Recapping the Chicago Bears' last-second win over the Vikings

The Chicago Bears did it again Sunday when they won 19-17 on a last-second field goal against the Minnesota Vikings. Shaw Local's Michal Dwojak and Joe Aguilar break down what happened and what it means for the Bears' playoff hopes.


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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, and welcome to the latest episode of the Shaw
Local Bears Insider podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
I Am Chicago.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Bears be report to Michael Duojiack here with the Northwest
Heralds Joe aguilar As. We are joining you on Monday afternoon.
Monday Afternoon podcast for you folks, because we are talking
about another crazy win for the Chicago Bears. This time
it was special teams who won the game. To finish
things off, Devin Dubernet with the big return, Cairo Santos

(00:30):
with the big kick to make it a nineteen to
seventeen Bears win over the Minnesota Vikings.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
On Sunday, the.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
Bears improved to seven and three overall, pick up their
first and have seen north win of the season. And Joe,
I don't know at this point. I mean, they just
continuously I think there's one thing. You know, we'll get
into the game to game stuff and you know, all
the different moments and all the different fun stuff. But

(00:58):
there was that moment of fifty seconds left the Bears
get the ball back, you know, they had just scored
a touchdown Minnesota, and I was just kind of like,
I mean, the Bears are going to win this game.
I like it's just I don't know how fans felt,
but I was just kind of sitting there up in
the press box and I was like, I've seen this
story too many times at this point, Like I usually
it's been the opposite, or it's like how are the Bears
gonna blow this?

Speaker 2 (01:19):
Now?

Speaker 1 (01:19):
The narrative is, oh, how are the Bears gonna pull
this one off this time?

Speaker 3 (01:24):
Well, first of all, congratulations, because you called it, didn't
you say in our Friday podcast? I think Cairo Santos
squins it on a walk off field goal. I think
you called it. I think you also did say that
it was kicked like a seventy yard field goal, but
he didn't do that. Did you say he was gonna
kick like a fifty five yarder? But I think you

(01:44):
said I think it's gonna be close coming out of
the end, and Cairo's gonna win it on a walk
off field goal, and lo and behold, that's what happened.
So congratulations. First of all, do you remember saying that.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
I do remember saying that. Nothing reminded me.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
I didn't think about that at all actually all weekend,
and I was like, wait, I did say that. I'm
a genius why why have I and I've been playing
this up more.

Speaker 3 (02:02):
I should have been hearing ball say for next week, Michael,
wait for Friday, I guess.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:08):
But yeah, Michael, we've seen this right. Let's see, the
quarterback is inaccurate, he holds the ball too long, the
defense generates no pass rush, but the quarterback doesn't turn
the ball over, and the Bears figure on a way
in the fourth quarter down the stretch to pull out victory.
And that's been the story like almost every single game
this year. It was like we're watching the same game.

(02:31):
I think they've played ten games, five of them now
have come down in the final couple of minutes of
the game, if not the last seconds of the game.
So how about that five of those games now? And
I mean the good news for me is like I've
already got enough gray hair. I really can't get anymore.
But for you young guys and all you Bears fans
out there, man, this has been that kind of year.

(02:52):
But seven and three is seven and three, I guess.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
Yeah, it's a crazy one. We'll recap it this afternoon here.
If you're joining us on the YouTube live stream, thank
you so much for joining us. If you're joining us
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Make sure you get all your questions in their comments.
Whatever thoughts about about Sunday's game, We're happy to answer them,

(03:17):
talk about them.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
But we appreciate you guys joining us.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
Make sure you give us a like when you're here,
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Speaker 2 (03:24):
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Speaker 1 (03:26):
That's the best way to support us and help this
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Speaker 2 (03:37):
Make sure you give us a like there as well.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
If you want to join us any part of the conversation,
check out our social media's we'll usually post when we'll
be talking on Mondays and Fridays.

Speaker 2 (03:47):
All right, Joe, For those who don't know.

Speaker 1 (03:50):
If we're forgetting any a lot of new people every
game day. After games, we like to do three winners
and three losers from every game. We find that's the
best way to kind of break down ever, anything that
kind of happened over the game, and it's a good
way to kind of just talk about everything that happened. Joe,
I'll let you start off here. Who is your first
winner from the third straight, last minute to win for

(04:12):
this Bears team.

Speaker 3 (04:13):
Well, I'll go with one of the obvious ones. That's
got to be Devin DuVernay. Right. It's funny because I
read your story. Good job, as always your story on Well,
Caleb's getting like I had a feeling and he talked
to a DuVernay before the game. But you know, Michael,
every time Duverna gets his hands on a ball, whether
it's a kick returner, turner, thinking, this guy's kind of
due to break one. He but he hasn't done it.

(04:34):
He hasn't done it. Other good news with him is
he hasn't muffled any punts or kickoffs. No vaialis Jones
moments for him. So he's just been steady and ultimately,
that's what you want your return guy to do, right,
don't drop the damn ball and don't create, which is
basically a turnover. And so he hasn't done that all year.
And then finally when they needed it most I don't

(04:55):
know what the boy. I can't managine what the Vikings
fan and they're social media or their podcast guys or
radio guys are talking about today with allowing that big
kickoff in the final minute after the Vikings went ahead.
But DuVernay, who's been a good pro in this league.
He's been a pro Bowl returner, I believe, uh, he's
been a good player, and he finally had his moment

(05:17):
quote unquote as a bear and certainly couldn't come at
a better time. So I'm gonna go with Devin Duvernet
as one of my winners.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
Yeah, thanks for the plug, Joe. Yeah, that was kind
of the lead of my story.

Speaker 1 (05:26):
I'm just talking about, you know, Caleb is you know,
he talked after the game of post game he was
he went up to Devin DuVernay and for for some reason,
he just felt the need to tell him like he
was gonna make a play today, like they would like.

Speaker 2 (05:37):
It wasn't like a thing that they do every single week.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
They like talk sometimes that they pass each other or whatever,
like they'll say, you know, things that you say to
your teammates right before or whatever. But he talked after
the game about you know, for some reason, he just
felt like.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
Duvernaiur was going to make a play and he did.

Speaker 1 (05:51):
I you know, that's kind of been the one thing
that I've kind of been interested in because I think
that you know, uh, Dubernay's really he's had a couple
of kickoffs where he's returned them pretty well, but for
what the special teams unit has been this year, it's
been called back because of penalties, right, Like, that's kind
of been something that's really hurt him this year. So
it was it was great to see him just kind

(06:12):
of see the green space on his right side. He
came from his left to his right. Josh Blackwell had
a really good block that kind of forced this guy
to you know, he kind of took away that threat
and you obviously set up the situation there. So yeah,
I think that was a big moment for Duverney because
you know, Duvernae is a former All Pro, Like he
was a really good returner and it still is a
good returner, but you just didn't see it consistently with

(06:34):
Chicago this year, and I think it's a really big
win for him just being able to make an impact.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
You know, sometimes they get him in offensively, but he
really has.

Speaker 1 (06:42):
He's been really been doing uh, you know, punting, kick returns.
So it was a good moment just to kind of
see Devin kind of get involved in the in the
special teams the way that I think a lot of
Bears fans thought he.

Speaker 2 (06:53):
Could whin they made the signing over the offseason.

Speaker 3 (06:55):
Yeah, and remember a couple of years ago when they
signed maybe two or three years at least, that Ted Ginn,
who was at the end of his career. Yeah, like
he just like he could tell like he he was
done playing football, so he would just let the ball
bounce and get out of the way like he was.
You know. It's like Doword. They hasn't been doing the
stupid things too, which matter. He guys have been like
fair catching at the three yard line and things like that.

(07:15):
It's been catching the ball and ultimately that's all you
want from your return guy. And so it's nice to
see him have a moment like that yesterday.

Speaker 1 (07:24):
All Right, my first winner of the game is I'll
go I'll go with I always save this for the
end with my winners, just because if I can't think
of one, or I think it's been consistent for this
but I'm gonna start off with them.

Speaker 2 (07:39):
It has to be this coaching staff.

Speaker 3 (07:40):
I mean it just.

Speaker 1 (07:41):
The the turnaround that this will we will get into.

Speaker 2 (07:45):
Listen, there they're negatives from this game.

Speaker 1 (07:47):
A lot of stuff did not go well and for
it to even get to a you know, a game
winning kick.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
Like obviously this is well, we'll get into the negative part.
We're starting off with the positive.

Speaker 1 (07:57):
So you have to get this coaching staff so much
credit because this entire season was supposed to be flush
out everything that happened last year. Flush out all the negativity,
all the bad habits, everything that all the bad stuff
that happened last year. Just flush it, get rid of it,
just you know, get rid of everything involved with that
former coaching staff and the culture that they had built there.

(08:18):
And I think heading into this year, most fans were like,
let's be in playoff contention. I want to see them
look more disciplined, to act better, and I want to
see Caleb play better. Right, And I think you've seen
that all for the most part. We will get into
the Caleb conversation obviously, but I think there is without
a doubt that this coaching staff has just made a
complete one eighty with this team. This team believes that

(08:41):
they can win any single game, even if they're like
whatever the instances are, you can just tell that that
whole locker room has bought into what Ben Johnson is doing.
It's not just Ben Johnson, it's the experience that Dennis
Allen brings, Eric b Enemy, Antoine Randall, l L Hair
like they're the whole coaching staff just brings in a
lot of different experiences. But it stops starts with the

(09:03):
guy out the top, right, Like Ben Johnson came in
and I think everyone was just like he's this offensive mastermind,
like he's just gonna throw a lot of trick plays.

Speaker 2 (09:13):
We don't know what he's like as a coach. I
think you've seen that he's been a perfect coach for
what this team has. Now.

Speaker 1 (09:18):
Does that mean that they're gonna win a Super Bowl
one year or it's gonna be great next year.

Speaker 2 (09:22):
No.

Speaker 1 (09:22):
We've seen plenty of coaches win Coach of the Year
their first year and then it all flames out moving forward. Right,
But I think what are we now ten games into
the season. There is little doubt in my mind that
they may got the right guy, and there's little doubt
in my mind that this winning is because of Ben
Johnson and the culture that he's instilled in Palace Hall.

Speaker 3 (09:42):
Yeah, I agree, I mean, and part of the evolution,
part of the progression of a football team is believing
you can win and winning games in the end when
you've got to come from behind her, you got to
put away a victory. Now they didn't. They had an
opportunity to put that one away to the fourth quarter.
They didn't, but believed on the fourth quarter. Like even
my gosh, even as a Bears fan, I like, fifty

(10:04):
seconds ago down one, it stinks they shouldn't have been
in the spot. But yeah, they got plenty of time
a year ago. Are you getting me? The game's over?
That game's over. So they had fiftys and I wasn't
expecting the long, you know, fifty some yard return by Duvernet.
I figured Caleb would make some big throws because he's
done that. We've seen that many times down the stretcher,
get him close, get him in a field goal range,
then cross your fingers that the kicker makes the field

(10:27):
goal from however many yards. But the belief, I mean,
you can tell all the guys have bought in now,
winning helps that and if you know, I start to
doubt you, but I look, I the quarterback continues to
frustrate us, and we has good moments and you're like yes,
and then oh my gosh, what's what's going on here?
But I've had long, really believed in the coaching staff

(10:51):
for a while. Now that's said, I was a little
disappointed with Dennis Allen and the defense just for them
to generate zero pressure. And by the way, I'm done
picking Montese. That is my MVB going into games, because
I've done it twice now he was bad and then
yesterday for the first time in a long time, who
was barely noticeable during the game. So but but they
want so but the coaching staff absolutely props to those guys.

Speaker 1 (11:14):
It goes back to kind of that stupid saying that
I know, you know, he's you know, it's the very
obvious of like, you know, you need to learn how
to win, and you're kind of like, well, obviously, but like,
if you're not winning these type of games, how are
you gonna win these type of games?

Speaker 2 (11:27):
Against the Eagles, right against the Packers. And I'm not
here to.

Speaker 1 (11:30):
Tell you that they're going to beat those teams just
because they've won three straight last minute games against bad teams.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
I'm not I'm not here to tell.

Speaker 1 (11:37):
You that, but it matters, right, you have to have
those experiences you need to learn. It's like it's like,
you know, for for being like a reporter, like you
need to learn how to write quickly to meet that line, right,
Like that's just our own little niche thing. But like
the first time you do it, you're just kind of like,
what the heck is this? Like this is insane, Like
why would anyone do this? But then once you learn
what works and what doesn't and all that sort of stuff, like,

(11:58):
that's how you learn to do it. So yeah, big
props to the coaching staff for once again it was
far from a per you know, it's far from a
perfect product.

Speaker 2 (12:06):
There are so many changes to make, and I think
that's the biggest thing.

Speaker 1 (12:09):
Where you see these postgame videos and you know, the good, better, best,
all that kind of stuff that they do without it.
Every single time, I feel like Ben starts it off saying,
imagine how much better we're going to be when we're
not getting in our own way, when we're not.

Speaker 2 (12:24):
Making mistakes, when we're playing to our full potential.

Speaker 1 (12:26):
And I think that's a really important thing that he
keeps repeating, where he's like he's not satisfied with what's happening.
He's not saying, oh, it's great that you guys did this.
He's he always reinforces the point of if this is
what we're doing when we're not playing clean football, imagine
what we're going to be like.

Speaker 2 (12:41):
When we finally play to our potential.

Speaker 1 (12:42):
So that's a big, a big credit to what Ben
Johnson has done and with the Bears.

Speaker 2 (12:50):
Absolutely, all right, Joe, who is your second winner?

Speaker 3 (12:54):
Second winner? I don't think I've used this one all season,
but I'm gonna go withs a plural here. The tight
end Comet and Colston Loveland, especially in the second half,
and Cole Comet during the game is all a sudden
like he's catching passes like what Cole Comet's catching passes?
He's back. I didn't realize going into that game yesterday.
I think he had eleven receptions on the season, But

(13:17):
this is a guy who's caught seventy passes before this season,
and I know it was with different offenses and all
that stuff, but we know he's not a great tight end,
but he's a good guy. But to see that he
had only I think it was eleven shocked me. So
yesterday had five catches a season high, season high for
Cole Comet, but I thought he was good. And Loveland again,
and what I liked is this, they weren't just catching

(13:38):
the pass and going down. They you know, big strong boys,
both of them. They were catching the ball and running
guys over, getting the first down. And Caleb needed that
because you know, my goodness, the first half, I know
guys had there were some drops again not as bad
as the previous week at Soldier Field, but Caleb wasn't great.

(14:00):
So then he when he started in the second half.
That third quarter in particular, I thought just checking down,
going to Loveland, going to Comet, and those guys really deliberate.
I think Colston leveland had three catches Comet Fessio. So
eight catches from your tight ends for I think eighty
five yards total for the two of them. I thought
it was good. And even the the Smice guy did

(14:21):
end up another one catch. They overruled it it was
a drop. Did he have a catch too or maybe not,
but uh, he was on the field and they actually
threw him a couple of passes. So the tight ends
a good job because there weren't too many positives on offense.

Speaker 1 (14:36):
Yeah, that's something that we've been looking for all season, right,
like get the tight ends involved. You can use both
Cole Comet and Coaston Loveland as weapons right at the
same time in the twelve personnel, and we haven't.

Speaker 2 (14:47):
Seen that this year.

Speaker 1 (14:48):
And part of that is injury, right, Like Colston Loveland
had dealt with the hip injury that kept him out
for a game two games essentially, Cole Comet obviously had
his issues with his back and this sort of stuff.
So Ben said at the beginning of the season, like
I need to get the tit ends more involved after that, oh,
and to start, But I think Sunday was a good,
you know, example of what can happen if you used

(15:09):
your personnel out there to their full potential.

Speaker 2 (15:12):
Like Caleb was able to find Cole Kmet for.

Speaker 1 (15:15):
It would be like a three yard pass and then
Cole would add five yards on yak, right, because it's
just the tough way that he runs and you know,
goes after guys, and Colston does the same stuff, right,
like guys try to bring him down and they can't.
So that has to be really encouraging just to get
those guys involved. Caleb, you know, talked about it yesterday
after the game, was like yeah, and he kind of
turned into a whole thing about the whole offense about

(15:37):
you know, they have a lot of talented guys and
they can make a lot of plays.

Speaker 2 (15:40):
And you've got talented guys.

Speaker 1 (15:41):
In your in your tight end room, especially since you
decided to invest in Loveland with the first round pick
this year. So I yeah, I think that was a
really encouraging thing to see. So hopefully the Bears are
able to kind of continue that moving forward.

Speaker 3 (15:54):
Yeah, which might yesterday for for eight yards, so yeah, yeah,
so good. What's that? Nine catches? Night catches by the
tight ends?

Speaker 1 (16:03):
My big winner is is nay Shan Right, obviously he
had that huge interception that kept the Vikings off off
the board to you know, and the first half, so
that obviously was big in its own right. But just
given the the week that Nashon had, you know, he uh,

(16:24):
he tragically loses you know, his former community, you know,
his former college football coach to to a shooting last
week that that' John Bean he you know, he was
shot at the end of last week and then.

Speaker 2 (16:37):
Died the next day.

Speaker 1 (16:38):
Uh Right talked with us after the game and said,
you know, he just spent time with him when his
brother was in town with the Saints last month, and
that was just an emotional moment for him, just you know,
to he he went up there and made another play
and that's all he's done this entire season.

Speaker 3 (16:55):
You know.

Speaker 1 (16:55):
I feel like when the Bears made that signing over
the off season, it was like, all right, like that's
a depth guy. Like that's kind of like a by
Low kind of deal, right, Like he has the tangibles.

Speaker 2 (17:06):
Maybe it'll work out. It didn't work out in Minnesota,
it didn't work out with Dallas, maybe it'll work out here.

Speaker 1 (17:10):
And I know, you know, people like to give him
a hard time sometimes sometimes he gets picked on sometimes,
you know it is it looks doesn't look perfect.

Speaker 2 (17:18):
But for a guy that we had that no one
really had.

Speaker 1 (17:21):
Many expectations for this season, he's been He's been really
important for you this year, just stepping in for Jalen
Johnson when he was out, and you know, he has
you know, four interceptions this season, that's a career high.
He's really made a lot of big plays for you
this year. So for him to you know, have that moment,

(17:42):
you know, after he caught the touchdown, he kind of
knelt down and you know took in the moment and
you know, and and his teammates kind of surrounded him.
That that was just a really special moment, just for
him to first go up there and make that that
that was a really good interception, Like that was just
he kind of he jumped backwards and just kind of
know it. That just felt like a really cool moment.

(18:03):
So I was really happy for Nashan just to have
that moment and to you know, kind of get that
opportunity to do as as former coach.

Speaker 3 (18:11):
Yeah, great pick by you there. And you're right, I mean,
he I pointed that interception. Maybe you learned from last
week when he dropped the one almost act in the
identical spot in the end zone that left corner. But
you're right. I mean, no one's expecting him to be
one of the best coverage guys in the league or
in the division. But considering how banged up their secondary
has been even going back to camp, uh No, I mean, look,

(18:35):
if you're looking at like who's been the bears most
valuable defensive player this year. I don't know if I
have an answer, but he'd get votes. He would when
you when you consider how many guys have not been
able to play for whatever reason, he's stepped in. He's
been super reliable. Yeah, he gets picked on sometimes, like
you said, but four interceptions for interceptions and we still

(18:58):
got seven games left to go, so you're getting I mean,
this is like the guy who hits two twenty but
he's got twenty eight home runs. Okay, then you give
me something. You're making some big plays and he's done
that pretty consistently. So again, if when we talked to me,
like who's going to be the best defensive player and

(19:19):
the Bears are the most valuable defensive Bear, he wasn't
even in the picture. He wasn't even like maybe that
maybe category outside shotcat nowhere. So good for that young man, especially,
like I said, with his college coach being murdered during
the week, a big moment for him, and I didn't

(19:40):
realize that that's why it was so emotion laughter that
when he got the interception after the game. But prop
to that young man.

Speaker 2 (19:46):
Yeah, and it's been great to see the Bear.

Speaker 1 (19:47):
You know, he shared that moment with Al Harris after
the game, you know, he you know, after the interception
he you know, had that interception. Al's been so instrumental
to to, you know, nay Shan's career. They were together
in Dallas and played a big role in him kind
of I'm here to Chicago as well. So yeah, a
really great moment for Nayshan and for the Bears, just
to just to have that moment of you know, proving

(20:08):
himself that, you know a lot of people doubted him. Obviously,
there's a reason he went to Laney College and all
that sort of stuff. So it's a big moment for
him just to kind of prove, hey, I'm in the NFL,
I'm making interceptions, and I'm making an impact in an
NFL game.

Speaker 2 (20:22):
All right, So who is your final winner from yesterday?

Speaker 3 (20:25):
Oh, there's not many. There weren't a lot of options, Michael,
as you know, but I'll go with I'll go with
DeAndre Swift. I mean ninety yards yesterday. Kind of again,
we talked that the previous week we had a quiet,
quietly good game. I think yesterday was the same. But
he continued to get big yards when they needed, especially
was the last play before the field goal to win it,

(20:47):
or you got a nice chunk of yards, five six yards,
whatever it was. But he's just been consistently good here.
And I know you want to be you want the
team to be winning because of the quarterback, but the
running backs been probably your best offensive player this year consistently,
including the receivers. Tired to plump the lineman in there

(21:11):
with that, but I mean, Deandre's been good. He was
good yesterday. He was their best offensive threat yesterday with
Caleb's inconsistencies. But DeAndre Swift another strong game and I'd
have to look at his overall numbers now, but he's
having a pretty He's after a slow start to the
season when they couldn't run the ball with anybody. They

(21:31):
could have had, you know, pick your running back in
the league. They could have had Saquan and it wasn't working.
But since they've gotten to figure out, we see to
be talking about it every week now. But he's he's
really putting together a good season. DeAndre Swift, Yeah, he is.

Speaker 2 (21:44):
And it was good to see him.

Speaker 1 (21:45):
And I want to touch on that a little bit
with the negatives about why we went away from the
running that sort of stuff. But it was good to
see him pick up another a good performance, especially for
a guy who's.

Speaker 2 (21:56):
Been dealing with injuries.

Speaker 1 (21:57):
He's you know, I know, he was full and there
wasn't a that he was going to play, but really
good stuff from him once again. As the Bears are
for league on their run game, going things to you know,
swift and a young guy, but also the great run
blocking you're seeing there. All right, My final winner is
going to be kind of a combo. First, as Kevin Byard,
Kevin BYRD picked up his fifth interception of the season.

(22:18):
What a big season for him. He read that play perfectly.
He confused JJ McCarthy on that throw. He made him
think that he was going to do one thing. Kevin
Byard comes back, picks off the pass, returns it up
and Bear score only a field goal on that after
he gets it. Well, I forget what it was like
to the Minnesota twenty five or something, but Kevin Byr

(22:38):
continues to be an impactful player on this team this year. Joe,
you were talking about who would be the defensive you know,
MVP for this season. I think Tremaine Edmonds has done
an amazing job this season as your will. He's all
over the place. He's making an impact. I think he
would make a strong candidate. But I think Kevin pired
Byered would either be one air or one be right there.
I mean, he's got five interceptions. First time he's done.

(23:00):
This is twenty twenty one with the Tennessee Titans. For
a time in his career, Kevin Byron, you know, at first,
you know, last year he was a big vocal leader,
but the production was kind of there, not there. It
was kind of you know, you kind of knew, god
what you kind of expected. But this year, in a
contract year, when the Bears really need him, Kevin Byron
has really made the huge impact for that defense.

Speaker 2 (23:22):
And you've seen it.

Speaker 1 (23:24):
He is leading the league with interceptions and that's just
a really impressive feature to be doing.

Speaker 3 (23:31):
Yeah, no, great call here. You're right, I think if
we're calling it today, who's been the Bears MVP on defense? Yeah,
I think you're right. I think he's wired. I mean,
and you know, it's funny because last year he was like, well,
maybe he's just starting to show his age. He's been
in the league almost ten years. You know, it is
what it is. You're taking a flyer on a guy
who's been good but not great, you know, last two

(23:52):
three years, but he's been great this year. I mean
five interceptions and they've been big ones, and you know
what the you know, he's the leadership, has been there
well before this season. But every time you hear him
during the week after a game, he just sounds it's like, yeah,
I want that guy on my team. I want that
guy in the huddle when the game matters, you know,

(24:13):
whether it's the first series or at the end. Byard's
pro and man, I know it's way too early to
call out like who's making the Pro Bowl. Hopefully the
Bears will have some guys on there this year. I
think he's got a real good opportunity because he's been
really impressive.

Speaker 2 (24:30):
Robert chiming in from across the pond. Great to hear
from me. Robert Byrd is looking very confident on the
field with getting those picks. They are un lucky deflections.

Speaker 1 (24:37):
It's like he knows they are coming, and he does
know because he spent so much time studying film like that.

Speaker 2 (24:43):
He's done that.

Speaker 1 (24:44):
A lot this year where I think maybe a couple
of those I think one of the Dallas ones was
a deflection one and I forget one other one. But
when he picked out Geno Smith earlier in the year,
that was he knew what the play was going to be,
and he knew exactly where the ball was going to be. Yesterday,
he knew JJ McCarthy was going to bite, and he
was going to try to get there, and you know,

(25:05):
he thought he had nashon right beat, but instead, you know,
Bayer drops back and coverage and helps him out. So
I think that byered, you know, this is kind of
proving where, Okay, maybe he isn't what he was when
he was twenty two. I don't think any of us
are who we are when we were twenty two, especially physically,
but I think he's proved making up for it obviously

(25:26):
with what he's doing in the study room in the
film room, and it's made a really big impact for him.
So that's that's been really impressive, just to kind of
see the impact that he's been able to have. Where
I agree with you where I was kind of like,
all right, Kevin Bier is a great leader on the field.

Speaker 2 (25:41):
He's a good guy you want in your room. He's
a good glue guy.

Speaker 1 (25:44):
And maybe he'll make some places with me from time
to time, but he's doing it all this year. He's
getting you big plays on the field, and he's also
being a very vocal, important leader.

Speaker 2 (25:52):
For that defense.

Speaker 1 (25:54):
One more winter, Jill, I'm surprised you didn't go to
this one. I as a as A, as a whatever.
As a seventh one, I'm giving it. I'm gonna give
Cairo his flowers. I know he pushed left on a
forty yard kick, but I think that just says a
lot for him to kind of come back and make

(26:16):
that game winning field goal. Listen, he shouldn't have missed
that kick, but sometimes that just kind of happened. He
said he didn't know exactly after the game what the
particular reason why was he missed. He maybe he said
maybe his steps were wrong or something like that. But
for Ben Johnson had the trust in Cairo that, hey,
shake it off, redeem yourself when us this game, and
for Kiro to go out there and he said like

(26:38):
he was just praying to get one one more moment
just to kind of prove himself and kind of redeem
himself for his team. After he felt that he kind
of put his team in a bad situation. It was
a good moment to see Caro make that kick.

Speaker 3 (26:50):
Well, it's funny because I was torn. He's like, is
Cairo Santos today in our podcast? Is he a winner
or is he a loser? Maybe he's on both lists because.

Speaker 2 (27:00):
Probably can be on both lists.

Speaker 3 (27:01):
Right, Props to him for making the kick. But you know,
the the forty seven yarder he missed, that was big
because you thought, you know, that makes it. I think
that would have I don't know the stat sheet in
front of me that the kick that he missed, that
would have extended the lead to nine maybe and then
sure enough Vikings come back. But Michael, we can do

(27:25):
it the you know as and ifs and butts and
all that, and then you know we can do that
every game. But if if he had missed that kick
at the end yesterday and that just squeaked in and
like yeah, just bang tucked in there and now left upright,
if he misses that kick, can you imagine the heat
that team is getting today to cut him two miss
kicks blow a lead in the fourth quarter. It's a

(27:47):
total different vibe today, total different narrative today. So you know,
look again, you can say that about a lot of
plays ever, every game, any sport. But you know, he
made it, and I know he's beloved by his teammates.
And I had heard, you know, he did a postgame
interview with on the field. I know you were busy,
probably hustling down to the locker rooms, but I think

(28:08):
they wanted to interview just Caleb, and he insisted the yeah,
they interview Cairo. So and you know better than me,
and I know you like Cairo. Seems like a good dude.
He had that little fun dance in the post game,
and I'm sure he's a likable teammate. But it's a business.
And again, I don't hate the guy who you know,
I know people liked to joke about how much angst
I guess, for lack of a better word, that I

(28:29):
have for Cairo Santos. I don't, you know, as a
lifelong Bears fan, I roof for every guy who puts
out a jersey for the Bears. But I'm still not
sold on him. But you know, he made the game
winning kick. Bottom line, it didn't and maybe it just missed,
but it just made it. Whatever the however you want

(28:49):
to look at it, glass half full, glass half empty.

Speaker 1 (28:52):
He made it so good for him. Yeah, I would
agree with that. Yeah, I mean he he should have
missed that cake. He like, you should make you should
make a forty forty five yard field goal. He said
his range was sixty one. He was making sixty yard
kicks and warm ups. The fifty four yard field goal
they didn't make actually made him the Bears all time
leader in fifty plus yard kicks. He's passed. He passed

(29:15):
Robbie Gold. So listen, Like I see Rick here chiming
in saying that I'm the one only one believes in Cairo,
I listen, I'm not here telling you that Cairo is
the best kicker in the NFL. I've never said that once.
And that's not that's not a dis against him. He's
not making all these crazy kicks. All I'm saying is

(29:36):
it's very clear to me that the Bears don't think
they have a kicker on their roster that is better
than Cairo because and quite and I'm not trying to,
you know, say anything negative about Jacob Moody taking any
shots that he doesn't deserve.

Speaker 2 (29:48):
I'm not trying to go.

Speaker 1 (29:49):
After him either, But a team has also not claimed
him off the practice squad in the month and a
half that he's been on the Bears.

Speaker 2 (29:56):
So and there have been teams that need kicker help.

Speaker 1 (29:59):
The Giants need to kick her help like other teams
need kick her help. So I feel like that just
kind of tells you what the situation.

Speaker 2 (30:07):
Is right now, you know.

Speaker 1 (30:09):
But yeah, again, I don't want to spend too much
time on kicker talk for already half hour, and I
just felt like Kiro should get some some santos yeah
for better absolutely right, All right, let's get to the
negative here, because this is far from a perfect game there.

Speaker 2 (30:25):
I quite honestly think there are more negatives.

Speaker 1 (30:27):
From this game even though you win. But Joe, what
is your first loser from this game?

Speaker 3 (30:32):
Wow? Again, there's like ten options on the board here,
I'll just grab one. I guess the pass rush that
was really disappointing. What happened? What the heck happened? They
got close a couple of times, but hardly enough. Young
quarterback and J J. McCarthy, Gosh, she's just not good
right now. You know, he's a nice young man. You

(30:52):
hate to take like the personal stuff into account because
you know it doesn't matter all right, Yeah, you gotta
be neutral here, Like I don't care if the guy's
the nicest guy in the world. Can he play or
can he play? But he's a nice young man, local boy,
right you if he's not playing for the Bears, but
you're root for him. But he's not good right now,
He's just not good. And and you know this wasn't

(31:14):
Jackson Dark. That kid scared the heck out of me
all all game and that that Giants game the week before.
He's not Lamar and he can move, but he's not
gonna scramble like crazy on you and drive your nuts.
And the Bears got zero pressure on him. I will
say this sweat was quiet. My guy, Austin Booker did
nothing on a stat sheet, but Booker was closed a
couple of times. He knocked over the left tackle one

(31:36):
play a little. He gets good leverage. But I'm encouraged
with Booker. But we still got to see production, not
only from him, but Montella, everybody, and even I don't
know if it was scheme. I don't know why you
couldn't find a way to at least take McCarthy down
at least once, even though it was a blitz that's
just that's just inexcusable. H zero sacks against a who

(32:00):
who's essentially a rookie quarterback in the league in McCarthy,
and excuse me yesterday for me.

Speaker 1 (32:05):
Yeah, and I you know, I'm sure Dennis would you know,
take the blame a little bit of here, But I
don't know how much. I don't know if it's really
much of a scheme thing. I think it's just the
horses that you have out there at this point. I mean,
it's just you're not getting you're not getting pressure. You
got no secks JJ McCarthy. Every mistake that he made
yesterday was is on his own, on his own, like

(32:26):
you did not create much pressure at all on him, Like, well,
we can get into the JJ thing too, but you
just the Bears don't have a pass rush right now.
I think I think Montes Sweat is able to make
an impact sometimes, but the Vikings offensive linemen are good.
They're able to kind of double team Sweat and take
them away from the game. I think Booker maybe got

(32:47):
through almost one or two times. But you know, and
I know, I great Grady Jared atually did a good
job to create pressure toward the end on that Kevin
Byron interception, I think it was. But other than that,
you're just not getting You're not getting that much out
of that group, and that's not good because listen, what
are you gonna do against Jalen Hurts? What are you

(33:08):
gonna do against Jordan Love? What are you gonna do
against Jarreed Goff? You know the against Rock Party? Like
these quarterbacks are mobile but can also stay in the
pocket and hurt you if you give them five or
six seconds. I don't know what what the time ended
up being for however much, but yeah, I agree with
you Joe this. This is the number one thing that
I'm worried about over the offseason. It's getting past rush

(33:31):
help and the left tackle. Then that's not the same
anything against Deo Bennett. I think if you want to
be a Super Bowl contender playoff contender, you just got
to make an upgrade there too. But that's the number
one thing I'm looking for right now because the Bear
the Bears shows don't have a pass rush and they
didn't really have one this entire season, and that's really
gonna bite them if not in the regular season against

(33:54):
good teams like in the playoffs. Are you kidding me, Like,
that's just gonna if the if a playoff caliber quarter
back has the time that JJ McCarthy had yesterday, that
that game.

Speaker 2 (34:03):
Is a blowout, Like there's no doubt in my mind
about that. Yeah, I will go with U. I don't
want to pile on the local kid. I like JJ.

Speaker 1 (34:13):
He's a good guy, but man, those those misses were tough.
Those were I felt bad, like after the after the
fourth or fifth time, like the the locals were starting
to boo him and all that sort of stuff. And
I know he hasn't listen. He's been injured, he missed
his entire rookie season. But some of those he's just

(34:33):
he's just air mailing them. He's just missing them. And
that is also another reason why I'm kind of I'm
not skeptical about to win you win in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (34:42):
Is that winning the NFL.

Speaker 1 (34:43):
I'm not taking that away from the Bears, but that
that game is very different if he at least makes
half of those passes, and then if Jordan Addison doesn't
drop a couple when he does get to Jordan Edison,
if he doesn't drop two balls like the first one
was guaranteed to be at least a forty yarder if
he get into the end zone. The second one could
have had at least the first down, if not more. So,

(35:06):
maybe it's a double thing of like JJ McCarthy, but
also your defense because J. J. McCarthy's poor play bailed
you out because you were getting no press rush from
against him, like you said, And if it wasn't for
the two tone overs turnovers, which again I know, takeaways
or takeaways. You work for those takeaways. I'm not trying
to take that away either, but you can't. You can't
live and succeed by only forcing takeaways. We've seen them

(35:28):
not be able to do that and kind of bite them.
And I think if JJ doesn't miss some of those
throws yesterday would have been a very different result.

Speaker 3 (35:37):
Yeah, he was missing high, he was missing low, and
then he throws a beautiful pass to Addison. Was in
the first quarter or second quarter, not off one hand,
off both hands like you said, Michael, that's probably forty yards.
Maybe he gets into the end zone. So it's just
like with Caleb. When Caleb does throw an accurate one,
they're dropping it lately. So it's just tough to watch

(35:58):
McCarthy You're like, well, good for the Bears, because, like
you said, you have any other QB and you probably
lose the game. All right, Joe, who's your second loser? Well,
I'm gonna go with Caleb. I just think, well for
you know, you know what. And they hadn't gone three
and out three and out to start the game all season,
and then it happened yesterday. But the long throw is

(36:20):
missing Rome, missing DJ like by five yards, my goodness.
And we just have not seen that the consistency with
the long ball from Caleb since going back to last year.
And I'm looking at like these first the first quarter
of the game, like, what have you worked on all week?

(36:40):
How can you come out and be this bad? His
and then he finishes what's sixteen for thirty two? What
sixteen for thirty two? That's horrible? And that McCarthy I
think had identical numbers. I think they were both. I
think they were both sixteen for thirty two. And yeah,
there's too many. So I look at like, where are

(37:01):
the incompletions coming from? Okay, there's some drops, but then
it's the holding, holding, holding, scrambling, scrambling spins away for
a guy? Wow, how was that spectacular and then he
he's it into the stands, you know, doing the fighting,
the smart thing, finally to throw it away. That should
happen once a game. This happened. It's happened too much
so and it's hard for me, like, is that credit
to Minnesota's secondary good coverage? There props to them? Or

(37:25):
are guys and you know, watching the game on TV
as I do, you're there, I don't know if guys
are open and he's just missing him the first read.
I don't know, but it's unacceptable. And you keep waiting
for him to get some consistency not only during games
but week to week to week. He doesn't have to
throw for three hundred and three fifty every game, but
more consistent. But the good news with Caleb again and

(37:47):
then it's spend the storyline all year, like we talked
about at the beginning of the podcast, does protect the football,
which is huge. Look at Sam Darnold had monster numbers yesterday.
He also had a monster number with four interceptions, So
you have that stuff and Caleb hasn't done that. And
that's going back to last year to where he protect
the ball. Sometimes people thought it was he was doing
it too much, Like you just don't be worried they'll

(38:08):
be worried about throwing the interception. Just throw it and
maybe maybe the guy catches it and you get thirty
yards out of it. But it just wasn't good again,
and that first quarter. But this whole game. You tell
me if you agree that whole game yesterday, that's not
one you keep my Oh, I can't watch I can't
wait to watch this game again. That was a stinker
of a game.

Speaker 1 (38:29):
No, both offenses were terrible, especially at the end. That
was just that was just bad, Like they were just
missing throws real left and right. And you know, it's
interesting because I didn't when the game ended, after I
got over the fact that they somehow did that again,
and I was like, well, I'm just gonna have to
write the same story again. But I didn't leave that
game feeling that the team lost because Caleb didn't do

(38:50):
anything great. But I also didn't think that they won
because of it was a game where I feel like
Caleb was just kind of neutral, right.

Speaker 2 (38:58):
I feel like I agree to the point of those
those first two drives where he misses Rome by a.

Speaker 1 (39:07):
Step and then he misses a DJ Moore by five
steps by five yards.

Speaker 2 (39:12):
I died. It's so interesting to me because I don't.

Speaker 1 (39:15):
Know what is wrong, and I don't think anyone does.
But Caleb was a deep passer in college, like he
could hit on some big plays and he can really
toss it out, and a year and a half into
his career, that's really been a struggle for him, and
I'm really curious to know why. I don't know whether
it's the coming out of center. I don't know whether it's,

(39:35):
you know, just getting in sync in that sort of stuff, But.

Speaker 2 (39:38):
The lack of having that threat of a long ball
is kind of concerning, right because that kind of approaches
the way your defense defends you. I don't think I
don't think.

Speaker 1 (39:49):
Any secondary is going to be like, we're not gonna
be worried about the deep pass. We're just gonna let
it happen because Caleb can't. Like Caleb, I'm sure will
hit him like he hit him wide open Luther Burden
on that hel Mary passing it like he can air
it out. But the inconsistency is so interesting to me
because I don't know why, because heck, he made that
crazy throw when he was kind of rushed. I forget

(40:12):
exactly who it was to Luther burden On to pick
up a first down on third down? Where how did
he make that throw? Like that should have been intercepted.
And then like he also like finds Colston Lovelin with
a step and then he hits Dj Moore with a
pass that I can't believe Dj Moore drop, Like that
was a perfect throw by Kleb that Dj Moore drop.

(40:33):
So that's why I'm kind of with you where I'm
just kind of like, man, like, you didn't lose because of.

Speaker 2 (40:40):
Him, but you didn't win because of him. It was
just kind of a neutral game.

Speaker 1 (40:43):
It's just kind of and I also like I think
I think the blitz really affected him. I think Brian
Flores completely changed things up from the first matchup and
he was really blitzing with different packages. You saw that
late in the game, especially once he got the pressure
at him. I mean, I mean that by Vikings defensive
line is very talented. It's one of those things where

(41:03):
it's you weren't playing against a bad D line. That
D line is talented. Even with that Grenard, Brian Flores
is a defensive mastermind, and that he got to Caleb
toward the end of the game. So it is one
of those things where I'm kind of like, man, you're
missing on those throws and those are explosives that you
really need to make. But then it's also of the
mindset where it's like, well, Brian Flores is also a

(41:25):
fantastic defensive coach. In that pass rush, I don't know
what you're supposed to do at that point, Like there
are a lot of times, especially with the run, where
the ball is snapped and there were three vikings already
around the ball or around Caleb, But it's kind of like, well,
how are you supposed to get out of that?

Speaker 3 (41:39):
You know?

Speaker 2 (41:40):
So that's why I'm kind of.

Speaker 1 (41:41):
Like I'm conflicted where I'm kind of like, I'm not
I'm not here to say that he's busted. I'm not
here to say that you lost that game because of him.

Speaker 2 (41:46):
I'm just kind of like I could see both arguments
today a day after a win.

Speaker 3 (41:52):
Yeah, I mean, look, there's seven three yay Go Bears
play the song, but we know every fan knows what
it's all about. It's about winning a Super Bowl. Someday,
maybe it won't be with this group, this regime, but
that's what you want to see and to get there.
They're not even in the playoffs. Shit, we'll get to
that like maybe later if they can make it. But

(42:14):
you got to win because of the quarterback. We all
know that the bear and right now they're still not winning.
And again I'm not ready to throw in the towel
on the guy after a year and a half and
that big arm and all that athletic ability and big playability,
clutch ability, all that, but it gets it gets frustrating, all.

Speaker 1 (42:33):
Right, advice I and loser after you know, throwing flowers
at Ben Johnson.

Speaker 2 (42:37):
I am going to criticize Ben Johnson.

Speaker 1 (42:40):
And I didn't understand the play calling sometimes I didn't
understand the decision making in the fourth quarter, you need
to pick up some yards and with all due respect,
but and again I know that they refs missed the
face mask call on Travis Homer, But why is Travis
Homer on third down?

Speaker 2 (42:58):
Why is he in there in that moment?

Speaker 1 (43:00):
Why is he getting his first carry of the season
in that moment? In their last drive before on the
drive where Cairo Santos missed the field goal, they were
moving the ball great down the field. Caleb picked up
some great passes. They were running the ball really well,
and for some reason Ben decides to throw it on
first down and that just derails the whole set of plays.

(43:21):
And then the Bears are forced to kick that forty
five yard field goal, and then Cairo Santos misses that kick.

Speaker 2 (43:27):
There were just some moments yesterday where I was kind
of like, man, Caleb doesn't seem to have it today.
Something seems off with him. He's not totally in Cue
run the ball. Get Kyle Mnung guy more involved. Get
Roshan Johnson to look in there too. I thought. I thought,
getting Dj Moore on that pitch run I picked up
a first down on that was a good call. I
like that.

Speaker 1 (43:46):
So you know, for how much I praised him, I
did not like. I didn't love to play calling. We'll
hear from Ben here in about like half an hour.
He's always very honest and he'll say like, I could
have done a bet job of play call.

Speaker 3 (43:58):
Again.

Speaker 2 (43:59):
I'm sure he'll say that, but I didn't understand.

Speaker 1 (44:01):
The play calling sometimes. It just felt like he wasn't
riding with what was working so well for him at
that point.

Speaker 3 (44:07):
Yeah, and they tried the trick play the second half
where they put Tyson baging out there like they're gonna
fake the reverse to him. Vikings were like seeing it
got it, you know, lost on the play that they
snuffed that out that I did.

Speaker 1 (44:20):
Work that well, I don't. I don't hate the first
time they did it, it worked. They picked up the
first the first down on third down because they yeah,
they they they ran it twice. The first time they
ran it, they did pick up a first down, so
that's great. But to do it a second time, they
know what's coming right, like they know you're not using
him seriously, So that that that's the part that I
don't agree with you doing it a second time in

(44:41):
the same game.

Speaker 2 (44:42):
That just doesn't make sense to me.

Speaker 3 (44:43):
That no, exactly. And then at the end Mike lefter
the big kick return by Duvernate to get him not
in field goal range but to the forty. Then they
got ultra conservative. You had a little more time there,
I know. And if Caleb throws a pass and it
gets intercepted that you know.

Speaker 2 (45:00):
Yeah, I mean, then yeah, he's hearing it.

Speaker 3 (45:02):
But I just thought it was like it reminded me
of Bears coaches pass where okay, we're at the thirty five.
We got plenty of plenty of time and you got plenty.
You know, we're in field goal rate. You're not. You're not,
And knowing your kicker is not the best at long
field goals, I would have liked to see them just

(45:23):
be a little more creative at least, even if it
was just running the football to get to get a
little closer there. And it was. I mean, it was
a forty eight yarder to win it was right for
it was a forty eight yarder to win it. I
don't know if that's that's a fifty yarder if he
makes it, because that ball was starting to tail a
little bit, I don't know. Again, he made it. He

(45:44):
made it, and you know, good for him. But yeah,
there wasn't Look when you score, when you scored nineteen points,
even if you win, no one's you know, raving about
what a terrific offensive show you put on and he
runs the offense. So there you go, all.

Speaker 2 (46:01):
Right, Joe, who's your final loser from yesterday?

Speaker 3 (46:04):
Final loser? Where do I want to go?

Speaker 2 (46:06):
Here?

Speaker 3 (46:08):
Well, just gosh, where do I want to go? You
gotta go special teams?

Speaker 2 (46:14):
Here?

Speaker 3 (46:15):
Was that my first one?

Speaker 2 (46:17):
You went the pass rush for your first one pass.

Speaker 3 (46:19):
Rush than Caleb. I'm gonna go to the special teams
just just bad again. They they seem to clean clean
it up the previous week against the Giants.

Speaker 2 (46:25):
It was good.

Speaker 3 (46:26):
But then Blackwell runs into the punt return. Uh the Price,
the kid, Miles Price. Then he had the big kickoff return,
not kickoff return, punt return the fourth quarter and that
kind of changed the momentum. And then they punched it
into the end zone all of a sudden they got
their first touchdown, and now it's a ballgame. That happened.

(46:46):
The missfield goal by Santos, it was just and that
Price kid was good on the returns that not just
the the fifty yard or whatever it was to set
up the touchdown by the Vikings. Just the special teams
again and we're we're not good. You almost lost the
game because they're special teams.

Speaker 1 (47:04):
Yeah, there were a couple of penalties too. I think
you know, obviously Carol missed the kick. I didn't think
Tory Taylor was anything spectacular yesterday.

Speaker 2 (47:12):
He was averaging like forty nine yards per per kick.
I think that's what it ended up being.

Speaker 1 (47:17):
So yeah, for how much the special teams redeemed itself.
You know, obviously winning the game the way they did
it wasn't a good spot. You know, the offense and
I you know the defense.

Speaker 2 (47:28):
I know blew the lead, but I.

Speaker 1 (47:29):
Feel like that the defense kind of won you that
game yesterday with those two turnovers, but the offense and
the special teams. I didn't really feel like did the
team any favors yesterday outside of those critical moments. And
my final loser is just kind of a quick one.
But you had an opportunity for weeks. I've I've heard
Ben Johnson say, I've heard Caleb say, I've heard players say,

(47:51):
we got to put away games when they're there, when
we have the opportunity. We don't want to keep living
this way, winning on last second field goals, winning on
walk off you know, touchdown passes, because that's not sustainable, right.
You need to learn how to win. And I thought
the Bears were. They had a great opportunity to do it.
They were there, they were winning sixteen to three, then

(48:13):
it was sixteen to ten, and then you had two
opportunities offensively to put the game away, and the Bears
didn't do it. They didn't have that they've been talking
about that killer instinct about putting games away, and that's
something that the Bears have not done up to this point.
They it's great that they have the killer instinct of,
you know, never dying and never you know, never thinking
that the game is going to be over. But if

(48:33):
you want to be a football if you want to
be a winning football team, if you want to compete
for playoff contention, super Bowls, you got to put away
bad teams when you can, because the Philadelphie Eagles will
make you pay for those mistakes. The Packers will make
you pay, right the forty nine ers are I know,
they're beat up pretty well, but the guys who are

(48:53):
there are well coached and well prepared, and they will
make sure that the Bears, you know, aren't able to cap.

Speaker 2 (49:00):
Lies or squeak out these type of wins.

Speaker 1 (49:02):
So that's just kind of a big, you know, big picture,
looking ahead kind of situation where the Bears have not
developed that killer instinct of putting games away, and you
need to figure that out, whether it's against Pittsburgh in
the next week or you need to get some examples
of that because it nearly costs you once again and
the Bears just haven't been able to do it all

(49:23):
season long this year.

Speaker 3 (49:25):
Yeah, I think if they ever get to be where
they want to be, you're you're not gonna be having
games where you're relying on the kicker to kick three
or four field goals. And that's been the case I
think three games now, whether it was Jake Moody or
it's been Cairo twice, Cairo in I think it was
the Raiders game, Moody was the the Washington game, and
then yesterday Cairo ended up with three field goals or four.

(49:46):
I mean it was just like there was four or five, right,
it was four or five. No more of that. I
don't want to. No one wants the game to come
down to the kicker, no one, right. The offense doesn't.
The defense doesn't, because then, like you bust your butt.
If you're an offensive guy defense all game and then
our kicker lets us down, well, don't put him in
that position. Then take care of it beforehand. And to me,
this is more on the offense. The defense has been

(50:08):
so darn banged up all you're starting with Jalen Johnson,
it's just been so many injuries. TJ. Edwards, the offense.
I know, you know, you know, lovel And miss the
game here, Burden missed the game there. They've been healthy
the offensive line, the Brax and Joe's think he's better,
but really, Michael, right, I mean, they've been healthy on offense.
The quarterback hasn't missed the game. Swift missed the one game, okay,

(50:30):
but nothing like season ending knock gonna win for anybody.
They got to do more. And I know it's a
work in progress. All the cliches with that stuff. We've
been talking about it and I'm not missing any of that.
It's just his excuses. But they just got to be better.
So you don't have to rely on whether it's Cairo
Santos or Jake Moody or some other guy they pluck

(50:50):
off the waiver wire to kick for the week. They
shouldn't have to come down to that. And they're not
gonna get word into where they want to be and
tell hey, well they got to get healthy on defense
or just get better personnel, period, and that maybe that
comes in the off season, hopefully, but the offense has
got to start. This is what Ben's here, and it's
just too inconsistent.

Speaker 1 (51:10):
Yeah, no, I think Listen, you play with fire too
many times, eventually you're gonna get burned, right, And it's fun.

Speaker 2 (51:16):
I'm not trying to take anything away.

Speaker 1 (51:18):
They're seven and three, Like you know, Robert is saying,
you know, top of the NFC North guy has come
on less than the negativity, and I understand all that.
I understand that this is completely listen talking about this
is much better than what we were doing this time
last year when they lost time straight right, Like, I
understand that, But listen, this also comes with winning, right, Like,

(51:38):
if you want to be a contender, you have to
pick out stuff during wins and you have to look
at the grand picture.

Speaker 2 (51:45):
And that's what we're gonna do here.

Speaker 1 (51:46):
Before we say goodbyes, folks. Some things that happened since
we last talked, since the Bears decided to do everything
after we talked to live stream. The Bears activated Jalen
Johnson's practice window on Friday off I r he practiced
in limited fashion on when it was that on Friday
they were being tongue in cheek and put him as

(52:07):
questionable for the game. There was no shot that he
was going to play in that game after one practice
being limited, But I appreciate the effort there. Maybe they're
being just overly transparent after what the Ravens kind of
did to them a little bit earlier in the year.
Kyler Gordon has missed his fourth game, so he will
be eligible to have his practice window opened up. We'll

(52:28):
hear from Ben Johnson here in half an hour, but
I would assume if everything goes according to plan, and
based on what Ben has said in the past, he
said that.

Speaker 2 (52:36):
They're thinking on a shorter term on the i R.

Speaker 1 (52:38):
So there's a good chance that they can activate his
practice window this week, and we'll be interested to see
whether TJ.

Speaker 2 (52:46):
Edwards comes back.

Speaker 1 (52:47):
He missed the last couple of games after having hand surgery.
He's gonna have to play with the club this entire
for the rest of the season, and he's also been
dealing with that hamstring injury, so we'll see whether.

Speaker 2 (52:57):
That's I am curious.

Speaker 1 (52:58):
We haven't gotten a chance to ask by and I
am curious to know whether that's more of a hamstring
issue than it is a hand issue, because I don't listen.
I've never broken my hand and try to play a
football game later, so I don't really know what it's like.

Speaker 2 (53:10):
How quickly it takes to you know, get the club and.

Speaker 1 (53:12):
Get used to playing with the club and all that
sort of stuff. But we'll see what that kind of
looks like. But Joe, we're talking about injuries and all
that sort of stuff. The Bears are getting three huge
guys back, potentially in a week. In the next few
weeks at least, the Bears are getting three starters back
that could really help your defense here play even they
at a higher level.

Speaker 3 (53:34):
Well's shoote here again, you still have seven games left
and you can get I'm not even that worried about
the next couple of weeks, and I'm thinking more like
down the stretch would get because again, it's not like
the Bears are gonna clinch a playoff birth with three
weeks to go. I mean there, it's gonna go right
down to the wire for them, as it does for
a lot of teams in the league. Right. But if
you can get those guys back for the final three

(53:54):
four games of the season, to me, that's a definite plus,
especially if they can get back to where they war
like if Jalen Johnson is Jalen Johnson and Kyler Gordon
is Kyler Gordon and TJ uh is you know, really
is not affected by wearing the club, uh, you know
on on his hand, on his arm. Fantastic. Those are
absolutely three huge additions. That's the what's the only way
you can get better without having to worry about scheme

(54:17):
or the opponent. Just getting those guys on the field,
that would be huge. TJ. I mean, you know, one
of the best things about his game is he tackles
and always sure handed tackler. I imagine it's gotta be
tough to tackle with the club. Again, me neither. I
have never played football with the club. You know, NRF
ball doesn't count. I guess, so that would that would

(54:37):
be Uh, that would be tough. But I hope because
the Bears are a better defensive team with t J.
Edwards on the field.

Speaker 1 (54:43):
I think you saw that yesterday, right, there were some
times where Aaron Jones ran or or Mason ran where
that defense just needs t J.

Speaker 2 (54:51):
Edwards.

Speaker 1 (54:51):
And I think NOAs who has played well when he's
gotten his opportunity. I know he got that holding call,
but your defense is just better with t J.

Speaker 2 (54:58):
Edwards.

Speaker 1 (54:59):
He's he's a he's a guy that you just need
out there. So hopefully we'll be able to get him,
but make sure you guys check out with me later
this afternoon as Ben Jonson will give us updates. We'll
see what the situation kind of looks like with Jalen
and Kyler, particularly as they Jalen's guy's practice window open,
and we'll see what it looks like for Kyler and
what his time frame could kind of be. Back and Joe,

(55:21):
before we say goodbye, I guess we have to start
talking about this.

Speaker 2 (55:24):
This podcast isn't really used to this. We haven't done
this and forever, but let's talk about the playoffs. I
guess this is the thing that we're going to be
doing now.

Speaker 1 (55:32):
Bears are currently in the number three seed and the NFC,
which is an insane statement to say after the team
started owing to this season the way they did. Currently
they'd be playing the Packers as the number sixty. They'd
be hosting a playoff game, which would be something else.

Speaker 2 (55:49):
Joe. I mean, you know you've got We're not going
to go through every single game and be like win loss,
win loss, but Bears are at seven wins right now.
The mean is gonna go.

Speaker 1 (55:59):
The agression is going to go back to de mean,
eventually here the Bears are going to lose a game
that they might have to win. That's just life in
the NFL. But I how do you feel about this
team getting to that ten number with what they have
left on the schedule and putting themselves in the position
where maybe you can get the six seed or the

(56:20):
five seed, because I think in the NFC North there's
still third favorite choice to win the division. Like I
think the Packers and Lions are still very good teams
regardless of what happened yesterday. But what are your thoughts
about what are like, what are realistic goals.

Speaker 2 (56:34):
For this team heading into the finals seven weeks here?

Speaker 3 (56:37):
Yeah, so you got we got seven games left. If
you're assuming ten gets you in ten wins, they got
to go three and four.

Speaker 2 (56:43):
It usually does.

Speaker 1 (56:44):
Sometimes it doesn't, obviously, but there's generally a good number. Again,
at the beginning of the season, if we said the
Bears won ten games, I think everyone would be ecstatic.

Speaker 3 (56:53):
So you got to go three and four, right, It's
not gonna be easy. Part of me is like, hey,
you know, we always talk about, hey, you are your
record says it is, Well, they're seven to three. So
while I don't want to. I'm still not convinced they're
a good football team. Seven and three says you're a
good football team. And the stuff about you know, winning,
winning late, you know, knowing how to close games, that

(57:13):
does matter. So uh, I will say they're a good
football team. I can't say it with one hundred percent certainty,
but they're a good football team. Record that you are
what your record says it is. On the other hand,
there's part of me I hear a little coach Dick
is saying, I don't know for Kate Bull of winning
another game the rest of the season, when Dick famously
once said that, part of me is like, I don't know,

(57:35):
could they lose seven or row. I don't think they will.
I think they'll find a way. But part of me
is like, I don't see any game you're like, oh,
that's a dub. That's a dub, because we've seen the
games where we thought that's a dub, that's a dub,
that's Raiders. I was saying, so that's a dub, Giants,
that's a dub. And those were struggles. So now here
come the big boys and the Packers don't look like,

(57:55):
you know, the Packers that we thought they were gonna
be the Packers are we thought that were?

Speaker 2 (58:01):
So?

Speaker 3 (58:01):
I don't know, but I don't see you losing twice there?
You got Cleveland still. Now the Steelers come to town
and you know, late yesterday his news breaking, but Aaron
Rodgers breaking what his finger or wrist? But throwing? So
is he gonna play? Is he gonna be like is

(58:21):
he being wearing the club? I don't know. But if
that sets up and the backup is Mason Rudolph correct.

Speaker 2 (58:30):
Yes, he came into the game yesterday.

Speaker 3 (58:32):
Yeah, so that's like playing out like, boy, you didn't
get to face Joey Burrow this year. You didn't have
to face Lamar this year, and how are you gonna avoid?
I know, Aaron Rodgers isn't the guy who you know
terrorized Bears fans forever. He's not that guy anymore. But
he's still good, and you know he'll be his I
don't think his confidence will be lacking come Sunday. If

(58:52):
he takes the field. You know, he'll feel right at
home here as he always has. So, but all of
a sudden, that's not all right. No, that's maybe a
winnable game for you even if he was playing or
is playing. That's still like I don't think like that's
a definite l uh. They're kipable of winning that game
Son at home. But this is tough, Michael, because I

(59:13):
hate to be so back and forth. Can't make up
my mind. But that's that's just where I am. I'm
not convinced that the Bears are a playoff team yet,
and I'm not convinced that they're that that they're that bad.

Speaker 1 (59:27):
Yeah, it'll be interesting, I agree. You know, with the
Browns coming into town. I mean you kind of like, well,
they'll win, and it's like, well, yes, but you also
thought you're gonna blow out the Giants and the in
the Vikings and all the other teams in New Orleans
you're supposed to blow out. And the Bears didn't blow
out those teams. They bee New Orleans by double digits.

(59:48):
But that game was too close even for what that was.

Speaker 2 (59:52):
So it'll be interesting.

Speaker 1 (59:53):
But I you know, listen, if you go three and
four and ten this season, that's not a good way
to end it. But I think that does does get
you to ten. It'll be interesting to see what happens.
Like you mentioned that Pittsburgh game Aaron Rodd you know,
Ian Rapaport of NFL Network said this morning.

Speaker 2 (01:00:07):
That he wants to play in the game.

Speaker 1 (01:00:09):
He's telling people he was going to do everything he
can to play in that game on Sunday against the Bears.

Speaker 2 (01:00:14):
We'll see, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:00:15):
He also said after taking his hearing his ACL that
he was going to play in the same season, and
you know, we saw how that worked out. So I
don't know, but I mean, there's no doubt in my
mind that he wants to come back to Soldier Field,
maybe for the last time in his career, to put
it on the Bears one last time.

Speaker 3 (01:00:29):
Like are you getting me?

Speaker 1 (01:00:30):
Like, there's little doubt in my mind that he would
do anything it takes, Like I think it might be
disconnected or.

Speaker 2 (01:00:36):
Whatever, and he'll still do it because he just wants
to do it one last time. But it'll be interesting
to watch.

Speaker 1 (01:00:41):
But it is fun to have at least a conversation
of what are the Bears seatings going to be?

Speaker 2 (01:00:46):
What do they have to do to pick up this situation?
Can they win the NFC North.

Speaker 1 (01:00:50):
It's it's a very different spot, but it's a fun
spot because the Bears have found insane ways to win
football games this year.

Speaker 3 (01:00:57):
Yeah, I mean it'll be thanks Giving and the Bears
are in the playoff hunt. It's fun. It's infuriating sometimes
watching the game. It's you know, it's stressful, but you'd
rather be seven and three than three and seven and
talking about so who are the top picks in the draft?
Who are the top with the top quarterbacks? Who were

(01:01:21):
looking at maybe we've picking fifth or six. They're not
picking fifth or six this year. They're not picking the
top ten this year. So it's nice not to be
talking the next April draft. In November, usually Bears fans
are talking about draft positioning, Should we lose out, should
they think all that sort of stuff like that's been
the conversation the last four years. So it is fun

(01:01:42):
to definitely be in a different situation. All right, that's
everything that we've got for this episode of the podcast.
Thank you to everyone who joined us on the live stream.
Thank you for all the comments and the likes.

Speaker 2 (01:01:51):
If you're joining us.

Speaker 1 (01:01:52):
On YouTube, make sure you give us a like and subscribe.
It's the best way to support us. Same goes with Facebook.
Thank you so much for joining us there. If you
did join us, there, and if you're listening on the podcast,
thanks so much for listening on the podcast.

Speaker 2 (01:02:02):
Give us a subscription to give us a review. We
really appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (01:02:06):
If you want to be part of the life Stream conversation,
make sure you check out our social media as I'm
at m DWO Jack nanety four, Joe is it at
Joe Aguilar sixty four.

Speaker 2 (01:02:15):
We usually talk on.

Speaker 1 (01:02:16):
Friday and Monday mornings, depending on the schedule and obviously
the Bears travel schedule. My travel schedule next week will
be a little bit different, obviously with the short holiday
week and the Friday game, but we won't worry about
that now.

Speaker 2 (01:02:29):
But make sure you're following all my work this week.

Speaker 1 (01:02:32):
I'll give you the latest updates, whether it's Aaron Rodgers,
Jalen Johnson, all that sort of stuff as we get
ready for week number twelve when the Bears will host
the Packers. I'm so used to saying there with Aaron
Rodgers the Steelers on Sunday at Soldier Field. But until then,
we will hope you guys have a good week and
we will talk to you folks on Friday morning.