Episode 408: Bears vs. Vikings season opener preview

The Chicago Bears will open the 2025 season against the Minnesota Vikings in front of a national audience on Monday night. Shaw Local's Michal Dwojak and Joe Aguilar make their season predictions and preview Monday's game.


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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello and welcome to Shaw Locals Bears Insider podcast. We
are here. It is the Friday before the season opener.
The season has started Thursday night. We saw Philly and
Dallas going against each other, and now we are going
to get ready for the Bears to open their twenty
twenty five season against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night.

(00:22):
I am sew local Chicago Bears reporter Michael Duojac here
with the Northwest heroach Joe Aguilar. We've got a fun
episode for you folks. We're going to do a little
bit of a combo episode. We're going to preview the
twenty twenty five season as well as the Bears opener
on Monday. We had our predictions published this morning, so

(00:44):
we'll break we'll look at some of our predictions, just
kind of look at that, and then we'll obviously breakdown
Monday night's game against the Vikings. But if you're joining
us on a livestream thing, so much for joining us.
Make sure to chime in the group chat. Ask any
questions do you guys have about this matchup about the season.
We'll be happy to ask it or answered. I guess

(01:05):
I should say, And if you're joining us in the
podcast thing, so much for joining us. If you want
to join us on the live stream, make sure that
you're checking out our social media's. We are usually going
on Monday and Fridays during the season. Obviously, the Bears
schedule make things a little bit different, especially with the
Monday night game, but we'll keep you guys updated on
what we're going to be doing each and every week.

(01:25):
To make sure you follow our social media's and if
you're on YouTube, make sure you like us. That's the
best way to support us kind of help other people
who are obviously Bears fans interested in this stuff. So
make sure you like us. That's the We really appreciate
your support. So, Joe, we're recording this on Friday morning.
Let's just get into like the you know, the brass

(01:47):
past stuff that kind of has been going on. And
the biggest stuff is the injury report to kind of
talk about. Now, the Bears practiced on Wednesday, but they
did not release an injury report, and then they did
not practice on Thursday, but they did release an estimated
estimated injury report and some you know, not some great

(02:10):
stuff on there. You have Josh Blackwell, he would have
not practiced. He's with he's got a groin injury. TJ.
Edwards would not have practiced. He has an hamstring injury.
Roshawn Johnson would have not practiced. He has a foot injury.
Jalen Johnson, who we talked to him on Wednesday and
he told us that he had a growing injury, but

(02:30):
turns out that he also has a calf injury. He
would have been limited in practice. Calm Anung guy he
has a hamstring and he would have been limited. Devin
DuVernay and Dominique Robinson were both full participants but listed
on the injury report. So Joe, obviously these are you know, estimates.
We'll get a better idea as to what where things

(02:52):
kind of stand today when they actually do hit the
practice field. But some concerning stuff there, I mean, the
the the TJ. Edwards thing is not good. You know,
we saw him leave practice last week. It turns out
that it's a hamstring injury. He didn't look too happy
when it happened last week. But you know, you obviously,

(03:12):
d Jalen Johnson is really important. Montes Swat. You've got
a lot of important players on this team. But I
feel like TJ. Edwards is kind of that unspoken leader
for this team, and he's someone who plays every single down,
and he's someone, especially as they're getting ready to go
against the Vikings, who's probably going to run the ball
a lot, you would really need TJ. Edwards in there.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
Well, I think I jinxed him because in our story
that's running online about our surprise MVP on defense this year,
I kind of went on a limb and picked TJ.
Edwards because really the sole reason he doesn't get hurt.
If you look at go to Pro Football Reference, which
I do all the time, with all the stats, he

(03:56):
hasn't missed a game as a Bear, I think in
two seasons, and think with Philly maybe he missed one.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
Maybe he played all.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
Seventeen as well three years ago. So he just shows up.
And with so many other concerns on the defense as
far as injuries, you mentioned them all pretty much everybody
in the secondary really, including Jakwan Brisker, who you didn't mention.
That's good because again I've expressed many times I just
don't have confidence in him playing seventeen games this season

(04:26):
based on all the concussions he's received. And then Jalen
Johnson is the big one because you're playing Justin Jefferson.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
Come Monday night.

Speaker 2 (04:35):
The good news there. I mentioned this the last time,
was you know you're not facing Jordan Love or you know,
you know one of the you know you're not facing
Jared Goff to open the season, and you'll see golf
in week two. But you know, JJ McCarthy's a rookie,
has improven anything. You would expect there to be some
growing pains, even with a great head coach he has,

(04:58):
but the reason are on defense are concerning and then
the running back which kind of what we've known all along.
We'll probably be a game time decision come Monday night
which running back too is ready and that'll be the
guy to go, whether it's Manung Guy or Johnson.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
Yeah, it'll be interesting. You know. Obviously things can change.
We'll see whether Roshaan gets back out there, but he
hasn't been out there for the last couple of weeks
with that foot injury, so well we'll see where that goes.
Kyle obviously limited, we'll see where that goes. But yeah,
I mean that running back room is going to be
you know, we'll get into the into the story lines
and all that kind of stuff about that Vikings game.

(05:34):
But you know, for a new offense trying to get
its footing this year, you really want to run the ball,
especially early, you know, especially going against his pass rushes
Blitzer blitzing a defense by Brian Flores, and you don't
really I mean, DeAndre Swift can only do so much
right like you got Brittan Brown. I think he's shown
you that he can be a tough runner sometimes and
I think that he can he can be a guy
for you. But without Roshan Johnson potentially with Kyle Manong guy,

(05:58):
that room is pretty depleted at this point. And that's
really interesting just given how much you know, Ryan Poles
didn't really address the position other than getting Kyle Anung
guy in this out and the round this year.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
Yeah, and it's too really late to go get someone
who's healthy off the waiver wire or someone else's practice squad.
So we'll see. I mean, you're not gonna need that
running back to to carry the ball ten times Monday night,
but you're gonna need them. I don't think DeAndre Swift
is gonna play every down, so it is important and
we'll see what happens. It's again, They've had lot a

(06:32):
long time to figure this out. They know the situation extent,
the injuries the guys have are nothing new. I mean,
you know, it's not like it happened in the last
few days. So they they're you know, I'm sure they're
on top of it. I'm sure they'll have a running
back to a guy who's healthy enough to play come
Monday night.

Speaker 1 (06:51):
All right, joll, let's dive into our season predictions here. Well,
we'll kind of go through these a little bit just
because we want to make sure we get our Vikings
stuff in there as well. But you know, obviously a
big year Ben Johnson taking over for the Bears really
has brought in a breadth of you know, fresh air
to the room. A lot of guys are you know,

(07:12):
really invigorated, and obviously that happens with a lot of
coaching staffs. We'll see how it goes in week four
and week five, but at this point, it really does
seem like Ben Johnson has really kind of, you know,
set things up for Caleb to succeed, for the for
the whole offense to succeed. So you know, with that,
I'm going to start things off pretty hot here, Joe,
who who do you think is your Bears MVP this year?

Speaker 2 (07:35):
Well, as I wrote, I didn't see your picks. I'm
guessing you said the same one. Did you have the
same one as me?

Speaker 1 (07:41):
I did have the same one. You. I went with
the obvious. I feel like we both went with the
obvious choice here.

Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yeah, I mean he has to be, he has to be.
If not, my hair can still get a little more gray.
But I don't know if it can get much more
gray if this doesn't work out this year. We keep saying,
you know, I'm cynical by by nature. Well as I've
aged Jedvan Kim Morton citic as a Chicago sports fan.

(08:05):
But my goodness, if this isn't the right coach, if
this isn't the right quarterback, I can't how many how
many more teardowns do we do? You have to get
the quarterback right? And I'm looking I'm not, I'm like
not like the national media or some of your cohorts
on a hallis Hall Michael wore constantly, you know, criticizing
Caleb Williams and if he if he looks the wrong

(08:27):
way and throws it in completion, it's like, oh boy,
there goes Tyson Baje and you better get him ready.
I'm not I'm not going there yet. I'm not going there.
It's ridiculous. But he's he's got to be the best player.
The MVP can't be a wide receiver because if the
wide receivers the MVP, he tried the quarterbacks getting them
the ball, and the guy's having a big season. So

(08:47):
it all starts with QB one And I think, you know,
I'm not saying he's gonna look like Brett Farban year two.
Brett Favron is prime, but I think he'll be good
and he has to be coud. There's no there's no
other way to say it, right.

Speaker 1 (09:03):
No, I would agree with you. I was kind of struggling,
you know, at first glance, I was kind of like, well,
is roma Dune say your most valuable player? Just because
you know, I think he's gonna have a great year.
I think he's gonna skyrocket this year. I think, you know,
he kind of got lost in the shadows of Keenan
Allen and DJ Moore. And I think I don't think
he was schemed perfectly either, and that some of that

(09:24):
was part of on Rome being a rookie, right, like
he probably you know, could have had some better success
as the season kind of came along. But I think
Rome's gonna have a great year. But I do think that, Yeah,
I mean, if this team has any sorts of success
this year, it's gonna because because of Caleb Williams, right,
and it falls on the quarterback. And I think everything

(09:45):
set up perfectly for him. The Bears got the guy, uh,
the offensive guru. They they boasted the offensive line, they
added more offensive weapons. Now it's up to Caleb to
to do it right. Like you we last year. You
could come up with all the excuses up. The play
calling was terrible, like the guys were dropping balls, the
offensive line wasn't protecting him, And I agree with that,

(10:07):
but you know, and if you look back on it,
it's not Caleb had a terrible year by any means,
Like he wasn't a bad quarterback. But this year has
to be the year that Caleb shows you that he's
your franchise quarterback. He has to be the guy who
makes plays. He has to be the guy who overcomes,
you know, maybe a defense that's just having a bad
day and can't put up, you know, can't get some stops.

(10:28):
He has to be the guy who you know, makes
players around him better. Caleb Williams has to be the
guy that makes you win, and he has to be
your franchise quarterback. And you know, does that mean that
he's going to put up you know, three hundred yards
three fifty against the Vikings on Monday. I'm not going
to go that far, but I think that he needs
to show that he's got command of his offense. He
needs to show that he understands the offense perfectly. He

(10:51):
needs to show you that he can make, you know,
job dropping plays once or twice in a game. And
that's something that Ben Johnson's talked about, right like every
single practice, he'll make a play that you're just like,
that's not supposed to happen. So I agree with you.
I think, you know, there are a lot of great
players on this team. Jalen Johnson is one of the
best quarterbacks in the league. I think Roma Dunes has
a potential to you know, Joe Toney is a consummate

(11:12):
throw a future Hall of Famer. There are a lot
of great guys on this team. And I think Brian
Poles has done a good job of building it. But
I do think that you're not gonna succeed if Caleb
isn't good. So that's I agree with you. And it
just feels like a no brainer to me that Caleb
would be your most you know, your most valuable player
this year if you have a good season. All right,

(11:32):
let's move on over now to Rookie of the Year.
And you and I kind of split on this one, Joe,
and I don't hate your choice, So why don't you
tell us who you got for Rookie of the Year.

Speaker 2 (11:45):
I think I picked Luther Burden, right, yep, yeah, I
mean you could go a.

Speaker 1 (11:49):
Lot of ways here.

Speaker 2 (11:50):
I just hope we have a guy who we can
say he's a good candidate, you know, and that guy's
a good candidate. If we're saying a process of elimination,
then that's a bad year. And I've got more gray hairs,
you know. We we have to have a guy who
who emerges, you.

Speaker 1 (12:06):
Know, And I think Burden. I didn't want to ask
you this.

Speaker 2 (12:10):
I kind of probably ask you this before we started
taking but you know, in the preseason he was pretty
good much getting all his reps with Tyson Bagent so
I don't know if that's going to be going to
be indicative of his playing time come to the regular season.
But everything we saw from Luther Burden, including the swag,
I really like this guy. Swag Man. We're in the
shades of the postseason. I mean, I know that means
nothing if he can't catch the football and make plays,

(12:31):
but he certainly looks the party, sounds the part and
everything I've seen, and I just like, you know, again,
you want to make your quarterback better besides pass protext
for him, Just give the guy a little pass. It
doesn't have to be a screen pass, but a short
pass and let him do his magic. And that's what
a lot of good receivers in the league do. And
I think Luthor Burden is that guy to get the

(12:52):
ball in his hands. He saw that in Missouri. That's
one of the best attributes he had coming out of college,
was that yat the yards after catch. I think he
can do that. I just don't know. Again, with so
many miles to feed here on offense, with so many
capable receivers, not the wide receivers, the tight ends, the
running back and swift can catch the ball. There's a

(13:13):
lot so I don't. I'm not predicting like an eighty
catch season for Luther Burden the third, but I do
think he'll make an impact. And one of those guys
who you don't have to say, well, he didn't catch
six passes today, so he didn't do anything. I think
he's a guy who can make an impact off the
score sheet. I mean with with plays that necessarily reflected

(13:34):
in receptions or receiving yards or tds.

Speaker 1 (13:37):
Sure, I would agree with you there for sure. And
Rick is kind of echoing that concern from you. You know,
going to be good to see Rick going to be
hard for Burden with three wide receivers ahead of him,
has to be loveland, and I would agree, I think.
You know, it was interesting. You know, Ben Johnson was
asked this week, where is he with his trust with
the rookies, right? And I think Ben Ben's kind of,

(13:58):
you know, echoed the point of they have to earn
his trust, right like they have to like it. They're
all he said, they're all in different spots. Obviously everyone
has kind of everyone's doing what he wants to see,
but the trust level is different with each player. So
I'm curious and I'm not I'm not here, you know,
saying that he doesn't trust Luther Burden, But I do
wonder whether missing most of the spring, whether you know,

(14:19):
his kind of slow start to training camp. I think,
you know, Luther showed you that he can be a
grade wide receiver in this league, and you know he's
got the town to do it. But I do wonder
whether that trust is still developing with Ben And I
wonder whether that kind of, you know, kind of slows
things down for him, especially early in the year when
he's got DJ Moore roma Donze. Oh. I mean, he's

(14:40):
a chaos right Cole Kmet, So I will be interesting
to see how that kind of develops. But because of that,
that's kind of why I went with Coaston Loveland. I mean,
you drafted him with the number ten overall pick. He's
kind of a unicorn, like I think he's going to become.
I think him and Cole Comet, and I think you
saw that in the Buffalo Bills game, will be come

(15:00):
Caleb's best friends really early in this season, because they're
just going to be safety nets for him. They're going
to be open in the middle, They're going to be open,
you know, going to the side, and they're just big targets, right, Like,
I think Cole is going to be used in a
much better way this year than he has in the past,
and I think he'll actually reach his full potential this
season as opposed to what the you know, the no

(15:22):
targets last year, which still made no sense to me.
And I think Colston is going to be you know,
guys are going to focus in on him, but he's
like what, you're number five. If if he's on the
field in your twelve personnel, he is target, he is
probably guarded by the linebacker, the middle linebacker or like
maybe the late safety. Like the guys are not going
to be able to keep up with him. So I

(15:43):
think Colston is going to have a big year. And
I think Caleb is going to rely on his tight ends,
especially Colston, So that's kind of why I went with him.
I think he's going to be looked at early. He's
going to be a big target, He's going to be
really tough to stop, and I just think that you know,
it's just gonna be hard to stop. And then he's
just kind of a unicorn tight end that you know

(16:05):
made him so valuable at number ten.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
Well, I just hope we're having a conversation at the
end of the season saying, boy, it's a real tough
pick between Loveland and Burden because they were both great
this season. If we're having that conversation, hey man, be
happy as a Bears fan, because there'll be lots of
other good Bears things will be talking about that.

Speaker 1 (16:25):
Yes, yes, for sure, you're hoping that. Uh you know,
I I think we're all expecting Rome to have a
big year and lead the team. But I don't think
it's going to be I think it's going to be
pretty even. I think, you know, each guy is gonna
step up each week, and it'll be interesting to watch
how Caleb and Ben Johnson kind of divvy the ball up,
all right, Moving on to Defensive Player of the Year, Joe,
you kind of hinted at this a little bit earlier

(16:46):
with your jinks. I don't know if you fully jinked them,
To be fair, he got injured before you knew about this,
so to be fair, you did not officially jinx him.
But who did you have as your defensive player of
the Year.

Speaker 2 (16:59):
Yeah, I had teach j Edwards and it truly again,
is he the most talented, most athletic guy on the
Bears defense.

Speaker 1 (17:05):
Heck, no, heck, And I love DJ.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
You know covered him in high school at Lakes Community
in Lake County.

Speaker 1 (17:12):
He was great.

Speaker 2 (17:12):
He almost quit, you know, he always quit football, by
the way, get heard of that story, and I almost
quit football's junior years. He's had football coach Luke Burton's
told me his story. He had to convince because TJ
wanted to play basketball in college and his coach is like, DJ, reconsidered,
and you know, and he did, Thank goodness. And you know,
he's a great story. We know the whole story, undrafted

(17:35):
on Wisconsin and everything. But TJ stays on the field,
and I know he's not going to make flash plays.
He's not going to make the top ten highlights on
ESPN every morning or any morning. But just the consistency
what he brings because the other guys there's just too
many injury concerns. Jalen Johnson is the best player on

(17:57):
this defense. We've talked about that enough. He's he's got
the resume with the Pro Bowl appearances.

Speaker 1 (18:03):
He is the guy.

Speaker 2 (18:04):
But you know, those soft tissue things are worrisome. And
then Kyler Gordon who's another guy I could have gone with.
I just don't know about his health either, because because
I really think, especially with Dennis Allen, I think we
saw he was an effective blitzer. Kyler Gordon, we've seen
that in his short years a few years here with
the Bears, he can be a really good player. And
then Montest what you'd like to think, you know, he's

(18:27):
this is a twelve sex season coming up, man, get ready,
But I don't know. I don't know if we've seen enough.
You're there every day. I hope we have. I hope
that's what's in store, but you got to get some
of the compliment as a dango. The guy, I don't know.
I'm not convinced yet left to see it. So really,
I guess you can almost say on a process of elimination,

(18:49):
I went with TJ, who I do like.

Speaker 1 (18:51):
He's not I don't think he's going to a tool
Pro Bowl. He's closed, but he's not.

Speaker 2 (18:57):
But I just because I can trust him and then
this injury happens more so than I can the other guys, Yeah,
I would agree with you. I think I like I
like TJ a lot.

Speaker 1 (19:09):
I feel like he's like such an under you know,
I don't know if he's under veiled. I just think
he's maybe a little underappreciated just based on he's just
there every single down. He's just consistently making plays. He's
leading you in tackles or you know, usually at the
top of leading you in tackles. And I just think
that he's a consistent leader who always is there. So yeah,
I would agree with you. I think TJ is definitely

(19:31):
up there. I went with Jalen just because, man if
he's so essential to the defense working. And you know,
the big thing about Dennis Allen's defense is it's gonna
be a man to man coverage. You're hoping that the
blitz lands quickly and forces the quarterback to make mistakes,
but we don't know if that's gonna happen. To be
honest with you, I have this in my story lines

(19:54):
for this matchup. I don't know what we're gonna get
out of this pass rush. I was not I saw
some good things, but that was also going against a
Bear and a Bears offensive line that is still trying
to figure things out. So I I think we're still
waiting to see whether this past, whether the additions Ryan
Poles made for this, for this defensive or yeah, for
this defensive line was enough. So because of that, I

(20:17):
think Jalen Johnson's gonna be huge. This is his time
to shine and man and man coverage be as sticky
as heck. I think he's got the talent to do it.
He's going usually I you know, we'll see what he
is for this week one matchup. I don't think he's
gonna shadow Justin Jefferson. I think he you know, he's
gonna be on a on a snaps limit obviously just
trying to work back into shape, but for the most

(20:39):
part throughout the season, he's going to be on your
best wide receiver. He's gonna be on that guy consistently.
And if you don't have a pass rush, you need
your corner back to make sure that the top ride
receiver isn't open. So yeah, I think that the pass
rush needs to obviously be really important. But man, if
Jalen Johnson isn't clicking the way he can be clicking,
I think there are gonna be a lot of problems

(21:00):
for this defense. That's my concern. That's my concern.

Speaker 2 (21:04):
But yeah, if he stays healthy, if he's on the field,
for seventeen games, sixteen games.

Speaker 1 (21:09):
He's the MVP.

Speaker 2 (21:10):
And you know, most important position on defense rushi end
rush ed yeah, second most.

Speaker 1 (21:16):
Shut down corner right, yeah, and the Bears have that guy.
Rick chiming in saying Montese needs to be the best
defender that will make the DB's lives even better, and
I agree. I think that's true. You need to see
this is the season that you need Montes Sweat to
show you that he was worth the second round pick
that you traded and the big contract that you gave
him last year. You know, you can come up with

(21:38):
all the different things he didn't. Yes, he didn't have
much support around him. Yes, he was dealing with injuries
for much of the year. But this needs to be
a season where Montes Sweat shows you that he's your
top pass rushing and I think you've boosted the middle
of the defensive line. Andrew Billings is bad healthy, Grady Jarrett. Yes,
he'll be on a limit. I don't think he's playing

(21:59):
one hundred percent of the snap, but I think when
he's in there, he's going to be big. I think
Davon Dexter takes a big year, and I think Dio
just needs to do more than you know what happened
last year opposite of Montest that was barely anything. So
I agree, Greg, I think Montest needs to have a
big year and I think he is set up for that.
All right, Joe, surprise prediction for this year? You kind

(22:20):
of went with the surprise that I didn't. I didn't expect.
What was what was your surprise prediction?

Speaker 2 (22:28):
My surprise with the Bears make the playoffs? Right, I
think that's what I put down. Yeah, ten to seven.
It's a little bit of a reach, but I think
I think this season because you just don't know, You
just don't know unless your quarterback is Tom Brady and
his prime, that it's going to be a great year
with so many teams because of injuries and variables. But

(22:51):
the Bears, I have a feeling it's either going to
be really disappointing. Again maybe seven to ten, which to
me would be really really disappointing.

Speaker 1 (22:59):
Right, Could you have so many questions? That is the quarterback? Right?
Is the coach trick? Can you figure this out?

Speaker 2 (23:06):
But the ceiling to me is there?

Speaker 1 (23:09):
Do they hit the ceiling?

Speaker 2 (23:10):
Because if they nailed the coach, if they nailed the quarterback.
If Montest Sweat is your defensive MVP, this is a
playoff team, I don't that's what we need to know.

Speaker 1 (23:23):
If they go eight, I gotta do my math now.

Speaker 2 (23:26):
At seventeen games eight and nine, you know that's I
don't know if that's really any good or not. I
mean you can say, well, they made improvement. You know,
they look like, Okayleb it was better. Ben Johnson looks
like he's gonna fiure it out in time once they
get some more talent. I don't even think talent necessarily
is the issue.

Speaker 1 (23:46):
Defensively.

Speaker 2 (23:46):
Sure they can use the you know, another guy to
compliment Sweater. He Sweat's got to be Montest Sweat in
his prime. But I think the potential there if and
I think we'll know early. I'm not saying after Monday night,
but I think we'll know early enough that yeah, they
got something here or oh boy, oh boy. You know
two years ago was it two years ago? And they

(24:06):
opened up against Green Bay justin Fielder like here we go, man,
and then they just laid an egg and I'm like
that's it. Oh my gosh, we have sixteen more games
of this. I can't take it. And that's what it was.
It was sixteen games of hack the next you know,
to finish it out. So we knew early. I think
we'll know early and fingers crossed if you're a Bears fan,

(24:30):
that this is it. I think if they got all
those things right, the coach, the quarterback, the things we've
been talking about forever, I think they had the potential.
Ten wins should get you in. Not necessarily that guaranteed,
but that could do it.

Speaker 1 (24:43):
I I you know, I want to get more to
our our season predictions, you know, towards the end there,
but I will I do think that's an interesting point,
and I will fight you a little bit on that,
but I'll tease that for the end of the podcast.
But my surprise prediction is that the Bears don't finish
land in the NFC North. I think everywhere you look,
it's pretty much after the Michael Parsons deal, it's green Bay,

(25:06):
it's Detroit, it's Minnesota, then it's the Bears. And honestly,
like I think that's fair. I think green Bay has
they went for the best defensive player available in the league,
and that boosts them up to the top player. I
think Detroit is going to need to figure some things
out with new offensive and defensive coordinators, but they still
have the talent. I think Minnesota. You know, yes, they

(25:29):
have a rookie quarterback, but man, that defense is just nasty.
That defense is insane, especially with the additions that they
made this offseason. They revamped their offensive line after a
bad end to last season, and they still have Justin Jefferson,
who I know has been dealing with an interest and
I know Jordan Anderson is missing the first three games

(25:50):
of the season, but it's a talented team around JJ McCarthy,
and I think the talent around him is going to
be able to maybe put things like I think Caleb
would have loved to have that team around him last
year if he was able to do that right. So
I think because of that, I think everyone is is
thinking that the Bears are going to be last, But
I think that this year. I think that the NFC

(26:11):
North is the best division in the in the whole NFL,
but I think that's gonna be much harder than it
was last year. They're not playing the AFC South this year,
they're playing a much tougher division. They're playing the AFC East.
They're playing against Baltimore, Buffalo of Pittsburgh Cleveland, Like you know, Cleveland,
I'm not that worried about. But the Pittsburgh is always
good and Baltimore's and Buffalo are super Bowl contenders, like

(26:35):
that is not going to be easy by any means.
So I think there's gonna be some regression in the
NFC North. I don't think that means that they're going
to be bad by any means, but I do think
that that means you're not going to see a thirteen
to fourteen win season. You're going to see more losses
and you're going to be much more battle test at
this time around.

Speaker 2 (26:54):
Well yeah, I mean it's hard. I mean it's gonna
be hard in this division. But you know, there's I
do think all of these teams, there's such a fine
line here. I don't think the Bears are down here
and everybody else is way.

Speaker 1 (27:12):
You No, I would agree with you.

Speaker 2 (27:13):
Yeah, I don't so, And I know it's like you're
telling me that the Lions are gonna have a bad seaton.
You're telling me that the Vikers are gonna have a
bad season. No, I just think a lot of these games. Look,
the Bears, the lousy Bears of twenty twenty four beat
the Packers at the end there.

Speaker 1 (27:29):
Almost beat them twice, almost beat them twice.

Speaker 2 (27:32):
You know, they're competitive even the justin fields here. I
know a lot of personnels changes a lot every year.
But two years, remember they almost they beat Detroit once.
They should have beat them the second time. Remember that,
sure yep in the dome.

Speaker 1 (27:44):
So it's close.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
And I do think you know how many times we
hear it every week, every every Sunday. You know, it
was just a one or two possession game there. Boy,
you know we could have stopped them there and stopped
that fifty five yard pass touching off pass.

Speaker 1 (27:58):
That would have been the difference in the game. A
lot of what is that?

Speaker 2 (28:01):
And I do think these coaches aren't gonna screw up
the clock in the final minute. I don't think they're
gonna be burning timeouts after a timeout, you know TV
timeout come out of I don't know. I don't think
we're gonna see that, I know. And I think if
they can coach up Caleb, you know, to take away

(28:21):
the negative place. I'm gonna get back to one more
thing I heard Troy Aikman. I think on the score
yesterday I was talking about when they were talking about
the sacks and all the eight hundred sacks Caleb took
last year or whatever the crazy number was.

Speaker 1 (28:39):
Right now, you would not be playing.

Speaker 2 (28:40):
We'd be asking that Austin Reid kid to come back,
get him back, and so we can play quarterback.

Speaker 1 (28:47):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (28:48):
But traike Mian will say he goes always looked at sacks. Sure,
if the offensive line plays a large part of that,
but they're on the quarterback. And I don't know if
that was a revelation for me, but I mean, here's
Troy Aikman the Hall of Famers saying that it's like, really,
Caleb can just get away from the negative play a
lot because a lot of those like, okay, okay, the
coverage broke down, just toss it, toss it to the

(29:11):
blonde and the third row of the bleachers. Anything, right,
Just get rid of it. Second and ten is better
than second and eighteen because then we're done. Right, Then
you're done. You're just hoping not to screw it up
and punt and and live to fight another series. So
and I think Ben Johnson will coach that out of
them in time, But it's tough. Michael but against some

(29:33):
of these games are close, and it could be just
something simple like that, because I don't believe among those
four teams in the NFC North that the difference between
the Bears and the Vikings, Packers and Lions is that
much of the spirit. I maybe I'm just dumb.

Speaker 1 (29:49):
I don't know. Oh, I know, but you know, no,
I mean, I agree with you, and you know I
you know, I don't know a lot about this year.
I think there's a lot of uncertainty surrounding this season
about how it could potentially go. But I do know
that the Bears are going to be much better coached
and much better and I think they're going to have
scheme advantages for the first time in a long time.

(30:11):
I think offensively they're gonna I don't I can't recall
the last maybe, you know, maybe Matt Naggi in his
first year, you know, created some advantages offensively. You know
Mark Trestman, for you know how bad of a head
coach he was. He was a really good offensive mind,
and he did create a lot of good matchups there.
But this is the first time in a long time
that you know, the Bears have a scheme advantage and

(30:34):
I think they do with Tennessee defensively too. So I
don't know a lot about what's going to happen this year,
but I do know that this team is going to
come out prepared, They're going to be ready, They're going
to be coached well, and that they are going to
be put in positions to win. It's up to the players,
obviously to win. Are there they're going to be listen?
Are there going to be rookie coaching mistakes? Of course,
every coach goes through it like it's it's amazing watching

(30:55):
the NFL every single week. How like these multi billion
dollar entities are sometimes run and you're just kind of like,
really that, you like, didn't see that, you didn't call
a time out there, you didn't do that, you know,
all that sort of stuff. I'm not saying that stuff
isn't gonna happen, but I do think that this Bears
team is gonna be run much more efficiently than it
was in the past, and I think that's gonna be

(31:16):
really big in a couple of big weeks. But I
was laughing a little bit earlier, Joe and you were talking,
how much do you feel like Bears fans are just
gonna lose their minds if this team starts off on
the three and out on Monday, Like how I can't.
I can't imagine how soon the boo birds would come
out if this team just came out with the three
and out to start Monday Night football. Yeah, I mean,
I I just don't.

Speaker 2 (31:36):
I know, it's a new coaching staff and everyone's been
stressing patience, and but they go three and out. Or
if Minnesota gets the ball first and they drive eighty
yards and put six on the board right away, Oh boy,
oh boy, And that is gonna.

Speaker 1 (31:50):
Shift quickly at Soldier Field if that happened.

Speaker 2 (31:53):
It is I mean, like, hey, let's give it three games.
It's a new coaching staff. No, no, uh huh.

Speaker 1 (32:00):
Rick is not optimistic here. See he's saying that he's
expecting it. I Rick, come on, have some hope. It's
a new season here. I have at least a little
hope that things are going to be a little bit
different here. All right, we've got probably ten or fifteen
minutes left. Let's get to our preview year. Minnesota Bears
are hosting Minnesota Monday Night Football, last game of Week one,
seven twenty at Soldier Field game will be on ABC

(32:21):
and on ESPN every week. As you guys know, we
like to do a few things. We like to do
key matchup to watch. We're gonna do our most valuable bears,
so make sure you put those in the chat, our
surprise for addiction, and obviously our game prediction. So, Joe,
what is one of, if not the biggest matchup they
are watching for in Monday night's matchup against the Vikings.

Speaker 2 (32:43):
Well, I'll just take the obvious one. It's got to
be Caleb against Todd Bowles defense, right, that's the key.
Caleb had some good moments last year against against Minnesota.
It's some bad moments, but you got some good moments.

Speaker 1 (32:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (32:57):
So, and how can we handle these blitza you know,
exotic ones and all this stuff that Todd ball is
gonna throw at him. But but that's it, right, It's
it's Kayleb Williams. H. So that's the one I'm looking at.
And will he just you know, again, he doesn't have
to like you had mentioned earlier, you're spot on. He
doesn't have to throw for three eighty five or you know,

(33:17):
three hundred yards on Monday night. But be smart, get
the ball in the end zone, get first downs. You know,
you can march forty yards and eat up some time
on the clock and then before you have to punt
it away. Okay, that's okay. But he ate up some time,
kept kept the ball away from their offense. That's what
you gotta do. So I want to see that. I

(33:38):
want to see if he's smart. I want to see
if he can We're all watching to see how quickly
he can process and does he get flustered, because if
he doesn't get flustered, you'll probably get flustered a couple
of times. He's still kayleb. He can't take it all
out of them overnight or one camp. But if you
can eliminate that and just be smart with the football,
and you have to get you gotta get points on

(33:58):
the board. I'm not gonna say if that they score
thirteen points Monday night, here we go again, Right, it's.

Speaker 1 (34:02):
Gonna be a mess with Bears fans.

Speaker 2 (34:05):
But that's that's really what I'm looking at, because, as
we've said, we were saying it all last year, it's
all about the quarterback. Yeah, that was great, that's my
easy answer.

Speaker 1 (34:14):
No, I agree. I'm definitely looking for that and it's
Brian Flores's defense and what I agree. You know, it
was interesting based on you know, talking to Caleb this week.
He talked about how going against the Vikings was kind
of like he didn't call that, but I kind of
consider it like a welcome to the NFL moment where
you know, he's going against Minnesota against Harrison Smith, obviously

(34:35):
a vet you know, safety in this league, and he
checks to a play and then Harrison Smith checks to
another play, and then Caleb's like, will shoot, I got
checked to another like he realized he learned for the
first time. Like man, there's like a lot of cat
and mouse to this, like especially in the Brian Flores defense.
You know, him and Ben Johnson both emphasized that, you know,

(34:57):
Brian Flores is gonna put a wrinkle into his defense
just for you, Like something you saw against Detroit, something
you saw against Pittsburgh or whatever doesn't mean that that's
going to happen against you. And I think that's really
important for Caleb. I had a story this week about
you know, what Caleb learned of going against the Brian
Flores defense and how that can help him this week.
This weekend, he knows that he's going to have the

(35:17):
unexpected and he's going to have to adjust quickly. And
I think that's going to be a really good test.
And I think that's going to be really good to see.
Not only you know, how does Ben Johnson, you know,
put Caleb in positions to succeed, but how does Caleb
kind of adjust to what he's seeing and kind of
put the Bears in positions to succeed. So I agree
with you. I think it's gonna be a huge matchup.
How does Caleb run the offense? How does he do it?

(35:38):
How does he go against what Brian Flores is going
to do? So, yeah, I agree with you. That's definitely
something that I'm going to be looking for on Monday Night.
For me, I'm going with, how do you know Brian
Poles spent his offseason? He got Joe Toney, he got
Drew Dollman, he got Jonah Jackson. Braxton Jones is your

(35:59):
left tackle. Here's the first game. Try to figure out
how to stop that Minnesota defense. They blitz the most.
Jonathan Grenard Van Rinkle, they got Jonathan Allen. Now, uh
A Turner is going to be a bigger player now
in the second year man good luck. I think it's
gonna be really interesting to watch Braxton Jones going against

(36:20):
this because I think Brian Flores is gonna put Jonathan
Grenard opposite of Braxton Jones the whole night and he's
just gonna exploit that matchup. So I'm really interested to
see what does Joe Toney do to protect them. Does
Brent Johnson put Cole Cometo Colston Love the next to
Braxton Jones to help him, because you're gonna need a
lot of help, you know, stopping that you know, that
Minnesota defense, And I'm really interested to see how much

(36:43):
does how well does this offensive line do, But particularly,
you know, is Braxton Jones up to the job, because
you know, this left tackle competition isn't set in stone yet,
so if things go pretty poorly, I you know, I'm
not gonna say that he's gonna pull Braxton Jones, but
I think the competition can get a lot you know, hotter,
if you know he struggles going against the Minnesota Vikings

(37:04):
defense on Monday, And I'll tell you, I think.

Speaker 2 (37:10):
One guy we I don't think we've talked about him
the entire podcast sessions, you know, all of this run.
The other tight end they got from Miami. Smythe is it? Yeah,
Durham smythe smite.

Speaker 1 (37:22):
Maybe we see him more. Maybe you see two tight ends.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
But it's not leveling in comet helping, you know. And
again we're not looking for them to score forty Monday
night the Bears, but if they do well, that'd be nice.
But maybe you know, you if you sure that worries
Someme about Brax and Jones and just this defense in general.
Even if Braxton Jones was you know, one hundred percent

(37:46):
and you trusted him, they trust him, but you know,
maybe they do that. Maybe maybe that's a guy you
keep in because running back to who is it again?
So you know, keep the back end. So I'd have
to figure that out. We'll off to see if it
gets out of control. It's good that it's at home.
I think that'll help for the Bears enough to deal

(38:07):
with the dome't the dome noise and you can get flustered.
Now you're burrowing timeouts or you get a delay of game,
that kind of thing.

Speaker 1 (38:13):
So not be a good Week one game. If it
was in Minnesota, that would be a tough Week one
matchup for this time exactly. So yeah, good, good call there.
All right, Joe, what is your surprise prediction for Monday night?
Surprise prediction?

Speaker 2 (38:28):
Do we have surprise prediction in the final score?

Speaker 1 (38:30):
Left? Right? Yeah? Right? I think surprise prediction.

Speaker 2 (38:33):
Uh, DeAndre Swift is gonna be a big player in
this game. That That's what I'm gonna go with again,
for all the things we've talked about, like, let's not
be stupid, let's keep it simple, let's uh you know,
let's not you know, uh be looking at at third
and twenty two or false start all this stuff. Just
give the ball to him. I've said it forever, and
everyone wanted a better running back. I understand. You know,

(38:55):
he's not Sweetness, He's not even Anthony Thomas at this point.
Deandres he's a pretty good player though. He's a decent player.
You saw in Philly well that you know, Hall of
Fame offensive line he had there.

Speaker 1 (39:09):
Sure how well he ran, But even last year the
stats weren't horrible. I mean, I know, the average yards
per carry less than.

Speaker 2 (39:16):
Four getting getting get to a thousand yards. But I
think he'll be better this year. And I still think
with the better interior offensive line, and that Eric Bienemy
the way he's been teaching, like hey man, just just
take a one yard game instead of dancing and all
of a sudden you've lost two yards, because that can
be a big difference. I think they can coach that

(39:37):
out of him. I think he will be really real effective.
I think he's gonna have a good game, and I
think they might rely on him more and they're gonna
need a running game from off the season. I don't
care if Caleb is thrown for three to fifty every game.
You're still gonna get it running back to set all
that up. But I think he will be I know
we wanted to be the offense and all the new
toys we got at the receiver position and tight end,

(39:58):
but I think Swift will. It might not be exciting,
but I think he's gonna have a Honestly, he's gonna
rush for one, one thirty. But I'm gonna say he's
gonna have a good game and noticeable game, and you'll
look back and if they win, say DeAndre Swift was
a big part of it.

Speaker 1 (40:17):
I agree with you. I think DeAndre Swift is better
than what we saw last year. And you know, if
you if you look at the stats, he had his
second highest you know, career yards, he had his most carries,
he averaged the least amount of yards per carry in
his career, and I think, you know, part of that
was the offensive line, some of that was his decision making.
But I think he's really motivated after last year. I
think he knows that last year could have gone a

(40:38):
lot better, and I think he's motivated for that. I think,
you know, for all to talk about, how you know,
Ben Johnson got rid of DeAndre Swift after one year
being an oct in Detroit, I think that was a
little bit overblown. I think that, you know, I think
Ben Johnson's able to create a lot of success with
whatever he has on the roster. So I think he's
going to use DeAndre bo there's a running, you know threat,

(41:01):
and as a pass catching threat. So yeah, I'm not
gonna be Yeah. I think he has a big game,
but I also think he has a big season and
they're gonna really need him, especially given what the injuries
are in that running back room. Quickly, my surprise prediction.
I don't know how much of a surprise this is,
but I think the Bears get Force three turnovers. I
think it's a couple of picks and uh and and

(41:21):
uh and a fumble. Maybe that's not much of a
prediction just given that they're going against a rookie quarterback.
But I do think that this defense finds its groove
early in this game, and I think that they end
up with three turnovers, whether that's two fumbles, whether that's
you know, three interceptions, that that would be a lot.
But I do they think they end up with three turnovers,
and that's gonna be a big factor in you know,

(41:44):
field position for this offense, but also in uh, in
this team winning this game. Well that is a surprise prediction.
Threes a lot.

Speaker 2 (41:52):
Yeah, they get three, they're winning, Yeah, Yeah, fantastic. Yeah,
because we're still looking for the who's making the plays?
Do we have enough playmakers on defense? And three would
be really nice.

Speaker 1 (42:07):
And I think this defense, you know, for all the
for everything that went wrong last year, this team, this
defense forced turnovers last year like they had at least
the I forget what the streak was, but every week
I feel like I was writing this is the act.
This is the eighth straight game that they forced at
least two turnovers. Like this defense likes the first force turnovers.
So you know, obviously that depends whether the TJ plays,

(42:29):
Jalen plays, you know, all that sort of stuff. But
I do think that there will be turnovers in this game.
All right, Joe, what who is your most valuable bear
for this for this game? Well, I guess I kind
of gave it away then. Yeah, I was a little
confused on our quest.

Speaker 2 (42:43):
Not that your question is just my thinking here, but
I'm gonna say DeAndre Swift. Okay, I'm gonn I'm gonna
go with DeAndre Swift. I gotta.

Speaker 1 (42:50):
I just think he'll it.

Speaker 2 (42:52):
Won't be boy, I'd love to be I've been drinking
the kool agg you know, I've been. I've been pretty
optimistic here with my bears, with Ben Johnson and klu
and everything, and I think it's gonna be fine.

Speaker 1 (43:02):
But maybe week one.

Speaker 2 (43:04):
A pretty heavy dose of Deandres with the Backsville get
those three turnovers, and I'm gonna go with Deandreswift.

Speaker 1 (43:11):
I like that pick. I think that's a good pick
for the folks at home who don't know we limit
ourselves to three Caleb or quarterback picks. I guess obviously
that we're hoping that's Caleb all season long. But yeah,
so Joe's going with DeAndre Swift to start off the air.
I'm tempted to go I'm going I'm tempted to go
one of two ways. I'm tempted to either go with

(43:31):
Caleb or I'm tempted to go with Rome and do
I save my Caleb for later in this, Like I
don't know if I want to burn this in week one,
Like it's such a strategic game here, but I think
I am going to go with I'll go with Caleb.
I think maybe he doesn't focus in on Rome as

(43:52):
much in week one. I think Rome is going to
have a big game this year, but I hope he
has at least one big game. If he doesn't, we're
gonna have a lot of problems. But I'm going with Caleb.
I'm gonna go with the obvious one here. I'm gonna
start off. I'm gonna burn my Caleb in week one,
but I think this is the week where he kind of,
you know, spreads the wealth a little bit, and he
kind of gets different guys involved, So I think it

(44:13):
might be a little tough to focus in on one guy.
So I'm just gonna go with the guy who throws
the ball to everybody. Rick, chiming in with DJ, I'm very,
very curious to see how Ben uses him catching and
running the ball. I'm really curious about that too, Rick,
because there's a lot of mouths to feat like Rome
becomes your ex wide receiver, you know, Olami Da Luther

(44:34):
kind of become your slought wide receivers obviously Colston and
Cole or your why wide receivers. So you know, where
does that leave DJ in this offense? Right? Like the
guy you gave an extension to last offseason, you know,
kind of feels like he can go anywhere. And he
was asked earlier this week, you know, have you heard
about the debot Samuel, you know, comparisons you like that,

(44:56):
and he was respectful about it. He said, I'm my
own player. Obviously I love what Deebo does. But I
do think that that's kind of what Ben Johnson could
do with you know, DJ. I think that he can
use him all over the field. You can spread him out,
you can you know, do jet sweeps, you can use
them as a running book back once or twice. So yeah,
I like that prediction, Rick, because I think DJ is

(45:18):
going to be involved in this offense, and I think
he's going to be involved in a lot of different ways.
So that will give him a lot of opportunities to
pick up a lot of guards.

Speaker 2 (45:26):
Yeah, I'm curious too how they're gonna use him. And
I still like, I still love DJ Moore So such
a tough sun.

Speaker 1 (45:34):
Of a gun.

Speaker 2 (45:34):
I mean, for a guy who's not that big, he's
a tough guy to bring down first half.

Speaker 1 (45:38):
You think he'd go down easily.

Speaker 2 (45:39):
He's not get He's not the biggest dude in physical stature,
but he is such a tough nugget. And I still think,
look like, when you need a big catch right now,
because the other guys are rookies or just they're just unproven,
DJ Moore is still the veteran guy. You know you
can trust him, you know you can go to him,
and I think everyone needs that. I guess i'll use
the word, you know, security blanket. I think he's still

(46:02):
that guy. There's no Keenan Allen this year, so I
and I think DJ will you know, we saw him
run the ball a little bit last year, especially maybe
with you know, Ben Jackson. I would like to be
creative I don't know how many tricks he's gonna pull
out of his bag come Monday Night in the first game.

Speaker 1 (46:16):
But well, we'll see the football in DJ's hands. I'm
pretty sure. Yeah, yeah, I agree with you. I am
curious to see what Yeah, for sure, I am curious
to see what that offense looks like. Like is it
pretty vanilla like not vanilla like preseason vanilla? But like,
are you gonna see it pass to Darnell? Right, I
don't know. I don't I don't know if you're bringing
out all that or not. I don't know if you

(46:37):
bring out all the tricks in this game, especially because
like you want Caleb to feel comfortable, like you want
him get to get him into a groove. So are
you just doing a lot of short passes to kind
of build a momentum and that kind of stuff? Do
you rely on the running back game? I think that'll
be really interesting to watch, just what that offense looks like.
All right, Joe, what are I'm gonna ask you a
twofold here a double barrel? What is your prediction for

(46:59):
the season and what is your prediction for Monday Night
for the season.

Speaker 2 (47:04):
I think I picked ten and seven playoffs for the
game I had in the paper. I had the Vikings,
but I'm going with the Bears. I'm going with the Bears.
I'm gonna say, well, you know, there's gotta be probably
three Cairo Santos thirty two yard field goals, because that's
you know, that's like, it's like just like a staple

(47:24):
the offense. Sure, so I'm gonna say, gotta do my
math rat with touchdowns versus field goals twenty seven twenty
three Bears I am.

Speaker 1 (47:37):
I'm going with the Bears too. I'm trying to decide
how confident I am that this is gonna be an
offensive shootout. I don't know if it is. I'm going
to go I have the Bears winning this game. I
have them winning. Let's go with like twenty one to seventeen.
I think it feels like a twenty one to seventeen game.
Defense comes up with the with the late stop there.

(48:00):
I think everything looks. I think you're encouraged by the
way everything looks. I don't think Caleb throws for three fifty.
I don't think anyone is gonna any wide receiver is
gonna have over one hundred yards. But I think the
offense shows that it can move down the field efficiently.
I think Caleb looks good. He makes short passes, he
takes what the defense gives him. Are there going to

(48:22):
be mistakes on third down? Is there going to be
a sack on third down? Yes, that this defense is
too good to not do that against this Bears offense.
Like this is just an elite defense. So it's not
gonna look perfect, but I think it looks manageable and
efficient enough where things look pretty good. And for my
season prediction, I'm going with eight to nine. I think

(48:42):
that this and you know you mentioned Joe earlier as
seven or eight and seven wins progress, I think it is.
I think that you need to look at the schedule.
The Bears have road games against the Division, they have
road games against Baltimore, Philadelphia. You've got where am I
going this? You're you're going to Washington, You're going to
San Francisco, You're going to Cincinnati. Though that's a tough schedule.

(49:06):
Plus you've got home games against Pittsburgh and the Division.
I think it's not going to be easy. It's one
of the hardest schedules this year. So I think seven
or eight wins is progress. I think it's one of
those things where maybe you're like, ah, man, like you know,
you would have liked to win some more games. But
I think if Caleb looks like he's your quarterback and

(49:28):
you're winning games story at the end of the year
and that leads to seven or eight wins, I think
that's great. I think that shows you that this team
is on an upward for trajectory. I think you kind
of make comparisons to Detroit three years ago when they,
you know, didn't make the playoffs, but they upset Green
Bay at the end of the year and kind of
build momentum. So I think this is an eight win team.
I think that they win games that they would have

(49:49):
lost last year, and I think that that's progress. Just
gate based on what the schedule is. Because the schedule
has no layups. I think maybe New Orleans is maybe
your most winnable game. I think New York the Giants
at home. It is gonna be hard because I think
New York is gonna take a step. Pittsburgh at home
is going to be hard. I think Cleveland late in
the year is gonna be hard because they probably will

(50:10):
know who their quarterback is at that point. So these
are tough matchups to have this year. So I think
it's an eight win team, But I don't think that
that's a disappointment. Yeah, it's hard.

Speaker 2 (50:21):
The big question is like, we don't know how good
the Bears are gonna be. You can look at a
lot a lot of the teams like Green Bay they're
gonna be They're gonna be a lot of you know,
Baltimore they're gonna be good. We don't know how good
the Bears are gonna be. That's why I mean the
ceiling that is you could have like, oh boy, it's
bad again, it's Matt Eberflu's Matt n Aggie bad again,
or it's good. So if you're good, if you're good,

(50:43):
you beat those teams. You know, you don't.

Speaker 1 (50:46):
Win all of them, but you beat those teams.

Speaker 2 (50:48):
So yes, are they gonna put themselves in the echelot
of we're a good football team if they're just the
Bears again? Well yeah, that's why the schedule looks tough
because they're all better than you.

Speaker 1 (51:00):
And really, but you look at this whole league.

Speaker 2 (51:02):
We know any given Sunday, That's why I don't bet,
because I would I would get all.

Speaker 1 (51:07):
The games wrong.

Speaker 2 (51:08):
It's like, oh, that's an easy one, that's I rank.
That was my safest pick of the week, and then
that team. It's that kind of league.

Speaker 1 (51:15):
But they we.

Speaker 2 (51:16):
Have to figure out and know how good the Bears are.
Hopefully I don't want to look forward to next year.
But next year we'll know are they on the path?

Speaker 1 (51:26):
Are they good?

Speaker 2 (51:27):
But right now we just don't know. They could be
bad again. They could be those bad Bears teams again
even with the new head coach.

Speaker 1 (51:35):
Or they can be They're good. This is legit.

Speaker 2 (51:38):
They got weapons, they got a coach, and if they are,
then those other teams you talk about, and I understand
what you're saying, then you beat those teams and because
you're a good football team.

Speaker 1 (51:49):
So that's what we got to.

Speaker 2 (51:52):
Witness here, for better or worse the next three months.

Speaker 1 (51:55):
No, I agree with you, and obviously that's why we
watch the NFL right like you'd have you can have
New Orleans beat Philadelphia in any given week because that's
just how things go in this league. And I agree
with that mindset. I just for me, there are just
too many elite teams on this schedule. You know, like
you're going to Philadelphia, You're going to Cincinnati, You're going
to Baltimore, You're going to MINNISO or you're going to Detroit,

(52:17):
you're going to Green Bay, like you're going to San Francisco.
Like those are those are games where I feel like
you would be happy, Like if you go Baltimore, Cincinnati, Philadelphia,
San Francisco? What are what are realistsic go? Are you
happy if they win? You know, obviously you want them
to win all games, but are you happy if they

(52:37):
go one and three, two and two? Like what? Like?
I feel like those are really tough matchups.

Speaker 2 (52:43):
No, you're right, But to me, we'll feel differently if
we see a bear seam. That's good because now, yeah,
like last year, especially the longer the season went on,
there were games like they weren't even competitive, right Chiefs
games games?

Speaker 1 (52:59):
Yeah, I mean it was like it was over after
the first quarter. And I'm not even.

Speaker 2 (53:02):
Exaggerating, you know, So we can't have that. But now
in confidence, as we know, I don't care if you're
in high school, college, little league, pros. Confidence is a
huge thing for everybody, even pro athletes.

Speaker 1 (53:20):
You see it all the time golf.

Speaker 2 (53:21):
Yeah, confidence matters and they need as a coach I
once heard he probably got it from somewhere else. But
confidence has earned. You have to earn your confidence. The
Bears haven't earned squat. Yeah, they have to earn their confidence.
And if they earn their confidence, it can't be like
in week ten, because that's at that point the season's over.
You're picking in the top ten again. But if they

(53:41):
could get that confidence early and start row and then
we'll see, then we'll see. But we are so long overdue.

Speaker 1 (53:50):
For this in this.

Speaker 2 (53:52):
City that that's what I want to see, because then
then you can readjust and say, well, gosh, in week one,
I never would have thought they'd have a chance to
beat that team a week ten to eleven, whatever the
case may be, because right now looks like, oh boy,
this schedule and you mentioned it. Those are like all
really good football teams, and playing a lot of them
on the road is tough too. But you've got to
get the confidence and we'll see where they're at five.

Speaker 1 (54:15):
Weeks from now. Are they good?

Speaker 2 (54:17):
Do they show like they're that close or they're like,
does this look like the same old darn Bears team?

Speaker 1 (54:23):
I agree, and you know I agree. You don't need
to I mean Obviously you want to win all those games,
but you need to be competitive in those games. You
need to challenge Baltimore on the road. You need to
challenge Cincinnati and Philadelphia on the road. It can't be
what happened in San Francisco last year where it was
just a complete blowout, like you need to if you
are taking a big step, you Okay, maybe you throw

(54:44):
an interception late in the year because Baltimore has an
elite defense, right, but you live with that because you're like,
all right, the Bears were there, they competed with the
Super Bowl contender, and there were one play away and
it just didn't happen. You learn from it. But if
you're getting blown out, I think that those are a
major and don't I don't think that's going to happen.
But I agree with you. I think we'll know. I don't.

(55:06):
I don't think by the bye because I think the bye,
I'm expecting them to go three and one heading into
the buy. But I think pretty quickly after the bye,
when you go to Washington, you play Cincinnati and Baltimore
in the span of three or four weeks, you're gonna
learn a lot about this team. Rick chiming in, he
says nine to eight for the Bears. Anything less than

(55:26):
nine wins is a disappointment, So Rick is setting Rick
is setting the bar high. There any any other questions, guys,
let us know. We're gonna wrap up here. But thanks
so much for joining us this episode. It's a lot
of fun, obviously a lot of hope on this episode,
a lot of looking forward to what's going to be happening.
But we appreciate everyone who joined us. Quick reminded to subscribe.

(55:48):
If you're listening to us and watching us on YouTube,
give us a like. That's the best way to support us.
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it and are hopeful to kind of get this thing
going back on Tuesday when we figure things out. Rick

(56:09):
asking the last couple questions her injuries. We went that
over that at the beginning of the week. My best
guess on Friday morning, before seeing what happens on practice
Friday and Saturday, is that Jalen does play, but he'll
be limited. I don't think Kyle or Roshan are going
to play, but again, there are two more practices that
are going to happen, so I am not entirely sure

(56:30):
of what that's going to be. But Britton Brown is
probably your running back to in on Monday night. But
we'll keep you guys focused our focus. We'll keep you
guys up to date on what we're gonna do on Tuesday. Obviously,
the Bear schedule will determine on when we do this,
but we're hoping to do this on Tuesday after the
Bears game, either Tuesday morning or Tuesday afternoon based on

(56:50):
what our schedules look like. But make sure you're following
Joe Aguilar at Joe Aguilar sixty four. He's got your
Friday night coverage and he'll be helping out with Bear
stuff with three and now on Monday, so make sure
you're checking out that stuff and make sure you're following
me I at m dwojag ninety four. I'm on all
the social media to make sure you're following there for
all the Bears' latest stuff. But thanks so much for

(57:11):
joining us guys this week. Enjoy the first week of
the NFL, and we will talk to you folks down
the road,