Coaches Show: Nagy, Pagano on loss

welcome at a PANC Studios here at Hallis On. Welcome to another edition of The Bears Coaches Show with Head Coach Matt Naggie. Jeff Jonyak with you into eight o'clock tonight, also joined by defensive coordinator Chuck Pogano coming up later in the program. Good evening, How are you, Jeff? I hear you. You emptied the tank today up at Hollis Hall. I did, Yeah, you have to tank. That's how almost

a thirty minute news conference, that's what they said. You know, Hey, it's a let everybody know kind of where we're at. I think it's only fair and that's that's how it

went before we get into the details. What makes you so willing to engage at that depth and that level, And you have been this way your whole time here with the Bears because it's it can be a tenuous process, it could be frustrating at times for both parties involved, media and you as a head coach, But you seem to be very open about making sure you get your point across. And maybe it's for future situations that come up in years to come, situational down and distance, decision

making and so forth. Right, Well, I believe in honesty. I believe in open communication. I believe that's how it should be. I know there's all everywhere you go, there's going to be criticism. If you can't accept that, then you're you're not made for this position. And I can accept it. But at the same time, we're allowed to have stances on what we believe and and and how we believe. Have conviction, Right, we talk about with our with our players and in particular our quarterback with Mitch

make conviction throw as well. I'm making fiction statements. I believe that, and um that's yeah, I'm being myself. I'm not changing for anybody that's who I am, that's why I'm here. And so it's as simple as that. I respect every everybody's uh uh, you know, whatever they have to say or opinion, that's more than fine. But I think our team feels that they understand that I want that from our team, and just that's just the way

it's going. Well. The other thing, and you may or may not admit this, but in many cases you're talking directly to the locker room every time you take the microphone. Sure, yeah, you feel that's the case, because if you start changing messages in there versus out here, and some things are going to remain private behind closed doors. There's certain messages

you want just for your your player's ears. But I think the public and maybe to a lesser extent, the media forget that sometimes, right and and there is you you have to be able to protect UM for the for the you know, the sportsmanship part of the game, for your own players, just you know, so there's no

advantages given away for whatever reason. So you've got to be able to explain as much as you can to UM the outsiders that aren't necessarily into building each day, but also let your players know that this is how you feel, and whenever you when you're honest and you talk to people and you and you you're real about everything that you say, it's really not that hard because you're saying the same thing. It's just how much are

you saying? So, without belaboring any of the topics of discussion of all the questions you heard last night, yesterday after the loss, and then your thirty minute news conference today, if you could kind of capsualize, because we don't have time to do at all, just what types of questions do you feel that you needed to explain yourself more so than others. Everyone wants to know in regards to the goal to ghost stuff with not scoring and the obviously at the end of the game with the you know,

with the QB neil. So it's for me again. I could go on and on about that. I told I told, I told you, and I told everybody how I feel. And that's that's not going to change. So um, the fact the matter is either make to field goal or you don't. That's where we were and I wouldn't change it again. Where is the burden of a three game losing streak, because in this league that's a magic number because of the length of the season. It is what it is. Three game losing streaks, people start to get

a little nuts. Yeah, yeah, because every week that goes by, it's, uh, you get closer and closer to the end of the season. And these games all matter, every one of them. So, um, you know three and three, you're you're in a position right now where the only thing that you can possibly do is beat Philadelphia. You can't win two games by winning one. You gotta win the first one. And we've been truly tested in a lot of different ways. Uh,

this team has. And so we'll see our We'll see how we respond, what our characters like, how guys are in practice. I already know how they're going to be. So it's just a matter of us pulling together. The interesting thing because also the way the division's playing, you can't you know, we're all human though it's players too.

They if if the losses their mounting as they are the last three and you start looking at everybody else, that that could be a tricky thing for you to negotiate as a coach with your team, right right, Yeah, And I mean you look at a team like the Colts last year. You have a team that was one in five and ended up making the playoffs, and a what a way to go into the playoffs on a high. But uh we ran five Dallas, right, sure, you know. So the odds get more and more difficult every week

that goes by. But I really think we're in Our players are at a point right now where it's just we don't need to sit here and talk about what we want to do or how we got to do it. I think we just need to get out there and just play ball, have a couple breaks for us, you know, and then once you get that one win. I've been a part of it, You get that first win, and the second win comes in a third win, and you

start getting that swag back. I hear it, hear it last night in the locker room, my interviews after the game, hear it from you almost every day. Everybody does about sticking together. You know these guys better than we do, and the character in the room and so forth. Why does it need to be talked about all the time. I guess the stick together part well, because you know, yeah,

because it's adversity. So in life and general like, bad stuff happens and you don't you know, and for us, bad stuff happening is losing a game, and then that happens three times in a row, people start searching, and then everybody wants to go ahead and point the finger. A lot of people do, right, well, our team doesn't do that. Our team they talk about our players talk about point to thumb right and and point to yourself

and say, hey, what can I do better? And a lot of that's cliche, but really, when when the players follow through with that, and the coaches follow through with that, and they realize we're all in this thing together and just trust the process, it'll it'll and don't change, don't get crazy and start changing and doing anything there. Just stick with it and the wind will come. All right,

let's let's start talking fun stuff. The excess and because the offense really did play very representative of many games last season where the ball was touched by multiple targets, I think eight or nine. In the passing game, five different guys ran the ball, Mitch picked up a first down with his legs. Three eighty eight guys of offense own the clock a lot of snaps. So is that a great place to build from? Now? It is? And that when you're going through these rough patches, you got

to pull on the good stuff. And that's what I think our coaches have done a good job of doing is making sure that we that we understand that we got better in a lot of different areas. We controlled the football. Um, we made a lot of plays when we needed to we made we missed a lot. We missed some plays in goal to go where if if we shoot out of out of those four possessions goal to go, if you get two touchdowns, right, not even four,

you get two touchdowns, you're in great shape. Um, so we're we're We're just we got to match it up. It's the problem. The problem before was we weren't getting to the We were number one in the NFL and goal to go eight for eight, number one going into yesterday. The problem was we weren't getting there. We were twenty ninth and getting there yesterday. We get there a lot and we don't. We don't produce. So some is some of it a function of just not being there enough

to get used to that kind of performance. And yet thirty nine snaps in the red zone prior to yesterday. Yeah, crazy, it's crazy. So there's a little bit of all that going on, and you know, we gotta it'll drive us now to make sure that when we do get down there, we execute better. That's right up your alley to come up with The Bears Coaches Show with head coach Matt Maggie and w bbm's Jeff Joniac continues, snap takes, some turns, give it a Montgomery. Montgomery to his right to the

end zone for the touchdown. Touchdown, Bears first of the day, and that was a purpose punch by Matt Maggie predominantly running the ball from the twenty five into the end zone. Had a four yard run for David and Montgomery. Bears half the lead. Fifteen seven. Welcome back to the Bears Coaches Show, brought to you by Whipley Financial Advisors, a proud partner of the Chicago Bears. Here from HALISAU at P ANDC Studios, Jeff Joniac and Matt and Maggie heard

the touchdown call of David Montgomery. Having been in Iowa State grad and I've talked about it enough that everybody knows that I watched so many of his games last year and I felt he's a really good inside the five, back, inside the red zone, back I don't know how you evaluated him in that regard, but I think he does have a nose for the end zone if you do get down there a lot. And you know, things really blacked well yesterday for him. Yeah, it was. It was

fun to see him get going. And that's the type of guy that he is. You know, he gets the ball and as many backs, quarterbacks, wide receivers, and the more touches you get, the better you are. So you saw that yesterday. He broke that nice long run and then had that touchdown run there to start the third. Um. That's who he is. We appreciate how hard he works. And then the lineman did a heck of a job

opening the wholes for him. I formation was back in vogue and it is a part of the West Coast offense and you pull out chapters of it when you need it. And that was always you know when you got here. It's like you you work with what you have and then you make it work. That's your mindset as an offensive coach and as an offensive play caller and whatnot. So it worked yesterday, didn't it? Why was it working so well against that Charger defense, especially J

P Holtz leading the way in those icehole blacks. Yeah, he did a great job. And uh, you know, with Lucas coming in and playing tight end a little bit, he paved the way. So all in all, I just really liked the way the offensive line approach. Their mindset yesterday was really sharp. They were focused in on the task that we challenged them on is getting better in the run game. They showed it yesterday and hopefully they they got to trust from me and seeing that I'm

calling more than seven runs in a game. But we'll, you know, we'll, we'll feed off of that. We'll understand that I as as we said you know earlier today, you know, eight point six yards per play or per rush in that formation. It's pretty good. So we'll we'll, we'll continue to grow and we'll see where it takes us.

Could you not rule out anything at this point, including that becoming potentially a part of what you're trying to get as the philosophy and the identity of a team is to put it on the shoulders of your offensive lineman. And a secondary question of that, did they ask you for it? Yeah? They were. They We were all in it together and knowing that hey, it's we need to be better in the run game. We can't be so one dimensional. And it's it's we just all got to

do our jobs better, coaches and players. Um. And so I don't know where it'll end up taking us without giving away too much, you know, but there's a lot of there was a lot of good there. Um. But at the same time, we all we have a lot of other good players as well that can that are off the field in that formation. So you just it's a balance when when's too much, when's not enough, and how do you mesh it together so that it makes it advantageous to the offense and hard for the defense.

All Right, let's talk Mitch. Uh. Other than those two turnovers, obviously he'd like both of them back. He explained him in detail about how it all went down. He was very forthright about it. Uh. There were steps taken in the positive direction. As you said, there were plenty of conviction throws, and there were explosives that you can muscle build on. There were he made some uh, he made some some really good throws in that game yesterday. Uh. And and again it's it's always, uh, it's never as

good as you think it is. And it's never as bad as you think it is. That that is an old adage that always holds up in you saw throws that he made in the middle of the field. Footwork was much better, nice rhythm with his feet when he made strong throws. It just comes down. You know, everyone remembers the intercept because their turnovers and they're crucial. They're critical,

you know, and he knows that. So we're just trying to get him to the point of when, hey, in that situation, young quarterback, in that situation, just dump it down to to you know, to the wide receiver there, second and eight and he'll learn from that. I promise you who will. And that's that. In the fumble, he said, two hands on the ball. Okay, that sounds easy. Yeah,

it's not so easy when you're under hate. Yeah. There's a lot of big boys in their flying around doing different things, and that was one that just ended up getting them. Anthony Miller he wants to be a major part of this. Was that another giant step in the right direction for Anthony. It was he brings a lot of energy, passion to the game. He always knows and feels he's gonna win everyone on one battle I love that about him. It's just a matter of hone in

his details within the system, and he's done that. He's he's proving that. And that's credit to Mike Ferry for really pushing those guys. And I really love the way those wide receivers are playing all r let's flip it over to the defensive side of the ball. They got him some rest forty two snaps and other than a couple of big plays obviously on the one scoring guy the shot going drive, but against the Hall of Fame quarterback like that, you know you're gonna get something like that.

It almost felt a little bit like Week one. Guys had Aaron Rodgers and those guys back on their heels, boom, one big play. Right, That's how it is. It is, it really is. And you look at they had ten ten drives yesterday the Chargers did. And of those ten drives, they only had one drive that was more than four plays.

There was a bunch of three and outs, they had a four team play drive, uh you know where they ended up getting that field goal to start to third and then they also they had that quick strike with the four play touchdown with the big play. So but all in all, I really liked the way our defense played. Um they they I thought they got it back from the previous two weeks. So that combination, along with our offense, we didn't get to win, but we felt like we

got we improved. No more of the Bears Coaches Show with head coach Matt Nagee on Newswadio seven eighty and one oh five point nine FM WBBM. Shotgun four receivers, Mitch Gonna throw in trouble, spinning away from trouble breaks, a tackle, hunts up to be up thirty twenty five, twenty down to the twenty one yard line. Had a first down scramble Mitch Tripiskie's first first down scramble since Week one game of twelve. On the scramble forty three seconds.

Be sure to swing by the middle light. Chicago Bears Ultimate Tailgate before the next Bears home game November tenth. Enjoy food, drinks, music, and other Bears activities as you make your way to the game. Located at the Field Museum, The Ultimate Tailgate free for fans of all ages and opens two hours before kickoff through one hour post game. Back with Coach Naggie. Did you have fun call and plays again yesterday I did. Yeah, And it's always a

lot better when you're getting first downs. I didn't have fun here in the uh in the in the red zone just because we weren't. You know that that's who we are. We know we can be better than that. Uh And so I'm excited to get back at it with our guys. I know they're going to be hungry and want to get back down in that red zone and that goal to go against so that we can strike a ton of attention paid to it every practice week, right, I mean, you guys put a lot of time in it,

so that that's that's where the money's made. The green zone and some paw the red zone. Yeah, just getting closed when when you're down there, especially after a sudden change a turnover, you gotta get a touchdown. That's as simple as that. We understand that we were not oblivious to it. We're not we don't want field goals. That's not what we're shooting for. H and so touchdown's not field goals. All right back to the defensive minute, because in particular, I felt this was going to be a

big game. On the linebackers. You could say every game. But just because of the versatility that they have there with Austin Eckler for one, and Rivers being very content to throw the ball to one area and expect somebody to be there, did they step up? I thought real Quin played a very outwardly emotional game. Rocom was flying around.

That was so good to see. Danny was moving around really well too, so that that's such an intergral part of our defense, being able to let our guys up front break down the line of scrimmage and then they can fly around second level and make tackles and do different things. And you just really felt it. You saw it. Some of that too, Jeff, as you know, goes to the fact that the offense was able to keep the

defense rested. The defense isn't out there for seventy eighty plays, they're out there for half of that, so that that's a that's a recipe for us to to understand. And I just really liked the way that whole defense in general, that they played really fast. They did their part two and they I mean five straight third down and outs, you know, so he had had really difficult time trying to convert on third down that the Chargers did, so that that is really what this defense is all about.

They were one of the best in the league last year at it, so that started to add up quite a bit. Um and then the play of the special team's unit overall, you know, other than Eddie, you know, in terms of what happened in there, but you know, he eat made a comment after the game. Is it something that you will have to think about as a coach too? And with Chris Tabreys, I gotta beat the wind because the wind is always play tricks with any kids that comes in here. Yeah, No, that's that's certainly

a part of it. They know that, and that's why they go down to the field and practice as well, to get that practice in there and understand the way that wind swirls. Um. You know, as far as the confidence goes with where we're at as a team and as a as a family, we we uh, none of that has wavered out. All with Eddie, he's a great kid that that is going to nail the next one we get. Let's talk Eagles a playoff rematch with your

buddy Doug Peterson. Look at the grinner Eddy All in the family here, right, Yeah, yeah, no, family, it's it's a they're coming off a big win on the road in Buffalo. Um, you know, running the ball a lot they did, and uh so it's it'll be a that's always a difficult place to play in Lincoln Financial Field is always a challenge. They'll be loud and they of their team and but no, they gotta they gotta right now. Um, you know, Wentz is playing really well in the red

zone and on third down he's playing really well. Uh And you know with de Sean Jackson being out the last couple of times, our last couple of games, Uh, you can see you know, al Sean and angle aar and their old line is they got their tight ends back. So they're I mean, they're just they're well round and Doug does a great job on offense. Defensively, they fly around, you know, Fletcher Cox on the inside, Brandon Graham on the outside there on the edge. Uh that they were

they're a handful their backers move around pretty good. And so it's gonna be a big challenge on the road. We gotta be sharp and be really focused in with that devil tight end package that they have. It's it's a go to, isn't it. With those two guys. It is, yeah, they they have. It's a nice combo that they have in regards to a U tight end in ERTs and then and got a Y tight end and that I think they're number one in the NFL. And Tiger twelve

personnel or Tiger personnel. Those two guys, those two tight ends, the two wide receivers and the one running back. That's the that's what they do a lot of and they're good at it. They compliment each other well. Their run game has really gotten a lot better with God back in at tight end, So it'll it'll certainly be a big time challenge for us. And then going back home, right, yeah, yeah, it is. You never those don't get old right going No,

they never do. And there's a lot of uh, you know, being from the East coast, Uh, it's it's always brings back a lot of memories. And then for me coaching in Philadelphia as well, that's where I got started, that was my first coaching position, So there'll be a lot of friends and family there. I just they better be rooting for the right team, that's right, Navy Blue and Orange. That's for sure. What will be your message this week as well? Wrap up, We've got thirty seconds with you.

Just stay the course, stay the course, keep grinding, stay the course. We talked last week about the trust and being together. Nothing changes there. Let's just uh let let's just uh play loose, play, have fun, just like you did when you're eight years old you started playing football. Just go back to everybody having fun and cut it loose. All right, man, Good luck with your preparation this week.

Appreciate you, Thanks Jesse. Coming up next, we've got Chuck Pogano, the Bears defensive Coordinator, The Bears Coaches Show with head coach Matt Maggie and this hour featuring defensive coordinator Chuck Pogano, brought to you by Whippley CPAs and consultants, Athletico Physical Therapy and the Village of Bedford Park. Once again the Voice of the Bears w BBMS Jeff Jonny Ad takes it pressure. Coming on the Blitz. Oh had a dinner supt at Clipside. Fuller had the twenty five, twenty fifty

ten end zone? Is he out about Shymal? He had his zone? Oh boy break call by Poganno. Back on The Bears Coaches Show, brought to you by whipplea CPAs and consultants here from HALLISAW and P ANDC Studios, Jeff jony Ak and welcoming Chuck Pogano, the Bears defensive coordinator. Highlight there Kyle Fuller's eighteenth career interception. I think he's second in the NFC since he got in the league in twenty fourteen or one of the tops in the league.

And interceptions, and boy, they just keep growing and growing and growing. And when a guy gets interset options, he keeps growing and growing in confidence over time. Not that he doesn't have that confidence, but really when he got here in his rookie year, he started swiping the ball and I remember a game against the forty nine ers he had two picks and they just continued to mount. But break down that play a little bit when he

when he swiped a chuck. Yeah, we talked going into that game that, you know, to get after Philip Rivers, who's obviously going to be a first ballot Hall of Famer future, but uh, you know it was gonna be rush coverage, you know, and disguise, and the guys did a great job all day and on that play, you know, we had we had a pressure called and you know, we got great pressure. We got a guy free up the middle, and uh, Philip Rivers had to throw off schedule.

Um did he wasn't allowed to step up, and Kyle made a great break on the on the ball and uh again, those guys do a great job. The coaches do a great job with him. They do a great job of preparing. He recognized the formation, he recognized the stem to split all those things and stepped right in front and made a great play. You know, with Philip, he's gonna test you no matter what. He trusts everything about his arm. He trusts the area where the receiver

is expected to be at. And so it shouldn't come as any surprise that at any point in the game he's gonna he's gonna try you deep, he's gonna try something. And you guys really did a heck of a job

keeping that to a minimum. Yeah, you know, especially early on he got us, you know there at uh you know, the end of the first half there he got us on a double move and it's one of those balls that goes up in the air and you just know that thirty nine is going to go intercept that thing, and Williams number eighty one for the for the Chargers went up and made a heck of a play and and uh but you know, other than that, we had a few over routes that that got away from us.

But uh, you know, generally speaking, the guys did a really good job against a really good outfit and really good on third down. There were some makeable third downs in terms of down and distance, uh, conversions that they've been good at. And you guys sniffed it out in the first five, first five attempts. Actually, that was big in the game, kind of set the tone for owning the clock. Yeah, no, it was huge. And you look at the time of possession at the end of the game,

and we had the ball thirty eight minutes. And again that's a byproduct where we've struggled as we haven't been able to get off the field on third down. And that team coming in was highly highly ranked, you know, on third down conversions. And again I just I credit our our coaches and put a great plan together. They implemented that plan and the guys went out and executed. How much did your defense need that to just not

have to be on the field that long? No, it's huge and you know, you'd like to you know, take the ball away, you know, like we did, and you gotta get you know, you gotta you know, get off the field and you got to get the ball back to your offense. But uh, you know, from a confidence standpoint, to be able to go out and start the way that we started, you know, three and out, three and out four, I mean they were all three or four

and outs. You know, I think we had one, you know in those first three or four drives, I think they had one earned first down on a first you know possession and ten pass play. Uh. So it built you know, builds great confidence and and uh, you know now and now it turns into we gotta we got to find a way to create some short fields. It's interesting and I never really thought about this till you just answer the question that way is important for a defense to finance rhythm early in the game as it

is offensively. You just assume, yeah, for sure, offensively, but is that the case also for defense? Sure, it's it's blood and the water type of mentality. And so anytime you can have that kind of success, especially coming off the last last couple of games where we haven't played as well, or executed as well as we as we can to be able to do that. You know, series after series after series. It only gives you great confidence

going back out, you know, as you might expect. Khalil Mack after the game saying, we got to stop allowing points. I mean just you know, even though you guys were in sudden change situations, you made you made some great stops. That's a lot to ask of a defense. No, but you love the mindset. You know, we gave up too many points. And he said it perfectly, you know, and we can't do that based on how the game was going. Uh, you know, it's just what our job is. And so

I love their I love their mentality. I loved his quote. I loved where they're all coming from because they're all they're all wired the same way. That way and that moving forward, that only gives you a a great, great hope. Chuck Poganto on The Bears Coaches Show, We'll have another segment with coach The Bears Coaches Show with defensive coordinator Chuck Pogano and w BBMS Jeff Jodiac continued, he takes gonna throw rivers back to throw, take trouble, pick up

a hard hit down. He goes sacked at the nine by back, big sack by Khalil Mac. They're getting you a chance for the ball to come back to the Bears and have a game winning drive. Unfortunately, that did not finish the way that they had hoped, but the play itself was big back on the Bears Coaches Show with Chuck pagano Um and getting that sack when it happened really changed the whole complexion of what might happen at the end of the game. Yeah, and I go

back to that. I think there was you know, they started that drive with two or four left in the fourth quarter, and you know, Sean Decide does the two minute breakdown for us, and he called down on the headset and he said, coach, you know, with time left on the clock and they know that they have the two minute warning coming up. This has been their in their history going back, this has been typically a shot

down for them. So you know, we put a call in there that that gave us depth in the defense, you know, a four man rush and lo and behold they tried to, you know, go down the field and take a shot, and the guys executed the coverage. You know, perfectly. I credit Sean you know, for giving me that heads up and and uh he had to hold the ball, you know, And and and Khalil made a you know, did a great job. And it's just always one extra hitch or two and it gives your pass rush, you know,

a chance to get to the quarterback. And then you got a second and long and a third and long, and a guy's executed on third down and what a tackle you know, Kyle, you know, and and Buster made and then Prince coming up and finishing off because we've seen time and time again where you're a foot short, you know, and the guy falls forward that when they step in front and they you know, they give him the line to game crunched him. No, it was, it was,

it was. It was obviously huge, big point in that game to give a ball back to the offense, give him a chance on that. Max I sounded surprised that they went back to throw, and so Tom thairm my broadcast paring you sounded really surprised. I go, I am, I'm surprised. But again that's why I'm not a coach, and that's why the research and the and the analytics are so important. Yeah, no doubt about it. Yeah, um, yards after the catch. They were great at it coming in.

And how did you feel that you guys did because I didn't see a lot of yards after contact, yards after the catch, finishing at the point where you're you know, just like that Hunter Henry tackle there, it was so important you just explained. Yeah, I think the guys did a great job because you know, coming in we talked especially about Eckler, you know he had he was leading

the league and yack yards and things like that. So I thought the guys and the undercoverage when they did check it down, um, we stay put those guys to the ground. H If they did hit an over route, you know it was hit, it was tackled, it was staple to the ground. So I thought, you know, for the you know, better part of that game and most of that game, that we did a good job. That's a very descriptive way to talk about finishing stap You can visually staple to the ground means that's it done. Yeah,

there's no extra effort. I like that. Have you always referred to stuff like that and plays like that, Staple to the time. He always talk about defensive. These guys are staple him to the ground. We just say, hey, tackle him not to the ground, but through the ground. But now you've got to be careful because of you know, the player's safety stuff. So yeah, I like it though. That's a very visual way of describing a tackle. For sure. I want to talk a Roal quant Smith. Uh, he

really had outward emotion. I brought it up with coach prior to you arriving here tonight on the show. H just a real emphatic performance from him in terms of his emotion and everything. Um, it felt likely he just let it, let it loose. Yeah, but what's your perspective, Yeah, there's no doubt about it, because you know, you know everybody's you know what's wrong fifty what's wrong with there's

nothing wrong. Sometimes you just you this is a tough game, and we all understand what we signed up for is playing and coaching. And he went out there and he played his tale off and there was no hesitancy in his game. He was not tentative, you know. And we told all those guys all week long, we're gonna have a simple plan, you know, We're gonna let you guys play, play hard and play fast. And there is you can't

make a mistake today. There's you cannot make a mistake today, Get lined up, communicate, get on the same page, and when the play presents itself, pull the trigger. And that's exactly what he did and he played a whale of game. Is that sometimes difficult for a coach, especially a veteran coach like yourself or any coordinator that you want to add maybe something to the game plan that you know it is not so simple, and you try it out, you do it, and but it's is simple. Always better

do simple better. Ye, that's the thing. If you if you tackle better, you know, then your opponent you get off blocks better, and you and you communicate better, good things are going to happen to you. So we always go in and you want to have a wrinkler or two, but you can't. You can't cross that line, you know, to where your ankle waiting. These guys and they can't play fast. And we got we got great players and if we just let them do that, um, we're going

to be successful. Yeah. The part was stopping the run. I mean they didn't run it that much, they didn't have that many snaps, but they could have easily had some you know, they have Melvin Gordon. He hasn't had found his rhythm yet since holding out, and so I think that slowed down the train a little bit. But you didn't want that train to start rebbing up, you don't. You don't want that. So was that pounded in their head? No, absolutely, that's that's every week, you know, And you got to

make every team that you play one dimensional. Our guys did a great job of that. You know, after the big pass play, you know, we gave up the nineteen yard TV run um. We just didn't execute and fit that thing up right, and uh, you know, so that was really uh, you know, thirty three yards rushing and nineteen came on one place. So our front seven did

a great job. The Bears Coaches Show with head coach Matt Maggie continues exclusively on the Home of the Bears Neil's Radio seven eighty and one oh five point nine FM WBBM. Back with Check Flagano, Bears defensive coordinator, as they prepared for the Philadelphia Eagles. We'll touch on that in a moment. I want to talk about because every coach offensively wants explosives. Bears had a bunch of explosives

yesterday felt good to get those. You don't want explosives, and I believe I just saw stat you guys are sixth fewest explosives allowed in the NFL. So, no matter what's happened so far defensively, is that encouraging for you to hear that? Yeah? You know. Again, you go back and you do you do drive studies, and one thing we always talk about is the sin self inflicted negatives. So don't penalize yourself. Try to eliminate you know, mental errors,

critical errors, those type of things in explosive place. And you go back and you look at every drive that we've defended this year. If there's been a penalty, you're an explosive one or the other or both. Uh. Usually leads to points you know by your opponents. So, um, you know, we had the two explosives back to back,

you know, and gave up a touchdown. Um, we had another situation, you know, the second sudden change there in the second half where we went out, Um, got a penalty I think a first down stop and then you know, uh, Leonard makes a great play in the open field and it's it's an aggressive you know, he's not trying to do what happened on the face mask deal. It's an aggressive, you know type of deal that happened sometimes, and that's unfortune.

It's unfortunate because then they get first and goal at to ten and then I didn't put them in a great spot on that down. I take, you know, blame for that on a poor play call on my part and they end up getting another touchdown there. So, um, you have to limit the explosive because you know, offenses generally they don't have the patience you know, to go the long, hard way and keep shipping away at it.

And so they're going to try to get those and if you if you make them do that, eventually gonna they're gonna mess it up and turn the ball over and make a mistake. All Right, you're starting to prepare for Carson Wentz. Bears did not face him in the playoffs last year to his injury, so Nick Foles was the guy. But you know, even just watching him warm up when the Bears played him a couple of years ago before a game, man he he puts in some serious works. He does very much like Peyton Manning did.

And what are you facing with Carson Wentz? Right now. Yeah, like you said, he's he's very cerebral. Um. He understands and knows the game. From a talent standpoint, The arm talents off the charts, it's elite. And then what makes him really really special is that, you know, his escapability, his mobility is a ability to create, you know, in extend plays is off the charts. And he's a tough guy to get down in the pocket, and he's a tough guy to handle outside the pocket. So we're gonna

have to do a great job. We're just you know, obviously in the beginning stages of breaking these guys down. But this guy's a talented, talented guy, and they've got a lot of talent around him, so there's a lot of weapons. So it'll be a huge challenge. It's a unique situation it happens. But you know, these guys all love Jordan Howard. Now he's going to be carrying the

rock for the Eagles. What do you, as a defensive coordinator tell you guys about that, if anything, Well, they obviously know who he is and what type of runner he is. We know he's going to come in with extra motivation. You can't focus on that it's do your job, you know, get lined up, communicate, you know, beat the man in front of you, and if he shows up, tear off a block and make the tackle. But we

can't focus on that big chuck. As we wrap up with you, Gibson's Restaurant Group wanted to thank you for joining us at tonight's Bears Coaches Show. Enjoy the gift card to enjoy a meal at any of their Chicagoland locations. Appreciate your time. Good luck to this Frank the preparation for Bears head coach Matteggie, defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano, and producers Dan Burrelli and Kevin Foy, Andy Gersher and Keith Johnson. I'm Jeff joni Ac nine AM, the pregame noon the

kickoff Bears and Eagles from Philadelphia. Thanks for listening tonight, everybody. This is News Radio seven eight in one oh five point at FM w BBM. Goodnight, MHM