Recapping the Chicago Bears' wild win over the Bengals

The Chicago Bears pulled off the impossible Sunday when they beat the Cincinnati Bengals 47-42 in the final minute. Shaw Local's Michal Dwojak and Joe Aguilar break down all the different aspects of the thrilling win.


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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, and welcome to the latest episode of the Shaw
Local Bears Insider podcast. I Am Chicago Bears be reported
Michael Duo Jack here with the Northwest Herowich Joe aguilar As.
We're talking to you folks on Monday afternoon, a day
after probably one of the craziest, if not the craziest
Bears games I've ever definitely that I've covered, or definitely

(00:24):
maybe with one of the crazier ones that I've experienced.
But the Bears somehow went to Cincinnati and they pulled
out a forty seven to forty two win over the Bengals.
It was very topsy turvy. It was a roller coaster whatever,
whatever analogy you want to compare it to. Players are
trying to figure out what to compare it to. At
the end of the game, a lot of them said

(00:45):
that it took years off of their lives just going
through the last couple of minutes. But Joe, whatever you
want to say about it, whatever you want to call it,
it's a win on the road and the Bears were
able to pick up a much needed win as they
head into the second half of the season.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Mm hmm, yeah, epic, right, that's a game we'll remember
for a long long time. And by the way, that's
how you cover a hell merry at the end of
the game. That was refreshing too. That's only like one
of twenty five plays that mattered in the last five
minutes of the game. I mean, wow, that was fun.
And that touchdown pass at the end Caleb's biggest throw

(01:22):
of the game when they needed it most. You know,
I don't I've seen that highlight probably about twenty times,
no exaggeration, in the last you know, fifteen hours. Whatever
it's been. I'll probably watch it another few more times today.
It was that fun as a Bears fan.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
Yeah, it's you know, we'll get into the nitty gritty
of it. It was far from it, Like the Bear
shouldn't have been in that position in the first place,
and we'll get into that obviously. But it's kind of
been the refrain that Ben Johnson had yesterday, Caleb Williams
had a lot, all the players basically had their refrain
of listen, they're not going to apologize for a way
in the NFL, right that like that In the past,

(02:03):
you know, we've seen the Bears collapse like that, especially
against Joe Flackle, like We've seen that game happen before.
We've seen the Bears lose that game before, and it
wasn't pretty, and there's stuff to fix and there's stuff
to work on. But the Bears final way to win
a game at the end. And I think that's the
biggest thing that you can kind of take from this game, right, Like,
not only were you able to win that game in

(02:25):
the end, the game that the Bears have lost so
many times in the past, but they did it because
of their quarterback, right, Like, it wasn't it wasn't perfect
by any means yesterday passing the wise, even though the
Bears did score forty seven points, Like, something clearly is
working well. But once again, Caleb just showed you that
he has the clutch gene, right Like, he just showed
you that no matter what the circumstances are, no matter

(02:47):
what the momentum of the game is, the Bears are
going to find a way to win a game of
Caleb is their quarterback and he's on the field with
the chance to, you know, put the team on his back.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yeah, and that does matter that the fourth quarter comebacks,
the ability to pull games down here late. You know,
we've seen it now what three times this year and
last year? You know again, I hate to keep going
back there, but we saw too much of the opposite.
So winning in the fourth quarter knowing you have a shot,
and like your quote from DJ, more than in your

(03:21):
story today. But you know about Kayleb that he's made
for the spotlight. And we've heard that before about him.
It's true. He just seems to rise in those moments.
And you know, when you look at the elevation and
every level of what makes a quarterback from rookie to
good to get to the Mahomes Brady Josh Allen level,

(03:42):
you have to deliver when it matters fourth quarter in
playoff games. We haven't seen the ladder yet, hopefully we'll
see it this year, but you have to have that
in your arsenal, that the ability to deliver late in games,
in big games. And how big was yesterday, don't know,
but you're you were gonna lose a football game in

(04:03):
the final minute here, which would have an epic loss.
Instead of you turning into it, you turned into an
epic win. And we'll get to more Kalab. But bottom
line is props to him and this team continues to
find ways to to win the fourth quarter. Even that
Baltimore game last week, you kind of felt when they
were chasing, like it's not over yet, and then the
interception happened deep in the deep and Bears territory, and

(04:26):
then it was over. But I think as a team,
certainly as just as a fan watching, you're probably thinking, Okay,
we're down, but we have a chance. Were last year
it would have been like for years past, forget just
last year, the other years you'd be like, it's over.
You know, I'm gonna go rake the leaves or whatever
we're gonna do, because this one's over. And now it's
like you got to stick to the end.

Speaker 1 (04:44):
Joe, What was what was going through you? I'm sure
I kind of know what was going through your mind
towar at the end of the game yesterday. You know,
when you're writing probably three stories and you're trying to
figure out, all right, I have to have a story
ready if the Bears lose. I have to have a
story ready when the Bears win. But you know, I
at that point, they were up forty one to twenty seven,
and at that point, like for you know, going behind

(05:05):
the you know, going behind the scenes for reporters like we,
you know, try to get as much done before before,
Like those stories don't just miraculously appear as the game ends,
because we just instantly know how to write like eight
hundred words in like two minutes. But I, like forty
one twenty seven, I was like, okay, like I'll get
most of my five takeaways done, like here's what we

(05:26):
can do. And then you know, the the Bengals, you know,
made it a one score game. I'm like, all right,
this is getting a little bit interesting. Let's see what
happens on the on side kick. And the onside kick happens,
and I'm like, all right, this is this is interesting.
And then you know, the Bengals start moving down the
field they score that touchdown, and I'm like, man, like

(05:47):
I'm selfishly, I'm like, man, I'm gonna have to rewrite
everything I just did, like I can't believe this. But
and then watching Colston, you know, cash that pass on
after Calea picked up on that first down after third.
For me as a report and I'm sure for you
Joe as a reporter, we were just kind of like,
what the heck is happening? Like I after the game,
We're just all like, I don't, I don't know what

(06:08):
just happened here in the past two minutes one.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
Hundred Yeah, the three moments that mattered, as we write
about I write about every week. I really had I
kept the other the other two that I wrote, I
could have just just gone to the final two minutes
of the game. Those are the three moments. There were
three plays there at least that that mattered most other
than stuff that happened in the first half. Not that

(06:32):
that stuff doesn't matter, but yeah, it's crazy because you
pretty much have to uh throw away, you know, define
delete everything you had written before about how you thought
it was going to end because that last two minutes.
I almost just wanted this afternoon, sit back and watch
the final five minutes of the game again, even going
back to the DJ Moore play, which, my goodness, I

(06:52):
don't know how they ruled that a touchdown. I've seen
that replay many times, not as much as the level
in touchdown at the end, but I don't know how
they ruled that a touchdown. Fortunate for the Bears they did.
When you know, he extended the arm, it looked like
you fumbled. Bears will take it. They had some bad
break yesterday, some if he calls, some calls that were
probably the right call, but game of inches kind of stuff.

(07:14):
But that was one that went in the Bear's favor.
And then the ball that bounces off Hardy's foot. I mean, yeah, yeah,
bad break. But you know, there's so many moments just
in that last four minutes. It was it was fun,
it was exhausting. I don't I still have a few
dark hairs left in my head, but they'll probably be
gray by this afternoon.

Speaker 1 (07:33):
All right. If you guys are joining us on the
YouTube live stream, thanks so much for joining us. I
see we've got the chat bop and we got a
lot of comments, a lot of questions. Great to see
you guys joining us for this lunchtime stream. Things for
joining us this Monday afternoon. Make sure you give us
a like while you're here. I really appreciate it helps
us grow our brand, It helps you know other Bears
fans find us the NV part of the conversation. If

(07:54):
you're listening to the podcast and missed out and I
want to be part of the conversation later on, I
think so much for listening on podcasts and check out
our socials. That's when we'll usually post when we're talking
to you folks on Mondays and Fridays. But Joe, we're
gonna do what we like to do every single week,
and that's we choose each choose three winners and three losers.
That's a good way to kind of go over the game.

(08:17):
Just figure out everything the stuff that happened, because while
I feel like the last two minutes is the story,
like a lot of stuff happened in that game, when
you have a forty seven to forty two score, even
before the last two minutes. So I'll let you start off.
What was your what's your first winner from Sunday's Thrilling wind.

Speaker 2 (08:36):
Well, there were a couple obvious winners. I'm gonna go
with Kyle Manung. Guy, what the heck was that? How
good did he look yesterday? I don't think he carried
twenty six times. I don't know if I even said
it Friday when we did the podcast, Like, I'm not
very confident if he's got to carry the ball twenty times.
Oh my goodness, was I wrong? And thankfully as a
Bears fan, I was wrong because he was fantastic, even

(08:58):
the runs where he had like one yard or no yard.
I thought he looked good. His pad level was so good. Again,
I don't I don't scout running backs. I never coached
running backs, never played running back. But man, he was good,
I mean really good. One seventy six on the ground,
averaged close to seven of Carrey. Just fantastic. I mean
I didn't think he had that in him. And if
I said, I don't think I said anything negative about Almanungu.

(09:19):
I just like, Eh, he's a seventh round pick. What
do you think you're getting Walter Payton here or Gel Sayers?
But he was just fantastic and a set up everything
because Caleb again, they choose in the pocket. But Manung Guy,
I mean, I just wow. And I like DeAndre Swift
and we've seen great play from DeAndre Swift, but if

(09:40):
that's Kylemnung and he's not gonna do that every week.
They were playing the Bengals for crying out loud. But
that was just spectacular from kalamanung Guy yesterday.

Speaker 1 (09:50):
Yeah, it was great, and you know it's what the
Bears kind of hoped for when they took him in
the seventh round. Like we had the the whole offseason
narrative was you gotta get DeAndre Swift here. Ben Jonson
hates them. Doesn't work in the system. You got to
trade for one, you got to sign one. Then it
was you got draft one. And Ryan Poles waited until
the seventh Well, I you know, the thought is that

(10:12):
he probably wanted to draft one in the second round.
But then obviously there was that run at running backs
in the second round where you know, obviously then he
took Luther Burden and the other two guys. But I
think the Bears knew this is what they were getting
out of Kyle. They knew that they were getting a
hard runner. And that's exactly what he did yesterday. He
the the the way that he runs is just different.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
Man.

Speaker 1 (10:35):
He just goes north south, goes directly into the pile,
goes right to the open lanes. And there were so
many times where you thought that the that the play
was over, and then he kept going for two or
four or five more yards like he He impressed me
so much. I think we knew that he could do this,
but I think he really showed what he could potentially do.

(10:57):
I mean, he the average six point eighty yards a
run on every single carry. That that's That's an insane number,
and that's really impressive to do. Yes with the context
obviously that this is a this is the worst run
defense in the entire league, but that's what you wanted, Like,
that's what you expect to do against the worst, right,
Like if you ran for fifty yards and couldn't get

(11:18):
the run game really going, I think we would be
giving them a hard time. So you have to give
a lot of kudos to Kyle for he felt ready
for the moment. He felt like he could, you know,
get the Bears a good opportunity if he got that opportunity,
and and that's exactly what he did. So I would agree,
you know, just for him to kind of have that moment,
you know, he's It's the second highest rushing total in

(11:41):
the game by a Bears rookie ever in franchise history. Like,
it was just a very impressive performance for Kyle. And Listen,
I don't know what the future for DeAndre Swift is.
We'll see obviously how he's managing the scroin injury. But
I think you have to be really encouraged if you're
a Bears fan, because if Swift is injured, obviously you

(12:02):
have a good backup. But if you have Swift in
there too, you have quite the dual set of running
backs that can really do some damage where oh, like
DeAndre Swift is tired or you gotta get him out
of the game, all right, throw Kyle in there, right, Like,
I think you're really starting to see. You know, I'm
not going to compare them to Jami or Gibbs or
David Montgomery. I think they're kind of different style runners
and that sort of stuff. But I think you have

(12:23):
the potential to have quite the dynamic rushing duo if
you know Swift can get back here healthy here soon.

Speaker 2 (12:29):
Yeah, And you know he got off to such a
great start Manungay did yesterday. At halftime he had one
hundred yards and I'm figuring, you know, he'll probably end
up with like one hundred and sixteen yards. He's gonna
slow down here. He never did. I mean, he just
for four quarters was consistently good. We know he runs hards,
that's that's his reputation. That wasn't a surprise. He was

(12:49):
a little faster than I thought. I'm not saying he's
asking genty, but he looked a little faster than I
even thought. But even the fourth and one play, which
may have been one of my favorite plays of the
game yet today amongst the hundred that were important, the
fourth and one got the shoulders low and just like
a battering ram right up the middle of he got
four or five yards when they only needed one. So
even that stuff, and I get well prepics everything was.

(13:13):
It was against the Bengals, But I certainly like that,
and I don't know, I just want to see it
and I want to see it again. But if DeAndre
Swift comes back, it's his job and we know that
and he deserves to be they number one back. But boy,
that was certainly an impressive performance by the rookie running back.

Speaker 1 (13:30):
All Right, I'm gonna piggyback the running game here with
my first winner. And that's the offensive line. This group is,
this group is hitting it on all cylinders right now.
And we knew, you know, maybe you know, whether you
want to include us fans or whatever, maybe at the
beginning of the season, when there are those false starts
and there are some lapses and that kind of stuff,
you're kind of like, all right, like why isn't this

(13:50):
perfect at the beginning of the year, And maybe there
was the context of you have three new starters in
there on top of the left tackle position, which was
I'm certain with Braxon Jones in there, and then you know,
now Theo's in there. But that offensive line is hitting
it in all cylinders right now, and you have to
give Cood it Like every guy, you know, I think

(14:12):
THEO is having a so so game or so so
performances here in the last couple of weeks. There's sometimes
where he gets passed by. There's that other time where
I forget which run to the left, but he just
mauls a guy to the sideline and just basically murders
a guy down there. But that offensive line is hitting
Darnel right. I don't know what happened since the injury,
but he's looked phenomenal ever since, Like he has really,

(14:36):
you know, lived up to the critiques that he was
getting at the beginning of the year, being a former
top ten pick from twenty twenty three, and he's living.

Speaker 2 (14:43):
Up to it.

Speaker 1 (14:43):
He is bulldozing guys. I don't know if we were
talking about the same fourth down run, but it's been
going around the clip around Twitter right now where he
basically just you know, destroys Schamar Stewart from from Bengals
where on the fourth down run where he just mulls
him down the field and he takes out DJ Moore too.

(15:04):
But in the time of it, but this offensive line
looks great. Joe Toney is exactly what you expected out
of him. He's an All Pro, phenomenal Hall of Fame
player who's really helped this group. Drew Dollman looked much better.
He's running the offense now much better. And Jonah Jackson
is doing a really good job too at the right
guard spot as he's kind of got into it. This

(15:26):
offensive line. Joe, you don't have that game yesterday from
Kalamannung guy without that blocking from the offensive line.

Speaker 2 (15:33):
Yeah, I agree. I'm glad you mentioned the offensive line
because no one's really talking about him, which is a
good thing. Right, We've talked about it, like you don't
want to hear offensive lineman's names being mentioned during a broadcast.
And the only guy I'm hearing is Benedict who's got
some you know, did he have another hole in another
full start? I think maybe, But that's it. And you're right,
he's really good as a run blocker. But and the

(15:55):
pass pro as you like to call. The pass protection
has been outstanding. I mean Cayleb Williams could have had
a sandwich hit in the back in the pockets still
couldn't find anybody. But he's had all day to throw.
I mean, if he can never figure this out where
the throws in rhythm and hitting the checkdown got quicker, boy,
that's that's gonna be really fun to watch because that's

(16:18):
the only negative right now. Offensively that the one that
really sticks sound anyway, but the offensive line. Yeah, Darnell
right man. Look, we've said, like I've I've said it before,
like if he ends up playing eight years in the
league and it's just solid, that's not good enough for
what do you go ninth over or tenth They traded
down to pick with Philly, and that's not good enough.
We want to see some Pro Bowls and I know
you got some. Really it's hard to make Pro Bowls

(16:38):
or and that's not everything. But he's I think he's
on team's radar down if they weren't before, because he's
really played well since the injury. Jonah Jackson, like you said,
and Dolman, they got the snap thing figured out apparently,
but the other thing too, other than the Braxton Jones injury,

(16:59):
which was kind of like you since set at that
position anyway, not go on Wood, there's been continuity. We're
not merrily. Last year was like every week someone was
getting hurt and the how many combinations of uh starting
on old lines that they have last year. But this
year and any lineman will tell you, you know, continuity
matters with with those guys, and we're seeing that, I

(17:21):
would uh that we're seeing the same five guys lineup
every Sunday.

Speaker 1 (17:26):
Yeah, that's that obviously plays a big factor into things.

Speaker 2 (17:30):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (17:30):
And before we move on to your next winner, Joe
Roberts himing in, could you hear from me, Robert, the
whole team seems to be buying into the run game,
great blocking throughout and yeah, that needs to be talked
about too. Where at the beginning of the year, I
don't think you saw that full commitment into you know,
Ben Jonson's no block, no rock. You saw a lot
of you know, miss blocks, a lot of missed opportunities.
But yeah, for how great the offensive line is blocking,

(17:53):
I mean you're seeing it too. From Colston Loveland steps
in for an injured Cole Comet, and you know he's
blocking great. You've got the wide receivers blocking great, and
you know we can get into, you know, with Dunsday
a little bit later. But even if he didn't have
like a catch and didn't have his best day, he's
still blocking down the field and he's created a lot
of lanes. And I think that has to be big

(18:14):
where you got guys that bought into Ben Johnson's mentality
and that wasn't gonna happen right away. That wasn't going
to be a game one or a game two thing,
but it has to be really encouraging that week nine
and you can say even like week eight and week seven,
we're starting to see this more with a more cohesive
running attack where guys are just blocking everywhere, whether it's
the line of whether it's you know, it's set on

(18:35):
the line, or whether it's on the outside part. Guys
are committed to the run and you're seeing a lot
of diffidends for it and that can only help this
team moving forward. All right, Joe, let's go over to
your second winner. Here's who else is the winner from Sunday?

Speaker 2 (18:50):
Well, I'll skip Loveline even though it's a clear winner too.
But I'm gonna go with the creativity with Ben Johnson,
with the rasual dazzle and the trick plays. If he
turned his bag of tricks upside down yesterday, does he
have anything left in there? Because they they burned pretty much. Well,
they burned like four or five trick plays yesterday. And
you know, it's one thing to pull them out of
your bag and be cute. But they all worked yesterday.

(19:12):
I mean even the first one with the comet toss
after he got the toss.

Speaker 1 (19:15):
From Caleb Rome.

Speaker 2 (19:16):
You got to catch that, brother, you got to catch
that pass. But that that worked until Rome dropped the ball.
But everything else, the double pass I loved, and you
know what, and they weren't trick plays, but I liked
the little flip, the two yard two yard two foot pass.
Caleb had one too, uh uh manung guy and the

(19:37):
other one on the touchdown to Zakis where it was
just like it almost looked like a hand off inside handoff.
It's technically a pass because it went forward.

Speaker 1 (19:46):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (19:46):
Those worked. That's that'll help your completion percentage. Those worked.
Everything worked. And how about Caleb Williams. Forget about the
pasting numbers. Boy, if they ever get down on wide receivers.
Maybe me put him out wide. I mean he got
two passes. Crazy stat line for him yesterday, right when
you look at what he did with the two eighty
the three tds, no picks, no picks. Uh, and then

(20:09):
the two catches won for a touch. A wild stat day.
I don't know how many quarterbacks have had a game
like that in the history of the entire league. But
but that was fun. But uh, Ben Johnson got creative.
And I don't want to see you don't. You don't
want to have to rely on that stuff. Someone You
just like to you man, you man, you we played football.
I'm gonna beat you up. You got that little neanderthal
thing going. Uh that that's nice, but you need those

(20:31):
plays sometimes to uh to not only keep drives going,
but uh, let your guys have some fun. For crying
out loud, right, you are playing a game. Even though
you're getting paid a lot of money. You're having fun.
And I think the guy's feet off that. Like even
to get Tyson bagent involved, Like where's Tyson? Maaijin? They
finally got him in there. He throws a nice little
pass to the caleb get him involved, like Hey, you're

(20:52):
on the team, be ready, and uh, they used a
lot of I'm sure Ben's got like twenty more tricks
in that in that bag. But that was fun to
watch and it worked.

Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yeah, that's the big thing, right, Like, I think all
all three trick plays worked. I agree that the Cole
Kmeed one was a good one. I didn't know that
Cole was a lefty. I knew that obviously he was
a pitcher. I knew that he was a pitcher and
Notre Dame, but I didn't know that he was a
lefty or really but that that was a That was
a good play. It was a slow moving play. I

(21:24):
feel like that play kind of took forever when you
got the direct snap to the Cole, then back to Caleb,
and then back to cold in the room. But I
agree that's a catch that roone needs to make. I
like the touchdown one a lot. That just keeps total
like that just keeps guys on your heels. You don't
know what they're gonna do, and then really says the
president for games later on, right where you're kind of
like all right, like we've seen them set up in

(21:45):
this before, so what happens if we see Ala in
motion and dj Or in motion at the same time, Like,
are you know what if we see Rome in motion?
The kind that just puts more doubt into the defense's mind. Right,
so you're not gonna run a chick play every single time,
but once team defenses and coaches have tape on that,
it enters their mind and they start to wonder, all right,

(22:08):
like we have to defend this now, like this could
potentially happen. So I agree, obviously in the moment, I
think it plays a big role into you know, obviously
it led to a touchdown and two you know, big
plays or you know what what could have been too
big plays. But I think it also kind of puts
some doubt into future opponents where they're kind of like,
all right, like we have to be worried about this
a little bit. Maybe it won't happen, but we still

(22:30):
have to defend this. We could potentially open some other
things up for Caleb and some other receivers moving forward.
All right, My second winner is kind of with the
obvious one. I feel like you can't really rank any
of them because all of them are are great wins,
but Caleb, Caleb Williams is a big winner for me
because we went into this game being like, listen, like

(22:53):
the running it back is injured. Your defense, Yes, you
got Tyler Stevenson back, but they had a tall task
going against t Higgins and Jamar Chase Chase Brown is
a really good running back for them, and Joe Flatco
obviously is the guy's injured. And we'll get into that,
i'm sure into the later portion of the podcast. But
this needed to be a game that you needed to

(23:14):
win because of your quarterback, and your quarterback made plays.
I mean I was it perfect and were there scrambles sometimes? Yes,
it's there were some inaccurate throws sometimes where you're just
kind of like, man, you just gotta like not to
go to the negative. But like the throw on the
to Cole where he got the concussion, Like if Caleb

(23:34):
just leads him, that's a good ten yard or fifteen
yard pass, or again in the end zone to room
of dunes. They like, I know that Rome should probably
make that catch if he wants to be considered one
of the best receivers in the league. But also like
you got to lead the guy, Like there's still some
inaccuracy throats, inaccurate throws. But listen, he throws for two

(23:55):
to eighty he completes fifty eight percent of his passes,
he throws three touchdowns, and he does throw an interception.
That's what your quarterback needs to do. In those situations.
You relied on the running attack. Sure, I get that
that really helps set up the pass. But your quarterback
made winning plays right, like he found Colston Lovelin for
that touchdown to give your team a lead. He was

(24:16):
frustrated with himself at the end of the first half
when he wasn't able to kind of execute and they
had to settle for a field goal in a couple occasions.
But your quarterback showed you that in a shootout he
can put up numbers, he can move the ball down
the field, and he can win you a game. Like
he read the coverage perfectly. Ben Johnson Knew said, when

(24:37):
you see that, you know that's double safety coverage. At
the end of the game, like hit Colston Lovelin and
he delivered a perfect ball to Coaston. Sure could I
think many could argue that the Bengal should have completed
the tackle and that makes the situation a little bit different.
But regardless, I that was was going to be a
long pass to Colston or not. He got the ball

(24:59):
where it needed to be to at least set up
the game winning field goal if that's what they wanted
to do. So kudos to Kleb. He again put the
team on his back, and in a game where your
defense and your special teams were bad, he really stepped up,
stepped up in the big situation.

Speaker 2 (25:17):
Yeah, I agree, I think you articulated that very well,
because look, the fourteen in compleations is still disturbing. You
can't have that many. But there were so many other
things he did do well, even the first touchdown pass
to leveland after they get the delay of game on
the one yard line, stop doing that stuff. And then
you're thinking, here they waste another opportunity. Here comes Cairo.

(25:38):
I don't to kick an eighteen yard field goal, whatever
it's going to be. And he threw that nice touchdown
pass in stride to Loveland. That to me, that was
really huge. That was another big moment of moment that
mattered in that football game. But and then that that
last pass he threw, you know, like when we get
all the Tyson bagent love, I'm not saying here's the
quarterback controversy game, like like Tyson can't that throw? I

(26:00):
mean that is a Bbie down the middle of the
field and hitting him. And that play developed quickly. It
wasn't like he's scrambling around in an area. Here goes
Caleb thinking too much. That was beautiful. That's why I
keep watching it, like, wow, that's what it looks like.
That's what it looks like. The throw was fantastic and
for that he deserves the credit. And plus, let's not

(26:24):
you know, dismissed the two catches he had, which were
big plays. I don't care how you get it done.
Sometimes that worked. But other than the too much time
holding in the pocket, you know, holding the ball in
the pocket, that's still that's tough to watch, isn't it,
whether you're a Bears fan or just an observer of
football playing offensive football, but way more positives than negative.

(26:48):
And he didn't put up Joe Flacco numbers yesterday, but
it was pretty dang good. And the other thing, which
again which he doesn't do other than you know a
few times, is turned the ball over. And how many
quarterbacks have we seen the past like fumble can't secure
the football like he's been look, we're eight games in.
He's been very good at that. The sacks are way

(27:09):
down from last year. The line is much better, we
know that from a year ago. But those things he
has improved on. So if you had a big checklist
of things, is he better hears? He better here the
last year, there are a lot of things that it's
pretty much better across the board on everything.

Speaker 1 (27:25):
Yeah, it's interesting, right because like Robert even says here,
he says, I think Caleb throw is a great fastball.
Also knows he can throw those layer throws over defenders.
He'll develop in the passes to lead the player over time,
I don't doubt. But it's funny because the fastball and
that kind of stuff, that's the hard thing to do, right,
Like he does the hard stuff really well. It's the

(27:46):
easy stuff that for some reason, I don't know why
it's not clicking yet. Like the ball accuracy, you know,
coming out of USC, I feel like we kept hearing
the I think the deep ball accuracy was kind of
a concern coming out of USC, but he was a
very accurate asser, you know, in short distance, in mid
tier distance too, So it is funny to me that
he can make those elite plays, but sometimes just to

(28:09):
check down and the easy pass kind of gets in
the way. It'll be interesting to see how he's able
to kind of develop that with Ben. But it's funny
that he's got the hard part down at this point
a year and a half into his career, but he
still got it. Has to get the easy parts down
moving forward, all right, Joe, I know there are a
lot of winners. Give me one more winner.

Speaker 2 (28:31):
Well, then I'll go with coachon Lovelin. I guess just
boy was that fun to watch, even take away the
game winning touchdown, take away that play. He was great
yesterday finally, and I know he's in the opportunity or
because you don't want to see Cole Commet anyway, I
like to pick on him Comet, But look, he got
the opportunity. He delivered. We've wanted to see it since

(28:52):
week one. We haven't seen it from week one. Then
he got the hip injury. But boy, that's that's the
guy that Ben Jonson and that Ryan Poul's Ben Johnson
picked at number ten. That's the athlete that's the throw
over it. Even the touchdown past bounce, I know is
lowsy tackling by the Bengals. But then he ran the
final thirty yards. He outraced DB's. DB's are fast. That's
why they play in the NFL. Right, They're a little

(29:14):
but they're fast, and he outran everybody and then smartly
not like holding the ball up. Hey, I got a
touchdown in the final five yards, secured that ball two hands. Dang,
that was fun. I'm gonna watch that replay ten more
times after this podcast, Michael. But he was fantastic. And
I sure hope for the third time I'm saying it.
I know it was against the Bengals, but I sure

(29:35):
hope that's a sign of what's to come here, because
this could be pretty special for a long time. And I'll,
you know, I look, I'm like a lot of fans.
I'll just you know, I'll curtisize myself here. I overreact
to the losses to the wins. But I sure hope
we can see more of that Williams to Lovelin and
more of Manunguy because that was just fun to watch yesterday.

Speaker 1 (29:59):
I think you saw the reason why the Bears drafted
love the number ten overall, right, I think that's why
you saw that. I feel like That's why the Bears,
despite needing offensive line help, despite needing a pass rush help,
which we'll talk about here pretty soon, that's the reason
why they drafted him, right because he that he showed
how he can be a special player. Not only you know,

(30:21):
is he so tough to stop as a as a
pass catcher. I mean, he has a career high one
hundred and eighteen yards, six catches, two touchdown catches. But
the blocking is very good now too. He usual like
he's really stepped that part off of his game. And
I don't think we talked about that part of his
game coming out of Michigan. I think we all knew

(30:43):
that he's like kind of a unicorn who you know,
it's kind of hard to stop him, Like linebackers can't
keep up with them, and you know, safeties and quarterbacks
can't really you know, stop him with his size. But
we didn't really talk about his blocking that much. And
his blocking has been really great the last couple weeks,
so more and more he's kind of got an opportunity
to do it. So if you found yourself a tight

(31:06):
end who can be both an e leite blocker and
also in the lead pass catcher, I mean, that's gonna
be tough to stop, right, no matter who you put
on him, no matter what you do. Like that is
the type of stuff like I'm not listen, it's one game.
I'm not gonna call him Travis Kelsey. I'm not gonna
call him George Kittle or anything like that. But he
shows you glimpses about what makes him unique and really

(31:28):
tough and really talented. And it'll be now now it'll
be on obviously Loveland, but it's also on Ben Johnson
to get the ball to him right, like it's going
to be you know, they they've been. He's been slow
to get the ball to the tight ends he's been obviously.
Part of it is because Colston had a slow, you know,
ramp up after missing the offseason and then he had
that hip injury that kind of kept him out for

(31:48):
mostly two games. But you got to get Colston Lovelan
involved and if you're able to get him involved more
and more, as the games kind of progress here, he's
going to become more and more of a threat.

Speaker 2 (31:59):
A hundred percent. Let's see more. You know, you get
the Giants next, and then it gets tough. But as
we get in the second half here is it gets
more up to speed, like you were saying, with everything,
and let's hope he stays healthy. Uh, that could be
real fun because when was least ten. They've got some
good tight ends over the years, but it's been a
while since you really had a fun tight end. Martellis

(32:19):
Bennett was good, you know, for those few years with Cutler,
and you go back to Greg Olsen until Mike Marx
didn't want to use it. You go on and on.
We don't have to we don't have to go back
to coach Ditka back in the sixties. But that'd be
fun to have a real dynamic tight end here in
Chicago for a long time.

Speaker 1 (32:34):
Yeah, definitely would, And that would change the game because
you've seen all these teams that win, they win because
they have a tight end that can be a difference maker, right,
whether it's Kelsey, whether it's Kittle, whether it's you know,
I'm uh, you know, brock Powers has kind of shown
that early on in a year into his career. But
they really make a difference and really open up your
offense if we're able to find one. So hopefully Colston

(32:56):
can continue on that path moving forward. All right, Joe
Final I'll kind of do a combo one, but I'll
do the coaching staff, mostly because you're seeing I think
there are a lot of questions still nine games into
into this season, or again nine or eight games into

(33:17):
the season, nine weeks into the season. But I think
Bears fans have to be pretty confident in Ben Johnson.
I think you are, and this can blow up in
my face, and this can you know. I feel like
a lot of people are confident Man Nagy early on
in our trustment, but I feel like this feels different.
I feel like this Ben Johnson is just setting this
team up for success. Where you blow a fourteen point

(33:41):
lead in roughly two minutes a game time. All right,
Ben's cool, Caleb's cool. They know what they're gonna do,
they execute the game plan, they know what to do
in certain situations, and they take the lead.

Speaker 2 (33:52):
Right.

Speaker 1 (33:52):
I I this team. There's no doubt in my mind
that this team would have lost this game last year
if it was happening under Eddieberflus. I know I've said
that before. You know what, the Commanders win and the
Raiders win, but this is such a big hurdle to pass.
And I listened to Ben Jonson's you know, interview with
ESPN Chicago today that he does kind of exclusively with them,

(34:15):
and he talked about all right, the next step is
obviously not to be in those situations, to you know,
just win the game and kind of close out the
game and not be in a situation where we need
to win on the last second or last minute touchdown.
But for this team to clear the hurdle again and
again and to just have that winner instinct. I think
that comes from the head coach, right, because that wasn't
there last year. A majority of the players are the

(34:38):
same players from last year. I know you switched some
guys out, you got some different people in there, but
that's a coaching thing. And I think and you have
to give credit to Ben because I think if you've
learned anything nine weeks into the season, is they've got
the head coach right, Like Ben is more than just
the offensive trick plays, the you know guru offensive guru,

(35:02):
Like he's a head coach who knows how to lead
a whole team. We'll see how it goes, obviously for
the rest of the year, and you know what it
is down the line here over the next couple of
week years. But I think Benn has kind of showed
you that he can side a good culture, the guys
that bought into that culture, and you have to be
really encouraged about what they've done so far.

Speaker 2 (35:23):
Yeah, I've been sold on him for a while, more
so than the quarterback, which I'm thinking probably the guy,
but sometimes he just drives you nuts. But the coach,
for sure, it's just been a lot different. We're not
seeing that. Look, he hasn't been perfect. I mean the
Lions games fifty two points, that's still on them. They
did make some mistakes here game. We have had bad games,

(35:44):
bad moments, but clearly this this is the right guy
that I'm one hundred percent certain. It is different. You
know better than me. You're there at hallisall every day
when you're not traveling with the team. So they got
this right, and I think they got the assistance right too.
Now the special teams coach, we might have to talk

(36:07):
about that coming up here. But other than that, they
just look like they know what they're doing. We're not
seeing the silly stuff we've seen in years past from
this team, mismanagement of the clock, even the hell Mary
I joked about it, at the beginning. But that's how
you defend it, guys, that's going to be pretty simple.
And we saw what happened last year. We won't go
there again. But yeah, that's like, yeah, you know, rush

(36:29):
for whatever they did, get to the quarterback and make
it a tough throw on Flacco and don't don't even
give them a chance to get the ball to the
end zone. So, because who knows, after last year, you're
still kind of scarred by oh my gosh, they still
have seventeen seconds. Is history going to repeat itself?

Speaker 1 (36:45):
No, all right, Joe. Obviously the Bears won, but it
was far from a perfect performance because it shouldn't have
been Probably that it shouldn't have come down to that
Hell Mary play or you know, the Colston Lovelin touchdown.
Bears gave up forty two points. Let's move on to
our losers here, Joe, what's your first loser from yesterday's win?

Speaker 2 (37:06):
Well, I got the the three things that I did
my first one, and I'll just clump them together. Here's
the special teams, kickoff coverage and the kicker. Sorry, Sarah,
I won't I won't pick on I'll try to minimize
the Cairo stuff. But the kickoff coverage. I know they
were without Roshon Johnson and Dominique Robinson, but you can't
have that the opening kickoff and then the second kickoff

(37:28):
another guy, different player, a long return. It was just bad.
The play at the end with Hardy, you know, the
on side kick, that's just I mean, I know falls
on special teams, but it's kind of a bad break.
It was you know, it was nine yards, it wasn't ten.
It hits off his foot unfortunately. I mean, that stuff
happens in the league sometimes, but the special teams, the

(37:51):
kickoff coverage, Michael, I don't have the stats, but it's
not been good this year. There's so many times where
teams are starting you know, starting starting field position is
at the forty or something, or that's that's bad. And
I know they've got other issues. If you said, would

(38:12):
you rather fix the defense first of the special teams,
kickoff covers would be the defense. But I don't know
how much where you can do their special teams. I
don't know. Again, I haven't coached special teams. I didn't
play special teams. But Keny just get guys who are
just like maniacs and fundamentally sound. I think those would
be easier than to find the quarterback or the or
the great wide receiver or the great rush. They got

(38:34):
to figure that out because if it had, they lost yesterday.
Doubt you can easily point into the your finger to
the special teams and particularly the kickoff coverage.

Speaker 1 (38:45):
Yeah, I would agree. I mean, this is a second
week in a row where special teams just had such
a negative impact on this game. The opening kickoff, the
guy wasn't touch like no one touched him, Like no
one was close to him, Like he had a wide
open lane, and you know Cairo was just barely trying
to get to him at the end there. Like that's
not that's just not good and unacceptable. Like you had

(39:09):
the Bengals returned eight kickoffs for two hundred and ninety
seven yards, Like that's almost three hundred yards. Like the
kickoff coverage was bad. You had the penalties again. You
had that penalty towards the end of the first half
where John A. Walker is holding and wipes away a
great punt return by Devin Duverne deep into into Bengals territory.

(39:34):
The hardy thing. I kinda I'm kind of kind of
conflicted on that one, because that's a situational thing. You
should know that the onside kick is happening. You have
to be aware of that. But I also understand that
you are focused on your matchup and you're focused in
on your guy, But again, that's a situational thing, so
you should know what's going on there. Yeah, I mean,

(39:56):
this is just a second straight week where special teams
has had such a such a bad impact on your
team and almost cost you a game, right, Like, I
think there's a lot of stuff to talk about, and
we'll hear from Richard high Tower later this week, but
you gotta fix some stuff and then you know, we'll see. Yes,
they're without Roshawn Johnson, they're without a couple of key

(40:17):
guys there. Austin Booker was back in there too, but
I'm sure they're kind of limiting his usage because you
got to use them on the defensive front. So yeah,
you just need to fix the special teams because I
know people like to joke around and be like, well
how much the special teams impact a game? But you
saw yesterday that very negatively impacted your game. And if

(40:38):
you are just gonna get let teams start at their
own thirty five at their own forty. That just puts
the defense in such a bad situation every single time.

Speaker 2 (40:47):
Yeah, yeah, no, they got they got to fix that,
and you think would be pretty any easy fix, Not
that anything's easy in this in this game, but you
figure that should be an easy fix and let's fix
it for crime out loud, Yeah for sure.

Speaker 1 (41:07):
All right, moving forward, my next loser, this past defense.
I'm conflicted about the past defense because the context is
you were going against a juggernaut. You were going against
T Higgins, who I think is kind of underrated, which
is kind of funny because obviously he's very well respected

(41:28):
around the league. No one is saying that T Higgins
is a bad receiver, but I think he kind of
gets lost in the shuffle sometimes because of how great
you of our chase is. But man, you can't give
that up. I mean, Joe Flaco was dealing with an
ac sprain, you know, a week and he said after
the game that he was good but still at age forty.

(41:50):
He threw a career high four hundred and seventy passing
yards four touchdowns. He had a sixty six completion rate.
T Higgins finished with one to win. Won receiving yards
two touchdowns. Jamar Chase finished with one to eleven receiving
yards on eight on six catches. Chase Brown, the running back,
had seventy five receiving yards on eight catches. There's a

(42:15):
reason why when the Bengals were driving down the field
after getting that onside kick, where I was like, this
is this feels inevitable? And it was interesting because you know,
Ben Johnson called a time out there toward the end
when they got into the red zone because he was
kind of setting up where he didn't say that he
was setting up because he knew that the defense was
going to give up touchdown and he wanted to conserve

(42:36):
as much time as possible since they started to run
the ball when they got into the into the red zone.
But it felt inevitable, right, just like the way the
game was going this past defense. I think the turnover
spree that it went on during that four game winning
Street kind of masked some deficiencies on this on the
in the past coverage. And again I understand Jalen Johnson

(42:57):
isn't out there, Kyler Gordon isn't out there. Harrick Stevenson
is coming back from a shoulder injury, so you're not
at one hundred percent by any means out there, but
you just gotta find some sort of answer there. And
this past defense just hasn't been able to do it
for much of the season, and it almost cost you
a game on Sunday.

Speaker 2 (43:18):
Yeah, I mean, you've got depth guys, you know, special
teams guys. Maybe go need to go back on special
teams guys playing at the corners. I mean, I mean,
and Tyreek is remember how good he's had a couple
of those really good games in a row. He's got
to be better. And I know, look even to play
that Nashon Wright got beat on by that late and
a half by T. T. Higgins. I mean, that was

(43:39):
just geez. It was an elite play by a great
ride receiver lead played by an elite player T Higgins,
So props to him. It stinks because that happened at
the end of the half, kind of like the New
Orleans game where they got a late one when you
had the team buried deep in their own territory. But
this secondary, I mean, it's good to see CJ. Gardner
Johnson play had that sack kind of the Tyler Gordon role.

(44:00):
Maybe he gets more playing to him. I think he
played like half the snaffs like I saw yesterday, but
he's gonna be more of a slot guy anyway. Maybe
he'll get some more increased playing time. But he made
a play. But that secondary is just you know, like
you're not gonna you're not gonna get ed Reid off
the waiver wire. I mean, just what do you what
do you do? Hopefully you get Kyler Gordon back soon here,

(44:23):
but not anytime soon looks like right, So I don't
know that that's tough. It's got to be better. And
I want to see a little more from Jaquan Brisker.
I every time I see him, he's getting beat. So
I think he needs to step up as play. We've
seen flashes of it from Jaikwan, and I don't know
if he I guess he's healthy. I don't know if
the concussion thing. We haven't talked about it at all

(44:43):
hasn't been an issue. Hopefully it's not an issue. I
don't know. I just I thought that guy was a
a Pro Bowl had Pro Bowl caliber skills. You know
he hasn't been, but I thought, like, you know, if
that guy hits his ceiling, he he's that guy you
need to see more. I don't know what you think,
but in general, we need to see better play, clearly

(45:05):
from the secondary. I just don't know how better it's
going to be.

Speaker 1 (45:08):
Yeah, I think injuries that played a kind of a
role here where Jakwan can't really you know, you can't
really send them on blitzes here because you need them
in coverage. And obviously some of the coverages have kind
of lapsed where I I you know, I don't know.
I need to look more at the tape. I don't
know if exactly if it was Yakwan's assignment or whether
you're supposed to be helping on storying like that, but
I feel it feels like more of a unit thing

(45:29):
where it just feels like there are too many miscommunications,
too many moments where guys are just wide open, and
again there's a context. Again of these are our lead
wide receivers with t Higginson and Jamar Chase. But Joe
Flacco had all day and didn't really have much much
to worry about it. He was just us slinging it
all over the field. Right, Joe, what's your second loser

(45:50):
from Sunday's win?

Speaker 2 (45:53):
I'm gonna go with to pass rush. It's an easy
one because that's the story every week. By the way,
I I highly anticipate and very excited to read your
double truck two page spread on Austin Booker this week
had a little bit, had a little bit of it. Well,
he had the one play, but you know what, it
was a big splash play and I think he too,
like played about half the snaps from what I saw.

(46:15):
But it was nice to see that because that was
the little glimpse that we saw in the preseason with him.
The strip sack was a big play. But overall then
I heard a dio dango got hurt in the fourth quarter,
like I even noticed him on the field like all season.
I don't know what's going on there, but the positive
This is supposed to be a negative segment, but I'm

(46:36):
taking positives with Booker. Montes Sweat made an impact again.
I mean he had the sack and the fourth quarter
I think it was but then earlier that play it
was the right call and that looked like it was
a strip sack of Flacco with the army going forward
again game of inches, it was the right call. But
Montage making and impact again but everybody else where are you?

(46:58):
Where are you? I mean, they're still not getting consistent
quarterback like Joe Flacco, Like I think he was at
my high school reunion a couple of years ago. By fortieth,
I mean, this guy is ancient. He's not gonna be
Lamar or Jaydon Daniels. He's not or Tyler Huntley and
scrambling everywhere. You can't get to him for seventy and

(47:19):
the guys are playing forever. And that's the career I
cry for. You know, that's in the history of the game.
There haven't been too many guys who've thrown for four
seventy for seventy. Uh, that's on you know, that's on
the that's on the resume. Enough of this Bears defense
with the fifty two point disaster against the Lions and
this four to seventy game to Joe Flacco. Yikes.

Speaker 1 (47:42):
Yeah, it's definitely a concern. And you know that that's
kind of one of the things where you're kind of like,
all right, how much of the pass coverage is on
the passing on the second area? How much is it
on the lack of a rush, Because I mean, if
Joe Flanco has you know, all the time in the world.
Back there, there's only so much you can do trying
to stop Jamar Chase and right, there's only so much
you can try to defend if you can't create much

(48:03):
of a pass rush. And again, I know they're injured,
Like obviously Dio kind of got hurt there at the
at Schamar Turner has been hurt. Judge Grady Jared was
back in there, but he's kind of dealing with the
knee kind of not that just you invest a lot
of money in this in Mantes, so I can't do
it by himself. And you're not really seeing much of
a stop there and either the run attack or the

(48:25):
or the pass rush. So I don't know what you
do here at this point. I will we'll talk towards
the end of the podcast if we expect any you know,
trade trades before the deadline tomorrow, but definitely something to
keep an eye out here. Another loser for me, and
you know, I don't want to go full loser. I'll

(48:45):
do like a partial loser. I feel like last week
I was kind of defending Rome and when you were
kind of giving him a hard time and for missing
for missing some drops. But yeah, dude, Like there are
just sometimes yesterday where where with the context, I think
he's done a great job of blocking. I think he's
really improved in that regard, but there's still some plays

(49:08):
where you just got to catch the ball, even if
it's not one hundred percent perfect, like the Cole Comet pass.
He has to catch that, the touchdown pass that you
know Caleb threw behind him, not perfect by any means,
but you got to catch that ball and all. It's
all with the context of I don't have that expectation
from Olamine, right because you know, undrafted guy, he's been

(49:30):
a journeyman and all that sort of stuff. Like I
think he's a great player for you, but when you're
the former number nine pick from last year's draft, you
got to make those plays. And I feel like it's
been too inconsistent from him recently. And that's not to
say that he's bad, that's not to say that he's
not a good player by any means, but I think
you were kind of just disappointed in the last stretch

(49:52):
here that he kind of after a good start to
the year, the last couple of games here have just
been so many moments where you're just kind of like
man like he he could have had that ball and
he really could have been a difference maker there. So yeah,
that was just discouraging for me to watch because not
only not only because I chosen to be my most
valible bears, but also just because he needs to be

(50:14):
a difference maker for you, and I don't feel like
you've seen enough of that so far this year.

Speaker 2 (50:19):
No, he had zero catches. I didn't realize that until
I was looking at the stat sheet afterwards. Zero catches.
Should have had the two balls we talked about. And
you know, Rome seems like a very likable guy. You
know better than me. You talk to him, Oh yeah,
he's great. He's not shooting his mouth off, he's not
saying stupid stuff, he's not cocky. I maybe he needs
a little more swagger to his game. Maybe he got

(50:41):
to hang out with Luther Burden a little more because
he's got the swagger. But we just need to see
a little more from Rome because I still think he's
a dynamic player. His ceiling is high. I still think
he's had a good year. This is he's been Look,
we just want the guys from last year to be
better than they were last year. He's been better than
he was last year. He's been more impactful, So that's
all good. And you know, again, this is a team

(51:03):
that has a lot of weapons. We've talked about it
since the beginning of the season and the preseason with
the receivers. They got the tight ends plural that they have.
So you know, it's nice that you can win a game.
They can drop forty seven points on any team, regardless
of whether it's Dallas or Cincinnati. And you had zero
catches and you were not an impact player, so that's
a good thing. But yet in the blocking, he had

(51:23):
some good blocks. That's good. But you know, no one
talks about Jamar Chase's blocking. I don't know how good
blocker Jamar Chase is. But when you're that elite receiver,
no one cares right you're a throwbread. No one's asking
you to pull the plow. So I want to see
more from Rome. But that was that was not a
good game. And fortunately you know that they won a

(51:45):
football game despite that.

Speaker 1 (51:47):
Yeah, and you have to be encouraged also kind of
to turn to do a quick positive. Caleb kind of
went away from them right like he didn't focus on
he didn't force throws to him like he did the
previous few weeks, so it has to be an encouraging
note as well. A right, Joe, any final losers before
we wrap things up here.

Speaker 2 (52:03):
I just got didn't know what I mentioned earlier, Just
Caleb in the pocket. That was one of my things
that didn't work. Too much, too much of the same
what we've been seeing. Uh, that's it. Take away that boy,
if that boy, Michael, if that can get cleaned up
the potential he's got, and just being quicker with the reads,
cause uh, this could be really clicking, especially with the
depth they have here at the skill positions. But but Caleb, Yeah,

(52:26):
that was disturbing. Just like come on, man, quit home
and dang ball. He did make some good call, you know,
decisions about like running do more of that. But you
shouldn't have to get to that point because you're doing that,
it's like either the receivers aren't open or they're open
and you're missing them. So yes, that's that should be
like a last resort thing and that takes them. You know,
that's got to be tough to to process too. Should

(52:46):
I shouldn't? I should have hang on to it. I
I'm not sure I'll throw it out of bounds or okay,
we'll run, because but when he has run, he's been effective.
You know, he's not being stupid or fumbling the ball
or anything like that. So, but that was that's tough
to watch again if you're if whether you're a Bears
fan or just you like offensive football, to see that
in the pocket from him.

Speaker 1 (53:07):
Yeah, that's just another step for improvement for him. And
once he like, like you said, like, once he gets
to that level, I think he can really he can
really reach his full potential once he kind of figures
that out as well as long as well as the
accuracy one last loser. I don't want to spend too
much time on it. I feel like there were too
many times where I was like, what is the officiating
doing here? Whether it was you know, the the DJ

(53:29):
playlight we talked about earlier, where he I think maybe
he could have gone in there now. It was almost
a bad challenge. It was a bad challenge for the
kind of angles. So they didn't get credit for it.
They took that, didn't charge him for that. I thought
that the sweat forced fumble or whatever you want to
call it, I thought that was a fumble. Sure, I

(53:51):
guess maybe you can say I don't know that one
was kind of a fifty to fifty one to me.
There's also a time where the player kind of got
injured and there was some late in the game and
they said there have a fifth time out, but they
didn't mean that. There's there's just some moments and then
none of it really mattered and then none of it,
you know, changed the outcome of the game or anything
like that. But I think there was some fishy stuff

(54:12):
when it came to officiating and a little bit confusing
sometimes during the game. All right, Joe, trade deadline is
tomorrow at so I should probably know this. I think
probably around three or four o'clock Central time tomorrow. Obviously
the big move today. The Dolphins fired their GM. On Friday,
they traded a big defensive end piece, Phillips over the

(54:36):
for a third rounder, so that was kind of a
rental thing. There's still some stuff out there. Jay had
their spangles are looking for a first round pick for
the for Trey Hendrickson. There's zero shot that you give
up a first round for rental. And I don't even
know if I would give up a first round if
you can get a contract extension with Hendrickson. But when
we talk on Friday, Joe bears make any moves at

(54:59):
all or is it just maybe a minor like, hey,
we'll trade you a seventh round pick for a corner
back or or something like that.

Speaker 2 (55:07):
I'm sure Ryan Poles is trying, and what I've heard,
he's been active whatever that means. I mean he's free.
I'm sure he's sniffing around and seeing what he can do. Yeah,
the Hendrickson thing, we've talked about it before. You know,
he's got the hip now injury too, But I'll give
him a second rounder. I'll give Mazit tra pillow for Hendrickson.
But dead again that we've talked about it too. It's
twofold there. It's what's the compensation and then you're gonna

(55:30):
have to pay the guy. So I don't know, look
a corner, if they can find a corner for like
a you know, a sixth round pick, if they think
is better than what they have now because they're so
depleted the corners. I maybe they do that. But to me,
in a way, like I said the other day, I
I've kind of made two moves here getting Austin Booker.

(55:51):
I mean, if he just gives you one of those
splash plays a game, I mean, seventeen sacks a season,
that would be an average. You know, that'd be pretty good.
He doesn't have to do that. Everybody, you know, I
think he will help them. I'm not saying he's gonna
be you know, all this, but that and then Gardner
Johnson pick up. To me, that's almost like a move,
a trade quote unquote that you made to improve your

(56:11):
football team. So if there's something out there, I mean,
I don't think you're gonna go for any alignment or
another running back. Even Britain Brown. By the way, did
he curry the ball twice yesterday? They are both effective.
He looked pretty good. You have a touchdown. So to me,
it's gotta gotta be a corner, maybe even a safety,
I don't know, but probably just a secondary guy or
or an edge rusher who can make a difference. Other

(56:32):
than that, I mean, you know, because there's still like
the big names Crosby's out there, Hendrickson. You know, I
don't think Miles Garrett's gonna get moved. But you know,
why wouldn't you consider it if you're if you're Cleveland.
Other than that, I mean, I think one of those guys,
I don't know what you think. This is a good
feeling as a fan. I think one of those guys
gets moved. I'm just not positive or certain it's gonna

(56:52):
be the Bears.

Speaker 1 (56:54):
Yeah, I feel like the Miles Garrett trade, if he's
gonna get traded, feels like an offseason trade. It just
seems like it's too difficult to kind of maneuver in
the middle of the year for how how amazing of
a player he is. Yeah, I haven't really changed on
my approach. I think they don't do anything, or I
think they I think if anything, they'll trade for one
of those New Orleans cornerbacks that Dennis Island is maybe

(57:14):
familiar with. Then they'll give up like a seventh round
or a sixth round pick and kind of bring them
in to kind of provide up for that injured group.
But I'm kind of the mindset that this is a
team in transition this year, first year under Ben Johnson.
I don't unless you're getting Miles Scarrett, unless you're getting
Max Crosby, I don't think you give up draft capital.

(57:36):
I know we can give Ryan Pulls all the all
the hate and all that kind of stuff about how
things haven't kind of worked in the first couple of rounds,
first three rounds with the past few years. But regardless,
they're valuable picks, right, and like they're regardless of who's
like who's in charge, Like, you can't give up that
type of capital for a rental, even a third round
pick for Phillips for a rental. I probably wouldn't have

(58:00):
done that. That just seems too expensive for a guy
that's not going to be part of your team moving forward.
So yeah, I think they either stay pad or they
give up a six or a seventh round pick for
some depth, either at the running back position or the
cornerback position. Maybe you get some guy who can provide
some defensive tack or edge rush help. But I don't

(58:21):
think the Bears are going to be major players when
it comes to the Miles Garrett's, the Trey Hendricksons, the
Max Crosby's of the world. But we'll see how they
kind of unfolds moving forward, and I wouldn't be mad
about that. I think that I think that this team
at this point is just like, this is what we have.
Maybe we'll get a little bit healthier as the season progresses.
But this is kind of the team that they've got

(58:41):
this year and they're just going to see how far
they can kind of take them.

Speaker 2 (58:45):
Yeah, I don't think they're a super Bowl contender now. Look,
they got five wins at the halfway mark with that
seventeenth game makes it kind of not exactly the halfway
mark now. But if you double that ten wins, brad
gets you in, right, most years get you in. But
they're not. You know, they're not playing in the super
Bowl this year, so you're right, Michael. It is a

(59:07):
transition year that just keep getting better at especially for
the guys who matter. We know who they are, the
young guys, so let's keep getting better if you're the Bears.
But careful. Philly, by the way, could make that trade
because they've got eight hundred draft picks the next three
years or something that they took a good organization, they
know what they're doing, they can afford it to do that,
and they've got a deep roster anyway, so it works

(59:28):
for them. But for a team like the Bears that.

Speaker 1 (59:30):
Trade, no, all right, we'll obviously keep you a brocess
to what's going on here, So make sure you're sticking
up with us. But that's everything that we got for
this episode of the show, Local Bears Insider Podcast. Thank
you so much for joining us on Monday. If you
joined us in the live stream, appreciate all the comments,
so it's good to hear from everyone and then get
you guys's comments, so thanks so much. Make sure you

(59:51):
give us a like while you're here, really appreciate it
helps us grow our brand. If you're listening on the podcast,
thanks so much for listening there. Make sure you subscribe
to our podcast wherever you listen to them. And if
you want to be part of the conversation, make sure
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part of the conversation. Like I said, make sure you

(01:00:11):
keep up with us all week. We'll have the latest
trade news, more breakdown about what the heck happened on
Sunday afternoon as we get a couple of days, as
guys get a couple of days to kind of think
about it, to be like, well, what happened, We'll have
the latest from Hell's Halo. Joe's got your latest from
all the different sports going on in the playoffs now
in the fall. Make sure you follow him at Joe
Aguilar sixty four. Make sure you follow me at Eno

(01:00:33):
Jack ninety four. All right, thanks so much for joining
us on this Monday afternoon. We will talk to you
folks Friday morning at nine am. Until then, have a
good rest of your week and we will talk to
you guys on Friday.