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Moore, Connie's Pizza, Fi, Gas Energy, and Miller Life Kira. Your hosts Jeff Chilniak, aka the Mayor of Bearsville and his sidekick Tom the surf Faster There.
Championship Week Get Ahead in the NFL, the Bears working towards getting back there, something they've done only five times since nineteen seventy. A new takeout of the Bears offense with the hiring this week of Shane Aldrin, his offensive coordinator from Seattle, where he called plays for three seasons.
So it's time to rock and roll.
My broadcast partner Tom Thayer, the Super Bowl winning Bears guard and former Bears quarterback Jim Miller from Serious x MNFL Radios moving the chains thanks to our producers Jordan Trudup, Dan Brially from the Bears and Tonight at the SPN one thousand Chicago Studios, Jay Cantu and Sean Greeney, executive Bears Radio Network, Eric Ostrosity, Good evening, one and all, thanks fans for listening.
Tell me how you feeling today, buddy, Oh, I'm feeling good. You know.
I'm excited about the week that took place up at Hallas Hall. You know, the most interesting thing I think if you have a career in professional sports is what's your first opportunity at the highest level is gone?
How quickly does that next opportunity come?
And when you know, I get cut as a player, you kind of hope that your phone rings again to give you another opportunity.
And I think the same thing goes along with the coach.
And I'm glad that the Bears have identified Shane Waldron to be the next leader of the offense.
And I'm excited to see what he can do with this group of guys.
What's your vibe about him? What are you what are you thinking? You know?
I like that he has experienced in calling plays.
I like the experience that he's had in the difficult division. I like the fact that he's taking a guy like Geno Smith that a lot of guys have given up on and he turned him into a Pro Bowl player. And I think that is really interesting to me because the difficulty of the movement of the.
Quarterback position in Seattle.
You know, he never lost his conviction to the type of system he wanted to run, no matter who was playing quarterback for him, So whether it's Drew Locke, Russell Wilson, or Geno Smith, and the program was successful the whole time he was there.
Yeah, last two years, Gino thirty two games, seventy nine hundred passing yards, fifty touchdowns, twenty interceptions, a ninety six y five QBR, five hundred and twenty one yards rushing, two touchdowns, and Pro Bowler Comeback Player of the Year and a playoff game. So right, well that's a lot of good math. And you got to give a lot of credit to Gino too, because he always believed in himself.
He never doubted it.
And this was just a perfect mix of coaching and guy give Dave Canalis his quarterback. She became the head coach of the Carolina Panthers. Now credit as well for working out the math and getting everything done surrounding with the right people.
Well, you know, that's the psychology of coaching. You have to make sure no matter who you're coaching in the depth of the position, you have that you can convince whomever you're trying to coach to get ready that they can be successful within their system and they have the ability as the player to go out there and play at an NFL level. So I like that as much as any aspects about Shane.
All right, we haven't met him yet, we haven't talked to him, but you know, you put two and two together about what he comes with him. Sean McVay obviously somebody that's significant to him, and that system carries over in many different cities now in the NFL. But it is a system that includes running the football zone, rushing
to set up some deep shots. And they had some really interesting characters there, and Metcalf Lockett and Jackson and Jay and and two really good young running backs and KENNETHA.
Walker and Zach Charboney.
A lot of motion, got a quick release, find the open short to intermediate and make something happen after the catch, and the use of the tight end former tight end himself at Toughs where he played his college football.
Also, Tom, you'll be happy you know he's a launch snapper.
He was a launch snapper.
Was a launch snapper.
Let me tell you something.
My first roommate in the USFL was a guy named Mark Buben who graduated from Toughs University. And I never thought I'd hear of another football player from Toughs. And then when I started reading his bio, not only is he born on August seventeenth and I'm August sixteenth, then I see the Toughs University in his background.
So it's it's fun. It's fun to see that.
And yeah, it seems like the tight end position and the long snapping position used to go hand in hand back in the back in the NFL days, and and so I like that with his you know, his building blocks to where he's gotten, you know, have been a lot of different coaching personalities, a lot of different elements of trying to learn the different aspects of what you said, motion and you know the use of the tight end, good running backs, good wide receiver.
But it's all according to the talent that you're offered.
And so I don't think that you can come in here and have a system and say, Okay, I'm gonna put I'm gonna use this specifically. Okay, let me study
my assets. Let me see where I can start. Is this system teachable enough where you can include those motions and do you have the practice time to have all those Yeah, but it has to be it takes a while, you know, when you have specific motions that fit according to listen, looking coverages and trying to give some defense, to give you some clues, it's it's super specific and it's got to be perfection, not general, not general.
Error, is Right's yeah, Speaking from an offensive lineman's perspective, the same goes there.
It's got to be specifics right.
Right, right.
But you know, there's just a lot of things that go hand in hand when you talk about motion and an offense, and nobody will be able to tell us that better than Jim Miller.
So you know, I just think it's something we watch.
And then the.
Big thing too is you know, I was just on with Wada and Sylvie for a little bit and the idea that this is maybe not gonna be that much of a departure scheme wise from what the Bears had, and I'm I don't know for sure.
I mean, the language could be different.
I'm sure it's different, the play calls and how they're how they're charted. How they're called is an art that has to be a feel. It's got to be a setup. But I don't want to. I mean, I'm glad it's not like a complete redo and everybody's got to take a couple of years to learn it. I mean, that's not that's not gonna help a team that's ready to take that next step with the hall they're gonna get from the draft and free agency and the further development of the current players.
But the language is gonna be different, different, different.
And that's the most difficult aspect of making sure that all eleven guys are always on the same page. And no matter what system you're talking about, there's gonna be eleven guys on offense, there's gonna be eleven guys on defense. And everybody sitting in that room is not an a student. So it's gonna take different levels of learning when you try to incorporate the new, a new language into an offense that.
You know everybody else.
Everybody has the responsibility of spending a little bit of extra time studying.
All right, Well, they're putting together an offensive staff around Shane Waldron and the Bears also looking for defensive coordinator help. A couple of known reported candidates, Chris Harris, our good friend obviously the defensive passing game coordinator of Tennessee and the former Bears cornerback, assistant head coach and defensive line coach in Tennessee, Terrell Williams. Also a report that the Bears asked to interview. Eric Washington was with Lobby Smiths
staff here for several years. He's the assistant head coach d line coach for a Buffalo. I'm sure there'll be doing more names. We're gonna take our first break down me when we come back. We'll hopefully be joined by Jim Miller. We'll break down what's going on with the Bears in terms of what they have to offer. Look at many different aspects of things as it relates to Shane Waldron and I look around what's news right now in the league, and that's the head coaching carousel. Only
two jobs left Seattle and Washington as we speak. This is Bears Weekly on a ESPN one thousand and the Bears Radio Network.
This is Bears Weekly with the voice of the Bears for twenty three years, Jeff Ji on the Bears Radio Network.
This segment of Bears Weekly, brought to you by IGS Energy. Jeff and Tom with you, and we'll have Jim Miller along in just a while as an aside. Check out our Bears et cetera podcast wherever you get your podcast YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Episode.
Fifty two already, Tommy, I have enjoyed it.
We got Bears Kicking legend Robbie Gold on his career and playoff kicking pressure. Obviously a lot of discussion on Tyler Bass the breakdown there some really good stuff and Tom, we had a good time.
Yeah, that was you know, Robbie's a super intelligent guy, and until you listen to the podcast, I don't think he can really understand how much information that he tries
to digest to help the special teams coach. But his way of thinking, whether it's on a kickoff, on an extra point or field goal, to help the punter, to help the snapper, and it's really it's interesting in the specific details that go into the condition, the field conditions, the outside conditions, the wind and the weather, and then trying to get the punt return guy or the kickoff return guy that's placed in a disadvantage position.
All Right, we got Jimmy on board now from serious x MNFL radios move in the chains. He'd been watching the coaching carousel spinning out of control. I didn't realize this, Big Jim, and good evening, thanks for joining us.
Atlanta settling on Raheem Morris.
But one of fourteen candidates that they interviewed for the head coaching job, and one of those candidates was Bill Belichick, and so fourteen talk about doing due diligence, we start there. Some of this has been surprising in terms of the volume of interviews by some of these squads and what's happened so far in this round of head coaching hires.
Yeah, I think it's by no surprise. I think for Carolina that they get a first time head coach in Dave Canelis. I mean that, you know, I don't know any veteran coach that was going to deal with an owner that obviously is very involved in his team, somewhat meddling at times. So I think we understood it was going to be a first time coach. So good luck to Dave Canelis and what he has going there in Carolina. Atlanta's somewhat baffling because you already had Raheem Morris in
the building. You know, he was there. They had him as an interim head coach, and he did fine. He's a leader of men, he's all those things. He went out to the Rams obviously got another Super Bowl there, and then they bring him back when they could have hired him in the first place, you know, And it just seems like the same type of move there for Atlanta. You've got other coaches that were decorated coaches that have done it for a long time and ben world champions,
like a Bill Belichick who was interviewed there. So you thought that maybe they were going to go in a different direction because that owner wants to win. Now there's you know, I think there's a lot of other pushback there. There's a lot of status quo in that building. I think some higher ups there as well did not want to shake up the apple cart there because you know, they have a lot of control, so I can you know, it's kind of surprising that they went in the direction
that they didn't. I'd like Raheem. I've spent time with Raheem. He's a great coach, there's no doubt about that. But they could have hired him the first time around, so that's somewhat baffling and hardball. Obviously, landing out there for the Chargers I think makes a lot of sense. You know, he's got ties there when he coached Pacific obviously Stanford and had success there and obviously moved on to San Francisco and was successful there and then of course going
back to Michigan and went in the National championship. So I think there was a big, you know, uproar that for them to land him, to really see what he can do with Justin Herbert, so that's not a surprise. He'll probably add a GM here soon. I think it could be that Brandon Brown from the New York Giants. I think he and Jim have already talked, so I would think that's going to be an as soon coming
announcement as well, and then we'll see what happens. He got two spots open right Seattle and obviously Washington, and I would think for the Washington group, I think the leader in the clubhouse is Ben Johnson of the Detroit Lions, and they've had him both Aaron Glenn in there now. Whether they can wait two weeks. It happened last year, right, Arizona waited two weeks and they signed Jonathan Gannon, so
you know, don't be shocked if that happens. And then we'll just see with the Seattle what direction they going. I think Dan Quinn would probably be the leader in the clubhouse there, and I wouldn't rule out Mike Vrabel up there in the Great Northwest, as he and John Schneider have really crossed paths before. So all around pretty interesting. And Belichick could be shut out unless there's a, you know, a coaching move that we're surprised about, a late firing that could surprise us.
And if Bill does not land a position of any kind short of head coach, I don't see him being interested in anything else. But it would end a forty nine year stretch of coaching consecutively in the NFL, whatever position was for Bill Belichick. So quite the run, and I'm certain we haven't heard the last from Bill, no matter if it's a different hiring cycle or whatever the
case may be. But Tom, I know you and I both feel very strongly about Iron Glenn, and the reason I do is because of what people have told me about him in the past. People have worked with him and have studied him. He is a great head coaching candidate, but again, offensive coaches get up most of the love right now in the modern day NFL.
Yeah, but you know that doesn't always mean it's the right decision, you know. I you know, Will Bell Bell, will Bill Belichick leapfrog a guy like Ben Johnson because maybe they thought they never had an opportunity to get a guy like Belichick, so maybe he jumps to the
a candidate in that group. And then you know, my our experiences with Raheem Morris in the NFL, you know he yeah, he was in Atlanta, he got fired by Tampa Bay, he did some front office work, and then he went to be a coach on the West coast. If you've got to tell me that a guy like Aaron Glenn is not a better fit for Atlanta when he has just been an observer of what Detroit had to do to turn that organization around, the role of the front office, the role of the emotions and the
commitment of the head coach. And then his the way he you know, kind of addresses his players in game type of an attitude to me, I would like, I hope Aaron Glenn gets an opportunity because if I had the choice between Raheem Morris or Aaron Glenn to go to Atlanta, I would have gone to Aaron Glenn just because he's been a part of what it takes to build a franchise that's been on its knees for twenty five to thirty years to give himself into a possible,
you know, Super Bowl opportunity. And but you know, you never know, like Jim says, you never know that if people are trying to shy away from meddling owners, like in Carolina or Atlanta, they felt that they knew enough about Raheem Morris that he was easy to come and plug and play. And it'll be interesting to see how all this goes to me, you know, as Ben Johnson a candidate, because he's living off of the personality of a guy like Dan Campbell, who is so emotion so personal with the players.
He's got total control of that locker room.
And so I'm interested to see if he has that personality, those personality traits that can go from the sidelines of a play caller to addressing a team in a team meeting to open up training camp.
And I want to add one thing just about because you're right, I mean these guys, you know, even Brian Callahan getting signed there by Tennessee. I mean, yeah, I think we understand it's to bring along the young quarterbacks or Canalis down there, to bring along young Bryce run But let's not forget Bill Belichick's a defensive guy who developed Tom Brady.
All right.
Pete Carroll is a defensive guy who developed Russell Wilson. John Harbaugh is a special teams coach who developed Lamar Jackson. Demiko Ryans is a defensive coordinator who has the rookie of the Year in CJ. Stroud. So the guys who are developing the quarterback, you could make a hard argument it's the defensive guys and who they put is oc
develop the young quarterbacks. So doesn't always ring true just because you hire the next great offensive mine or what you deem to be the next great offensive mine for a system that's not going to equate success. It's defensive guys have developed and had good quarterbacks that they have developed and drafted.
In broad Wall well, Gared Mayo and Antonio Pierce now and those roles former defensive guys with the Patriots and Raiders respectively as the head coach, and I guess the Canalis one surprises me the most of just having one year. And granted he's had his hand in helping develop two veteran quarterbacks get him back on their feet, so to speak, in Baker Mayfield this year and last year with Gino Smith, so you got to give.
Him credit for it.
And then you know about Vic Vangil leaving Miami and going over to the Philadelphia Eagles. Tommy that one, I don't know behind the scenes. Jim probably has a better viewpoint of that, but maybe it's wanting to get closer to home. Maybe was not a good fit with the head coach there and Mike McDaniel.
Yeah, you know the thing that surprised me about Vic. If Jim Harball would have been hired three days earlier, wouldn't Dick Fangio end up in LA with Jim Harball Since they have a pass Vick has coached on the West Coast, He's familiar with the personality of Jim Harball. It would have been interesting to see how that would work itself out. But Vic Fangio, if he's looking at a template of defensive personnel, it's hard to pass up an opportunity to go and try to get the best
out of those guys. It would have been interesting to watch Fangio re united with Khalil Mack out there in LA. So, you know, there's a lot of interesting things that the coaching carousel is gonna spit out this year.
Jim, you have any insight on that Miami situation.
Yeah, I do think going back home to Pennsylvania, that's where he's from, has family in the area, and obviously him being a consultant the year prior. I don't disagree with Tom on the timing. Maybe if that would have been a sure thing, that may have been an opening where he gonna used as leverage, obviously, but I think he felt good about going back home to spend some time with some family.
All Right, we're gonna take another break here on Bears Weekly. We'll talk more Bears with Jim Miller and Tom There.
I'm Jeff Joniak here on a ESPN one thousand and the Bears Radio Network.
This is Bears Weekly with a voice of the Bears for twenty three years, Jeff Jonyik on the Bears Radio Network.
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Jeff Jony Act Tom There.
Jim Miller from Serious XM, head of our radio's Move in the Chains. Jim, you know you're on the national skate stage, but here in town every minute, this is only discussing the future quarterback position of the Bears. What Ryan Poles is going to do, what does he need to do? What do people want him to do? What's Justin's future? Are you gonna move that pick? Are you gonna package.
One and nine? What are you getting? I mean, we have.
Four months of this and we knew this was gonna happen, but just scanning the globe of reactions from Bears, Twitter or x and fans and listening on the radio, it's something, Jim.
Is exactly what we thought it would be. Were it's unescapable.
Yeah, no, we get the calls on Serious SEXM and you know it seems like it's like split that you got to do either or like if you you know, trade out of pick number one means you're sticking with Fields and you know, want to build around him and nobody wants to draft a quarterback, or it's vice versa. Draft the quarterback and get rid of fields. You don't have to do that. You can do both. You can
do both. And I brought this up numerous times. I mean, they're gonna have to decide on the fifth year option with Justin. If they choose to slap the fifth year option on them, it'll be about twenty three million bucks,
twenty to twenty three to twenty five million dollars. Can still draft a quarterback with one develop the young player, and if Justin fields, you know, plays well, you know, you could potentially offer him a long term and that could be the same could be said if they don't put the fifth year option on Justin, like what Daniel Jones happened for the New York Giants. They didn't place
the fifth year option on Daniel Jones. They let him play out the year he guided them to the playoffs, had a good year, and they rewarded him with the contract that has easy outs. And I've been saying it doesn't. It's not a contract like Lamar Jackson's, like a Joe Burrows, like a Justin Herbert's, or Kyler Murray or even like a Deshaun Watson. You know it has an outclause that yes, he's being paid, well, he's being paid at the starting
quarterback level. And then you can continue to develop the the young quarterback and if Justin plays well, you can offer him a long term contract there or franchise him is what you could do, and you have his rights for another year. Why you continue to develop a young quarterback. Green Bay drafted a first round quarterback who sat for three years. And it's happened before I say it about San Diego. At that point, San Diego they had Drew Brees.
They drafted Philip Rivers first round. Drew Brees was the starter. They slapped the franchise tag on Drew Brees. Then he had the unfortunate injury to his shoulder. Then they turned it over to Philip Rivers. Dallas had Troy Aikman. They drafted Steve Waalsh's supplemental draft first round. They had two first round quarterbacks and Troy Aikman. Obviously it was one in fifteen his rookie year, and then the rest is history.
Obviously Walsh never essentially touched the field. You can do both, and there's nothing wrong with having a competitive quarterback groom.
Now we all agree with that for sure. But I'll tell you one thing, Tommy, if I may, Yeah, after watching all these playoffs, one deniable word just keeps popping into my.
Head off the line. The word is special. That's two words. To get to where you want to go, you gotta have special.
All right, how about this? Let me ask special. Let me ask both of you guys, your reaction.
All right? Now, Shane Waldron comes.
Into the building and then in three to five weeks, he's got a very specific opinion of how he feels about the.
Quarterback position in going forward?
Would your respect what he wants to do and say he doesn't want to take it with the first pick in the draft, but he's willing to, you know, find a quarterback.
What do the Bears have the ninth pick in the draft? Also?
Yeah, so and so they they get they bring in a special guy at number one, and then they say, hey, we can we can go down to number nine and get this other quarterback and still have high too high, still have a high first round pick quarterback to get into that developmental seat. So are you going to take from a guy you just hire to come in and develop this offense and respect his opinion after he gets a chance to study what the Bears did in the
last couple of years. Or is this a Ryan Poll's decision exclusively.
I think they probably vetted his opinions about it all already in the interview process.
But well, you can't just.
Listen he doesn't have enough time to study the product at the interview. I need him to sit down and look at the reps, to look at the seven on seven reps in practice, look at the game reps, look at study a bunch of in you know, you know, you understand the play call, you understand the situational football, just everything that takes in evaluating a quarterback.
Jim, Well, what do you think?
Yeah, I think they'll They'll all have an opinion. Obviously, Ryan Poles will have the decision. Plus the ownership for the first round pick will have a big say in it as well. Obviously the owner last year had a big say in drafting Bryce Young, who I don't think
Frank Wright was on board with. He wanted c. J. Stroud. Okay, but all I'm saying is this, you passed up Deshaun Watson, you passed up Patrick Mahomes right, because basically Kansas City traded up from twenty eight to ten to get Patrick Mahomes. They knew who he was, and they knew Cardinals and the New Orleans Saints also knew who he was because they were trying to trade up to get him. You just passed up c J. Stroud. I don't think you want to pass up the next one.
Yeah, with that, we're going to take a break. That's a good exclamation point right there by. Jim Miller was not there. I'm Jeff Jonny ackwa we got a break?
Is Jim saying Caleb Williams is the one?
Well, we don't know.
We'll find out on the other side, the good old fashioned tease. Big Jim Miller here on Bears Weekly on ESPN one thousand and the Bears Radio.
Networks Bears Weekly with a Voice of the Bears for twenty three years. Jeff on the Bears Radio Network.
Want VIP access to every Bears home game, exclusive seating, sideline credentials and more now available. Get the Ultimate VIP band package. This SE's my Busy Chicago Bears vip dot Com. Jeff Jonniac, Tom Bear, Jim Miller, Jim, since we teased you, you got to take it from there, and then we got to get into something with Tom because Tom is just letting me have it in the break.
So go ahead, Jim.
Yeah, I think a lot of people do think Cable Williams is a special guy. You know, not only is he talented with his legs, he's everybody is talented throwing the football. Now the other things matter, the intangible side of it. How good of a teammate is he? You know, how does he treat people? What type of person is he? All those things matter because you want to draft the right guy, right he is the face of the franchise, you know, if they were to draft him. But all
those boxes have to be checked. And that's true for Drake may or Daniel or any other quarterback that's drafted. You know, let's not forget when they traded to or when they got picked up Mitchell Trubisky when they selected him. You know, he did take the Bears to the playoffs two years. You know, coaching changes all those things, new offenses, that all the things that Justin has been fighting as well. You know, this is a change for Justin so but
nobody questions the talent of Justin Fields. I've said that. I mean, he's tough, he's a good leader. People love him in the building. You know, he's everything that you want. It's just got to be more consistent. Right, it hasn't been there yet. But who knows this more than Ryan Poles. He was in Kansas City when they traded up to get Patrick Mahomes. They knew who he was when they traded up to get him, and he sat for a year behind Alex Smith. That's what I'm saying. It can
happen in Chicago too. You know, you can develop two guys. Shoot, even when Washington they drafted Robert Griffin the third they traded up to number one, and they still drafted Kirk Cousins in the fourth round, who wally pipped him.
Okay, which which don't forget your thought, Tommy, because you know, you think back about that Washington coaching staff, because if I'm not mistaken, was that was that twenty twelve because all these guys were talking about all were coaching on that team with Mike Shanahan, that whole Washington brigade, Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay was the tight end coach man Lafleur was the quarterback coach. Mike McDaniel was on the staff. Raheem Morris was on the staff. Bobby Slowick the Houston Texans,
he was on the staff. And I'm probably missing some guys. Wow, that was Beck. That's that's ten years ago anyway to get something.
You know, So you're talking about the evaluation of the quarterback position, and so you look at Patrick Mahomes when there's no nil deals and so you're in you're a poor college player back then and you're not leaving college with any money.
And then you have speed up.
To the modern day quarterback of Caleb Williams and now you're leaving college with a few million dollars in your pocket already. Do you think that affects the evaluation or the way they're liked or disliked by their players? And you know, then Patrick Mahomes, he has to come out of college and he has to make money, whereas you have some of these guys that are leaving college with a pocket full of money, and so they you know, you don't come out as desperate as you do as a poor player.
Yeah, and I think that goes into evaluation. How much does a guy love football. You know, because I agree with you. I think he he had a lot of success there at USC and then this year it didn't go so well. He had a couple of moments. You know, I think that Notre Dame game that did not go well, and I think he's going to have to answer for those things. So what type of person are you entering
having entered into your building? Those things matter, you know, they're there's a reason why the Lions are having the success that they're having With general manager Brad Holmes, every one of those guys knew what they were signing up for. The players that they drafted are hard nosed football players that love football. Every one of them had impact. Brian Branch, the safety out of Alabama, Laporta, who's like a mini George Kittle out of Iowa. You know, you look at Gibbs.
Everybody poo pooed the Gibbs pick. You know, Gibbs is a great player. I mean, every one of their draft picks love football and they know that Dan Campbell is a hard football coach. Those two guys from Alabama knows what hard coaching is. They were under Nick Saban. I know Nick Saban well, he was at Michigan State. He's a prick, okay. And Dan Campbell he can be that way too. And every pre agent that signed there. The word on the street was Cam Sutton, who came from Pittsburgh,
the Pittsburgh Steelers, which is another hard nosed city. He wanted to play for Dan Campbell. Every one of those guys signed up in new ones that was expected in the building. They know it's no nonsense and they love football. Let's go get it. Look where they are. And if you don't have those guys, forget it. I don't care if it's Caleb Williams whoever the Bears draft. If those guys don't love football, I don't want them. You don't want them.
Bears fans don't.
Want boy Jim that boy.
You hear Mattifle talking about all the time, and so does Ryan Poles. They want guys who love football, love football, and nothing else matters.
Love football. And and yes, there needs.
To be additional alphas brought to the team too, and that quarterback position's got to be an alpha also.
And listen, when you look at DJ Moore and you look at Montes Wett and you look at TJ. Edwards, and you look at Tremaine Edwards, you look at you know, Tyree Skirson, Brisker, Kyler Gordon, you look at you know these Darnell right, all these types of guys.
You look at them and your that process is changing.
And I think the more of those alpha males that are positive of influences in the locker room, the more competitive you make the whole building from the way to the practice field.
And listen again, Ryan Pole's experience that they knew that about Patrick Mahomes. That's why they traded up from twenty eight to ten to get them. So if he's at one, or he's at nine or wherever you get him, period.
Right, we can again I say this, we can close our eyes and see which teams draft and bring in players like you just described, and we know where they exist.
We know they are in the National Football League. That's all there's to it.
And in this city, I think it requires it, It requires it to move forward. All right, Listen, you're a quarterback. I'm just some short, fat guy. Tom is an offensive lineman. I think he's feeling lonely.
Jim.
We only are talking about quarterbacks and how you need a quarterback to win and to be special, but the guys up front protecting them and clearing the lane for the run game.
He wants to embrace it a little more. Tom, don't be offended.
I'm not.
It's the time to talk quarterbacks. But let's talk the offensive line.
Jim Miller's do it.
Jim Miller instigated this topic a couple of weeks ago. And when you talk when you talk about how many sacks the Bears gave up last year and how many sacks that they gave up this year, and the whole, the whole sack process of the offensive line, you know, the short yardage, the important third and one and fourth and ones that you know, factor in the outcome of a game when you have a you don't have the
bread and butter. When you're talking about the end of that Detroit game, when you needed to get that last first down to put yourself in an opportunity to beat a team that's playing for the NFC Championship game this week at home. That could be another stepping stone, improving
point to where your team is going. I just don't think that you know, you can only talk, you know, emphasize what the court of the importance of the quarterback position, but not emphasize if you don't have a good offensive line, it doesn't matter who's playing quarterback, because I think it's gonna get even more difficult for that guy to come in, whether you're experience like justin or inexperienced by whomever they could pick and think that they're gonna be the reason
the offensive line is better.
Looking for five pillars or you know, or developing guys. Let me ask you this question because I heard something about another team and I can't remember what it is now, but you know, some of the analysts are, well, they can hide this guy.
He's good enough, but he's not.
You know, there's always somebody you're targeting on an offensive line to kind of.
Beat and you know, maybe do you believe in that for better it better be a guard.
Yeah, and I'm a guard. It can't be a center.
You can't have inefficient snaps, you can't get beat up, you can't be pushed back into the lap of the quarterback.
It can't be an offensive tackle.
Look at the left tackle for Buffalo getting pushed back into the of Josh Allen. He tries to make a touchdown throw, but he can't follow through because his left foot's getting stepped on. So yeah, you know, and I'm talking about the position I played. So you can you have a guy that's good and capable and is a tough guy and he's he'll play hurt and he'll play hard and you know that tight that he can have that type of role.
Yeah, but it can't be the edge and it can't be the center.
Jim.
It did it ever affects you when you and your you're teammate, you're you're you're loving up your guys up front? Did it affect you on certain play calls that it made you think more about is he gonna block this guy? Is he going to do his assignment right? Is there gonna be a mental air more than you focused.
On the play? Did that ever leak into your psyche a little bit of.
You have to be oblivious to the past rush.
But you but you believe, you believe though it does affect some.
Quarterback yeah, you yeah, you trust that those guys are going to do their job and you have to be oblivious to that. You're trying, but you've got to be able to feel it. You know, if a guy comes free, if I know I can see color when I'm dropping back. My eyes are downfield, but I see maybe the right guard is slipping up on the tackle and he's got a swim move coming at me. And you got to feel that. And so what I'm going from one to three dumping the ball down. Look look at the teams
in the playoffs right now. Brock Purdy's been sacked twenty eight times all year, twenty eight times out of four hundred and forty four dropbacks.
All right.
Look at Jared Golf He's been sacked thirty one times all year. And they throw the ball quite a bit. But you know, you got Penny Sewell, you got Taylor Decker, you got Frank greg Now is probably one of the strongest centers in the league. We recognize out there in San Francisco Trent Williams, but that the rest of that group are not so special. I don't think. I don't even think there's as good as the old line that
I had with the Chicago Bears. There is a certain rhythm and timing that you have to get rid of the ball. Those guys cannot win every single block. They cannot, you know, pick up every single blitz. Sometimes they are gonna win defensively, and you're the last line of defense to get rid of the ball. You have to get rid of the ball and make decisions, and so that's a big part of it too. But having a good old line is a part of it. Absolutely.
You got interested that can play.
I saw this Inside Edge as a stat company. They sent some stuff the top blitzed offense in the NFL this year to Detroit.
Lions thirty one sacks.
He gets rid of the balls.
Top blitz team Chargers were second, Packers were third, Saints were four, and the Vikings were fifth. So three teams in our division. We're the most blitzed in the NFL. All right, we got to take a break. That's top there, Jim Meller, I'm Jeff jonnyak. One final segment to go here on Bears Weekly on ESPN one thousand and the Bears Radio Network.
This is Bears Weekly with a voice of the Bears for twenty three years Jeff jon On the Bears Radio Network.
Segment and the Bears Weekly brought to you by CDW.
Be able to get it and get the ultimate VIP fan package this season by visiting Chicago Bears vip dot Com I guess we should say next season because this season is down to four teams and the championship games this weekend before we dip into that. Because forty nine ers playing host to Detroit, and the Bears tied San Francisco for the most interceptions with twenty two, tied for
fifth and total takeaways. It was the first time since twenty ten Bears had three players with four or more interceptions.
And I just want to talk defense because we're only.
Focused so far this whole offseason already in almost a month, and talking about the quarterback play, but things that are needed defensively, and obviously Jim and Tom the first thing that pops in him.
You absolutely have.
To find another edge rusher of significance, whether it is through the draft where there doesn't seem to be a huge cachet of talent in that regardless high end, or in free agency.
Would you guys say.
You collectively, do we agree that you got I have another edge rusher of note?
Yes or no? Yes, I do, I think you know. I think you know.
I like DeMarcus Walker. I like the enthusiastic approach he has the game. But I think if you're gonna have an ability to dictate protection, especially if you play against an offensive line that has an exposure to it, it's got some vulnerability. I think that you need an extra special guy.
I think your guy opposite Montest Sweat needs to be a double digit sack guy there.
Period. Yeah, you know it.
Chase Young, who was traded obviously opposite Montest Sweat, he's only I think he's at three and a half sacks or four and a half sacks for San Francisco. Don't pull up the numbers, but he's got seventy three pressures, all right, seventy three pressures, all right. So you need a double digit sack guy. You're you're, you're, you're cooking with gas when your two edge rushers are getting double digit sacks period end.
And the engine in this defense, of course is three technique. And Justin Jones did a very nice job this year. I would look to retain him, but also have another because I want rotation. I want I want fresh guys coming up there. I want a bunch of bed you know what's ombres in there to to recavoc with the young kids they got last year. So three technique defensive tackle. If there's somebody special, out there. That's going to make a world of difference.
Also face to do this.
Well, you see that sack that that rookie for Tampa Bay had against the right guard for Yeah, I'm beautiful. It was a beautiful move. It was textbook and it resulted in a sack. I mean, you know, you need that type of efficiency, ability, quickness and pressure by that position in order to allow those exterior rushers to capitalize on that.
Hey, Jim, guess who leads the NFL in pressures this year? Who is the number one pressure team?
Was the right?
Yeah, Detroit, And there I was gonna say, well, Baltimore is up there with the sacks. But and they may get they may get Houston back this week. He's been practicing full speed, so they may have.
A little bit.
Really, a lot of people are under Yeah. So Houston had eight sacks last year, you know, and they threw him into Trump's middle of the year. It's played, has started the last six out of eight games, and they had eight sacks.
Yeah, I against the Bear.
Sadly he was He's got a dangerous little spin move like Aiden Hutchinson. All right, well, let's let's let's start there with let's let's break it down a little bit. We only have a few minutes to go, Jim. Uh, we'll keep it short on these games. But at San Francisco, Detroit at San Francisco. I know, uh, you got a lot of Michigan love out there, but where are you going in this one?
Yeah?
I do like San Francisco. I think they were you know, the weather last week, but perty put it together when it mattered the most. He is, They're both top five in scoring. I expect I would take the over uh in this game because I do think uh uh San Francisco as of late they've given up running wise, and so I do give Detroit a chance out there, but
I will take San Francisco. They're even in the run game, so Detroit's got I think twenty five or twenty seven touchdowns, san Francisco twenty five rushing touchdowns, but both their passing games are on part. But I think it's a high scoring matchup.
Tom.
You know, I never heard the crowd louder in any San Francisco game, whether it's an old candlestick or the new park than it was last week. And I think crowd noise will have you know, kind of hurt the efficiency of Detroit and their their ability to communicate if.
They have to make a play change. So I'm going with San Francisco.
Last time Detroit won a real playoff game nineteen fifty seven at Kizar Stadium that was San Francisco's original stadium back there, Okay, AFC, I think it's going to be some kind of a war. Lamar Jacksonvain's Pat Mahomes, two former MVP quarterbacks.
Gym where you going? Got a minute ago, minute minute left in the show.
I will take Baltimore. I like them better in the trenches on both sides. But Kansas City do. I mean, he's special, But give me Baltimore at home.
And a home conference game for Baltimore Town first time since Johnny Unitas was quarterbacking against George Blanda and the Raiders fifty one years ago.
Or you just talked about edge rushers and the worst part of the offensive line for Kansas City as their offensive tackles, So look for that defensive line to play havoc up for Patrick Malmes.
Yeah, I'm going with Baltimore in San Francisco as well. I mean, the point differential for the Ravens this year is plus two to three. They only trailed for eighty five snaps in the second half all season, so they've been they've been flying high. All right, boys, we got to run. Thanks to everybody once again, all our producers
and thanks specifically to Jay Canto and Sean Graney. A lot of good football to come here as the Bears offseason rolls on, and we'll be talking about a Super Bowl duo for the next two weeks after this Ben's game. That'll do it for us. Blecking a down coming up next here on es been one thousand and the Bears Radio Network anight, everybody, Thank.
You for listening to the Chicago Bears Network presentation of Bears Weekly, hosted by the Mara, Bearsville, Jeff Juniac and Surfmaster Tom Thayer. Podcasts are available on the Chicago Bears Official Act. Bears Weekly has been brought to you by Apple Podcasts, Ben Rivers, Igs Energy, and Miller Lite.