INFORMAZIONI SU QUESTO EPISODIO
In this energetic Bears Roundtable episode, hosts Nick Brody, Swifty and Keek break down the Chicago Bears’ emphatic Monday Night Football win over the Seattle Seahawks. The trio recaps Jeffrey Simmons’ immediate impact on the defense, Caleb Williams’ poised primetime performance, and the offensive contributions that make the Bears feel like a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Expect detailed analysis of Simmons as a force multiplier, Montez Sweat and Kyler Gordon’s breakout moments, DeAndre Swift’s scoring surge, and the emergence of Luther Burden and Rome Odunze as reliable targets.
The hosts discuss key stats from the win (run defense and pass defense improvements, Simmons’ on-field influence), review injury updates (Grady Jarrett, Kentavious Street and others), and examine roster and cap implications — including Ryan Poles’ aggressive moves and what they mean for the team’s short- and long-term outlook. They also consider trade and free-agent possibilities ahead of the NFL deadline, mentioning names like N’Shawn Wright, Alontae Taylor, CJ Gardner-Johnson and other potential fits for Dennis Allen’s scheme.
Listeners will get a full breakdown of game highlights, locker-room chemistry, Caleb Williams’ MVP-caliber trajectory, and how the Bears’ schedule and division strength shape their 2026 outlook. The episode wraps with reactions from the live chat, sponsor message from Kalshi, and an upbeat call-to-action for fans to “Bear down.”
IN QUESTO EPISODIO
MOSTRA NOTE 🔗
TRASCRIZIONE 🔗
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Jeffrey Simmons is here, ladies and gentlemen,
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and he made a statement along with the rest of the Chicago Bears
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team on Monday Night Football on the road in
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Seattle. What a game. And we're going to go through it all right now.
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My name is Nick Brody from Just Another Year Chicago Bears, joined alongside Swifty from
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Swifty Sports and Keek from Keek on the Mic. And this is a Bears Roundtable
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production. So guys, make sure you hit that like button, subscribe,
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and also a bear down if you're loving what you're seeing from this Bears team
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so far. But we're going to jump right into it, fellas. And Keek, I'm going
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to kick it over to you. Bears versus Seahawks recap. Dominating performance.
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Jeffrey Simmons made it known, and that impact is already felt.
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Give your thoughts initially after this one. I am just very
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proud to be a Chicago Bears fan at the moment, right? And we give
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kudos to Ryan Poles every single show, and I want to do it once again
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on today's show at Bears Roundtable. Uh, kudos to Ryan Poles,
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man, for the team that he's built. Um, kudos to Ryan Poles for
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being aggressive. Uh, obviously the move for Jeffrey Simmons made an immediate
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impact. When I was watching Jeffrey Simmons, he reminded me of when we got Khalil
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Mack and the impact that he made right away in Lambeau Field
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against the Green Bay Packers. It was that type of impact. He was all around
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the football. He was a multiplier. Montez Sweat now looks like one of the best
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edge rushers in the league. Could have had 3 sacks if it wasn't for a
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couple holding calls on the back end. Um, this whole team really
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came to play. Obviously the big storyline was, you know, Caleb Williams,
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Ben Johnson, this Bears offense going against this vaunted, you know,
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Seattle Seahawks defense. And after the first drive, I was like, holy crap. I,
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I knew from that one drive alone what type of game it was going to
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be. Caleb Williams was locked in, and to me,
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I think he deserves respect in terms of like MVP conversation
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as well. Um, just still in shock that this
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is the team that we get to watch every Sunday. Uh, and I think people
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need to start realizing that this team is a legit Super Bowl contender now.
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Yeah, you could see the fa— you could see your face light up talking about
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this game. Swifty's face absolutely lit up when he talked about this game.
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And you know what? It's hard not to talk about it. You dominate the Super
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Bowl champions by double their score and you did it back
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to back against both Super Bowl opponents. First time in NFL history that a
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team has beat both Super Bowl opponents from the previous season in
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back-to-back weeks. And the Bears, you know, this is— I mean,
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first game with Jeffrey Simmons looking great. We'll talk about it in a sec.
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But Swifty, I'm going to go over to you real quick. And, you know,
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all 15 people that are here right now, I want to hear your thoughts of
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the game. We'll throw it up on the screen. But Swifty, you feeling after this
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one, man? That was— it was an electric feeling.
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I, I don't know how you livestreamed that one, Nick. I was,
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I was not able to sit down for one time for the
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entire first half. I was pacing around, I was like up and down,
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I was giddy. It was just— it felt electric throughout that game.
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Like, probably the most excited I've been to watch
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a Bears game since the Super Bowl in 2006.
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I honestly, that's how I felt. I was just amped up.
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I was ready to go and I was just so excited to see
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this team. And then they come out, defense looks awesome right away.
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It wasn't just Jeffrey Simmons, Kyler Gordon, Cam Lewis laying
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the wood, got that wood meter going right away.
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And then offense comes out,
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puts together that huge drive, drive down, drives down the
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field, scores a touchdown. And it was just electricity
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from that moment on. And it felt great, man. It feels a great,
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great time to be a Bears fan right now. What just makes it even better
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is that there was so much history last night. I mean, I just hit out
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that one nugget, but, you know, Caleb Williams, you know, breaking the Bears
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franchise record for fastest person to get over 8,700 passing yards in
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the first 3 seasons. Also along with that, too, DeAndre Swift,
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10 rushing touchdowns in 8 games. I want to talk about
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that. I think that everyone looks at DeAndre Swift the wrong way. They're like,
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oh, he's averaging like 2.93 yards per carry over the last
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couple of games. He has been practically by himself 2
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of those 4 games. He's been playing hurt even though it's not on the injury
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report, and he's scoring. I mean, he's averaging over a touchdown
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a game. He's on pace for 21 at the moment. I don't care that he's
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not getting the big gains, but he's getting the, the big runs when it
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matters. Swifty, did you want to say something right there? Sorry, I didn't mean to
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interrupt you. Oh, no, I was saying— I was saying— I was talking. I had
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my mic muted, but he gets the tough yards. I think that's the— that's
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the key there. He gets the tough yards and Ben Johnson doesn't shy away from
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him when the game's on the line. DeAndre Swift is right there helping,
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picking up those first downs, getting those big touchdowns. We know how
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it is, dude. I mean, I got to ask Trendsetter right here. You know,
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I was at the game. Bears fans everywhere. It was great. I— when I
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saw that sea of orange at the end of the game when Caleb
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Williams was getting interviewed, that's just— it's incredible. It's incredible. Going back to
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DeAndre Swift real quick, I'm going to ask you about it. DeAndre Swift, again,
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not getting the big yardage. I don't care, though. He already has a career high
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in rushing touchdowns with 10, on pace for 21 on the season.
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And like Swiftie was saying, getting those tough yards. I don't think enough folks
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are talking about how impactful DeAndre Swift has been for this offense so far this
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year. Are your thoughts after that big game with another— his second 3-touchdown game of
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the season so far? Yeah, 4 away from the franchise record,
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right? Exactly. DeAndre Swift, man, um, kudos to him,
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especially with Kyle Minungai being out. Um, you know, the sole focus
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is on him and it hasn't mattered, right? He has been, uh, really, really the
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heartbeat to the Chicago Bears offense. Kudos to, to, uh, Ben Johnson
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for not shying away from him when things are tough. But this is the type
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of matchup that we knew it was going to be. We got the— speaking of
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wood, you know, you had to chop down the tree. All night long, slowly but
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surely. This is a very aggressive and tough defense. Once again, he averaged 2.6
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yards per carry. It was tough sledding in terms of the yards per carry,
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but when push comes to shove, DeAndre Swift knows the end zone. And speaking about
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the Wood Meter, I know people in the chat are waiting. I didn't go live
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yesterday because I'm still a little bit under the weather. I didn't go live,
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but my Wood Meter's at a 10 right now. You know, I don't—
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we need, we need to extend this Wood Meter right here, right? 3 is just
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not enough with how— not enough for Jeffrey Simmons, bro. All your blood
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was in one place, brother. Your body couldn't heal. Brain wasn't working.
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Did you hear the announcer? I— did you hear Joe Buck say something
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about, uh, chopping wood? He made that statement. He was like, Seahawks,
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the Bears have been chopping wood all night. And I was like,
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they can't. We got so much wood, they could keep chopping and
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they're listening. You know, there might be only 25 people, 2 of them are Joe
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Buck and Troy Aikman. They're like, how can we be like these bananas? I mean,
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like, seriously, they— I mean, shoot, that we It,
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it was electric last night from start to finish. And to answer your
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question, Swifty, I don't know how I— to be honest, I almost didn't
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stream last night because I was so nervous. But I was like, you know what,
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this could go either very wrong or very right, and it went very right
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in all the right ways. So I'm, I'm happy I did it. It was,
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it was awesome. And Keek, sorry you're not feeling well. Hope you're feeling better,
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my man. I'm sure you are now with that awesome Bears domination. But also
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It wasn't just DeAndre Swift. I mean, Luther Burden over almost
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already beating last year's yardage number at
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like what, 5— what did I post, 592 or something? He had 672
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last season. So he's almost pacing for that, though he's not getting the big
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scores. He's doing a great job too, and he's really expanding this offense in
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a lot of ways. What are your thoughts? Yeah, he's special, man. There's a reason
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why they call him the problem child, you know? And I just love the dynamics
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between him and even Roma Dunze, right? They're all doing their things, even Colson Loveland.
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They do a very good job, and I mean Caleb Williams does a really good
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job of spreading the football around. There's probably only one play where on a
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crosser, a deep post, I believe that Luther Burden was kind of open. I don't
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think Caleb had enough time to really get the ball to him, but Luther Burden,
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every single time the ball touches his hands, he makes a
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play for his guys. And just the confidence and the aura that he brings to
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the football field as well, um, everyone's just doing their job, right?
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And, and that is the most important thing. The Bears are playing their game.
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And as long as they play their game and their brand of football, I believe
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in their hearts that they feel that they're the best team in the league.
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Yeah, I, I think that— I mean, this comment right here alone from
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Shady Acacia: I honestly can't see us losing another game this year. My confidence in
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this team has never been higher in my 32 years of being a fan.
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You know, I honestly— I've been on this planet for 29
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years, and I'm more confident than I was in 2018. I'm more confident
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than I was last year. And someone tweeted it, but it was— I think it
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was Brett, uh, Collin or something like that. But he tweeted, he goes,
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for the first time in my life, I'm not panicking when the
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Bears offense is on the field. Full motion. Swifty, what are your
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thoughts of the offense as a whole? Yeah, I think that's the biggest thing here,
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man. It's— we've always had— we've had good defenses a
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lot, right? But we've never had an offense like this. The young core of offensive
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players that Ryan Poles put together. Shout out to Ryan Poles.
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The haters are in shambles right now. Listen,
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this team not only can be special, but I also believe what's
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really special about it is we can keep this entire core together
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for the next 3 to 5 years and continue getting better.
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There isn't a single player that's a major starter
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or player that I really like that isn't under contract for the next
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3 years minimum. So you look at that and then you say, okay,
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the guys we don't like— the Grady Jarretts, the Jalen Johnsons— those
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guys can get cut, right? And we can spend that money to improve
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the team elsewhere. So I think this team is not only special,
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but they can continue adding on and getting better. And if
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they can hit on a couple mid-round picks over the next couple years, because we
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don't have first-rounders now the team could be even better. We're in a special position
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right now, and I know a lot of people want to talk about Caleb Williams
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getting paid and stuff. His contract's not going up till 2029.
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That's when his cap hit is going to skyrocket. So we got like a 3-year
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window here where we can just take over the NFL.
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And it's— I've never felt that way about a Bears team. I've always hoped
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we could be good. This team is special. So now it's just knock on the
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wood keep this team healthy and they can do special
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things. And I'm just so excited about it, man. It's honestly—
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I'm still, still taking it in even a little bit, man. It's crazy.
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Yeah, I gotta say, I'm at 3 Wood Meter right now after this one.
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And also, I think that we've said this, all 3 of
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us, in our own respective ways, but my goodness, Ryan Poles
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is a great general manager. You know, he, he had a vision He
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walked into Howes Hall and said, this is going to take a minute.
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This is not going to be a, I'm going to fix this team in one
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offseason. I'm going to go out and get Dante Pettis as our wide receiver 1.
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I'm going to go out and trade arguably the best off-ball linebacker in
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the NFL. I'm going to trade the guy that made you tens of millions of
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dollars in jersey sales and is an electric name just to come out and see
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whether the team is good or not. And Khalil Mack, he said that to George
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McCaskey, probably. I'm just assuming. But that's what he did. So actions,
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you know, he definitely spoke it into existence. He told him his plan. Yeah,
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he was— he walked in with a plan. We haven't had a general manager walk
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in with a plan. I thought Phil Emery was going to be that guy,
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wasn't. I thought Ryan Pace was going to be that guy,
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wasn't. And now— what'd you say?
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He had us fooled. I, I think Pace had us fooled. I thought he was
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gonna be that guy too, man. Well, Pace came in from a good background,
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you know, a lot of people coming in there going, oh man, like, I'm— I,
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I think that we got to go on. But anyway, The Bears had
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teams, but I always talked about it. You ever see, uh, the movie
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The End Is Near? It's with like all those comedians
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and they put that piece of duct tape over the big crack. That's why I
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started Just Another Year, and that's why I call it Just Another Year, because it's
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like every year we just put a big Band-Aid or a piece of duct tape
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on the big problems we have— cap, age, and just too much
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of one position, none of another. Ryan Poles said I
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just won a couple Super Bowls in Kansas City. I'm gonna come here and get
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the job done. And that's sure, sure enough, he did. Yeah, that's crazy. I,
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I actually, I started my channel a week after Ryan
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Poles was hired, a couple weeks after. My first video I've ever
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made on Swift Sports Network was after Khalil Mack got traded because
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I was like, look, I know fans are gonna hate this.
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No one's— I, I have Khalil Mack jersey and I'm one of the guys,
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and we, we all know we want Mack back, but when we got Mack,
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or when we traded him I knew fans weren't gonna like
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it, but I felt deep down like this is what the Bears need to
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do to build an actual Super Bowl caliber
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team and have sustained success. And 5 years later,
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man, here we are. And 4 years— what was this year,
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5? This is gonna be the 5th year. But it's,
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it's crazy to see how much this team has changed.
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And how bad of a position this roster was in, our salary cap
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was in. We didn't have any young draft picks. All we had is old
13:15.934 --> 13:19.252
overpaid free agents. We never had a franchise
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quarterback. From all that to this,
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it's just surreal, man. And I, I give credit to Ryan Poles. And I
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know a lot of people have been talking about firing him for the last 3
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years. I feel like those guys should just
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stop tweeting about football now. Yeah,
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well, it does— go ahead, Keith. Yeah, sorry, and I just wanted
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to add, I think the best part about last night's win was like after the
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game, the clips you were seeing of like Ryan Poles in the tunnel shaking
13:48.050 --> 13:50.550
the guy's hand, just the biggest smile on his face. Yeah, you could just tell
13:51.050 --> 13:54.070
that he's like just a proud like older brother at this point, right? Like,
13:54.570 --> 13:57.210
man, like I did it. Like we have a team that can win the Super
13:57.710 --> 14:00.130
Bowl, right? So I, I think that's— that was like the best part of the
14:00.630 --> 14:04.290
night to me. Agreed. I, I love seeing— just except he missed Tyson Bate.
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I'm just kidding, I, I'm just kidding. And maybe he did, I don't
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know. Um, but you know, guys, we got some questions that are
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coming in. We'll get to these questions in a little bit, so make sure you
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stay tuned with us. Uh, but we're gonna get back to this one. It's regards
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to Caleb Williams contract negotiations. One thing I do want to say is I
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find it really funny that all 3 of us started our channels all around the
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same time, and it was, you know, shout out to Ryan Poles, the man's
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cooking. If I ever saw Ryan Poles in public, I'd be like,
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whatever you need, pal, it's on me tonight. Like, I know you, I know you
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got unlimited pockets, but you know, we're good to go.
14:39.260 --> 14:42.713
Um, I got you, I got you. Yeah, overall though, man, you don't
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have a game like that last night without Ryan Poles doing what he's done.
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I, and I think that if Ryan Pace would have stayed one more season,
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this Bears team would have needed an 8-year rebuild. That's how bad things were getting.
14:53.422 --> 14:56.440
So the Bears made the right decision there. George is a fan like us.
14:57.001 --> 15:00.611
He knows you got to give George McCaskey some credit because 100%
15:01.111 --> 15:04.012
where this team was, a lot of people are like, oh, McCaskey sucks too.
15:04.092 --> 15:08.054
It's like he listened to Ryan Poles say, I'm gonna tear this team
15:08.086 --> 15:11.632
down and we're gonna lose for years, and McCaskey
15:11.696 --> 15:15.017
was all in on that, man. And I, I'm a big fan
15:15.161 --> 15:18.786
of him now, and I think without George McCaskey, if we would have had another
15:19.059 --> 15:22.590
owner that wanted to take shortcuts and was like, this franchise
15:23.090 --> 15:26.570
is too good to go through a 5-year rebuild. But McCaskey bought
15:27.070 --> 15:30.850
in fully, signed off on him trading Mack and Roquan away,
15:31.350 --> 15:34.950
and here we are, guys. Here we are, Super Bowl caliber team.
15:35.450 --> 15:37.779
You get rid of Ted Phillips, a lot of good things happen in that situation.
15:37.850 --> 15:41.350
You don't put an accountant in a president or CEO role. Sorry, just gonna say
15:41.850 --> 15:44.770
it. Just gonna say it. Is he in the NFL anymore? No. Anyway, let's,
15:45.270 --> 15:48.090
let's move on to the Jeffrey— let's move into the Jeffrey Simmons effect. But what
15:48.590 --> 15:50.790
a game last night. I thought the guys played really well, a lot of fun
15:51.290 --> 15:53.494
to watch. But we got to talk about Jeffrey Simmons and the overall impact impact
15:53.994 --> 15:57.438
that he had on this Bears team as a whole. And I'm reading comments from
15:57.470 --> 16:00.773
my video last night. I'm reading comments from today. Some people are saying that this
16:01.273 --> 16:05.151
is arguably the greatest Chicago Bear trade we've ever made, better than Mack. The impact
16:05.651 --> 16:08.502
is way different. I was like, whoa. But let's talk about it. Jeffrey Simmons,
16:08.598 --> 16:12.463
1 sack, 6 tackles, 1 pass deflection. And Jameson
16:12.963 --> 16:15.541
seemed to have forgotten the fact that he had 4 tackles for loss.
16:16.567 --> 16:19.855
So some networks are saying 4, some are saying 3. I'm going with the higher
16:20.355 --> 16:24.761
number because it just felt that way. But man, Jeffrey Simmons, an absolute game
16:24.793 --> 16:28.305
wrecker, worth every single pick already. I mean,
16:28.642 --> 16:31.961
alone last night, he was worth it. And this is the kind of move that
16:32.009 --> 16:36.002
you make in order for those first-rounders to become practically second-rounders.
16:36.082 --> 16:39.305
This is the move that you make that you took him away from Tennessee and
16:39.805 --> 16:42.528
that 5th-rounder in 2 years that we got out of it is going to actually
16:42.592 --> 16:46.088
be a pretty high 5th-round pick. Not saying— not getting excited about that,
16:46.136 --> 16:49.103
but Ryan Poles might hit on a gem, might hit on a gem. But The
16:49.603 --> 16:53.006
Jeffrey Simmons effect was real last night. You know, let's start off with just him
16:53.038 --> 16:55.768
as a person before what he did to his teammates. Keek, I'm going to kick
16:56.268 --> 16:59.863
it over to you real quick to start off this one. Your overall thoughts
16:59.943 --> 17:03.974
of Jeffrey Simmons' game last night? Just, just absolutely
17:04.520 --> 17:07.860
amazed about the impact that he made, you know, just as a person and his
17:07.892 --> 17:11.088
leadership that he brings. You already saw the leadership qualities that he has, you know,
17:11.570 --> 17:14.477
um, being in the league for a long time and, uh, just the,
17:14.621 --> 17:17.817
the way that he was smack talking the other team, you know, motivating his guys
17:17.913 --> 17:21.183
as well. Um, you could tell he was happy to be back with Montez Sweat.
17:21.600 --> 17:25.397
Uh, like, once again, we keep using the word multiplier, and that's exactly what it—
17:25.445 --> 17:29.211
what he was. You know, this was the first time this season where we're
17:29.291 --> 17:32.512
able to get home with only 4 guys, right?
17:32.592 --> 17:35.716
Dennis Allen did not send a lot of pressure like he was doing in the
17:36.216 --> 17:39.305
first, what, 7, 8 weeks, right? So it was beautiful,
17:39.466 --> 17:43.055
beautiful, beautiful, beautiful to really see the impact he's making on the
17:43.071 --> 17:46.275
interior and see Montez Sweat and Austin Booker be able to do what they do.
17:46.532 --> 17:48.920
And I'm gonna be honest, it may be a bold take. For the first time
17:49.356 --> 17:52.728
during this whole trade deadline nonsense and talking about Khalil Mack,
17:53.067 --> 17:56.020
last night was the first time where I wasn't thinking about Khalil Mack on this
17:56.520 --> 17:59.880
team and was thinking that we may be okay with just Jeffrey Simmons because of
17:59.962 --> 18:02.128
what he's able to do for the guys on the outside.
18:03.454 --> 18:06.836
Yeah, shoot, I, I can
18:06.852 --> 18:09.542
agree that I wasn't thinking about Mack for about 2 minutes,
18:10.203 --> 18:13.623
and then I was like, wait, Imagine if we had Mack on
18:14.123 --> 18:17.286
this defensive line. Like, that's what I'm trying— we'll get into
18:17.786 --> 18:20.048
that in a little bit because we have a whole trade target segment that we're
18:20.548 --> 18:24.016
saving. Uh, but you know what, you're right. Like, Jeffrey Simmons,
18:24.048 --> 18:27.887
I'm just like, this defense was truly missing. And we've all
18:28.387 --> 18:32.144
pounded the table that they're missing a defensive tackle, that they're missing somebody to
18:32.644 --> 18:36.770
get pressure on the quarterback. You give that, our defensive back room played quote-unquote
18:37.219 --> 18:40.666
better. I would still say Jalen Johnson and Tyreek Stevenson
18:41.166 --> 18:43.471
struggled at points, but they were going against the best wide receiver in the NFL
18:43.971 --> 18:47.045
at the moment. But man, Sam Darnold couldn't do a thing.
18:47.382 --> 18:51.405
Our run defense is 4th in the NFL right now. We're currently 7th
18:51.905 --> 18:55.347
in points allowed. We're— I believe we're— excuse me, we're 8th in points
18:55.847 --> 18:59.194
allowed, 7th in yards, and we're 14th against the pass. I mean, we jumped
18:59.322 --> 19:03.008
8 spots against the pass, if you guys didn't know that. That is just
19:03.088 --> 19:06.582
absolutely insane how much better this Bears defense got with one
19:06.695 --> 19:10.623
player. And he hasn't even gotten to know the whole playbook
19:11.123 --> 19:14.792
yet. Pretty much Dennis Allen just said, okay, I'm gonna tell you to just run
19:15.292 --> 19:17.823
up the middle. But you saw Jeffrey Simmons drop back a little bit. There was
19:17.839 --> 19:21.463
one play where Jeffrey Simmons read that it was going to be a screen pass
19:21.963 --> 19:25.279
to the running back, and he instantly stopped pursuing, backed up, and who's
19:25.376 --> 19:28.134
there right to take him down at the line? Jeffrey Simmons. Yeah,
19:28.583 --> 19:32.303
just a beautiful— just a strong football mindset.
19:32.351 --> 19:35.544
I also love the guy because he's a leader. He was one of 2 Bears,
19:35.657 --> 19:39.079
him and Jade Walker, cleaning up the locker room after when everybody
19:39.095 --> 19:42.470
left trash everywhere, which I'm sure that's a conversation Ben's going to have with the
19:42.970 --> 19:46.631
guys after seeing that publicly posted, because that's just not a classy
19:46.728 --> 19:48.672
move. Swift, I'm going to go over to you because I can talk about Jeffrey
19:49.172 --> 19:52.223
Simmons all day. Your thoughts after Jeffrey Simmons' effect last night, man?
19:52.287 --> 19:56.031
We've heard the term force multiplier, and there
19:56.047 --> 19:59.213
was talked about when we got Khalil Mack, it was talked about when we got
19:59.713 --> 20:03.546
Montez Sweat. There isn't a bigger force multiplier than
20:03.610 --> 20:07.733
Jeffrey Simmons, who just instantly makes everyone around him
20:07.845 --> 20:10.942
better. Montez Sweat, a guy that even we
20:10.974 --> 20:14.279
were probably getting a little sick of because he hasn't produced like we
20:14.779 --> 20:17.968
thought, still had 10 sacks last year. And I've said all along, I think
20:18.468 --> 20:22.268
we need more talent around Montez Sweat. But you
20:22.557 --> 20:25.653
suddenly put Jeffrey Simmons in the middle of the defense and Sweat
20:26.153 --> 20:29.341
gets 3 sacks. Now, 2 of them were nullified by penalty,
20:29.406 --> 20:33.281
but the man had 3 sacks. 3 Wood Meter, 3 sacks.
20:34.460 --> 20:36.999
But bang! Yeah, boom!
20:37.851 --> 20:41.435
Just like that. That's— that was Montez Sweat last night. That's— and now
20:41.483 --> 20:44.861
he doesn't need to take any more of those pills he was taking. No joke.
20:45.345 --> 20:49.131
Oh man, he's got like 5 Wood Meters.
20:50.742 --> 20:53.697
Gas station pills. Had to throw it out there. No,
20:54.003 --> 20:57.602
um, but he made everyone around him better, man. I mean, look at
20:58.035 --> 21:01.442
even a guy like Devin Bush, who Dennis Allen
21:01.942 --> 21:05.715
didn't have to send blitzes, but when he did, it was so effective
21:05.747 --> 21:09.459
because he sent a blitzer right up the gap where Jeffrey
21:09.959 --> 21:13.717
Simmons is. 2 offensive linemen there on Simmons, they don't break
21:13.765 --> 21:17.059
off to touch Devin Bush. They're too worried about
21:17.559 --> 21:20.716
Jeffrey Simmons, and Bush just It's escorted to the quarterback.
21:20.989 --> 21:24.274
Free run, free sack. Kyler Gordon's gonna
21:24.774 --> 21:27.703
get some more sacks. Austin Booker is gonna make more big plays.
21:27.815 --> 21:31.389
Crazy, bro. Smack. And then Cam Lewis on
21:31.405 --> 21:35.026
the next play. Bang. Smack, bro. And that's— this
21:35.526 --> 21:38.808
defense came out and really set the tone for that game.
21:39.272 --> 21:42.365
And Ben Johnson is— he's taken his
21:42.413 --> 21:46.053
game to another level. I mean, a lot of people talked about things.
21:46.567 --> 21:48.879
They were down on him a little bit when we lost that game to the
21:48.895 --> 21:52.381
Packers, but we'll talk about that later. But man, oh man,
21:53.087 --> 21:56.396
Jeffrey Simmons, it was a bigger impact
21:56.428 --> 21:59.705
than Khalil Mack or Montez Sweat, and he helped the guys
21:59.753 --> 22:02.869
around him. It wasn't just him making plays. You know what,
22:03.174 --> 22:05.599
I'm gonna tell that— I'm gonna say this to everybody right now. I think,
22:05.663 --> 22:09.213
uh, Swifty's got a juice box meter. Like, that guy's been— I
22:09.713 --> 22:13.084
saw that juice box come out every time. Hey, hey, is that
22:13.584 --> 22:16.569
strawberry juice? Berry, berry, baby. Berry,
22:16.601 --> 22:19.653
berry. Oh, okay, okay, okay. Watch out.
22:19.959 --> 22:22.946
How many berries can— how many single berries? Whoa,
22:23.251 --> 22:26.223
whoa, whoa, back it up,
22:26.239 --> 22:28.584
back it up, back it up. You want to go with the juice box?
22:30.078 --> 22:33.789
Mike Ditka, you're the juice box guy. I'm just kidding. You're the juice box
22:34.289 --> 22:37.322
guy. No, I mean seriously, man, you kind of hit on it in
22:37.822 --> 22:41.033
a couple of ways. I mean, the Kyler Gordon hit was phenomenal. Cam Lewis,
22:41.097 --> 22:44.921
I think, was great too. But Devin Bush was
22:45.098 --> 22:48.922
that blitzing running back— or excuse me, linebacker— that
22:48.954 --> 22:52.504
we wanted Tremaine Edmonds to be. But man, did he look
22:52.585 --> 22:56.023
phenomenal just getting so much pressure in the backfield.
22:56.296 --> 23:00.297
Sam Darnold was like, what do I do here? Like, he literally looks so
23:00.797 --> 23:03.992
confused at one point when the camera panned over to him. It looked like he
23:04.492 --> 23:07.913
just got smacked upside the head, concussed— not which he wasn't,
23:08.009 --> 23:11.720
fortunately. And then he's just like, bruh, what? Like,
23:12.220 --> 23:15.320
we're supposed to be really good. We just won a Super Bowl. Yeah. And it's
23:15.820 --> 23:19.390
like, he was looking around like, somebody help me.
23:19.460 --> 23:23.120
He's like, we just got Quentin Nelson and we still can't stop him? The monsters
23:23.620 --> 23:27.940
of the Midway are back, baby. Like, that just— the effect right there was so
23:28.440 --> 23:31.540
real. And, um, I do want to say one more thing is that
23:32.040 --> 23:35.340
I think it unlocked another gear in Caleb Williams, which that's our next topic.
23:35.840 --> 23:38.849
But I do want to talk about Jeffrey Simmons. You saw the leadership walking into
23:39.349 --> 23:42.663
Halas Hall. You also couldn't miss the guy. He's absolutely massive. He literally is a
23:42.711 --> 23:46.156
Chicago— he is a bear. That's monster, like fresh
23:46.300 --> 23:49.441
out of hibernation, just all muscle bear. No, no fat on him.
23:50.066 --> 23:53.047
And when Caleb Williams on that sideline,
23:53.367 --> 23:56.716
you saw him jawing at Antoine Randall-Elle. I'm not sure if you guys saw that
23:57.216 --> 24:01.043
either, but Khalif Raymond. Yeah, and Khalif, he was just fired up.
24:01.139 --> 24:04.155
But then he's going up to He has the cojones.
24:04.331 --> 24:07.701
6 foot, they claim, 6'1. I think Caleb's
24:08.201 --> 24:11.553
more of like a 6-foot kind of guy with cleats on. Nothing against that though,
24:11.569 --> 24:14.778
guy flat out rocks, and not making fun of him by any means. But he
24:15.278 --> 24:18.437
goes up to Jeffrey Simmons in his face. It was like a little kid looking
24:18.454 --> 24:21.984
up at his dad and was just like going, come on, let's go!
24:22.064 --> 24:25.691
Like he's firing him up. Jeffrey's like, all right kid, like relax, relax.
24:25.755 --> 24:29.527
Like, but that's leadership right there. You Caleb
24:30.027 --> 24:33.493
got inspired by it. He loves it. They're having so much fun. He's getting fired
24:33.993 --> 24:37.363
up because the defense— because Jeffrey Simmons is getting fired up. Like, guys, I think
24:37.411 --> 24:41.200
that Jeffrey Simmons has just changed this entire Bears culture even more
24:41.700 --> 24:43.641
than what we're used to. Keek, want to hear your thoughts on that? Yeah,
24:43.657 --> 24:45.841
yeah, I was gonna say, you know, because you made a good point about like
24:46.341 --> 24:49.052
the secondary looking, looking a little bit better. I think the reason is because when
24:49.552 --> 24:52.536
you're only sending 4 guys, that's what DA wants to do. He wants his 4
24:52.665 --> 24:56.165
front 4 to get to the quarterback, which they were with Jeffrey Simmons, Montez Sweat,
24:56.278 --> 25:00.194
Austin Booker, and so forth. That means you're able to actually drop Kyler Gordon back
25:00.210 --> 25:03.950
and help in coverage, right? And I think that was a huge benefit.
25:04.062 --> 25:07.464
I, I, I don't really know the exact stats, but when he was on JSN,
25:07.577 --> 25:10.787
he actually did a very, very nice job last night, right? And they
25:11.287 --> 25:14.157
had to move JSN around to, you know, obviously get his catches. And JSN's one
25:14.657 --> 25:16.885
of those guys gonna get his catches. But when Kyler Gordon's able to drop back
25:16.901 --> 25:20.496
in coverage, that is very good news for the Chicago Bears defense. I also
25:20.576 --> 25:23.257
want to bring up a quick stat. You know, I'm a big stats guy.
25:23.722 --> 25:26.980
And this was actually posted by Ian Rapoport, um, as of this morning.
25:27.028 --> 25:29.805
Since the Seahawks were held to 3 yards per play,
25:30.142 --> 25:33.159
3 sacks, interception, and 48 plays where Simmons was on the field.
25:33.432 --> 25:37.188
In the 8 plays where he was off the field, Seattle averaged 13.3
25:37.204 --> 25:40.574
yards per play. You talk about an impact, right? Every single time
25:40.815 --> 25:43.993
that Jeffrey Simmons was off the field, they resorted back to the
25:44.089 --> 25:46.496
old defense that we were used to seeing, right? So you just talk about the
25:46.577 --> 25:49.321
impact and the plays that he was in. It was tremendous.
25:49.947 --> 25:52.581
You know, I— first of all, it's an incredible stat.
25:52.854 --> 25:56.548
Second of all, I wanna— I'm gonna ask you guys a double-up question and see
25:57.048 --> 25:58.909
both your thoughts because I do want to get to the next subject of Caleb
25:59.022 --> 26:02.298
Williams. Kentavious Streete goes down with an
26:02.314 --> 26:05.430
injury, wishing him a speedy recovery. Then also Grady
26:05.462 --> 26:09.525
Jarrett leaves the game, who had the 6th best pass rush win
26:09.637 --> 26:13.363
rate in the NFL entering that game. He's consistently owned that.
26:13.733 --> 26:16.527
He's been pretty solid. The face mask thing, I get it, he was jaw with
26:17.027 --> 26:18.950
a Seahawks guy, whatever, we'll forget about it. We won the game.
26:20.217 --> 26:23.811
I don't— losing both those guys potentially this upcoming Sunday due to injury,
26:24.646 --> 26:28.705
is it weird that I still am not worried? Because Jeffrey Simmons practically has
26:28.737 --> 26:32.444
the talent of 2— both those guys put together, and it allowed
26:32.492 --> 26:35.958
Jordan Vandenberg and Jaden Loving to both maybe get some experience
26:36.458 --> 26:39.071
with the best guy in the NFL at it. Swift, I'm going to kick it
26:39.571 --> 26:43.002
over to you. Your thoughts on that one? I, I think we're fine when you
26:43.502 --> 26:46.769
have Jeffrey Simmons and you have Montez Sweat
26:46.785 --> 26:50.150
and Austin Booker, I think this defensive line is fine. Uh, we're not
26:50.650 --> 26:53.499
even— we didn't even really miss Dayo, and I think that's something that when Dayo
26:53.515 --> 26:56.239
gets back, we're gonna be— this week? Yeah,
26:56.383 --> 27:00.020
hopefully. I believe— I don't think they— they haven't activated his practice
27:00.084 --> 27:02.456
window yet. No, no, no, they can,
27:03.209 --> 27:06.718
but I don't know if he's ready yet. But I'd like to see— right,
27:06.798 --> 27:10.628
right now, Grady Jarrett, I think he has a lot more potential playing
27:10.660 --> 27:14.057
next to Simmons, but I also think this is the perfect time for
27:14.185 --> 27:17.774
us to take 2 and a half weeks here or longer
27:18.270 --> 27:21.635
and get healthy because we got a bye week coming up after this. We're not
27:22.135 --> 27:25.480
gonna play football for 2 more weeks after that. So you got
27:25.980 --> 27:30.142
3 weeks right now where guys like Dayo, Ozzie Trepillo,
27:30.271 --> 27:33.299
Kyle Minungi, and they can all get healthy.
27:33.731 --> 27:37.512
Let them get healthy. Let Grady Jarrett get healthy. The Bucs didn't complete
27:38.012 --> 27:41.727
a single pass last week. I'm not that worried about him. Not to
27:42.227 --> 27:46.079
say the Bucs are bad, but we're playing at home. We have
27:46.579 --> 27:49.691
a legit Super Bowl contending team here.
27:50.398 --> 27:53.593
Go into— go home, Chicago. Take care of
27:53.625 --> 27:56.885
business against the Bucs and let's get healthy coming
27:56.917 --> 28:00.112
out of the bye week. I want to save that thought for the outlook of
28:00.128 --> 28:03.789
2026, Swifty. I think that's a great, great thought. But man, that's going to
28:04.289 --> 28:07.723
be a long 2 weeks without Bears football. Let's go into Caleb Williams,
28:07.820 --> 28:10.968
though, his game versus the Seattle Seahawks.
28:11.033 --> 28:14.486
First of all, like I said earlier, fastest Bears quarterback to ever get
28:14.986 --> 28:17.779
to over 8,700 yards passing. Along with that,
28:17.795 --> 28:21.378
too, he still only has one interception this year. He's on pace for 30—
28:21.811 --> 28:25.394
I think it was like 3,500 yards, 18 touchdowns and
28:25.426 --> 28:29.249
3 interceptions. And oh yeah, he's the only quarterback this year through 8 games
28:29.586 --> 28:32.863
to have more than 200 total passing yards versus
28:33.040 --> 28:36.734
the Seattle Seahawks defense. In Seattle in primetime. Guy flat
28:37.234 --> 28:39.320
out rocks. You know, I'm going to kick it over to you real quick.
28:39.561 --> 28:42.613
He didn't get that 300-yard passing game we were hoping for. Would have been the
28:43.113 --> 28:46.098
first quarterback since 2014 Brian Hoyer to do that. But,
28:46.307 --> 28:49.294
you know, Caleb Williams' game, I thought he was locked in all night long,
28:49.423 --> 28:52.587
really had one of his better performances under the lights. And your thoughts on it?
28:53.358 --> 28:56.907
Yeah, just, just excellent showing of quarterback play for Caleb Williams. And we've
28:56.987 --> 29:00.087
talked about time and time again, guys, about like him getting
29:00.199 --> 29:03.631
injured was obviously brutal in the moment, but I think he came back
29:03.727 --> 29:07.141
a completely different quarterback with just, just a mission,
29:07.173 --> 29:10.859
right? And he just was so calm under pressure. There's even some clips prior to
29:11.359 --> 29:13.792
the game when, you know, they were doing the national anthem and warming up,
29:13.808 --> 29:16.773
and, you know, that the atmosphere of Lumen Field and, and why it makes it
29:17.273 --> 29:19.915
such a tough place to play. He was calm,
29:20.075 --> 29:23.377
collected, and he knew, um, what he had in himself and what he
29:23.877 --> 29:26.614
had in his guys and just the confidence and to go in there and win
29:26.647 --> 29:30.020
the football game. Um, just, just the decision-making has been excellent.
29:30.520 --> 29:34.360
His, his presence and in the pocket, keeping his eyes downfield, uh, was excellent.
29:34.860 --> 29:37.740
And this is a very tough defense to play. And I do want to say,
29:37.820 --> 29:41.040
you know, ever since he's returned from injury, been absolutely excellent. Once again, he's played
29:41.540 --> 29:43.970
2 top 10 defenses back to back. But ever since he's returned,
29:44.470 --> 29:49.380
286.7 pass yards per game, 4 touchdowns with 0 interceptions, a 73.8%
29:49.880 --> 29:53.830
completion percentage, and 109.7 passer rating as well.
29:54.640 --> 29:57.860
Um, any questions that you had about Caleb Williams I think have been answered at
29:58.360 --> 30:01.705
this point, right? Chicago has a legit top 5 bona fide MVP
30:02.205 --> 30:06.450
type of candidate quarterback. And I feel like, you know, some Bears fans
30:06.995 --> 30:09.800
don't know how to act, and I'm still trying to get used to having a
30:10.300 --> 30:12.846
good quarterback like Caleb Williams. But I think the rest of the league has definitely
30:13.346 --> 30:16.212
been put on notice about Caleb Williams and the Bears. Yeah, uh,
30:16.292 --> 30:19.659
shoot, last night, and I tweeted this out, I was like,
30:20.444 --> 30:23.089
I actually feel like we have— this is, this is a feeling I've never felt
30:23.589 --> 30:26.712
before, having a real franchise quarterback. It was— I know
30:26.856 --> 30:30.575
all 3 of us might have talked about it in the past, potentially trading back
30:30.623 --> 30:34.190
that number 1 pick back in 2024, get in a hall,
30:34.690 --> 30:37.770
hopefully. Maybe, you know, Drake Maye or someone along those lines. Drake Maye is a
30:38.270 --> 30:39.830
good quarterback. Maybe it could have worked out and we could have had a little
30:40.330 --> 30:43.630
bit extra. But Caleb and Roman, they're connecting really well
30:44.130 --> 30:47.510
and Caleb's doing a phenomenal job. We'll talk about those 2 in just a sec.
30:48.010 --> 30:50.590
But Swifty, your thoughts of Caleb Williams' game versus the Seattle Seahawks?
30:51.090 --> 30:54.690
Man, Caleb just keeps taking his game to a new level
30:55.190 --> 30:59.070
and he's not even— think about this— he's not even using his legs right now.
30:59.326 --> 31:03.502
He's still recovering from that hamstring. Yeah, he didn't even run.
31:03.599 --> 31:07.341
He ran for like 2 yards yesterday. This is a guy who had
31:07.759 --> 31:11.180
more 21-plus mile per hour runs than Lamar
31:11.373 --> 31:14.794
Jackson last year. That's how fast this dude is and how
31:14.922 --> 31:17.300
good of a runner he is. His legs are a weapon,
31:18.055 --> 31:21.861
and he just went against the Super Bowl champions in
31:21.990 --> 31:25.763
their house and picked them apart by
31:26.263 --> 31:30.217
throwing the ball. And that, that's just so special. He's just scratching
31:30.249 --> 31:33.902
the surface of not how good he can be— this is
31:33.934 --> 31:37.187
something Bears fans got to wrap their minds around because we haven't had this,
31:37.283 --> 31:40.920
right? We haven't even had a good quarterback in a long time. He can be
31:41.529 --> 31:43.676
great, and I think he's already,
31:44.669 --> 31:48.002
he's already there, but he's just scratching the surface.
31:48.338 --> 31:51.383
He's going to keep getting better and better. And if Jeffrey Simmons and
31:51.883 --> 31:55.168
his defense can keep doing what they're doing giving him the ball back and giving
31:55.668 --> 31:58.637
him more opportunities. This team is just so special,
31:59.102 --> 32:02.442
and Caleb is that guy. If there's anybody out there that's still doubting him,
32:03.663 --> 32:07.469
what are you doing? You're not watching the tape. You're just worried about his fingernails
32:07.969 --> 32:10.231
or something. Might just go home, paint your fingernails,
32:11.130 --> 32:14.920
realize it's not a big deal, and realize the Chicago Bears have
32:15.420 --> 32:19.256
a franchise quarterback. And not just any franchise quarterback, one that's going
32:19.756 --> 32:23.155
to be in the elite tier. With the Josh Allens and the Patrick Mahomes.
32:23.508 --> 32:27.518
I see Caleb taking that step very soon, and it's
32:28.018 --> 32:31.094
a scary feeling as a Bears fan because we've never felt that. We've watched it
32:31.431 --> 32:34.735
in Green Bay, but we've never had one ourselves. You know, I'll say
32:35.235 --> 32:38.697
this, I think he's already like subtly become an honorable mention in that tier.
32:39.130 --> 32:42.562
You know, I, I think that the NFL's— you don't,
32:42.578 --> 32:46.251
you don't see as many 400-yard passing games anymore. You don't see as many
32:46.443 --> 32:49.378
5, 6 touchdown games. Joe Burrow, on the other hand, that guy just keeps doing
32:49.410 --> 32:51.897
it, but It's what happens when you have the best wide receiver room in the
32:52.397 --> 32:55.716
NFL. I cannot believe
32:56.053 --> 33:00.128
how the progression he has had also while missing 3 games
33:00.144 --> 33:02.840
this year, which is crazy to think.
33:03.530 --> 33:06.851
And he's still going to put up numbers we used to pray for
33:06.899 --> 33:10.734
out of a Bears quarterback. And he's still got some rust on him. I mean,
33:10.814 --> 33:14.633
think about it. The guy has only played in, what, 5 games
33:14.665 --> 33:18.227
this year? 4.5 games technically this year. Or is it 5.5? Whatever you want to
33:18.275 --> 33:21.575
put. Yeah, it'd be 4.5 games, right? Because he won game number
33:22.075 --> 33:26.029
1, got hurt game number 2, and then he's what, 2 and— he's
33:26.606 --> 33:29.954
3-0 since coming back. Yeah. So yeah, I mean,
33:30.627 --> 33:34.760
you look at that and you're like, he's doing this. He's had
33:34.873 --> 33:38.221
3 games less than everybody else who's really shaken off the
33:38.237 --> 33:42.018
rust and done a good job. But it's also how he's connecting. And Swifty,
33:42.066 --> 33:45.622
you talked about this earlier, like how this team is set up for the future.
33:45.686 --> 33:49.515
So many guys under contract. He's got Colson Loveland this season with 3 more after.
33:49.917 --> 33:53.097
He's got Luther Burden for at least 2 more after this one.
33:53.467 --> 33:57.289
He's got Rome Odunze for at least 2 more after this one. I mean,
33:57.322 --> 34:00.791
shoot, you got everybody, all of his targets,
34:00.839 --> 34:04.550
Kyle Minungu on this roster for 2 years after this year. You got DeAndre
34:05.050 --> 34:09.159
Swift, who's got 3 years after this year. I mean, these guys are all together.
34:09.449 --> 34:12.806
This offensive line has the future on it, the present,
34:12.822 --> 34:16.034
the future, and soon to be the past because we got some veterans
34:16.098 --> 34:19.774
on it. But they're doing a really good job. And they, they built this thing,
34:19.806 --> 34:22.934
and that's what's going to make Caleb great. You look at Tom Brady, he had
34:23.434 --> 34:26.994
what, Wes Welker for 12 seasons? He had Gronk for 12 seasons.
34:27.491 --> 34:29.866
You keep a core together,
34:30.700 --> 34:33.909
and that's what's so special. So Swifty, I'm really happy that you brought that up
34:33.925 --> 34:37.294
earlier. And also, this is what it takes to be elite, and Ryan Poles saw
34:37.794 --> 34:40.728
that too, because now that you have your offense kind of set up,
34:41.386 --> 34:44.627
you can just pile drive bringing in great defenders year in
34:44.675 --> 34:48.230
and year out. And that's what the Patriots did. That's what the the Chiefs did,
34:48.730 --> 34:52.230
and that's what winning organizations do. So I'm really excited about Keke.
34:52.730 --> 34:54.550
I'm gonna go back to you real quick. I know I threw a lot out
34:55.050 --> 34:56.870
there, but is there anything else that you want to add in regards to Caleb
34:57.370 --> 35:00.050
Williams' gameplay? You know, got a couple more minutes here. We want to talk about
35:00.550 --> 35:03.750
him before we get into our sponsor in the final 2, uh, episodes— 2 segments.
35:04.250 --> 35:06.850
Yeah, and I, and I think to Swift's point, just saying that, that he still
35:07.350 --> 35:10.470
hasn't reached his ceiling, right? And there's just so many layers to the Chicago
35:10.970 --> 35:13.410
Bears offense. I think you, you think you have this Bears offense figured out,
35:13.910 --> 35:16.950
and then you don't. Right? I think Seattle had a game plan, and I,
35:17.450 --> 35:19.530
I think, I think someone said it best. I think it was an analyst,
35:20.030 --> 35:22.770
um, on a show. They're like, you know, you can call the perfect defense and
35:23.270 --> 35:26.110
Caleb still beats you, right? He's, he's on that type of tier. Only, only a
35:26.610 --> 35:29.910
certain number of quarterbacks are able to dissect defenses the way that Caleb Williams
35:30.410 --> 35:33.270
does, right? So, um, I just want to let Bears fans know, enjoy it.
35:33.770 --> 35:36.230
And I actually want to say a public apology to myself as well. I was
35:36.730 --> 35:39.690
actually in my house today saying I'm an idiot forever not wanting this kid.
35:39.902 --> 35:42.854
Right? Yeah, I know, I know I'm just being a loyal Bears fan at the
35:43.354 --> 35:45.517
time, but, but there was a time where I was like, oh, I don't want
35:46.017 --> 35:49.127
this kid, right? I believed all the narratives about him, and I feel terrible about
35:49.627 --> 35:53.234
it now because he has been— he, he has changed everything about
35:53.734 --> 35:56.587
this organization. And even him last night in his press conference, it was just like,
35:56.892 --> 36:00.438
you know, I want to make Bears fans proud to support this
36:00.938 --> 36:03.695
team. And it literally made me a little bit emotional when he said that because
36:03.727 --> 36:07.225
we've been through everything, right? Through many different quarterbacks and many
36:07.418 --> 36:11.030
trials and tribulations, and, and he has changed everything and the belief,
36:11.255 --> 36:15.044
uh, in this city. By far the most mature 24-year-old
36:15.544 --> 36:18.544
you'll ever meet in your entire life at this point, at least. You know,
36:18.560 --> 36:22.284
when I'm— you know, I was out Halloween weekend running around the city of
36:22.784 --> 36:26.009
Chicago, and you could tell who's, you know, around my age,
36:26.057 --> 36:29.734
29, 30, and then you got the kids out on the block,
36:29.975 --> 36:33.648
first big paychecks party, and it's like Oh, and then
36:34.148 --> 36:37.317
you're like, dang, you're the same age as Caleb Williams. Like, it's, it's crazy.
36:37.830 --> 36:41.195
So, you know, he's truly become a leader of men, and he's
36:41.695 --> 36:44.031
just such a young guy still. And it's crazy that we could have 16 more
36:44.159 --> 36:47.412
years of him with how quarterback longevity is going. I mean,
36:47.828 --> 36:51.289
you're gonna have people, kids that are— and Keek,
36:51.353 --> 36:53.693
also, I agree with you. I admit I was wrong on Caleb Williams too.
36:54.398 --> 36:58.067
Um, you have people that are going to be born this year, and when
36:58.083 --> 37:01.110
Caleb Williams retired, they're gonna be driving cars. Cars, or if they're flying cars at
37:01.610 --> 37:05.210
that point. But it's just crazy how bright this future
37:05.710 --> 37:08.650
looks for this Bears team and how exciting it is.
37:09.150 --> 37:12.990
And there's so much change happening right now. Like, this franchise has
37:13.490 --> 37:15.690
moved in a much better direction, so I'm really, really excited about it. I know
37:16.190 --> 37:19.090
Swift is too. Uh, guys, before we get more into today's show, because we're gonna
37:19.590 --> 37:21.590
look at that 2026 outlook, we don't want to get too ahead of ourselves.
37:21.730 --> 37:25.490
I would like to thank today's sponsor, Kalshi. All right, Bears fans, before we
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get back into it, I gotta talk to you about Kalshi. Because if
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you feel like you know what's going to happen in the NFC North this season
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prediction to the test. One market that caught my eye is the NFC North
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total wins, and with all the changes right now, the market
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has 36 or more total wins at 76%,
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38 or more at 60%, and 40
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or more at 34%. So if you're sitting there saying,
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look, I think this division is going to rack up some wins this
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season, you can actually take a position on that prediction
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with Cowshy. And what makes Cowshy different from a traditional sportsbook
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is you're not playing against their house, you're playing against
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other people. You're buying yes or no contracts
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based on what you think is going to happen, and the market can move throughout
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the season, as we've seen, because teams win, teams lose,
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injuries happen, new information comes out, and people
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change their minds on what they think is going to happen. Plus,
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Now let's get back to the video. All right, well, thank you to
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today's sponsor. And you know, we were just talking about Caleb, so highly
39:03.522 --> 39:07.616
of him and how excited we are. Let's get into a
39:08.116 --> 39:11.999
little bit more about yesterday's game and what it meant for this impact
39:12.352 --> 39:15.848
for the rest of the season. I mean, Bears shot up to number 5 on
39:15.864 --> 39:18.943
Fox Sports power rankings. I think they should be number 1,
39:18.991 --> 39:22.503
in my opinion. But, you know, can't win it all. And also,
39:22.856 --> 39:26.448
the Bears are now nearly top 10 in every single major category on both
39:26.948 --> 39:30.136
offense, defense, and special teams. Like we talked about, the progression of
39:30.152 --> 39:33.264
Caleb Williams, defense playing a lot better. And you
39:33.280 --> 39:36.792
got through arguably the thickest part of your schedule that isn't
39:36.888 --> 39:39.985
in regards to the NFC North. At 6-2,
39:40.322 --> 39:43.854
you're in second place half a game out. You really could be in first if
39:44.354 --> 39:49.073
that game didn't go the way it did against Minnesota. I mean, this season the
39:49.573 --> 39:51.963
Bears control their own destiny. I know it's a little bit early to say that,
39:51.979 --> 39:55.640
but they really, really do. And looking at the schedule,
39:55.656 --> 39:59.060
you have the Bucs coming up this Sunday night, another primetime game,
39:59.124 --> 40:02.737
3 primetime games in a row for this team, by the way. And then finally
40:03.237 --> 40:06.812
it chills out with the Saints Following that there in Chicago after the
40:06.828 --> 40:09.522
bye week. Then you have Detroit on Thanksgiving,
40:09.634 --> 40:12.408
Jacksonville back at home, Miami,
40:12.681 --> 40:16.626
Buffalo, and then you end off with 3 games in a row against the NFC
40:17.126 --> 40:20.186
North. And shoot, with how the North is going, with how this team is playing,
40:20.234 --> 40:23.586
anything's possible. And we saw the comment earlier saying that people might not think
40:24.086 --> 40:26.488
the Bears could lose anymore. Keith, I'm going to start with you on this one.
40:26.552 --> 40:29.888
We got a couple of interesting games in the Bucs and Saints coming
40:29.904 --> 40:33.210
up here. How are you feeling for not only the
40:33.710 --> 40:37.130
short-term but the long-term future of this season? Yeah, I think this team's focus is
40:37.630 --> 40:41.150
just going 1-0 every single week. You know, even when they asked Caleb last night,
40:41.650 --> 40:44.270
was like, hey, what is the outlook for the rest of the season? He's like,
40:44.770 --> 40:47.490
just getting 1% better every day. He would not say that they are a Super
40:47.990 --> 40:50.910
Bowl contender, and that's the mindset. They're not looking ahead on Tampa Bay, they're not
40:51.410 --> 40:53.930
looking ahead on the Saints. They believe that any given Sunday that you can be
40:54.430 --> 40:56.450
beat, so they have to put their best foot forward every week. And I'm trying
40:56.950 --> 41:00.440
to keep that same mentality, right? I think it's It's, it's easy for Bears fans.
41:00.940 --> 41:04.360
We haven't experienced this, experienced this in a long time, um, to instantly say we're
41:04.860 --> 41:07.620
Super Bowl contenders, and it's okay to have that feeling. But when you're looking at
41:08.120 --> 41:10.800
this football team, they just want to be 1-0 every single week. And you know,
41:11.300 --> 41:13.860
when you're looking at the schedule, I actually love how it's set up, right,
41:14.360 --> 41:17.580
with these tough matchups, because these last couple of weeks have been
41:18.080 --> 41:21.460
playoff atmosphere type of games. So not only in
41:21.960 --> 41:24.640
our own division are we beating each other up, talking about the Vikings, Packers,
41:25.140 --> 41:28.586
Lions, right? We're playing these tough games against top defenses, right? So this team if
41:29.086 --> 41:32.212
they can get into the playoffs, which that's the expectation, they will be battle-tested and
41:32.712 --> 41:35.437
ready for anything when we get into those later months and trying to make that
41:35.485 --> 41:39.191
run for the Super Bowl. Yeah, and you know, injuries are
41:39.691 --> 41:41.950
going to happen, so there's going to be impacts to this team as well,
41:41.998 --> 41:45.015
but other teams too. We haven't even gone through the trade deadline,
41:45.047 --> 41:49.186
but with how this team has progressed— I mean, you have beaten the Carolina Panthers,
41:49.362 --> 41:52.747
you crushed them, put a 59-burger on them. You almost beat the Minnesota Vikings,
41:52.795 --> 41:56.295
who are first in the division. The Eagles and the Jets at the time were
41:56.584 --> 41:59.876
looking promising. We're not going to talk about the Green Bay game,
42:00.294 --> 42:03.426
but you go to Atlanta, you do a good job there, you beat the Patriots
42:03.570 --> 42:06.766
and the Seahawks, both back-to-back Super Bowl opponents. I mean,
42:06.798 --> 42:10.284
this team is doing great things. But you know what? You have the
42:10.412 --> 42:14.315
right mentality. And that's what I think is totally
42:14.347 --> 42:18.041
true, is that just win every week and
42:18.541 --> 42:21.332
worry about the next following game. Treat every game the same. That you want to
42:21.832 --> 42:24.474
go out there and win. And I think that's what's really important. Swifty, I'm going
42:24.974 --> 42:27.184
to kick it over to you real quick in regards to, you know, kind of
42:27.684 --> 42:30.245
what we were reviewing in the 2026 season. How are you feeling so far,
42:31.175 --> 42:34.333
man? We're set up perfectly right now. We're a little bit banged up.
42:34.397 --> 42:37.924
It's only a couple of guys. And headed into this bye week,
42:38.020 --> 42:41.787
if we can get through the Buccaneers game, stay relatively healthy,
42:42.413 --> 42:45.683
get even healthier over that bye, this team is in a perfect
42:46.183 --> 42:50.042
position to go on a run. And fortunately or unfortunately,
42:50.090 --> 42:53.520
however you look at it, they got to keep winning because the NFC North
42:53.696 --> 42:57.141
is on a historic run here. I, I remember people
42:57.641 --> 43:00.410
were laughing at me when I said this the best division in football in the
43:00.506 --> 43:04.432
offseason. Now here they are, the only team in NFL
43:04.609 --> 43:07.942
history 8 weeks into the season to have
43:08.198 --> 43:11.804
every single team at least 2 games over .500.
43:11.900 --> 43:15.715
This division is stacked, and the only teams they're losing
43:15.811 --> 43:19.402
to are their division opponents. Vikings' only
43:19.434 --> 43:22.704
loss is the Lions. Bears' only loss— they've
43:23.204 --> 43:27.064
lost to the Vikings and the Packers. It's, it's similar. The Packers the
43:27.564 --> 43:31.103
same way. And it's crazy, we are dominating
43:31.680 --> 43:34.870
every other team we play that's not in our division.
43:35.303 --> 43:38.829
This division is a gauntlet, and we got to keep winning to keep
43:39.329 --> 43:42.408
up pace because even with this record and how we're playing,
43:42.922 --> 43:46.534
we're still not in first place because the Vikings— who I'm not
43:47.034 --> 43:49.311
that scared of the Vikings right now, I think they have a lot of holes
43:49.408 --> 43:52.651
on that roster, but if they keep winning,
43:52.715 --> 43:55.926
they can, they can take the North. Now they got to come through Chicago though
43:56.426 --> 43:59.683
at some point. So yeah, but let you know what, I want to talk
44:00.183 --> 44:03.873
about that real quick, the Vikings schedule, because they just lost
44:04.373 --> 44:07.774
to Detroit. Yeah, they're, I mean, they're a good ball club, but They got a
44:08.031 --> 44:10.968
really tough schedule coming up here. At least the Bears have a little bit of
44:11.000 --> 44:14.659
breathing room, to say the least. But they got the Bills
44:14.772 --> 44:19.185
on Monday Night Football, they got the Packers after, which that's
44:19.685 --> 44:22.026
a toss-up right there. Last place in the NFC North, by the way. Love to
44:22.526 --> 44:25.974
say that. Um, you got the 49ers who are leading the NFC
44:26.183 --> 44:29.875
West at the moment. Keith's dying right now. I love it.
44:30.420 --> 44:33.085
Uh, you got the— I love how you could just poke fun at the,
44:33.165 --> 44:35.540
the Packers. Any chance we get, we like to poke fun at the backers.
44:35.588 --> 44:39.612
I love it. Yeah, just beat Green Bay sucks chants in
44:39.740 --> 44:42.962
Seattle. Can you believe that? I'm happy we
44:43.026 --> 44:46.521
did it also at a more appropriate moment versus
44:46.617 --> 44:49.438
when a guy was down in Atlanta. I know we took a little bit of
44:49.938 --> 44:52.372
a break after that. We're like, did you, did you hear the story? I did
44:52.404 --> 44:55.466
see there were— it was on social media. I just, I happened to run and
44:55.690 --> 44:59.537
find it randomly. There was some guy on Instagram who was at that game
45:00.037 --> 45:03.096
and he showed pictures. Apparently the chants didn't
45:03.289 --> 45:06.912
have to do— it had nothing to do with the injury. What happened
45:07.412 --> 45:11.256
was there was a random Packers fan at that game
45:11.304 --> 45:14.719
who was holding up a sign that said Bears sucks
45:14.927 --> 45:18.117
and pointing it towards the fans. And this was in the break,
45:18.213 --> 45:21.676
a break of the game. So they saw this guy standing up
45:21.885 --> 45:25.828
waving a sign and they just started— it was just a small section that
45:26.328 --> 45:30.158
started chanting Green Bay sucks. And then there were so many Bears fans that
45:30.658 --> 45:34.055
it just grew throughout the stadium, but it was really pointed at one
45:34.151 --> 45:37.696
Packer fan. And I think people kind of ran with that a little bit
45:38.196 --> 45:41.385
out of context and took it wrong. But what would be— what would be
45:41.885 --> 45:45.410
content creation without, you know, doing that, right? Like, yeah, that's how it is.
45:45.859 --> 45:49.420
It is how it is. But yeah, I— that's
45:49.920 --> 45:52.948
a good story, to say the least, first of all. Um, but yeah, Green Bay's
45:53.448 --> 45:55.835
in last place, but they're a toss-up there. But you still got the Niners,
45:55.867 --> 45:59.077
you got the Falcons. Then you got the Panthers, then you got the Patriots,
46:00.230 --> 46:04.054
and then you got the Lions, the Commanders. So like
46:04.359 --> 46:07.556
Minnesota is— so we play
46:08.056 --> 46:11.432
Minnesota January 10th for the last game of the season, but their 2 games before
46:11.932 --> 46:14.878
look like they're winnable. But they have a tough, you know, 6-game,
46:15.216 --> 46:18.243
7-game stretch right here. Minnesota, I mean,
46:18.436 --> 46:21.545
shoot, you lose even half of those, you're in
46:22.045 --> 46:25.652
trouble. You know, like, and the Bears, the way they're progressing,
46:25.749 --> 46:29.732
are looking really good. This— you can't stop, though. You have to be playing this
46:29.764 --> 46:33.121
dominating football week in and week out. If the Bears
46:33.169 --> 46:37.088
can walk into Thanksgiving at 8-2,
46:37.104 --> 46:40.879
so winning 2 more, and that means that they would be on a 5-game winning
46:40.943 --> 46:44.477
streak. I think that gives you enough confidence. You walk into Detroit
46:44.977 --> 46:47.432
and that's going to be a juggernaut showdown. And I think it's going to be
46:47.932 --> 46:50.287
a lot of fun, too. Um, Keek, I want to go over to you real
46:50.335 --> 46:53.589
quick. Thoughts a little bit deeper into anything
46:53.621 --> 46:56.554
you're worried about for the rest of this season in regards to opponents? I mean,
46:56.570 --> 46:59.728
I'm very confident in this team, but you can't win them all. So I really
47:00.228 --> 47:02.934
want to hear your thoughts on the rest of the season. Yeah, I just want
47:03.434 --> 47:06.508
them to find a way to at least split their division games, right? I think
47:06.524 --> 47:09.778
last year we were able to win the division with a record of 2 and—
47:10.612 --> 47:13.609
was it only 2 wins in the division last year? I think it was like
47:13.818 --> 47:16.530
2 and— I don't know, it's 2 and 6 or something like that. Uh,
47:17.030 --> 47:21.090
2-4. You play 6 divisions. Sick brain
47:21.590 --> 47:25.160
right now, my apologies. But yeah, all this wood is still there,
47:25.290 --> 47:28.330
folks, right? It's still here, it's still here, it's still here. But 2-4 in the
47:28.830 --> 47:30.850
division, I would love to see them split their games, which, which I think they
47:31.350 --> 47:33.520
will, right? I, I think, you know, you look at the Green Bay Packers,
47:33.630 --> 47:37.110
they still come through Chicago with, with Caleb, with Minungai, and now
47:37.610 --> 47:40.230
Jeffrey Simmons in the fold. Um, I think you can, you know, make some arguments
47:40.730 --> 47:43.730
that in Minnesota it's gonna be a great game. And I know Ben Johnson has
47:44.230 --> 47:47.390
Detroit circled on his calendar, you know, being swept last year. He wants one of
47:47.890 --> 47:50.990
those games as well. So I think if you can split those division games,
47:51.170 --> 47:54.930
I think the Bears will be fine. And I, and I say that because you're,
47:55.430 --> 47:58.210
you're being battle-tested. Every game that you play within the NFC North is like playing
47:58.710 --> 48:01.070
a playoff game at that point. And I think that's why the NFC North's having
48:01.570 --> 48:04.470
so much success outside of the division, because we're sitting here beating each other up,
48:04.970 --> 48:07.970
right? So when you would go out there and play the Seattle Seahawks, all respect
48:08.470 --> 48:11.130
given, or, or even when the Minnesota Vikings played the 49ers, they're going to play
48:11.630 --> 48:14.174
them tough. Because of who they have to play week in and week out within
48:14.190 --> 48:17.460
this NFC North. Oh yeah. I mean, it's no
48:17.492 --> 48:20.474
easy task for the Bears at the end facing all 3 NFC North opponents.
48:20.522 --> 48:23.375
Swifty, anything else you want to say on the 2026 outlook before we get into
48:23.423 --> 48:26.469
the final topic of trade and free agent targets? Yeah,
48:26.485 --> 48:29.835
that Bills game is the one I would have circled on there. I think that's
48:30.335 --> 48:34.002
going to be the next huge test. What does Josh Allen do
48:34.502 --> 48:37.080
against this defense? How does Caleb look in the primetime?
48:37.272 --> 48:40.690
DJ Moore making his return. That's, that's going to be a big one
48:40.738 --> 48:44.433
in that Thanksgiving game as well. But I would love to see Caleb against
48:44.933 --> 48:48.675
Mahomes. I'm ready for that too, but it's not on the schedule, guys. Oh,
48:48.755 --> 48:52.145
it could be, could be on Valentine's Day. Just putting that
48:52.209 --> 48:55.342
out there, just putting that out there. I hope no one has plans because we
48:55.358 --> 48:59.342
all might be busy that day. Everyone tell your ladies, oh sorry,
48:59.840 --> 49:03.181
you want to go out for dinner? Uh, you gotta do it the day before
49:03.230 --> 49:06.025
or the day after. I wouldn't even do it the day before. I'd be like
49:06.170 --> 49:09.735
Shoot, we'll give it a try next
49:10.235 --> 49:13.767
week. Uh, but anyway, yeah, let's get into that last topic— trade
49:13.815 --> 49:17.364
targets. Trade deadline's coming up here next week. I believe it's
49:17.864 --> 49:21.203
the 12th, uh, or right, the— I think the
49:21.219 --> 49:24.592
NFL trade deadline, the 10th. It's a 10th. Oh, it's a week from today.
49:25.235 --> 49:28.399
Yes. Okay, so, you know, Bears will be on a bye week at that point,
49:29.073 --> 49:33.233
um, after this week. So that's pretty intense right there. But yeah,
49:33.249 --> 49:36.525
you know, the NFL trade deadline ends at 1 PM Swifty—
49:36.573 --> 49:40.266
or excuse me, Keeks time, 4 PM Swifty time, 3 PM Central
49:40.330 --> 49:43.782
for the Bears. Look at that, give me all the different— we're across 3
49:44.282 --> 49:47.732
time zones, by the way, guys. Organizing this show, a lot of fun. Um,
49:47.877 --> 49:51.826
but we got a lot of trade targets. You know, we, we could
49:52.326 --> 49:55.134
talk about Khalil Mack. We can talk about that one. That's an easy one.
49:55.198 --> 49:58.425
Everyone wants that to happen. I feel, I feel like tomorrow the fatigue's gonna start
49:58.474 --> 50:01.956
kicking in. Like, is it happening? Is it not? Kind of deal. Unless we hear
50:02.085 --> 50:05.905
like Schefter be like, deep talks, it's like, oh shit, here we go again.
50:06.017 --> 50:09.644
Like, come on baby, uh, just fire Harbaugh if they— if
50:09.693 --> 50:12.806
they're not willing to do it, just fire him. We need Mac back, baby.
50:13.320 --> 50:17.140
Yeah, stop holding them hostage, please. Okay, so free Mac. Um,
50:17.252 --> 50:20.767
not— well, free Big Macs would be good too, but let's, let's, let's talk
50:21.267 --> 50:24.411
about some of these targets. So I'm gonna name a few guys Let's start off
50:24.460 --> 50:28.332
with Nashon Wright. Brendan Shugrue tweeted out that he knows someone
50:28.832 --> 50:32.317
close to the situation. Wright hasn't asked for a trade, but he would— he does
50:32.429 --> 50:34.904
want to leave, or he want to come back to the Bears if that's a
50:35.404 --> 50:38.519
possibility. Keith, thoughts on Nashon Wright maybe
50:39.019 --> 50:41.588
coming back? Yeah, I think it'll be cheap. I think you can get away maybe
50:42.088 --> 50:45.284
getting like a 7th round pick, maybe like a pick swap situation. Um, you know,
50:45.525 --> 50:49.188
you think about what he was able to do last year, uh, 5 interceptions,
50:49.221 --> 50:52.574
2 force fumbles all around the football. I always call Nashon Wright like kind
50:53.074 --> 50:55.558
of like a boom-or-bust corner, like it's either getting a turnover or he's getting burnt
50:56.058 --> 50:59.183
downfield, right? But I do think like if you're able to win with 4,
50:59.312 --> 51:03.001
like getting consistent pressure on the quarterback, maybe Nashon Wright with
51:03.501 --> 51:06.851
his measurables and ball hawk abilities would fit fine here. And you know,
51:07.413 --> 51:10.044
as I look at it, it couldn't be any worse than Tyreek Stevenson and Jaylen
51:10.076 --> 51:13.621
Johnson at this point, bringing in some competition and kind of putting pressure
51:13.990 --> 51:17.442
on guys like JJ and Tyreek well to perform at a high level.
51:19.120 --> 51:22.517
Well, okay, I like that one. I agree, I agree with all your points.
51:22.871 --> 51:25.898
My, my thing is, Swifty, I'm gonna go over to you real quick because I'm
51:26.398 --> 51:30.089
sure it might complete my entire thought. Half my thought is there with Keek right
51:30.589 --> 51:32.968
now. Want to hear your thoughts on potentially N'Shawn Wright coming back.
51:33.889 --> 51:36.299
Um, I'd be okay with it, but I don't want to give up anything.
51:36.932 --> 51:40.505
Keek said pick swap, and there was one I saw that was floated out there
51:41.117 --> 51:44.545
that, hey, we'll give you guys a 6th round pick Jets,
51:44.658 --> 51:47.737
you give us a 7th back. And then honestly, that could
51:48.237 --> 51:51.040
turn out to be pretty much nothing because we could be picking at the bottom
51:51.088 --> 51:54.312
of the 6th and they're at the top of the 7th. That's only a
51:54.812 --> 51:58.802
5-6 pick difference there depending on where they land. So other
51:59.302 --> 52:02.122
than that, I don't want to give up much for Nayshawn Wright. We let him
52:02.218 --> 52:05.730
go for a reason. Dennis Allen and Ryan
52:05.762 --> 52:08.873
Poles and company, they didn't— and Al Harris as well— didn't
52:08.889 --> 52:11.940
think he was worth $5 million. Obviously,
52:11.956 --> 52:15.250
if we would have matched what he signed for in New York, he would have
52:15.314 --> 52:18.286
rather played here, but we, we didn't offer that.
52:18.431 --> 52:22.046
We didn't want him back. Now things have changed a little bit. JJ hasn't
52:22.546 --> 52:26.079
got back to form, Tyreek's not having a big year, and we,
52:26.159 --> 52:30.482
we got some injuries in the secondary as well. If Al Harris
52:30.982 --> 52:34.354
and Dennis Allen want him back, I'm fine, but don't give
52:34.854 --> 52:37.902
up hardly anything for that guy because It's not worth
52:38.402 --> 52:40.854
it. So, so let me cook real quick right here. Let me, let me put
52:41.354 --> 52:45.121
my Ryan Poles hat on. All right, in regards to Wright,
52:46.052 --> 52:49.854
I think last year the numbers are undeniable. 80 tackles, 5 interceptions,
52:49.918 --> 52:53.239
11 pass deflections, 2 forced fumbles, and 3 fumble recoveries.
52:53.287 --> 52:57.137
I mean, the guy was a stat sheet stuffer. Do I agree that
52:57.637 --> 53:00.570
he was burned? Yes. But also you got to remember it was a much different
53:01.070 --> 53:04.520
linebacker room and a different safety room. You didn't have Dylan Thieneman back there.
53:04.700 --> 53:08.180
You didn't have Cam Lewis back there. You, you know, we'll talk about another potential
53:08.680 --> 53:12.040
safety in a second, or Jeffrey Simmons. Like, you have
53:12.540 --> 53:16.240
a completely different team that's going to get more pressure and less throws. And also,
53:16.740 --> 53:20.020
he knows this scheme because that was his first year in Dennis Allen's scheme as
53:20.520 --> 53:23.280
well. Now that he knows it, he knows the little details. They bring him back
53:23.780 --> 53:26.020
and shoot, bam, plug in right there. I thought he got better as the season
53:26.520 --> 53:29.480
went on. And a Pro Bowler, you can't deny. So I think that, you know,
53:29.980 --> 53:32.217
getting him for a 7th would be a steal. And we owe him I think,
53:32.233 --> 53:36.199
Swifty, you're gonna like this— only $1.51 million for
53:36.699 --> 53:40.470
the rest of the season. So that's my take right there. Then you also have
53:40.887 --> 53:44.596
Alonte Taylor, who, former New Orleans Saint,
53:45.463 --> 53:49.124
is down in Tennessee. Maybe was involved in the conversations as well
53:49.253 --> 53:52.705
when we were talking to Jeffrey for Jeffrey Simmons. Bears were
53:53.205 --> 53:55.611
in deep talks with the Saints last year. A lot of people don't remember.
53:55.675 --> 53:58.324
Ian Rapoport tweeted it out. For Taylor,
53:58.709 --> 54:02.128
for Dennis Allen, which the last season together in 2024,
54:02.417 --> 54:06.236
6 sacks, multiple interceptions, over 15
54:06.333 --> 54:10.248
pass deflections. I mean, that's a guy that you bring in and his contract is
54:10.281 --> 54:13.891
nearly the exact same as Jaylon Johnson. You could do a straight-up swap right there
54:14.391 --> 54:17.839
because Tennessee's scheme is a lot better for Jaylon Johnson's playing type because
54:18.339 --> 54:21.948
it's similar to Matt Eberflus's defense versus what they have here.
54:22.397 --> 54:25.303
It could work out for both parties. So that's an option right there.
54:25.367 --> 54:28.867
Swift, I'm gonna go to you because you're thinking about it, man. I, I really
54:28.883 --> 54:32.255
like Alontae Taylor. I think he knows Dennis Allen's
54:32.755 --> 54:36.013
system well. You knocked that one on the head. And Dennis Allen knows him very
54:36.125 --> 54:39.465
well. He was the guy who drafted him and brought him to New Orleans,
54:39.513 --> 54:42.740
and he had his best success of his career there. So if DA
54:43.013 --> 54:47.011
is in, I do think you might have hit, hit on
54:47.043 --> 54:51.249
that a little bit, that we can't afford to just trade for Alontae
54:51.281 --> 54:55.339
Taylor because he did just sign that big free agent contract
54:55.387 --> 54:59.238
with the Titans, right? And if you, if you send JJ
54:59.738 --> 55:02.927
their way though, suddenly we can afford it. So yeah, you do have to
55:03.427 --> 55:07.419
clear some space up there by either restructuring Montez Sweat or trading away
55:07.919 --> 55:11.077
JJ. But I, I think he's a good player. I,
55:11.189 --> 55:15.103
I think he's, especially with this defense and the talent
55:15.603 --> 55:18.441
we have on it, I think Taylor would fit pretty well, and I'm, I'm all
55:18.569 --> 55:21.923
for Taylor if, if you can get him for a late-round pick. Or maybe
55:22.423 --> 55:26.480
throw JJ in there, a guy who I love, JJ, but I think the odds
55:26.576 --> 55:30.812
right now of him being back next year, they're getting lower every
55:30.941 --> 55:34.262
single time he gets burnt like a piece of
55:34.294 --> 55:37.905
toast. And JSN made him look like
55:38.405 --> 55:42.141
a practice squad player last night. I was embarrassed by
55:42.641 --> 55:45.848
JJ trying to cover him, and then Tyreek looked even worse, and I was like,
55:46.329 --> 55:49.715
what are we doing out here, man? Yeah, I mean, shoot, both their stocks are
55:50.215 --> 55:53.519
going down more than my 401k around the midterms, which everybody go out and vote.
55:53.775 --> 55:56.841
Anyway, Keek, let's go over to you real quick. Alontae Taylor, thoughts on him
55:57.341 --> 56:00.371
potentially coming to Chicago? Yeah, I'm right on with Swift as well. I think if
56:00.871 --> 56:03.629
you're gonna bring in Alontae Taylor, you got to give a player up like Jaylen
56:03.741 --> 56:06.357
Johnson because of the fact of his big contract— 3 years,
56:06.469 --> 56:09.919
$60 million, $20 million annually. It just wouldn't work in our cap
56:10.419 --> 56:12.970
space right now. But But in terms of scheme fit and familiarity with,
56:13.470 --> 56:16.790
uh, D.A., he had some of his best years in, in that stretch from 2022
56:17.290 --> 56:20.210
to 2024, um, with the Saints. I guess my only concern is because I was
56:20.710 --> 56:22.730
actually kind of reading on it a little bit about Alontae Taylor, and I know
56:23.230 --> 56:25.670
the Bears were interested in him last year as well at the trade deadline.
56:25.810 --> 56:29.310
The problem is that D.A. also primarily played him in New Orleans as
56:29.810 --> 56:33.130
a nickel. I know he's kind of been struggling on the outside, um, so that,
56:33.630 --> 56:36.090
that would be really intriguing to me to see like if they would move him
56:36.590 --> 56:39.610
outside or how they would kind of navigate that because we all know that Kyler
56:40.110 --> 56:43.603
is our nickel. Um, so that would be my only question
56:43.715 --> 56:46.526
on how they would use him if they were able to get Taylor here to
56:47.026 --> 56:50.669
Chicago. Sure. Oh yeah, no, I mean, like, he definitely is more of a blitzing
56:50.701 --> 56:54.171
defensive back. That's why you have quarterback hit sacks and all those type of stats.
56:54.235 --> 56:57.688
But his coverage game isn't terrible. I think that it would be better than what
56:58.188 --> 57:01.671
we have right now, and it would allow Malik Muhammad and maybe even
57:01.719 --> 57:05.300
some other changes too. I, I do want to say this. I saw some people
57:05.316 --> 57:08.703
talk about Budda Baker And that contract is just not worth it.
57:08.832 --> 57:12.153
And with Kobe Bryant too, I just kind of want to shut that one down.
57:12.202 --> 57:14.641
Do you guys have any thoughts on maybe— do you guys think differently? Are you
57:15.141 --> 57:18.765
guys same page? Not those 2, but I do think you could maybe bring
57:18.861 --> 57:23.001
in a safety because I'm not, I'm not sure that Kobe Bryant's
57:23.113 --> 57:26.018
going to be healthy that soon. A lot of people are like, he's going to
57:26.518 --> 57:29.997
be ready in December. It's like Ben Johnson was just asked about it
57:30.414 --> 57:33.736
and he didn't even say for sure that Kobe's going to be back this
57:33.945 --> 57:37.974
year. I know he's walking, but look, Ozzy Trepillo
57:38.474 --> 57:42.871
was walking without a knee brace in April. We're 7 months
57:43.371 --> 57:46.964
past that and he's still not fully game ready.
57:47.430 --> 57:50.978
So I don't want to rush Kobe Bryant back. I think
57:51.478 --> 57:55.393
this defense would be even better and different with Kobe Bryant out there, but the
57:55.893 --> 57:58.732
Bears know more about it. And if they don't think Kobe's going to be ready
57:59.310 --> 58:02.907
before the regular season, Because you don't want him coming out there getting
58:02.923 --> 58:06.313
his first action in a playoff game where it's lose or
58:06.813 --> 58:09.928
go home and he can cost you the season. That's the last thing I want
58:10.428 --> 58:14.538
to hear is fans bashing Kobe Bryant all year. So the names you mentioned,
58:14.651 --> 58:18.298
no, but maybe a guy like Amani Hooker on the Titans or
58:18.587 --> 58:22.314
Jesse Bates, who is a stud, but I also believe he's
58:22.814 --> 58:26.170
in the last year of his contract with the Falcons. Good rental if
58:26.218 --> 58:29.844
you can get a rental at safety. To come in and fill that void
58:30.344 --> 58:33.641
until Kobe gets back. And even if it's someone who can play
58:33.690 --> 58:37.551
with Kobe, because we know DA is not afraid to use 3
58:38.051 --> 58:41.493
safeties. We haven't really had 3 quality safeties since he's been here,
58:42.022 --> 58:46.075
but DA is capable of doing that. He's ran a lot of 3-safety
58:46.091 --> 58:49.633
looks in the past. So depending on who it is, I'm not against
58:50.133 --> 58:52.757
it. All right, this is a bit— this is a million-dollar question because, you know,
58:52.901 --> 58:57.030
Twitter and a lot of folks went up in flames about this one. CJ Gardner-Johnson
58:57.530 --> 59:01.050
just became a free agent. And you know what, Swifty, I saw that look,
59:01.550 --> 59:03.870
but let me, let me talk to you real quick. Let me, let's hear it.
59:04.370 --> 59:07.610
Let me paint a picture for you, a beautiful picture, okay? Like CJ
59:08.110 --> 59:11.310
Gardner-Johnson— yeah, I'm not gonna do my Trump impression, I promise.
59:11.810 --> 59:14.130
I'm not gonna do it tonight. I'm not gonna do it tonight. But Woodmutter might
59:14.630 --> 59:18.590
go through, okay? Let's do it, bro. Don't do it. It's very ugly
59:19.090 --> 59:22.870
and nasty. Okay, here we go. So CJ Gardner-Johnson— you
59:23.370 --> 59:27.191
guys have to laugh at that. Okay, so anyway, CJ Gardner-Johnson was
59:27.303 --> 59:30.732
released by the Bills after even serving his 1-game
59:31.232 --> 59:34.834
suspension. So he's good to go. All good. CJ Garner-Johnson
59:35.334 --> 59:38.776
this year with the Buffalo Bills has 26 tackles, 2 pass deflections,
59:38.824 --> 59:42.254
an interception. All right. Not great stats. In 10
59:42.350 --> 59:46.148
games last year with the Chicago Bears in the regular
59:46.648 --> 59:50.442
season, he had 51 total tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 5 quarterback
59:50.942 --> 59:54.356
hits, 4 pass deflections, 3 sacks, and 2 interceptions
59:55.015 --> 59:58.533
as a safety/nickel. Now, you would— this is
59:58.645 --> 01:00:01.906
kind of where it can break down. Cam Lewis, who's been playing really
01:00:01.938 --> 01:00:05.054
good ball, has to play that safety position because we got rid of Xavier
01:00:05.554 --> 01:00:09.134
Woods and Elijah Hicks doesn't have that starting or doesn't have that starting style that
01:00:09.199 --> 01:00:12.781
Dennis Allen's looking for. You can move Cam Lewis over to the cornerback
01:00:13.281 --> 01:00:16.845
position for Tyreek Stevenson or Jaylen Johnson. CJ Gardner-Johnson,
01:00:16.957 --> 01:00:20.459
who knows this defense, knows this locker room, can come in and play safety.
01:00:20.796 --> 01:00:23.907
While Kobe Bryant's out. And like you said,
01:00:25.206 --> 01:00:29.039
um, it's just overall very, very— there's a lot of
01:00:29.857 --> 01:00:33.305
possibilities there because he knows the scheme. So Swifty, I painted
01:00:33.805 --> 01:00:37.330
you that picture, but I want to start with Keek real quick. Keek, thoughts on
01:00:37.830 --> 01:00:41.468
CJ Garner-Johnson coming back potentially? No capital,
01:00:41.645 --> 01:00:45.317
nothing. What are your thoughts? I don't actually hate the move.
01:00:45.493 --> 01:00:48.637
I think with CJ Garner-Johnson, he's just sometimes a knucklehead. I'm just gonna
01:00:49.137 --> 01:00:52.534
put it softly. Sometimes he just does stuff that can kill his team.
01:00:53.191 --> 01:00:56.495
It comes maybe from passion as well. But I do, I do feel like he
01:00:56.995 --> 01:00:58.900
played really well last year. You kind of make the same argument when you're talking
01:00:59.400 --> 01:01:02.525
about, uh, Nashon Wright, right? It's a different defense, right? We have different safeties,
01:01:02.589 --> 01:01:06.005
we have different linebackers, we now have Jeffrey Simmons. So maybe that would,
01:01:06.037 --> 01:01:09.549
would help his production as well here in Chicago. So I think, I think
01:01:10.049 --> 01:01:12.596
if the money is right, um, and I think if he wants to come back
01:01:12.612 --> 01:01:15.980
to Chicago now that they're officially Super Bowl contenders, which I believe he would have
01:01:16.480 --> 01:01:19.667
some interest I, I wouldn't hate the move. Is it, is it my top
01:01:19.731 --> 01:01:23.242
option right now? Absolutely not. But I don't think it's the worst option
01:01:23.742 --> 01:01:26.625
you can think of as well when you're looking at options out there. So just
01:01:27.125 --> 01:01:30.104
to answer your question, this year the Bears would only owe him $2.3 million more.
01:01:30.408 --> 01:01:33.663
Next year they would only owe him $1 million. He was cut, so his
01:01:33.695 --> 01:01:37.222
contract is, is ripped up, so you could sign him to a veteran minimum.
01:01:37.526 --> 01:01:40.460
Sorry, excuse me, that is dead cap. You are correct.
01:01:40.668 --> 01:01:44.419
Yeah, you are correct. Hands up. Hand up on me. Yeah, since he's cut,
01:01:44.499 --> 01:01:48.457
you could sign him for less than a million dollars for the rest
01:01:48.957 --> 01:01:52.046
of the year. So I don't mind it if we're going into what we were
01:01:52.546 --> 01:01:55.460
just talking about, to bring him in for safety depth,
01:01:55.956 --> 01:01:59.225
especially if, if you're not sure Kobe's going to be ready.
01:01:59.738 --> 01:02:02.638
I don't know about Cam Lewis playing outside corner.
01:02:03.103 --> 01:02:06.404
I don't think I've seen any tape of him doing that. He's decent in the
01:02:06.904 --> 01:02:10.638
nickel, and I think he's a good safety. But I, I think Gardner— CJ
01:02:11.138 --> 01:02:14.795
Gardner-Johnson, if you can bring him in as your 3rd safety and have
01:02:15.295 --> 01:02:18.566
him as an emergency in case Thenaman or Cam Lewis get
01:02:19.066 --> 01:02:22.210
hurt, I'm fine with it. Okay, all right.
01:02:22.258 --> 01:02:26.013
So the other thing too I do want to hit on real quick is,
01:02:26.350 --> 01:02:30.443
Keek, you were saying it— you're over here— you were saying it in
01:02:30.943 --> 01:02:33.878
regards to him being a little bit of a knucklehead. I felt like he was
01:02:33.990 --> 01:02:38.224
most well-behaved with the Bears. I don't remember any knucklehead moments
01:02:38.724 --> 01:02:41.030
last year. Dennis Allen and Ben Johnson looked at him and said, okay,
01:02:41.351 --> 01:02:45.136
we're gonna give you an opportunity. One mess up, you're gone.
01:02:45.601 --> 01:02:48.952
That, that had to be the conversation. Keek, does that change
01:02:48.968 --> 01:02:52.127
your mindset a little bit on it? Do you agree, disagree? Yeah, yeah,
01:02:52.176 --> 01:02:54.918
yeah, I'm totally fine with it coming back, right? I think you have leaders in
01:02:55.418 --> 01:02:58.061
this locker room now, Jeffrey Simmons, that can, you know, put him in his place
01:02:58.561 --> 01:03:00.530
if he gets out of line. I don't think he's gonna, you know, try to
01:03:00.611 --> 01:03:03.116
go after Jeffrey Simmons. I think that'd be the wrong move there.
01:03:03.534 --> 01:03:06.989
Don't mess with Big Jeff. Yeah, and you have to understand that he also has
01:03:07.358 --> 01:03:10.218
a Super Bowl background, right? He's, he's been a part of Super Bowl champion teams,
01:03:10.331 --> 01:03:14.261
right? So I think it would be a good move in terms of making
01:03:14.294 --> 01:03:18.032
a push for the big dance. But Swift makes a, a great
01:03:18.096 --> 01:03:22.167
point. You only make a move if you're 100% sure that Kobe Bryant
01:03:22.184 --> 01:03:25.625
is not returning this season. Yeah, because I don't want him
01:03:26.125 --> 01:03:29.742
at nickel. He got cooked Like KO said, man, he got straight
01:03:29.822 --> 01:03:33.275
toasted at nickel. So I'd rather have— we got Kyler
01:03:33.775 --> 01:03:37.693
Gordon, we got Malik Muhammad, Clark Phillips, and Cam Lewis—
01:03:38.193 --> 01:03:41.869
4 guys who could play nickel. So the only reason I'm even thinking about CJ
01:03:42.369 --> 01:03:45.628
Gardner-Johnson is at safety, where he's a little bit better and
01:03:46.128 --> 01:03:49.467
he doesn't have to guard guys one-on-one. I'd look at him at safety
01:03:49.499 --> 01:03:52.679
for sure, especially if you don't want to rush Kobe back.
01:03:53.016 --> 01:03:56.465
And we're just unsure where he is right now. But yeah, I wouldn't be
01:03:56.965 --> 01:04:00.974
against it. All right. All right. Well, we got all— we got way
01:04:01.474 --> 01:04:05.321
more news coming next week. In fact, Monday night when we're back
01:04:05.369 --> 01:04:08.995
on our regular scheduled programming, we'll be back right
01:04:09.495 --> 01:04:12.781
before the trade deadline. We'll be back after Sunday Night Football. We'll have a ton
01:04:13.281 --> 01:04:17.594
to talk about that. But we also will be back this Friday for preview
01:04:17.803 --> 01:04:20.868
of Bears versus Bucs. But guys, before we close out,
01:04:20.948 --> 01:04:24.575
Keek, anything you want to say before we close out today's show? No, just enjoy
01:04:24.639 --> 01:04:27.785
the moment, you know, just enjoy being a Bears fan right now. I, I will
01:04:28.285 --> 01:04:31.958
say that we deserve this. My Wood Meter is at a 3 times 12 right
01:04:32.022 --> 01:04:34.782
now. I don't, I don't even know. I don't, I don't, I'm not good at
01:04:35.282 --> 01:04:38.506
math. I think that's— you can't do math right now. I think it's 36
01:04:39.006 --> 01:04:41.138
woods. And I do want to make a big announcement that I will be in
01:04:41.170 --> 01:04:44.990
Chi-Town this weekend for the Bears versus Bucs matchup, so I'm definitely looking
01:04:45.490 --> 01:04:48.890
forward to it. Yes. All right. All right. Well, we'll try to get together,
01:04:49.390 --> 01:04:52.950
Keek. I know I get back from Atlanta from a wedding at like noon on
01:04:53.450 --> 01:04:56.810
Saturday, so I'll keep you in mind when it comes to that. So can't wait
01:04:57.310 --> 01:05:00.230
to see you in Chicago. Swift, anything you want to say to the folks before
01:05:00.730 --> 01:05:04.570
we close out? Special time to be a Bears fan, guys. Hit that like button.
01:05:04.750 --> 01:05:08.030
Join the ride with us. It's going to be fun. This team is special.
01:05:08.290 --> 01:05:11.750
Bear down, man. Keep that wood up. And thank you guys for tuning in to
01:05:12.250 --> 01:05:15.090
this episode of Bears Roundtable presented by Roundtable Sports. My name is Nick Rodi along
01:05:15.590 --> 01:05:19.005
with Keek. And Swift. We'll see you guys soon,
01:05:19.038 --> 01:05:21.773
and as always, we want to hear it loud and proud. Bear down,