick in New England, so it's
not a surprise that Brian Flores kind of brought that
(20:33):
with him throughout his career. So that's gonna be a
really interesting matchup. I think Caleb actually did a pretty
good job in that first week. You know, obviously it
wasn't perfect by any means.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
They lost the.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Game, but I think Caleb handled his own going against
that Brian Flores defense. It's obviously a very different situation
when you're going into a silent count. It's going to
be deafening in that stadium on Sunday. But I really
am interested to see what is Ben Johnson kind of
scheme up going against Brian Flores. That's gonna be a
(21:05):
lot of fun to watch. And you know, is this
a game where you get three or four trick plays?
Is this a game where are you run heavy going
against the one flaw that maybe this Vikings defense has.
It's you know, for you know, it's a quote unquote
flaw where like they're the eleventh worst in the NFL
and run defense, which is like finally it's two spots
below the Bears. But I think you need to execute
(21:29):
and find as many holes as you can in this
Flora's defense because there aren't going to be too many opportunities.
So when you do get those opportunities, Caleb Williams of
Ben Johnson are going to have to execute.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
It's a good test for Caleb here as far as
just his development and learning this like this is a
good challenge for him, right in a way you want
to see this for your quarterback again, especially second time
around the season now here and basically the first half
of the season.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
But it's a good test.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
For Taylor for Caleb. And I'm okay with screen passes.
I mean, and look all the great quarterbacks, if you
blitz them, you're gonna they're gonna eat you alive because
they know how to handle that. So this is good
for Caleb. And I'm okay with running the ball again.
Since the bye week, man, they run the ball find out.
I mean, it's not just like a one game they
were good against against whoever.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
No, they've been good consistently.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
So with with Swift, who's gonna I guess he's getting healthier.
But he played last week and he looked pretty good. Uh.
And then Manunga, Now, really you look at Manunga even
you take away that Cincinnati game where he rushed for
one to seventy six. I mean, he's been good.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
He's been good.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
So I had no problem feeding them the ball more
and maybe taking the crowd out of it. But Caleb,
like every game, he's gonna have to make big passes.
And what I'm looking for Caleb is just being consistent
for four quarters. We talked about this Monday. We've probably
talked about it earlier in the in the season two,
about just being consistent for four quarters, because it seems
(22:56):
like most games Michael good opening drive right, he's hitting wrong,
they're in rhythm, they get inside the twenty, they skull,
they get a field goal, and then it's those second
the second possession and then into the third where it's like,
come on, you need to be racking up some points here,
and it just doesn't happen consistently. So I kind of
(23:16):
switched gears there again and moved over to Caleb, but
and and focusing on him. But this defense, Flora is Yeah,
it's a great test, and he'll try to disguise coverages
and all that stuff and becomplex and that's what he does.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
But it's a good test for Caleb. Yeah, it will
be a good test, and they should take advantage of
their running attack. Like I think this run offense is
much different than what it was in week one. In
week one they ran for one forty one I think
it was, and Caleb was like fifty eighty yards of that.
Like you you are doing a much more better job
of blocking, especially at the right side, but even on
(23:52):
the left side. I think, you know, THEO Bennett still
has like some pass coverage problems obviously pass protection, I
should say, but he does a good job of you
know run uh, you know, run blocking. So you've got
to take advantage of that. You've got your full, you
know set of guys. You know, Roshawn Johnson's back in there,
Travis Homer's back in there, to Brandon Brown. I don't
know if you'll activate them, but you've got your full
(24:14):
set of guys. Just run the ball and when you can,
you know, have Caleb, you know, set up the big
plays and you know, stay in the pockets sometimes to
find those big plays. So it'll be really interesting to
see how they kind of approaches Brian Flora's defense, because,
like as we know, Brian Flores loves to mess with
you mentally, just with what he's gonna do, the check
downs and checking out of this, checking out of that.
(24:36):
So it'll be really fun to watch that, you know,
game of chess happening on Sunday afternoon. All right, Joe,
what is a surprise prediction you have for Sunday? Hmm?
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Well, I was surprised that we didn't see a trick
play last week, and I think I called the Darnell
right catching a pass.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
It was completely wrong.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Did we even see a trick play last week? After
we had what four or five the previous week against Cincinnati?
Speaker 1 (25:01):
So I think we're due to get back to it.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
I hate that there might be a Bears Insider podcast
rule that you can't pick the same surprise back to
back weeks. Left to check the fine print on that, uh,
but I think we're gonna see a trick play. Maybe
I'll go something different you had mentioned a couple of
weeks back. I think I stole this last week from
you the idea. But Ozzie Trapillo making an impact, not blocking,
(25:26):
but by catching it pass. So I'm still gonna stick
to a Ligneman. It's not gonna be one of the guards.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
By the way.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Jonah Jackson who we picked on early in the season,
but he's been playing really good late.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Again, I'm not an o lining guy.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
I can't dissect film, but but Joviah Jackson has been
really good. Darnault Wright had another you know, I don't
know if it went viral, but another great block again
last week where he pancaked the guy drawing a blank
on it.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
But you know what, Ryan Burns, thank you. That was wonderful.
By the way.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
That's another one I could watch like twenty times where
it Burns does a spin movement just like punches him.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
To the crowd. It was beautiful.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
But so I think something tricky something with one of
the old line.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Is that too vague? No, I mean, I think it'll
definitely work. I I you know, I don't. I don't
think that's so out out of hand. I definitely thought
that that was gonna happen last week with the whole.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
Ben Johnson Colin Dono right a unicorn thing.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
But yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if they get the
offensive line, especially like you need to. There can be
a time. You know, Ben Jhonson loves momentum. If he's
feeling the momentum, he's gonna go with the play call,
and if there's a big play, a big kickoff return,
a big punch return, I think he's going to play
off of that. So there's a good opportunity for that
to happen. I've been expecting it for the last couple
(26:51):
of weeks. Obviously it hasn't happened because I've been expecting it,
So maybe that's maybe that goes against my whole surprise
whatever thing. If I'm expecting it is, they're really a surprise.
But I would agree I wouldn't be surprised, or I
would It would be a good surprise to kind of
get the offensive linemen involved, whether that's Trapillo, whether that's
Darnel Right or different guys.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
I like that one.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
My surprise prediction will be that Cairo Santos will make
a fifty five yard field goal. It's going to be
indoors k balls are going to be flying out there.
I think Cairo Santos makes a fifty five yard field
goal and the haters are going to be upset about
that one. Joe. I don't know if you're leading that
crew or anything like that. I don't know if that's
(27:36):
gonna be I don't know if that's going to be
a tough one for you. But I do think that
Cairo Santos will make a fifty five yard field goal
just obviously it's perfect conditions.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
It's indoors.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
They got the CA balls flying now, and it's the
last time the Bears are going to be playing a
game indoors in the regular season. Obviously we'll see what
the playoffs are like if the Bears make the playoffs,
but it will be the last time that are indoors
the rest of the regular season. So this is probably
his last chance of making a fifty five year field goal.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
I would say, wow, well fifty now, mind you, Now
you're being nice because fifty five, especially indoors, is not
that long because these shuts opposite foot fifty five indoors.
You know these kids today how far they can kick
the ball. But that would be nice. And look, Dyrose,
you know, kicking and Soldier Fiel last week, no one
(28:28):
wanted to do that. You know, you could have had
pick your kicker and yeah, you're not gonna kick at
Soldier Field last week in those conditions. But in the
perfect conditions, the air condition controlled the US Bank Stadium
with the Viankings play. Now that's that's good. But I
wouldn't be surprised because he's got that capability, and fifty
(28:50):
five is probably I don't know what the.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Unofficial rule there.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Is, like if you're kicking the equivalent of kicking indoors
to outdoors is five yards, Like what's the what's the
payoff there? But probably a good five yards. It helps
you kicking inside, right, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Yeah, it definitely does. And so you know, I forget
what it was during the preseason, he made like a shoot,
what was it, like a fifty eight yard or something
like that during the preseason that Soldier Field. So he's
done it before he has the leg. Obviously he needs
perfect conditions to do it. I think we know that
about Cairo at this point. But I I, you know,
(29:28):
I it'll it'll be interesting, But I do think that's
a surprise prediction. Chad is blowing up about this when
Rick chiming In says, good lord, that's horrible, Michael, But
I I don't hate a guy so you can say
whatever you want, but I am still a believer.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
In Cairo Santo's for the most part.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Uh CJ chiming and says Bear struggle to move the
ball downfield in the air, Rick going the other way.
He says that DJ gets his first one hundred receiving
yard game, So it'll be interesting to see that. Yeah,
it's an interesting you know. I'm not not to divert
us from going on to our most valuable bears, but
(30:07):
it will be interesting just to kind of see what
does the disparity kind of look like here. I saw
someone ask whether Luther Burden gets more looks than Oz
after last week. I you know, it'll be interesting. I
think the coaching staff and a lot of the players
last week kind of viewed the drops as an anomaly,
(30:28):
like they haven't been noticing that in practice. It just
happened in one game. It wasn't good conditions by any means.
Caleb was scrambling a lot, so it's kind of hard
to know where to go when your quarterback is scrambling,
zigzagging one way and the other. So, but there were
a lot of catchable balls out there. That's not to
make an excuse for them. But I will be interested
to see. You know, Ben Johnson in every game, goes
(30:52):
into every game being like, all right, we've got a
certain amount of plays for each player. I'm not going
to focus in on He says he doesn't focus in
on some players.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
I don't know if I agree with that.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Necessarily, the first ball went to Roma Doomsey for a reason.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
Last week the.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Ball has gone to Coast of Loveland first a couple
of times, and Cole Comet for a reason, like he's
trying to prove a point, trying to get it going.
But I think and when it comes to the entire game,
I do believe that. Listen, when you've got so many
talented guys, you just gotta spread out, spread it out,
spread out the play calling, and when your number is called,
you just got to go out there. So it will
(31:27):
be interesting to see how DJ's used more guys. Guy's
a warrior. We've been saying it the last couple of weeks.
Here he's dealing with every injury throughout the throughout the season.
But then you know, he was asked yesterday are you
gonna play? And he said duh, Like he's gonna play,
Like it's not. It's not a problem for him to play,
so it'll be uh, it'll be interesting to watch show.
(31:47):
I don't know how you feel. I know you want
Luthor to get more involved in the game plan and
the and the scheme. He's made the most of his opportunities,
so it will be interesting to see. Do you get
Luther Burden more involved instead of Oz?
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Well, I I don't know why you did. I mean,
we see the talent. You see why he was drafted
where he was, and he could have been a first
round pick.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
No one would have flinched. But look you didn't. You
didn't bring him in here. And no, and he's the key.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
I said, Look, he had a bad game, right, but
we hadn't talked about drops from the receivers other than
Rome like won a game. It seems like, uh, other
than you know, before the game last week. So I'll
give him, you know, I'll give them Mulligan there as
a key.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Iss.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Yeah, I don't think you just say okay, you're you're
out of the offense. We're not throwing to you ever again.
Speaker 3 (32:34):
No, No, that'd be an overreaction exactly.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
So I mean he'll get the ball. But yeah, I
mean and the whole thing about we don't target specific guys, Well,
why wouldn't you. I mean when you've got great players. Look,
if I'm on the team and and Coaston Lovelin is
on the team, who you give them all to? Who
you're throwing You're not thrown to me, You're throwing the
coast of lovel because he's really good at football and
he's a beast. So yes, you used Luther Burton target him?
(32:58):
Uh and not go on wood think he's had a drop,
Not that he's been targeted fifty times this season, but
why wouldn't you go to That's why you have him
on the team. That's why you drafted him high. So
get the ball to birdmore, get the ball, let's go Loveling.
No targets in the first half last week but against
the Giants, but second half was more like we saw
(33:18):
the previous week against Cincinnati.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
So more of Loveling again.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
Let's get some momentum going with him, not because you
have to justify him being the tenth pick in the draft,
because he is good and we see the damage he
can do. So get involved. And I'm cool with DJ.
I've said it one hundred times. I'm a DJ Moore fan.
I just love the way he plays. Not the biggest dude,
but he's a tough, yack guy. I mean he never
(33:43):
just goes down one tackle. I mean that's DJ's a
he's a pro man. I have much respect for that guy.
So and again him too. Why wouldn't you get the
ball to DJ Moore because he's good at football?
Speaker 1 (33:55):
All right, Joe, We're gonna move on over to our
most valuable Bear. Last week it was a tight one.
We are now tied. We were tied four to four
at to kind of after a big start for me,
but I went with DeAndre Swift, which looked pretty dicey
on Friday afternoon when the Bears announced that he was
questionable all of a sudden because of a personal reason.
(34:15):
You went with Coaston Lovelin. DeAndre got me fourteen fantasy points.
Coaston got you a fantasy points. So I picked up
the win there. So I am ahead now five to
four as we head into Week eleven, and I've got
the first pick this week, so I'm going to go Wait, No,
I had.
Speaker 3 (34:34):
The first pick last week. You have the first pick
this week.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
You've got one more quarterback pick left for the season,
and I've got two more quarterback picks.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Well, it's a guy we haven't talked yet about today.
We did Monday, but I'm gonna go. And I picked
him once early in the year and he had a
terrible game. I forget which game it was. I didn't
do anything, but I'm gonna go with Montese Sweat, who again,
if you look, I don't have the schedule front of me.
But going back now, the sacks in a row or
force fumble, he's just making a play or two every game.
(35:05):
He hasn't had the breakout game, the three sack game
that gets you out ESPN and all that kind of stuff,
but he's been really good. I think the if the
Bears are gonna win this game, it's gonna come from
a defensive player. And then we talked about earlier in
this podcast the takeaways. But I think Montes has that
two two and a half sack game or force fumble game.
(35:26):
I think they're gonna get some pressure on the kid.
I'm McCarthy and I look for Montes to have another
big game, maybe this one just a little more better
than we've seen it last last few weeks.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
I like that pick.
Speaker 1 (35:43):
Yeah, I think we were I think rightfully so, but
we were very critical of Montes who had to start
the year.
Speaker 3 (35:48):
Obviously he wasn't the start we wanted to see.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
But he I mean, you.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
Have to give him credit.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
He's turned it on here in the last four or
five I think ever since that Commander's game, he's.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
Just turned it on.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
He's had at least a sack in the last four games.
I think the Commander's game was the game he should
have had a sack, but it was taken away because
of a penalty. But he he is just playing at
a different level right now than he had been in
the past, and he's doing it like without much support.
I know we talked about this on Monday, but he's
(36:17):
not getting much support from inside. I think Gravon Dexter
has actually played better than maybe the stats kind of show.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
I think he's been making an impact from the middle.
Speaker 1 (36:25):
But you know, Grady Jared's been in and out and
he's dealing with a lot of injuries at this, you know,
part point of his career. Obviously, here without Shamar Turner
and Dioh dang Bo, Austin Booker gets a pass rush
going here and there. But I do think that Montes
Sweat has really turned it on here, So I like
that pick. Getting pressure on JJ McCarthy will be huge.
(36:46):
He can run the ball too, so it'll be interesting.
Speaker 3 (36:48):
To watch how much.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
How much does that Dennis Allen learn from what happened
against Jackson Dark and kind of adjust what he kind
of does against JJ McCarthy because JJ's gonna run the ball,
like I think you've seen that, So it'll be really interesting.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
To watch that.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
So I like that pick.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
Uh, I like that pick with Swad Good.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
All right, I'm gonna decide, I got two quarterback picks left.
Speaker 3 (37:13):
How much games do we have left in the season.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
I think we got eight games left in the season. Man,
this is such a This is such a hit or
miss game where like it can go either really well
passing the ball, or it can go really poorly if
Brian Flores gets in Brian and Caleb Williams's head. So
I don't know if I want to use it on
this one. I'll go I'll go with DeAndre Swift again.
(37:37):
I'm I'm chickening out. I'm not gonna go with the
quarterback pick this time. I'm gonna stick with DeAndre Swift.
I think, you know, when you look at the stats
from last week, the Bears ran the ball like they ran.
Speaker 3 (37:48):
For one hundred and seventy ish yards last week.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
But during the game, it just felt like they weren't.
That they kind of got away from it, which is
kind of weird. I there were just some moments where
there was some phantom stuff, obviously, but there are just
some points where I was just kind of like, man,
I feel like we should be running the ball more
than you really are at this point. So I'll go
with DeAndre Swift again. He helped me last week. I
think this is actually something that Ben Johnson's going to
(38:13):
focus on in this game, and I think that I
think that it'll really help in that instance where you
kind of get the running game going, and I think
DeAndre Swift's going to be a big part of that.
That's a good pick. I mean, he's been good.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
You know, for for as much as so many fans
media we're kind of like, you know, they got to
get a number one running back in here if they're
gonna be any good this year.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
He's been good.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
And I've said it before, like he you know, two
years ago in Philly. I mean, I know he was
running behind that great old line, but he had a
really good year and he's a good back. He's not great,
he's not Walter, he's not Matt Forte, but he's a
good running back and he's shown it. And I have
no problem giving He's been better than last year too,
and so I have no prong giving him the ball.
Speaker 1 (39:01):
And you're right, you look at his numbers for last week.
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
Did he have eighty yards last week? It was pretty good.
It was kind of quiet, like you said, it was
a quiet eighty yards it was, And you know, and
I think you're right, Like last week, all of a sudden,
it's like the end of the third quarter, the Bears
have ten points.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
What the heck happened?
Speaker 2 (39:19):
And you can't blame at all on Kayla, But it's
because you didn't run the dang ball enough to get
down there and put yourself in position to at least
get three. So feed DeAndre Swift and get them another guy.
I mean, they've got a good little thing going here.
It's not Montgomery and Gibbs. I'm not going to go
that far, but it's been working. And when the quarterbacks still,
(39:39):
you know, love him they drives you nuts, all that
kind of stuff. Still, you're in the dome, it's always loud.
If you had eight people in that place would be loud.
It's just the acoustics in there, the dynamics. So feed
the ball and Deandresship's been good. There's no reason why
he shouldn't be getting the football if he's healthy.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Point of clarification for guys, Yeah, we've always done fantasy
points for our most valuable Bear.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
I'm sorry if that wasn't communicated earlier.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
Mike Rick chiming In saying that offensive players have an
advantage over defensive players. There is a metric that we
use for defensive players that I found on Reddit that
kind of helps calculate defensive fantasy points. I know, obviously
you don't do fantasy points for individual defensive players when
you play fantasy football, but here at the Bears Insider Podcast,
we've got a special formula that gets you points. So
(40:28):
Joe choosing Montes Wet will not hurt him going against
DeAndre Swift. We'll get an impost about that. Yes, well
we do. We do have a system here at the
shell Local Bears Insider Podcast. Robert chiming In He's got
Kevin Bayer going. I like that pick. Kevin Byer has
been on a tear this year, and he he can
do a good job of.
Speaker 3 (40:49):
Just confusing.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
He's he confused Gino Smith earlier in the year. I
can see him confusing JJ McCarthy too. I don't know
why I was forgeting his name. CJ going in now
that he knows that we do measurables. H DeAndre Swift
is his pick. Rick is going with DJ Moore. I
like all those guys. I think all those guys can
be playmakers here. All right, Joe Bears kickoff at noon
(41:13):
at Minnesota on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (41:15):
What do you expect to happen here?
Speaker 2 (41:18):
Well, sometimes I make these pics are probably more from
the heart than they are from you know, thet you know,
my my brain, but what my brain is telling me?
But I think the Bears are gonna win.
Speaker 1 (41:29):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
I was more, you know certain, last week, like they're
gonna beat the Giants. They're not losing this team. And
then man Jackson dirt. I've got some Bears defenders at
nightmares this week thinking about that kid. He was way better.
Now I see why the Giants fans are so excited
about him. I don't think McCarthy is that yet. I
(41:50):
hope it turns out well. Long is he as long
as he's not in Minnesota, hope he has a great career.
You don't want him like, oh my gosh, this kid
killed us for ten years. But I think the Bears
are gonna win the game. I think they'll figure out
either to get turnovers or get McCarthy on the ground.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
And he had a hand injury.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
Now, I guess he hared his hand against the Ravens
throwing the ball at the helmet. That happens with quarterbacks sometimes, unfortunately,
and Michael, I don't know if this has been talked about.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
We don't know really.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Yeah, their quarterback situation. If McCarthy gets hurt at all,
you don't want to see that. But who's their quarterback?
Because I'm looking at their depth. Chirt Max Brosmer is
an undrafted rookie played at Minnesota a couple of years ago.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
One year there.
Speaker 2 (42:35):
Because Wentz is now done for the season, he's on
the injured list, So I don't know. I don't think
they've signed a veteran QB, but they.
Speaker 1 (42:46):
Have no no, they only announced the other day, I
think that Carson Wentz was out for the season.
Speaker 2 (42:50):
Yeah right, just happened a couple of days ago. But
I'm gonna pick the Bears. Score Son up a guy,
I'll go twenty eight twenty, how about that?
Speaker 1 (43:03):
Okay? I I think it's a closer game. I had
this these division game. I mean, it's so funny because
two weeks ago the Bears are not the Bears. The
Vikings go in and beat the Detroit Lions and they
make it kind of look easy at times. And then
last week, obviously you you go against Lamar Jackson and
(43:24):
Minnesota loses to the Ravens by I think it was
double digits. So I think this is a close game.
I think it's a tough road environment. I just think
the last the opportunity to win these blow up games
was kind of against Cincinnati, was against New York. These
division games are kind of like you just gotta survive
(43:46):
at this point, especially if you're going to Minnesota. I
think the Bears put up some points, but I think
I think the Vikings put up points too. I think
I'm still wary about this past defense. I'm worried about
what Justin Jefferson or Jordan Ada and can do if
you're going against his Bears defense, if they can't get
much of a pass rush, and if they can't get
any turnovers. But I do think the Bears win this game.
(44:08):
I'll go with the twenty four to twenty one Bears win.
Carol Santos makes your game winning field goal. I don't know,
you know, I don't know if the script writers are
going to follow the same script. And Caleb has this
third straight game winning drive in the fourth quarter, it'll
be interesting to watch that. I would appreciate it if
maybe we can make it more comfortable and not make
(44:29):
it so hectic for the last few minutes of the
football game. But I do think I think this is
a close game. And before we say goodbye here, Joe,
I'm curious just to know, because I named the podcast
after this, is this, How important of a win is this?
How pivotal of a game is this? Robert was chiming
in earlier and said that he thinks if the Bears
(44:51):
win this, they'll be in a good spot for the playoffs.
If they lose this, they kind of hurt themselves. How
much of a you know, how much weight are you
putting on this game on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (45:02):
If if the playoffs are a realistic possibility, if that's
on your radar, it should be right with you know,
six wins, six and three, you have to win this
game because we talked about, you know, how tough the
schedule gets going forward. Uh So, yeah, I mean, you
hate to call it a musk game, but it's a
musk game. But the good news for the Bears is
(45:23):
they got a musk game in mid November. We haven't
said that for a while, so you have an opportunity
because again, if if they lose this game, now you're
six and four year owing three against the NFC North
and you still have another game with the Lions and
two more with the Packers, that's really gonna make it
tough for you. But even if they win the follow week,
(45:44):
probably another must winner they got this is the Steelers
coming next to Soldier Field. So yeah, I mean, I
hate the you know, you know, overreact, but it's absolutely
a big game. If you want to call it a
musk game, I would. I would call it a musk game.
Although those games against the well, again, they're probably all
gonna be must games times like.
Speaker 1 (46:06):
Mi's or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (46:07):
So if they're gonna get to the magical ten wins, right,
they got to find a way to get four more here,
and I think it starts Sunday and you got to
get this win here.
Speaker 1 (46:18):
Yeah. I think if you want to be a playoff team,
you can't go start off zero and three in the
division and this is a game you got to pick
up and you gotta win on the road. I think
the Bears have shown that they can win in the road. Obviously,
they won in Washington, they won in Cincinnati. I just
think that this The guys have kind of talked about
it this week too, where you know, people have kind
of asked, you know, different players, like when do you
(46:40):
start talking about the playoffs? Like is that kind of
you know, are you starting to think about that at all?
And a bunch of the guys are kind of like,
guys are rowing two in the division, like we got
to pick up our first division win first, Like you
can't a lot of the times you're not making the
playoffs if you don't win in your division. So I
think the Bears are well aware of what's in front
of them. I think they're well they remember what happened
(47:01):
to Week one that was the game that the Bear
should have won. They blew an eleven point game and
let JJ McCarthy get on the heater in the fourth quarter.
So I think this is a big game because if
you lose this game, where are you going to get
four more wins? At this point, the Steelers are hot
and cold. I think the Philadelphia Eagles at the Eagles
is still going to be tough. Green Bay maybe you
(47:21):
split with them, the Browns, the forty nine Ers, you're
probably playing for a playoff spot, and then you got
obviously the Detroit Lions at the end of the season.
So it'll be really interesting to see what it all
kind of looks like. Because listen, Joe, I get another
I'll leave, I'll leave this. We'll end on this note.
(47:41):
The Bears win on Sunday and the Detroit Lions lose
on Sunday, the Bears will be at the top of
the NFC North by themselves. That'll be I don't know
if any of us were really predicting that after an
zero to two start to the season, but I heard
a lot of chesty and excited Bears fans after Monday
nights lost by the Packers. I can't imagine it's gonna
look like Sunday afternoon if both if the Bears win
(48:03):
and the Lions lose on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (48:05):
Oh, Mike, you talk about overreaction Monday. I mean that's
gonna be it. Uh yeah, But I'm glad the players
have things in perspective. Look, they're pros. I'm sure they've
been being told this. Maybe they don't even have to
be told it's not like they're you know.
Speaker 1 (48:20):
I think they know they know, right, And it seems
like bra I think that's something that Ben Jonson has
kind of instilled in the guys where it feels like
a lot of stuff doesn't have to be said in
that locker room, Like they just kind of understand what
the expectations are and they're not gonna let themselves get
it too far ahead of anything at this point.
Speaker 2 (48:38):
Yeah, and I'm guessing like Bayerd is a great leader
for that, Like he knows, you know, that's why it's
important to have those guys in the locker room. Not
that a rookie wouldn't know that either, but it's just
good to have that. And yeah, yeah, we're all in
three against the division enough set so before we can
get all excited and start playing the song, or we're
going to the playoffs. Take care of what's in front
(49:01):
of us, and that's that's that's the that's the motto,
the m for every team in the National Football League.
Take care of this week. And ask the football coach
this this year high school football coach about what it
takes to go nine and oh, which in high school is,
you know, a perfect regular season, and he goes, uh, uh,
win this week, that's it.
Speaker 1 (49:20):
And then you win the next week. That's it.
Speaker 2 (49:22):
So it's just that another way of phrasing that you
win this week, that's how you go nine and oh,
now you're two and oh, and then you win next week,
you're three, and that's how you do it. So that's
just that one game approach, however you want to phrase it.
That's that's what it's all about. And I think this
Bears group, especially defensively, is veteran enough to get that. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (49:41):
I think the you know, I hear the one to
know thing a lot and the Bears have used it
a lot, and it could be cliche at times, but
it does. It does seem to be something that the
guys believe in whatever level of play, football you're playing in,
so it'll be it'll be interesting because as we've seen
in the NFL, every week is its own week and
anything can happen in anything the week, and that's why
we're all addicted to the NFL. So it'll be a
(50:03):
really interesting matchup on Sunday. All right, that's everything that
we've got for this episode of the Shell Local Bears
Inside of podcast. Thank you to everyone who joined us
on the live stream. Appreciate all the comments questions. Great
to hear from you guys on this Friday morning. If
you're liking what you're hearing, if you're joining us on
Facebook and you like what you hear, make sure you
give us a like. That's the best way to support us.
(50:25):
Hit that like button on the YouTube channel and make
sure you join us for future podcasts and live streams.
And if you're listening on the live on the podcast,
make sure you're subscribing to us wherever you listen to podcasts.
And if you want to join the live stream, check
out our social media's I'm at m jag ninety four,
Joe's at Joey Aguilar sixty four, and we'll always post
when we're going to be doing a live stream, all right.
(50:48):
Make sure you follow Joe for all of your high
school football coverage. He's got you covered as we are
in the state quarterfinals this weekend for football, and I'll
be in Minnesota this weekend giving you the latest updates
from the Bears Vikings game.
Speaker 3 (51:00):
Make sure you're following me this.
Speaker 1 (51:01):
Weekend, all right. Make sure you guys enjoy the weekend.
It's supposed to be sixty, so enjoy whatever. I don't know.
It's snowed on Monday, and somehow it's sixty on Saturday,
so make sure you enjoy that weather and enjoy the
Bears game on Sunday. And we will talk to you
folks on Monday.
Hello, and welcome to the latest episode of the Shaw
Local Bears Insider podcast. I Am Chicago Bears be reported
Michael duo Jack here with the Northwest Heralds Joe Aguilar.
As we are talking to you guys on Friday morning.
We are a couple of days away before the Bears
travel over to Minnesota to play the Minnesota Vikings on
(00:20):
Sunday afternoon. A really fun matchup here, but Bears are
coming into six and three, They've got a lot of
momentum on their back, but they're owing to in the
NFC North. Joe, a really good opportunity for this Bears
team to you know, not only show that hey, they
deserve to be a playoff team and they can kind
(00:41):
of start this hard, you know, second half of the
schedule with the big division win, but also just get
back in the division. Yep. Yeah, And you can't go own.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Three in the division to start out with, right, So yeah,
and you can't get swept by the Vikings because if
you look at you know, look back to the start
of the season, you thought, well, well, if they're ever
going to get out of the NFC North cellar, who
can they beat? Who should be maybe a little down.
Who can they beat? Minnesota will be the first team
to think of. You wouldn't say Detroit, probably wouldn't see
(01:14):
say Green Bay. So this is the team that you
should at least finish third in. Not that's you know,
that's saying much, but that's the team you should beat.
They beat you once. You should have had that game
opening night. A lot has changed, especially for the Bears
since then. And uh, you know, look all credit to
JJ McCarthy and the Vikings in that fourth quarter when
(01:35):
they kind of shocked the Bears and shocked everyone watching
to pull that game out. But bottom line is they
want it, so you hate to go zero and two
against them this season.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Yeah, you know, a lot has obviously changed, you know,
since Week one for every team, right, Like, obviously the
Bears are different than what they were and the Vikings
are different from what they were in the Week one matchup.
But I agree, this is a big opportunity for this
Bears team to you know, you're going into a hostile environment.
It's not going to be easy by honey means. Obviously,
(02:05):
I'm excited to get that first experience at US Bank
Stadium on Sunday, but it's gonna be a tough environment
and Brian Flores is very unpredictable. We'll get into that
when it comes to the matchups and all that sort
of stuff. So a really good test for this Bears
team as we get ready here as we go into
week number eleven, which is pretty wild at this point
that we're already at week eleven, but that's how things
(02:27):
kind of go here. If you're joining us in a livestream,
thanks so much for joining us on this Monday morning.
Make sure you get all your comments in there. Obviously,
you guys know what we like to do. We like
to do matchups, surprises and most Valuable Bears, all that
kind of stuff. So make sure you guys get your
predictions in there and we can get them in the
podcast as well. And if you make sure you give
(02:47):
us a like, hit that like button right over there.
That's the best way to support us and help us
grow the brand and also help you guys figure out when.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
We're going to be joining you every Friday and Monday.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
If you're listening to us on the podcast, thanks so
much for listening as well, And if you want to
be part of the conversation on these live streams, make
sure you check us out on our social media's. We'll
usually do Sunday or Sunday morning, Friday morning, and Monday morning.
Sometimes the Bears schedule gets in the way of that,
travel gets in the way of that, but we try
(03:18):
to stay pretty consistent here with our schedule.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
All right, Joe, Before we.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Get into all the different matchups and and that stuff
and stuff, let's talk about injuries here to get things started.
And the Bears are very clearly following this pattern of
if you're if you got anything going on at this point,
you're just gonna end up not practicing on Wednesday. That's
kind of that seems to be the way that Ben
Jonson and his coaching staff is approaching it. We've seen
(03:47):
a lot, you know, Roma Dunesday and DJ Moore have
continuously been on the injured you know, they don't practice
on Wednesday, then they come back on Thursday and ramp
up a little bit.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
We saw that with some other key guys as well,
you know, DJ what Roe, mdoons.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
They like I said, Kevin Byer didn't practice. Cole comet
was limited you had, you know, obviously, Joe Toney's gonna
get his you know, rest days. Joe Tony, he could
do whatever. He doesn't have to practice for me. For
Joe Tuny, I don't care. He's ready for whatever is
uh he needs to do on Sunday, So I'm not
worried about him at all. The two players that I
(04:21):
am concerned about are the two players that didn't practice
on Thursday. One of them is TJ Edwards, And obviously
last week we talked to you folks that he had
hand surgery after he broke it, but he's also dealing
with a hamstring. He hasn't practiced this week, and I
would imagine that he probably won't play in this game
unless something happens this Friday afternoon, whether he gets into
(04:44):
like a limited fashion or whatever. But that hurts show
because I think TJ has kind of proven to you
how important he is not only for that defense, but
just for that run defense, especially going against a player
like Aaron Jones, who has sometimes taken advantage of the
Bears this, you know throughout his career with the Packers
and with the Vikings. TJ is an important player to
(05:05):
have in there, and you miss a lot when he's
not out there.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Yeah, that's the big loss.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
TJ.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
O I mean when he hasn't played this year, which
has been most of the season, they haven't been as good.
I think probably statistically, statistically that would be backed up
by what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Uh, but we know what a sure tackler he is.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
And even if he could play with the broken hand,
and we're in the club that limits him, you know,
and again he's not We've talked about TJ a lot.
I mean, he's not the most athletic linebacker you're ever
gonna see that. You know, he's not built like Tremaine Edmonds.
That guy's just a freaking beast uh physically.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
But TJ's missed and he's smart. He's smart, and he's
sure handed, you know that. But if he's out again,
they're just gonna have to survive with on him. Hopefully
they can get him back soon because again we got
to still have half the season to go. Uh So
they're just gonna have to deal with that. And you know, uh,
Noah seul uh Today's brother. He's got to be a
(06:03):
little more consistent and better. Like I noticed him during
games sometimes I noticed him not for the right thing.
So just more opportunity for him and to him. You
know to get better and you need that that kid
like I think that guy. We haven't talked a lot
about him, but I think he's a guy who's capable
of making some good plays, you know where you're like,
babe man that that you know, talk about guys who
(06:24):
are key to the win.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Him.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
So, I think he's got a game in him. I'm
not saying he's gonna be my envy bear this week,
but that's an opportunity for him. And and then the
other one, Brisker. It's it's not the it's not the head,
it's it's what it's a soft tissue with Jakwan.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
So Jaquan has been out with the back injury. I
saw him obviously. He he dealt with that back injury
on on at Sunday's game when he went up for
that fourth down pass breakup. I was impressive play, but
he landed on his back awkwardly. Uh and uh. So
he hasn't practiced this week. I'm curious. I would take
a lot of stock into what Friday's designation is. If
(07:08):
he gets back in limited fashion, maybe he can get
back out there. Obviously, the Bears don't want to rush
him back if it is a lingering thing. But yeah,
Brisker is the other big starter that we will be
looking for on Friday afternoon once the injury report comes out,
because listen, you need Brisker and I think CJ. Gardner
Johnson has kind of taken on that that you know,
(07:29):
that blitzing corner, slatting that courter that Kyler Gordon has
done before, and Brisker has played a lot of you know,
actual safety instead of blitzing safety. So and you're gonna
need him. You're going against Justin Jefferson. I mean, you're
gonna need a lot of support, you know, either whether
it's just Ston Efferson, whether it's Jordan and Addison, You're
gonna need that support. So it'll be really interesting to
(07:50):
see what that designation is for Jakwan Brisker because you know,
obviously you need him back out there. I know people
have you know, critiqued them for his you know, secondary
play sometimes in some lapses, but I mean he's still
a very talented player that you need out there. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
I mean, I don't think he's had a great year.
I mean I think we can we can all agree
on that, but.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
You need him.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
He's a starter, and especially for a secondary that's already
so depleted by injury. Speak of that A little going
off the wet off the side here unrelated, but I
gotta ask you a question, Michael. Sorry didn't ask you
before we started the stream, But so I saw a video.
You know, Nicholas Moriano, who does really good work on
(08:33):
the Bears beat, he had a video where he was
talking to a J. P. Richardson was on the practice
squad about a drill of the Bears. It was good content. Anyway,
in the video, I noticed in the stall next to
j P. Richardson is Ze Frasier Stall and he's got
a helmet. This is the kid, the late round draft
pick who hasn't played all year.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
He's out for the year. But is he I don't
even know. We never hear about it.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Is he practicing with the team this year?
Speaker 1 (09:01):
I don't think I have never seen him on a
practice field. He's he's in the building, he works out,
he hangs out like he does stuff. I think they're
obviously obviously trying to, you know, give him the support
that he needs, and obviously trying to build him up
and all that sort of stuff. I you know, we
obviously don't have any we can't talk to him. Obviously,
he's not around in that sort of stuff, but he
(09:22):
does have a locker room and he is he is
around from time to time. But yeah, he is around
from time to time. And that's obviously a guy that
you would want, would have wanted, but obviously some unfortunate
circumstances kind of led to him not being around in
his rookie season this year.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Yeah, they call it personal reasons, right that he's out
for the year. But I didn't even know if he
was eligible to practice or he was practicing. But I
saw the locker staw right next to J P. Richards
Sims and about well, I didn't know that kid, like
if he's allowed to practice, I didn't know his full status.
So thanks for clearing that up.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Yeah, some other guys that are actually some actually good news.
Josh Blackwell, h it's been a full participant in his
entire week. He obviously had a concussion and is obviously
not only a big special teams player, but if you
are a little depleted in that secondary, that'll be big
to have him come back. And Dominique Robinson went from
limited to full on Thursday. That's really big because you know,
(10:16):
you also, you know, not only do you him on
special teams, but given the Dio injury and the Shamar
Turner injury, he's a really good reinforcement as well.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
So that'll be good to have him in the pass
rush and.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Maybe that'll kind of open things up a little bit
more for Austin Booker and Montest. What if you're able
to kind of get you know, get up a couple
of reps in there, to kind of get Dominique in there,
just to kind of pressure because you know, I you know,
people have for years been talking about Dominique, and I
think Dominique is a good depth player. I think he
comes in there, he'll get you a good sometimes he'll
get you a sack. Sometimes he'll get you a quarterback hit.
(10:48):
But he does great pressure when he does get in there.
So I think it's good to have him back in there,
especially going against this, you know, going against J. J.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
McCarthy and this Viking's pass attack.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Yeah, I think he's proven in this year that he's
an NFL player. Again for the reasons you said, not
that he's gonna be, you know, the next starting d
end and make a Pro Bowl or anything like that.
But I mean for a guy going into the season, Michael,
I thought he might be one of the surprise cuts
before this season, not gonna make the team.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Then he made the team.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
And the limited time he's played, whether it be special
teams or you know, when he gets a down on
the field, he's produced. So I think he's again he's
not great, but you need every team, whether you're you know,
gonna be the Super Bowl champions or you're gonna be bad,
you need you need depth, right, and he's a guy
who I think if he stays healthy and maybe gets
(11:39):
a little better, he can play, you know, several years
in this league and make himself some good some good
money for sure.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
All Right, let's get into this matchup Sunday afternoon at
US Banks Stadium. I think it's it is a Fox game.
Bears are traveling to the Minnesota Vikings to play their
third NFC North game, playing the Vikings for the second
time in the season. Already, Joe, what is a big,
major matchup that he'll be looking for on Sunday afternoon.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Well, the best player on the field plays wide receiver
for the Vikings. Because he's one of the best players,
certainly receivers in football, that's Justin Jefferson. So when you
got hand, you got all the j's, you got Justin,
Jalen Naylor and Jordan Jordan Ais and those three receivers
are good. And the quarterback situation we will talk about that,
(12:29):
But to me, I want to see how JJ McCarthy
uses these receivers because, look, I not to jump the
gun here a little bit, but I picked the Bears.
I think you picked the Bears. A lot of people
are picking the Bears. This is kind of gona be
a fifty to fifty game, but those receivers are good.
And knowing the Bears secondary how depleted it has been
(12:50):
still is, I want to see can Chauncey Gardner Johnson
make an impact again three games in as many games?
Speaker 1 (12:58):
I want to see how how he.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Maybe you know, we CJ's behaved himselves so far, Uh,
that's good, but can he be more of an impact
like he has, maybe not not even necessarily blitzing the quarterback,
but just in coverage. But these are good receivers, and
you know, JJ's not having a great year. He's been hurt.
(13:22):
It's basically his it's his rookie year. They don't call
it that in the NFL, I don't. I don't get
that either. He should be he should be considered a rookie.
He didn't play out all last year, but whatever. But
but those guys are good and that you have to
be concerned about him because they can make plays.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Yeah, it's one of my big storylines looking forward to
in this game where you know, in the in the
first game, you actually did a pretty good job of
limiting you know, justin Jefferson, he had four catches for
forty four yards. Obviously, Joined Addison didn't play because of
his suspension to start the year. But listen, you're gonna
need to stop those two guys because I mean.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
You're gonna need the force turnovers.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
And I think that's the major thing you're gonna have
to do because listen, the Bears are giving up yards
even in the when the when they were you know,
forcing at least three turnovers in a game during that
four game span. This team just gives up a bunch
of passing ears. There's six in the league right now
with the most per game two hundred and forty point three.
They did it against Joe Flacco, they did it against
(14:24):
you know, there were times last week when Jackson Dart
was doing a good job of getting it to Darius Slayton.
So yes, the Bears are just going to need to
limit the damage because Justin Jeffer. You know, it's so
interesting because there's kind of been trouble in Paradise back
for lack of a better term, you know, Justin Jefferson
got frustrated after an interception last week that JJ McCarthy threw,
(14:48):
and there was some talk about you know, oh, like
you know, he wasn't running after the play, he just
kind of walked off during the interception return. And you know,
Justin Jefferson talked about it this week where he was
talking about I'm not blaming the quarterback. I'm not blaming
you know, the play calling or anything like that. I
just need to play better the way I have in
the past. And I think that's kind of scary for
(15:11):
Bears fans in for the Bears, because I think you're
gonna get a pretty You're gonna get a Justin Efferson,
Justin Jefferson that is going to be motivated going against
the pass defense that is pretty soft this year. You're
dealing with two injuries to Kyler Gordon, Jalen Johnson, Tyrek
Stevenson has been dealing with the with the shoulder injury.
I think the Bears have done a good job of
(15:33):
forcing turnovers, but I think if they don't force a turnover,
it could get pretty ugly. So they'll really need to
limit that, whether it's the pass rush, whether it is
sending out CJ. Gardner Johnson for for blitzes. You're gonna
need to find a solution here because if you let
Justin Jefferson or Jordan Addison get going in this game,
(15:54):
it can get away from you pretty quickly.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yeah, and Jettis has had big games against the Bears
in the past.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
We don't know that.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
And as far as his frustration on the field, I
get it. I'm sure you get it. Every fan gets it. Right,
They're not playing great football. They had high expectations. Uh
they had a great season last year with Sam Darnold
Leonder center, and uh so, I mean jennes is an
elite player. I mean, this guy is you know, if
he stays healthy, he's gonna be in Canton one days.
(16:22):
He's that good. So the frustration I get. But at
home it's a different vibe. You know that crowd will
be loud. It will be loud in that building. And
if you're not concerned about him, you're not paying attention.
So I mean, the Bears know that. I mean, but
it is what it is. With the secondary, it's not
it's not good, but they got to get the turnovers.
(16:43):
They're good at getting the turnovers. You're right, Michael. That
has to continue because they don't get any turnovers and
the pass rush being what it's been all season, this
could be. Then it then becomes a shootown ish and
I don't know if you want to do that right
now for the even though they've they've won shootouts CEE, Cincinnati,
(17:04):
so we'll see. But the defenses has to continue doing what.
It's like the guy who's bad on the golf course me,
but then you can make a long you know, he
make four long punts during the round. Well that's not
me either, but that's just like, well, this guy's not good,
but how do you how's he shooting this score?
Speaker 1 (17:21):
What?
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Cause he's making a lot of long puntchs. So the
turnovers to me other at the long punts they value
out when you're really not playing well.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
And the Bears have do a good job with that. Yeah,
I think you're gonna have to confuse J. J. McCarthy
as well. I think, you know, Dennis down is gonna
have to send a lot of different fronts. I think
he is prone and that's another storyline that you know,
you guy should check out later on when we published him.
But JJ is prone to make mistakes as he is.
I mean, what is this like his like seventh NFL
(17:49):
game or I even forget it's like his fourth or
fifth NFL game he's playing this year. So I mean
you're gonna have to confuse them because he he will
sling it.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Sometimes he will throw it and may mistakes.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
He did that against the in the season opener with
Naseean Wright, you know, picked off a pretty a pass
that he just read right away and returned it for
a touchdown. So you're gonna have to confuse JJ on
some things, and I think Dennis Allen will do that.
The pass rushes and what it wants to be at
this point, I think it is what it is.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
At this point.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
You'll get Montes what gets some pressures. Maybe Austin Booker
can land in the pocket a couple of times, but
you're just gonna have to defensively confuse JJ McCarthy and
force him into mistakes. And that's how you're gonna limit
you know, justin Jefferson and Jordan Aison my big match up.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Oh go ahead, Joe, but go ahead.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
No, I was just gonna move on. But if you
have something else, go ahead. You know. I'm just gonna say.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
You look at McCarthy's numbers overall, they're they're not good.
I mean, he's certainly completing. We talked about Caleb's you know,
lack of you know, you know, lack of completing passion,
his percentage not being good. McCarthy's just like a little
more than fifty three percent. I mean he's been sacked
what fifteen times? Fifteen times? Person went to that who's
(19:01):
done for the year now shoulder surgery, It was sacked
nineteen times. McCarthy's good, but as we saw in opening night,
he's capable of leading a team to victory.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
All right, my mate, MAJORI adschup is going to be
kind of what we talked about in the first week,
and that's Caleb going to Caleb slash Ben Johnson going
against Brian Flores. And it was so interesting just watching,
listening to Ben and Caleb talk about Brian Flores, and
you know, Caleb said that, you granted, he's a year
(19:34):
and a half into his career, he hasn't gone against
every defensive coordinator in the in the NFL, but he
said that going against Brian Flores is like one of
the hardest and most challenging just because you don't.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
Know what you're gonna expect out of him.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Like I feel like that in that Week one matchup,
all we talked about was the Vikings were gonna blitz.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
They're gonna blitz the entire time. How the Bear's going
to protect that?
Speaker 1 (19:53):
And then they end up blitzing on twenty five percent
of the snaps, which is way down from their forty
I think, what is it forty five that they're averaging
this season? You just don't know what you're gonna get
from Brian Flores. And Ben Johnson made an interesting point about,
you know, it kind of brings them back to his
Miami days when they would go against the Patriots because
(20:13):
the Dolphins coaching staff wouldn't know what Bill Belichick would
do every single week because he would just change up
defensively what he was gonna do, whether he's blitzing, whether
he's running this cover, whether he's doing that. And you know,
it's really interesting because you know, obviously Brian Flores spent
ten years with Bill Belichick in New England, so it's
not a surprise that Brian Flores kind of brought that
(20:33):
with him throughout his career. So that's gonna be a
really interesting matchup. I think Caleb actually did a pretty
good job in that first week. You know, obviously it
wasn't perfect by any means.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
They lost the.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Game, but I think Caleb handled his own going against
that Brian Flores defense. It's obviously a very different situation
when you're going into a silent count. It's going to
be deafening in that stadium on Sunday. But I really
am interested to see what is Ben Johnson kind of
scheme up going against Brian Flores. That's gonna be a
(21:05):
lot of fun to watch. And you know, is this
a game where you get three or four trick plays?
Is this a game where are you run heavy going
against the one flaw that maybe this Vikings defense has.
It's you know, for you know, it's a quote unquote
flaw where like they're the eleventh worst in the NFL
and run defense, which is like finally it's two spots
below the Bears. But I think you need to execute
(21:29):
and find as many holes as you can in this
Flora's defense because there aren't going to be too many opportunities.
So when you do get those opportunities, Caleb Williams of
Ben Johnson are going to have to execute.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
It's a good test for Caleb here as far as
just his development and learning this like this is a
good challenge for him, right in a way you want
to see this for your quarterback again, especially second time
around the season now here and basically the first half
of the season.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
But it's a good test.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
For Taylor for Caleb. And I'm okay with screen passes.
I mean, and look all the great quarterbacks, if you
blitz them, you're gonna they're gonna eat you alive because
they know how to handle that. So this is good
for Caleb. And I'm okay with running the ball again.
Since the bye week, man, they run the ball find out.
I mean, it's not just like a one game they
were good against against whoever.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
No, they've been good consistently.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
So with with Swift, who's gonna I guess he's getting healthier.
But he played last week and he looked pretty good. Uh.
And then Manunga, Now, really you look at Manunga even
you take away that Cincinnati game where he rushed for
one to seventy six. I mean, he's been good.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
He's been good.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
So I had no problem feeding them the ball more
and maybe taking the crowd out of it. But Caleb,
like every game, he's gonna have to make big passes.
And what I'm looking for Caleb is just being consistent
for four quarters. We talked about this Monday. We've probably
talked about it earlier in the in the season two,
about just being consistent for four quarters, because it seems
(22:56):
like most games Michael good opening drive right, he's hitting wrong,
they're in rhythm, they get inside the twenty, they skull,
they get a field goal, and then it's those second
the second possession and then into the third where it's like,
come on, you need to be racking up some points here,
and it just doesn't happen consistently. So I kind of
(23:16):
switched gears there again and moved over to Caleb, but
and and focusing on him. But this defense, Flora is Yeah,
it's a great test, and he'll try to disguise coverages
and all that stuff and becomplex and that's what he does.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
But it's a good test for Caleb. Yeah, it will
be a good test, and they should take advantage of
their running attack. Like I think this run offense is
much different than what it was in week one. In
week one they ran for one forty one I think
it was, and Caleb was like fifty eighty yards of that.
Like you you are doing a much more better job
of blocking, especially at the right side, but even on
(23:52):
the left side. I think, you know, THEO Bennett still
has like some pass coverage problems obviously pass protection, I
should say, but he does a good job of you
know run uh, you know, run blocking. So you've got
to take advantage of that. You've got your full, you
know set of guys. You know, Roshawn Johnson's back in there,
Travis Homer's back in there, to Brandon Brown. I don't
know if you'll activate them, but you've got your full
(24:14):
set of guys. Just run the ball and when you can,
you know, have Caleb, you know, set up the big
plays and you know, stay in the pockets sometimes to
find those big plays. So it'll be really interesting to
see how they kind of approaches Brian Flora's defense, because,
like as we know, Brian Flores loves to mess with
you mentally, just with what he's gonna do, the check
downs and checking out of this, checking out of that.
(24:36):
So it'll be really fun to watch that, you know,
game of chess happening on Sunday afternoon. All right, Joe,
what is a surprise prediction you have for Sunday? Hmm?
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Well, I was surprised that we didn't see a trick
play last week, and I think I called the Darnell
right catching a pass.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
It was completely wrong.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Did we even see a trick play last week? After
we had what four or five the previous week against Cincinnati?
Speaker 1 (25:01):
So I think we're due to get back to it.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
I hate that there might be a Bears Insider podcast
rule that you can't pick the same surprise back to
back weeks. Left to check the fine print on that, uh,
but I think we're gonna see a trick play. Maybe
I'll go something different you had mentioned a couple of
weeks back. I think I stole this last week from
you the idea. But Ozzie Trapillo making an impact, not blocking,
(25:26):
but by catching it pass. So I'm still gonna stick
to a Ligneman. It's not gonna be one of the guards.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
By the way.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Jonah Jackson who we picked on early in the season,
but he's been playing really good late.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Again, I'm not an o lining guy.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
I can't dissect film, but but Joviah Jackson has been
really good. Darnault Wright had another you know, I don't
know if it went viral, but another great block again
last week where he pancaked the guy drawing a blank
on it.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
But you know what, Ryan Burns, thank you. That was wonderful.
By the way.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
That's another one I could watch like twenty times where
it Burns does a spin movement just like punches him.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
To the crowd. It was beautiful.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
But so I think something tricky something with one of
the old line.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Is that too vague? No, I mean, I think it'll
definitely work. I I you know, I don't. I don't
think that's so out out of hand. I definitely thought
that that was gonna happen last week with the whole.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
Ben Johnson Colin Dono right a unicorn thing.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
But yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if they get the
offensive line, especially like you need to. There can be
a time. You know, Ben Jhonson loves momentum. If he's
feeling the momentum, he's gonna go with the play call,
and if there's a big play, a big kickoff return,
a big punch return, I think he's going to play
off of that. So there's a good opportunity for that
to happen. I've been expecting it for the last couple
(26:51):
of weeks. Obviously it hasn't happened because I've been expecting it,
So maybe that's maybe that goes against my whole surprise
whatever thing. If I'm expecting it is, they're really a surprise.
But I would agree I wouldn't be surprised, or I
would It would be a good surprise to kind of
get the offensive linemen involved, whether that's Trapillo, whether that's
Darnel Right or different guys.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
I like that one.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
My surprise prediction will be that Cairo Santos will make
a fifty five yard field goal. It's going to be
indoors k balls are going to be flying out there.
I think Cairo Santos makes a fifty five yard field
goal and the haters are going to be upset about
that one. Joe. I don't know if you're leading that
crew or anything like that. I don't know if that's
(27:36):
gonna be I don't know if that's going to be
a tough one for you. But I do think that
Cairo Santos will make a fifty five yard field goal
just obviously it's perfect conditions.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
It's indoors.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
They got the CA balls flying now, and it's the
last time the Bears are going to be playing a
game indoors in the regular season. Obviously we'll see what
the playoffs are like if the Bears make the playoffs,
but it will be the last time that are indoors
the rest of the regular season. So this is probably
his last chance of making a fifty five year field goal.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
I would say, wow, well fifty now, mind you, Now
you're being nice because fifty five, especially indoors, is not
that long because these shuts opposite foot fifty five indoors.
You know these kids today how far they can kick
the ball. But that would be nice. And look, Dyrose,
you know, kicking and Soldier Fiel last week, no one
(28:28):
wanted to do that. You know, you could have had
pick your kicker and yeah, you're not gonna kick at
Soldier Field last week in those conditions. But in the
perfect conditions, the air condition controlled the US Bank Stadium
with the Viankings play. Now that's that's good. But I
wouldn't be surprised because he's got that capability, and fifty
(28:50):
five is probably I don't know what the.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Unofficial rule there.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Is, like if you're kicking the equivalent of kicking indoors
to outdoors is five yards, Like what's the what's the
payoff there? But probably a good five yards. It helps
you kicking inside, right, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Yeah, it definitely does. And so you know, I forget
what it was during the preseason, he made like a shoot,
what was it, like a fifty eight yard or something
like that during the preseason that Soldier Field. So he's
done it before he has the leg. Obviously he needs
perfect conditions to do it. I think we know that
about Cairo at this point. But I I, you know,
(29:28):
I it'll it'll be interesting, But I do think that's
a surprise prediction. Chad is blowing up about this when
Rick chiming In says, good lord, that's horrible, Michael, But
I I don't hate a guy so you can say
whatever you want, but I am still a believer.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
In Cairo Santo's for the most part.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Uh CJ chiming and says Bear struggle to move the
ball downfield in the air, Rick going the other way.
He says that DJ gets his first one hundred receiving
yard game, So it'll be interesting to see that. Yeah,
it's an interesting you know. I'm not not to divert
us from going on to our most valuable bears, but
(30:07):
it will be interesting just to kind of see what
does the disparity kind of look like here. I saw
someone ask whether Luther Burden gets more looks than Oz
after last week. I you know, it'll be interesting. I
think the coaching staff and a lot of the players
last week kind of viewed the drops as an anomaly,
(30:28):
like they haven't been noticing that in practice. It just
happened in one game. It wasn't good conditions by any means.
Caleb was scrambling a lot, so it's kind of hard
to know where to go when your quarterback is scrambling,
zigzagging one way and the other. So, but there were
a lot of catchable balls out there. That's not to
make an excuse for them. But I will be interested
to see. You know, Ben Johnson in every game, goes
(30:52):
into every game being like, all right, we've got a
certain amount of plays for each player. I'm not going
to focus in on He says he doesn't focus in
on some players.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
I don't know if I agree with that.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Necessarily, the first ball went to Roma Doomsey for a reason.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
Last week the.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Ball has gone to Coast of Loveland first a couple
of times, and Cole Comet for a reason, like he's
trying to prove a point, trying to get it going.
But I think and when it comes to the entire game,
I do believe that. Listen, when you've got so many
talented guys, you just gotta spread out, spread it out,
spread out the play calling, and when your number is called,
you just got to go out there. So it will
(31:27):
be interesting to see how DJ's used more guys. Guy's
a warrior. We've been saying it the last couple of weeks.
Here he's dealing with every injury throughout the throughout the season.
But then you know, he was asked yesterday are you
gonna play? And he said duh, Like he's gonna play,
Like it's not. It's not a problem for him to play,
so it'll be uh, it'll be interesting to watch show.
(31:47):
I don't know how you feel. I know you want
Luthor to get more involved in the game plan and
the and the scheme. He's made the most of his opportunities,
so it will be interesting to see. Do you get
Luther Burden more involved instead of Oz?
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Well, I I don't know why you did. I mean,
we see the talent. You see why he was drafted
where he was, and he could have been a first
round pick.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
No one would have flinched. But look you didn't. You
didn't bring him in here. And no, and he's the key.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
I said, Look, he had a bad game, right, but
we hadn't talked about drops from the receivers other than
Rome like won a game. It seems like, uh, other
than you know, before the game last week. So I'll
give him, you know, I'll give them Mulligan there as
a key.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Iss.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Yeah, I don't think you just say okay, you're you're
out of the offense. We're not throwing to you ever again.
Speaker 3 (32:34):
No, No, that'd be an overreaction exactly.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
So I mean he'll get the ball. But yeah, I
mean and the whole thing about we don't target specific guys, Well,
why wouldn't you. I mean when you've got great players. Look,
if I'm on the team and and Coaston Lovelin is
on the team, who you give them all to? Who
you're throwing You're not thrown to me, You're throwing the
coast of lovel because he's really good at football and
he's a beast. So yes, you used Luther Burton target him?
(32:58):
Uh and not go on wood think he's had a drop,
Not that he's been targeted fifty times this season, but
why wouldn't you go to That's why you have him
on the team. That's why you drafted him high. So
get the ball to birdmore, get the ball, let's go Loveling.
No targets in the first half last week but against
the Giants, but second half was more like we saw
(33:18):
the previous week against Cincinnati.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
So more of Loveling again.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
Let's get some momentum going with him, not because you
have to justify him being the tenth pick in the draft,
because he is good and we see the damage he
can do. So get involved. And I'm cool with DJ.
I've said it one hundred times. I'm a DJ Moore fan.
I just love the way he plays. Not the biggest dude,
but he's a tough, yack guy. I mean he never
(33:43):
just goes down one tackle. I mean that's DJ's a
he's a pro man. I have much respect for that guy.
So and again him too. Why wouldn't you get the
ball to DJ Moore because he's good at football?
Speaker 1 (33:55):
All right, Joe, We're gonna move on over to our
most valuable Bear. Last week it was a tight one.
We are now tied. We were tied four to four
at to kind of after a big start for me,
but I went with DeAndre Swift, which looked pretty dicey
on Friday afternoon when the Bears announced that he was
questionable all of a sudden because of a personal reason.
(34:15):
You went with Coaston Lovelin. DeAndre got me fourteen fantasy points.
Coaston got you a fantasy points. So I picked up
the win there. So I am ahead now five to
four as we head into Week eleven, and I've got
the first pick this week, so I'm going to go Wait, No,
I had.
Speaker 3 (34:34):
The first pick last week. You have the first pick
this week.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
You've got one more quarterback pick left for the season,
and I've got two more quarterback picks.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Well, it's a guy we haven't talked yet about today.
We did Monday, but I'm gonna go. And I picked
him once early in the year and he had a
terrible game. I forget which game it was. I didn't
do anything, but I'm gonna go with Montese Sweat, who again,
if you look, I don't have the schedule front of me.
But going back now, the sacks in a row or
force fumble, he's just making a play or two every game.
(35:05):
He hasn't had the breakout game, the three sack game
that gets you out ESPN and all that kind of stuff,
but he's been really good. I think the if the
Bears are gonna win this game, it's gonna come from
a defensive player. And then we talked about earlier in
this podcast the takeaways. But I think Montes has that
two two and a half sack game or force fumble game.
(35:26):
I think they're gonna get some pressure on the kid.
I'm McCarthy and I look for Montes to have another
big game, maybe this one just a little more better
than we've seen it last last few weeks.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
I like that pick.
Speaker 1 (35:43):
Yeah, I think we were I think rightfully so, but
we were very critical of Montes who had to start
the year.
Speaker 3 (35:48):
Obviously he wasn't the start we wanted to see.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
But he I mean, you.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
Have to give him credit.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
He's turned it on here in the last four or
five I think ever since that Commander's game, he's.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
Just turned it on.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
He's had at least a sack in the last four games.
I think the Commander's game was the game he should
have had a sack, but it was taken away because
of a penalty. But he he is just playing at
a different level right now than he had been in
the past, and he's doing it like without much support.
I know we talked about this on Monday, but he's
(36:17):
not getting much support from inside. I think Gravon Dexter
has actually played better than maybe the stats kind of show.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
I think he's been making an impact from the middle.
Speaker 1 (36:25):
But you know, Grady Jared's been in and out and
he's dealing with a lot of injuries at this, you know,
part point of his career. Obviously, here without Shamar Turner
and Dioh dang Bo, Austin Booker gets a pass rush
going here and there. But I do think that Montes
Sweat has really turned it on here, So I like
that pick. Getting pressure on JJ McCarthy will be huge.
(36:46):
He can run the ball too, so it'll be interesting.
Speaker 3 (36:48):
To watch how much.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
How much does that Dennis Allen learn from what happened
against Jackson Dark and kind of adjust what he kind
of does against JJ McCarthy because JJ's gonna run the ball,
like I think you've seen that, So it'll be really interesting.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
To watch that.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
So I like that pick.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
Uh, I like that pick with Swad Good.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
All right, I'm gonna decide, I got two quarterback picks left.
Speaker 3 (37:13):
How much games do we have left in the season.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
I think we got eight games left in the season. Man,
this is such a This is such a hit or
miss game where like it can go either really well
passing the ball, or it can go really poorly if
Brian Flores gets in Brian and Caleb Williams's head. So
I don't know if I want to use it on
this one. I'll go I'll go with DeAndre Swift again.
(37:37):
I'm I'm chickening out. I'm not gonna go with the
quarterback pick this time. I'm gonna stick with DeAndre Swift.
I think, you know, when you look at the stats
from last week, the Bears ran the ball like they ran.
Speaker 3 (37:48):
For one hundred and seventy ish yards last week.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
But during the game, it just felt like they weren't.
That they kind of got away from it, which is
kind of weird. I there were just some moments where
there was some phantom stuff, obviously, but there are just
some points where I was just kind of like, man,
I feel like we should be running the ball more
than you really are at this point. So I'll go
with DeAndre Swift again. He helped me last week. I
think this is actually something that Ben Johnson's going to
(38:13):
focus on in this game, and I think that I
think that it'll really help in that instance where you
kind of get the running game going, and I think
DeAndre Swift's going to be a big part of that.
That's a good pick. I mean, he's been good.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
You know, for for as much as so many fans
media we're kind of like, you know, they got to
get a number one running back in here if they're
gonna be any good this year.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
He's been good.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
And I've said it before, like he you know, two
years ago in Philly. I mean, I know he was
running behind that great old line, but he had a
really good year and he's a good back. He's not great,
he's not Walter, he's not Matt Forte, but he's a
good running back and he's shown it. And I have
no problem giving He's been better than last year too,
and so I have no prong giving him the ball.
Speaker 1 (39:01):
And you're right, you look at his numbers for last week.
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
Did he have eighty yards last week? It was pretty good.
It was kind of quiet, like you said, it was
a quiet eighty yards it was, And you know, and
I think you're right, Like last week, all of a sudden,
it's like the end of the third quarter, the Bears
have ten points.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
What the heck happened?
Speaker 2 (39:19):
And you can't blame at all on Kayla, But it's
because you didn't run the dang ball enough to get
down there and put yourself in position to at least
get three. So feed DeAndre Swift and get them another guy.
I mean, they've got a good little thing going here.
It's not Montgomery and Gibbs. I'm not going to go
that far, but it's been working. And when the quarterbacks still,
(39:39):
you know, love him they drives you nuts, all that
kind of stuff. Still, you're in the dome, it's always loud.
If you had eight people in that place would be loud.
It's just the acoustics in there, the dynamics. So feed
the ball and Deandresship's been good. There's no reason why
he shouldn't be getting the football if he's healthy.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Point of clarification for guys, Yeah, we've always done fantasy
points for our most valuable Bear.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
I'm sorry if that wasn't communicated earlier.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
Mike Rick chiming In saying that offensive players have an
advantage over defensive players. There is a metric that we
use for defensive players that I found on Reddit that
kind of helps calculate defensive fantasy points. I know, obviously
you don't do fantasy points for individual defensive players when
you play fantasy football, but here at the Bears Insider Podcast,
we've got a special formula that gets you points. So
(40:28):
Joe choosing Montes Wet will not hurt him going against
DeAndre Swift. We'll get an impost about that. Yes, well
we do. We do have a system here at the
shell Local Bears Insider Podcast. Robert chiming In He's got
Kevin Bayer going. I like that pick. Kevin Byer has
been on a tear this year, and he he can
do a good job of.
Speaker 3 (40:49):
Just confusing.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
He's he confused Gino Smith earlier in the year. I
can see him confusing JJ McCarthy too. I don't know
why I was forgeting his name. CJ going in now
that he knows that we do measurables. H DeAndre Swift
is his pick. Rick is going with DJ Moore. I
like all those guys. I think all those guys can
be playmakers here. All right, Joe Bears kickoff at noon
(41:13):
at Minnesota on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (41:15):
What do you expect to happen here?
Speaker 2 (41:18):
Well, sometimes I make these pics are probably more from
the heart than they are from you know, thet you know,
my my brain, but what my brain is telling me?
But I think the Bears are gonna win.
Speaker 1 (41:29):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
I was more, you know certain, last week, like they're
gonna beat the Giants. They're not losing this team. And
then man Jackson dirt. I've got some Bears defenders at
nightmares this week thinking about that kid. He was way better.
Now I see why the Giants fans are so excited
about him. I don't think McCarthy is that yet. I
(41:50):
hope it turns out well. Long is he as long
as he's not in Minnesota, hope he has a great career.
You don't want him like, oh my gosh, this kid
killed us for ten years. But I think the Bears
are gonna win the game. I think they'll figure out
either to get turnovers or get McCarthy on the ground.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
And he had a hand injury.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
Now, I guess he hared his hand against the Ravens
throwing the ball at the helmet. That happens with quarterbacks sometimes, unfortunately,
and Michael, I don't know if this has been talked about.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
We don't know really.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Yeah, their quarterback situation. If McCarthy gets hurt at all,
you don't want to see that. But who's their quarterback?
Because I'm looking at their depth. Chirt Max Brosmer is
an undrafted rookie played at Minnesota a couple of years ago.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
One year there.
Speaker 2 (42:35):
Because Wentz is now done for the season, he's on
the injured list, So I don't know. I don't think
they've signed a veteran QB, but they.
Speaker 1 (42:46):
Have no no, they only announced the other day, I
think that Carson Wentz was out for the season.
Speaker 2 (42:50):
Yeah right, just happened a couple of days ago. But
I'm gonna pick the Bears. Score Son up a guy,
I'll go twenty eight twenty, how about that?
Speaker 1 (43:03):
Okay? I I think it's a closer game. I had
this these division game. I mean, it's so funny because
two weeks ago the Bears are not the Bears. The
Vikings go in and beat the Detroit Lions and they
make it kind of look easy at times. And then
last week, obviously you you go against Lamar Jackson and
(43:24):
Minnesota loses to the Ravens by I think it was
double digits. So I think this is a close game.
I think it's a tough road environment. I just think
the last the opportunity to win these blow up games
was kind of against Cincinnati, was against New York. These
division games are kind of like you just gotta survive
(43:46):
at this point, especially if you're going to Minnesota. I
think the Bears put up some points, but I think
I think the Vikings put up points too. I think
I'm still wary about this past defense. I'm worried about
what Justin Jefferson or Jordan Ada and can do if
you're going against his Bears defense, if they can't get
much of a pass rush, and if they can't get
any turnovers. But I do think the Bears win this game.
(44:08):
I'll go with the twenty four to twenty one Bears win.
Carol Santos makes your game winning field goal. I don't know,
you know, I don't know if the script writers are
going to follow the same script. And Caleb has this
third straight game winning drive in the fourth quarter, it'll
be interesting to watch that. I would appreciate it if
maybe we can make it more comfortable and not make
(44:29):
it so hectic for the last few minutes of the
football game. But I do think I think this is
a close game. And before we say goodbye here, Joe,
I'm curious just to know, because I named the podcast
after this, is this, How important of a win is this?
How pivotal of a game is this? Robert was chiming
in earlier and said that he thinks if the Bears
(44:51):
win this, they'll be in a good spot for the playoffs.
If they lose this, they kind of hurt themselves. How
much of a you know, how much weight are you
putting on this game on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (45:02):
If if the playoffs are a realistic possibility, if that's
on your radar, it should be right with you know,
six wins, six and three, you have to win this
game because we talked about, you know, how tough the
schedule gets going forward. Uh So, yeah, I mean, you
hate to call it a musk game, but it's a
musk game. But the good news for the Bears is
(45:23):
they got a musk game in mid November. We haven't
said that for a while, so you have an opportunity
because again, if if they lose this game, now you're
six and four year owing three against the NFC North
and you still have another game with the Lions and
two more with the Packers, that's really gonna make it
tough for you. But even if they win the follow week,
(45:44):
probably another must winner they got this is the Steelers
coming next to Soldier Field. So yeah, I mean, I
hate the you know, you know, overreact, but it's absolutely
a big game. If you want to call it a
musk game, I would. I would call it a musk game.
Although those games against the well, again, they're probably all
gonna be must games times like.
Speaker 1 (46:06):
Mi's or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (46:07):
So if they're gonna get to the magical ten wins, right,
they got to find a way to get four more here,
and I think it starts Sunday and you got to
get this win here.
Speaker 1 (46:18):
Yeah. I think if you want to be a playoff team,
you can't go start off zero and three in the
division and this is a game you got to pick
up and you gotta win on the road. I think
the Bears have shown that they can win in the road. Obviously,
they won in Washington, they won in Cincinnati. I just
think that this The guys have kind of talked about
it this week too, where you know, people have kind
of asked, you know, different players, like when do you
(46:40):
start talking about the playoffs? Like is that kind of
you know, are you starting to think about that at all?
And a bunch of the guys are kind of like,
guys are rowing two in the division, like we got
to pick up our first division win first, Like you
can't a lot of the times you're not making the
playoffs if you don't win in your division. So I
think the Bears are well aware of what's in front
of them. I think they're well they remember what happened
(47:01):
to Week one that was the game that the Bear
should have won. They blew an eleven point game and
let JJ McCarthy get on the heater in the fourth quarter.
So I think this is a big game because if
you lose this game, where are you going to get
four more wins? At this point, the Steelers are hot
and cold. I think the Philadelphia Eagles at the Eagles
is still going to be tough. Green Bay maybe you
(47:21):
split with them, the Browns, the forty nine Ers, you're
probably playing for a playoff spot, and then you got
obviously the Detroit Lions at the end of the season.
So it'll be really interesting to see what it all
kind of looks like. Because listen, Joe, I get another
I'll leave, I'll leave this. We'll end on this note.
(47:41):
The Bears win on Sunday and the Detroit Lions lose
on Sunday, the Bears will be at the top of
the NFC North by themselves. That'll be I don't know
if any of us were really predicting that after an
zero to two start to the season, but I heard
a lot of chesty and excited Bears fans after Monday
nights lost by the Packers. I can't imagine it's gonna
look like Sunday afternoon if both if the Bears win
(48:03):
and the Lions lose on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (48:05):
Oh, Mike, you talk about overreaction Monday. I mean that's
gonna be it. Uh yeah, But I'm glad the players
have things in perspective. Look, they're pros. I'm sure they've
been being told this. Maybe they don't even have to
be told it's not like they're you know.
Speaker 1 (48:20):
I think they know they know, right, And it seems
like bra I think that's something that Ben Jonson has
kind of instilled in the guys where it feels like
a lot of stuff doesn't have to be said in
that locker room, Like they just kind of understand what
the expectations are and they're not gonna let themselves get
it too far ahead of anything at this point.
Speaker 2 (48:38):
Yeah, and I'm guessing like Bayerd is a great leader
for that, Like he knows, you know, that's why it's
important to have those guys in the locker room. Not
that a rookie wouldn't know that either, but it's just
good to have that. And yeah, yeah, we're all in
three against the division enough set so before we can
get all excited and start playing the song, or we're
going to the playoffs. Take care of what's in front
(49:01):
of us, and that's that's that's the that's the motto,
the m for every team in the National Football League.
Take care of this week. And ask the football coach
this this year high school football coach about what it
takes to go nine and oh, which in high school is,
you know, a perfect regular season, and he goes, uh, uh,
win this week, that's it.
Speaker 1 (49:20):
And then you win the next week. That's it.
Speaker 2 (49:22):
So it's just that another way of phrasing that you
win this week, that's how you go nine and oh,
now you're two and oh, and then you win next week,
you're three, and that's how you do it. So that's
just that one game approach, however you want to phrase it.
That's that's what it's all about. And I think this
Bears group, especially defensively, is veteran enough to get that. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (49:41):
I think the you know, I hear the one to
know thing a lot and the Bears have used it
a lot, and it could be cliche at times, but
it does. It does seem to be something that the
guys believe in whatever level of play, football you're playing in,
so it'll be it'll be interesting because as we've seen
in the NFL, every week is its own week and
anything can happen in anything the week, and that's why
we're all addicted to the NFL. So it'll be a
(50:03):
really interesting matchup on Sunday. All right, that's everything that
we've got for this episode of the Shell Local Bears
Inside of podcast. Thank you to everyone who joined us
on the live stream. Appreciate all the comments questions. Great
to hear from you guys on this Friday morning. If
you're liking what you're hearing, if you're joining us on
Facebook and you like what you hear, make sure you
give us a like. That's the best way to support us.
(50:25):
Hit that like button on the YouTube channel and make
sure you join us for future podcasts and live streams.
And if you're listening on the live on the podcast,
make sure you're subscribing to us wherever you listen to podcasts.
And if you want to join the live stream, check
out our social media's I'm at m jag ninety four,
Joe's at Joey Aguilar sixty four, and we'll always post
when we're going to be doing a live stream, all right.
(50:48):
Make sure you follow Joe for all of your high
school football coverage. He's got you covered as we are
in the state quarterfinals this weekend for football, and I'll
be in Minnesota this weekend giving you the latest updates
from the Bears Vikings game.
Speaker 3 (51:00):
Make sure you're following me this.
Speaker 1 (51:01):
Weekend, all right. Make sure you guys enjoy the weekend.
It's supposed to be sixty, so enjoy whatever. I don't know.
It's snowed on Monday, and somehow it's sixty on Saturday,
so make sure you enjoy that weather and enjoy the
Bears game on Sunday. And we will talk to you
folks on Monday.
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