After The Whistle: Chicago Bears vs. Cincinnati Bengals

After The Whistle: Chicago Bears vs. Cincinnati Bengals

[Music] What did we just witness? Just a roller coaster of emotions. Bears are now winners in five of their last six games as they beat Joe Flacco and the Bengals 47 to 42. Tina win. Pat the designer Chris Kisinski. Former Bears QB Jim Miller. Uh these guys are you guys can see trying to gather themselves after this win. Uh what did we just witness in that fourth quarter? Because they were up at one point. Two scores. We Tmaine Edmonds pick six completely wiped off the board, right? Bengals scored, went for two, they recovered the onside kick and the Bears were in jeopardy of losing this game, but they end up winning. Uh Jim, reaction. Uh my reaction is special teams. You know, I I kind of thought it was going to be a high-scoring game with just how poorly the Cincinnati Bengals defense was playing, but never in my mind did I think Cincinnati would start this game with a, you know, a kick return for a touchdown by Charlie Jones. And then, of course, the onside kick that goes off the foot of uh who was it? I believe Daniel that put him in harm’s way in jeopardy. Um, defensively, yeah, I think it says a lot where the where the Bears are. the lack of pass rush in the secondary and it may be in the Bears best interest to go out and get a corner before the trade deadline because when you give up 49 95 yards and I think I think Flacco had over 400 is what he had one of the two have to be addressed the pass rush and obviously a secondary player with all the injuries that the Bears have had. I never in my mind thought it would come down to special teams play and the defense playing as poorly as what it did. But the Bears offense, that’s what Bears fans should be happy about. This is what they needed. This Bears offense needed to do what they did today because that is a high-scoring offense and I think the Bears offense answered the bell. It’s just all the other it was like lemony snicketts, a series of unfortunate events is I think is what unfolded. Yeah, Joe Flacco today threw for 470 yards, four touchdowns, two interceptions. Uh I was sweating there at the end of that game. you guys were running around freaking out. Well, but okay, now that that we’ve kind of come down a little bit, give me your thoughts. Uh uh I don’t even know if I can say I’ve composed myself, but listen, this was a game um where you knew the offense was going to have to step up. You knew that they were going to have to make big plays. And I think this comes down to Caleb Williams at the end of the game when the team needed him to step up the most, ripping that ball to Coloulston Lovelin. That’s the kind of quarterback when you talk about what did you draft this guy number one overall for? That right there is what you drafted this young man number one overall for. And it takes time for you to get there. And there’s going to be a lot of people that say you should do this versus this defense. This is this a Bengals defense that listen as much as Joe Flacco got on us today. We got our own back today as well. But the offense, how Jim pointed out, the offense stepped up. The run game was phenomenal. Kyle Manungai, welcome to the NFL, young man. And in the moment you needed a player to make a play the most, Caleb Williams was there for this Chicago Bears team, ripping it to Coulson Lovelin. This is the ultimate Ryan Paul’s draft day uh uh celebration to me, right? Like this is the culmination of all of my picks coming together to help me win a game. Yeah, Bears scoring 47 points today. The most they’ve scored since September 2018 against Tampa. Chris, what did you like about this team today? Especially the offense. I I liked Caleb Williams. The last week, the last couple weeks, we’ve been talking about, is this going to be the guy? Is this the guy that’s going to be the quarterback to break the quarterback curse in Chicago? And the last couple weeks, we haven’t been able to say we moved in that direction that he we could definitively say he’s the guy. We today we could today we could go out there and definitively say like we moved in that direction. Even if it was just marginally, even if it was just a little bit, we moved in that direction with no turnovers, with a game-winning touchdown. We’re talking about, Jim mentioned this before the show, but outside of the three and out, this offense is basically flawless. We’re talking about a team that for the first time in in nine years went over 500 yards of offense. The last time was September 9th, 2016 against the Indianapolis Colts, a game that they lost when Brian Hoyer was quarterback, mind you. Shout out to Roger for that stat, too. the this was a team that needed to score today. I remember seeing this game early on in the schedule thinking, hey, that could be a that could be a real shootout there. I mean, this is like a wild west rattlesnake type shootout. The Bears some somehow came out on top. I I think it’s really disconcerting to think about the special teams, which at the beginning of the season was not a problem spot, but now last couple weeks we’re thinking, ah, this is rough. There’s a lot of things, a lot of questions you got to look at. But look, a win is a win. And the reason they won is because of Caleb Williams. Yeah. Uh let’s talk more about the special teams because I mean last few games have not been great. Uh can’t cover kicks, can’t get explosive returns, and just can’t make field goals it feels like. Jim, what were your impressions today of the special teams? Yeah, it wasn’t just the first return that went for a touchdown. It was really the three or four returns after that. It was pretty spotty when it comes to to kickoff coverage. So, that has got to get addressed. Obviously the uh the field goal um you know again it’s got to be a better operation. You know I do think that’s within the distance where they can make that field goal and and that didn’t go well uh either especially when you know you’re going to be in a high-scoring affair. So that can cost you game. And then of course the onside kick. You know, obviously, you know, when you look at Richard High Totower, they’re gonna have to address that because Daniel’s in a catch 22 because his job is as the front line guy, he’s got to take out the key guys that are screaming down on kickoff coverage. So, it’s not his responsibility to feel the ball, but he’s got to be aware of where the ball is. He’s taking on those key blocker or trying to block those key guys that are screaming down on the onside kick. And so it’s just more awareness. It’s something that Richard High Totower is going to address. And it could have put the Bears in harm’s way today. Defense and special teams, I thought, were the two areas that were lacking. And to me, all the bigger penalties were on the defensive side of the ball. How about the the late uh uh I think it was in hold or intentional contact or unintentional contact on Nan Wright. Really, it was the defensive side of the ball. They looked like they were going to be heroes with the two back-to-back interceptions, but there were penalties on th those plays as well. Obviously Edmonds was down on his, but we look at the Bayard, that was where a key penalty that could have been a pick six and then maybe the game’s over at that point. So defense and special teams is where you point the finger at here. Yeah, I I agree with you 100%. I think that was the thing for me. It wasn’t the Daniel Hardy one. When I looked at it, I was like, he’s doing his job, but you don’t know where the football is. The only thing on an onside kick you need to know, especially in that situation where it doesn’t go 10 yards, is where is the football? I thought that, you know, he’s focused on doing his job. That’s a good thing for De Hardy, but you have to understand the situation that you’re in at that point in the game. Situational awareness has been one of the biggest things that we’ve talked about at times is what we talked about with Caleb Williams last week. This week, now we’re looking at special teams and defense kind of failing in that moment, I thought, as well, right? Situational awareness. You get the the holding call on uh I number 20 Walker. Was it was it Walker? you you you get the holding call there and that’s a big return from Devin Duivere that could have set you up for another good offensive possession there. Those are the moments where it’s like you have to understand when you’re in the play when you’re out of the play. I felt like he at that point was already out of the play that brings you back. Those are the small things that lose you football games and one of the major reasons why you almost lost this one. I mean, you talk about special teams, too. When you talk about that Jade Walker specifically that hold, that was a guy that you brought on because you believe in his talent. You believe in these moments, but he’s got to earn his way through special teams. And that’s that’s a little disappointing for a young guy to see a moment like that. But I I think the most disappointing part of special teams for me is is the kicking uh is the the kicking game, excuse me, because I mean, now we’re we’re slowly encroaching a point where you have to make a decision. you have to make a decision of whether or not you you elevate Jake Moody for the rest of the season because Kairo his his his distance has not been there. It’s not one of been one of his strengths. He’s very consistent from within 50. But man, there’s some times when you look out thinking there’s a lot of kickers that can make different kicks in this league and and it’s a long kick league now and especially now where we were sitting here thinking about the kickoff after they scored to go up with 17 seconds left. He’s like, can he get this kick into the end zone? There’s there’s questions you have to start asking about Cairo and there’s questions you have to start asking about special teams, too. Like you said, I’m not too worried about Daniel Hardy because that’s a guy that has made special teams plays in the right way before. But right now, these questions are going to have to be answered this week cuz it doesn’t get any easier going on from now on. Daniel Hardy, someone who always plays hard. Jim, is it time for the Bears to move on from Kyro Sanchez? I mean, what do you realistically really do there, especially with with Jake Moody on the practice squad? Oh, I know this about Moody. He’s got an extremely strong leg. I think we’ve seen a record number of kicks over over 50 yards. That’s why San Francisco drafted him in the third round. You know, kicking is a very nomadic life. You know, kickers can get the yips in my experience at at any point in time. And unfortunately for Moody, he got him at the wrong time out there for San Francisco. But his history suggests he’s got the stronger leg. He’s the younger player. So, I’m not going to argue about that point. I think if all things are equal, and they’re not equal because I think Moody is the better kicker and he’s got the stronger leg and you’ve seen a lot of teams this year move on from their kickers. Um, the Bears offense, if this needs to be where where they need to be, meaning they need to go down and score points like they did today. I’m not saying they can do it every against every defense as bad as the Cincinnati Bengals, but there’s going to be key moments where they’re going to need a a a key field goal and it’s some of them are going to be over 50 and I think Moody gives you a better opportunity if that is indeed the case. Want to remind everyone that is tuning in, especially on YouTube, if you want to be a part of our show, be sure to leave a comment # aftertheist whistle and we’ll be reading them throughout the show. Let’s talk more about this defense obviously, too. You have the trade deadline uh coming up on Tuesday, but we were watching this game. It was so frustrating to see this Dline not be able to generate some pressure because by the way, Ryan Ples is paying them a lot of money. Yeah, listen that that’s been my biggest gripe the entire time. It’s I understand you don’t have the DBs right now. Nan Wright had a terrible game today. But this defensive line is your defensive line. These are the guys you paid to come in here and you believed they’re going to continually generate pressure on the quarterback. Joe Flacco basically was calling as old as he is grandkids at this point. When he was calling the grandkids to let him know, hey, like, you know, I’ll be home for dinner at 4, you know, make sure to keep it hot for me. I’m going to go drop 500 yards on the Chicago Bears by myself. He didn’t he didn’t get that much, but almost 474. Like, those are the things for me where the LA the two games where we saw them the best, back-to-back Raiders and Saints, we talked about the pressure that they were generating. They’ve done a better job at stopping the run. Chase Brown really didn’t get involved a ton in this game, but this defensive line and being in the face of the quarterback, I get it. You got a few more. I think they got three sacks today in total. I would rather have pressure all day over sacks because it makes quarterbacks have to make quicker decisions. And you had Joe Flacco today standing back there just biting his time waiting for T. Higgins and Jamar Chase to find their way open. That’s unacceptable. I I mean you you want to talk specifically about players and I thought Monteswood had a pretty good game today. I know he almost had that that sack uh forced fumble early on in the game which would have been a pretty good turning point for him especially since he’s been trying to to really get going and we’ve seen him kind of pick it up the last couple games too. I’m not really worried about Montes anymore because we’ve talked about him saying hey we need to see more out of Montes. He’s he’s doing his thing now. The people that I’m looking at on this defensive line are Grady Jarrett, who signed to be that that run guy, to be that leader on this defense, and then Dio Dingo, a guy that they paid a ton of money. We heard earlier this week from Ben Johnson saying, “Hey, when he’s rushing on the inside, when we can pin our ears back and we can put him on the inside that he’s having great games from in interior as a pass rusher, but we need to see more from the from the edge.” And I think this was a game where you’re like, “We need to see a lot more there because this this Bengals offensive line and if there’s anything I know about the Bengals offensive line and friend of mine, a big Bengals fan was always telling me leading up to this game like hey like it hasn’t gotten any better.” I’m like I feel like ever since we were roommates in 2016, the Bengals have been trying to improve their offensive line and it’s still in that point where they they they were able they were in a position to be taken advantage of. Yes. And the Bears just didn’t were able to do that consistently. They had good plays. Montes, I know Gvanad Dexter Senior had some good plays, too. But Dio, I know he got hurt in the end of the game, too. But from the edge, you need more there. You need more from Grady Jarrett, too. Joe Flacco, by the way, was not 100% to today. Was not playing 100%. Sprained AC joint. Yeah, his they signed him on, excuse me, they traded for him on October 7th. By the way, his 470 passing yards, that’s a new career high for him. But Jim, when you look at this defense, what concerns you the most? Yeah, I I think those two go hand in hand. is your pass rush in in your coverage. So, one of the two is going to have to be addressed or Booker or somebody cuz Robinson just got hurt and he didn’t play today. Obviously, somebody has to emerge cuz Dio to me is not the guy. I mean, he’s coming off a three sack season for the Indianapolis Colts or you got to be able to dial up more pressure. But that’s the problem when you play a team like Cincinnati because if you if you’re going to bring pressure now, it’s one-on-one on the outside. And I think everybody saw what happened. I mean, that was a record yards per catch game. I mean, be I think between Jamar Chase and T. Higgins, those guys were averaging over 20 yards a catch. And that’s why Flaco ended up you get you give up huge chunks of yardage. I think it’s a good signing to get CJ Gardner Johnson on a Wednesday. That guy started. They actually blitzed him today. The problem is the outside guys can’t hold the coverage that long. You have Stevenson on one side and and I agree with Pat Nan Wright. This has happened even back in the preseason. Go back to that last preseason game against Kansas City. Thornton of Kansas City ran right by him. He can’t go step for step for guys on on deep plays. So, if you’re going to have to bring pressure, you’ve got to have corners that can hold up on the outside one-on-one. And to me, the Bears are a corner if not two light in that area. Yeah. Want to talk now about this offense. Uh, and I’m going to read some viewer comments here. one from Nuna Business. Kyle Manunga is a stud. Yes, that is the name. He is David Montgomery 2.9 hashtag after the whistle. Uh Chicago special teams did everything they could to give Cincinnati this game. But a win is a win and people need to stop criticizing Caleb. He’s getting better and better in each game. First off, Jim, what did you make of Caleb Williams and his performance today? And and I’ll tell you what, that the they’re right about that. He he played a really good game today. his early scrambles when protection wasn’t holding up. I thought he was masterful there. To me, his worst play of the game was his delay a game down in the red zone and he able he was able to overcome it and hit Lovelin for a touchdown the very next play and he learned from his mistakes last game. We talked about it. He had an intentional grounding. If you look at the Bears early drive in the fourth quarter, he threw the ball through the end zone. He was not gonna get an intentional grounding when he was in the pocket and it set up a Bears field goal. You know, he took that penalty last week. It took the Bears out of field goal range. This week, whether it was hard coaching, tough love, uh, however the coach got the point across, he made sure that was not going to happen again. I thought he was very aware in situational play and like what you guys have talked about, this is what he did at USC. Give this young man the ball in his hands the last drive of a game. That’s where he can make magic and he can improvise and do the things that he does. He’s still got to play within structure, don’t get me wrong, but that’s where he can make gamechanging plays or throws like he did today to Lovelin to give him a chance to roll off the defensive back. I think it was Battle who did it. And Cincinnati has more missed tackles than any defense in the league. And he gave his team a chance. And so good for Caleb. He is getting better. Bears fans, I I really like the trajectory he’s on. Bizarre World uh just sent in. I like Caleb, but his accuracy is an issue at times. You know, I remember a few weeks ago when Ben Johnson was asked about the offense. This is what he did. It’s going to be up and down. It’s gonna be up and down. And I’ve said before too before the season started, I feel like next year is when we’re going to really see Caleb take off because it’s third year in the NFL, second year with Ben Johnson, too. But what did you see from Caleb Williams today that you liked? Listen, I I think the accuracy is something that still needs to be worked on. to me um the Cole KT concussion that he was ruled out with that’s a result of Caleb Williams throwing the football too high in that situation. Cole KT’s 6’6. It’s kind of difficult to throw the football too high. You have to be better in those moments. But it is improving. It is getting better. It’s not going to be perfect. And Jim, I I think the one thing to me that I do want to see is what it’s going to look like when Caleb William understands this offense like the back of his hands. Cuz the one thing and I want to get Jim’s thoughts on this because it feels like there are moments where Caleb is looking to find his checkdown, but he doesn’t exactly know where that guy is just yet. And I feel like those are the moments where when you know the offense like the back of your hand and you know this is where my checkdown is supposed to be. I’m throwing to a spot, not to a person, that’s when you’ll see the percentages and the consistency happen more. Yeah. Yeah. And I think, you know, when you have inaccuracy issues as a quarterback, it’s because your feet aren’t right. And for him, cuz it’s still happening too quick, he’s not at times going through all his reads as quickly as he needs to cuz he needs to trust it. And his feet will take him there. His feet, your feet should pop on where you’re going to throw. So, if I’m looking at my first progression, my feet are are should be directed at my first first read. Then they’ll pop to my second read, pop to my third read. And I think on that play, if you go look at his feet and why he was inaccurate, normally when you’re inaccurate with the football is your feet are not in balance. Not that you’re always going to be in balance on on every throw. It’s not always going to be perfect, but that’s what if you have the ability to do it with discipline and structure, when you have the protection you need, you need to force yourself to do that. And he’s still not to that point yet cuz he’s not comfortable. I think you still see him at points at time at points in a game that he’s not comfortable. and he gets a little sloppy with things and he gets a little loosey goosey. He still has to tighten it up. But again, I I thought, you know, every week it’s gotten better. I thought the how he handled the offense, how he managed things to uh today was a lot better than even last week because they cut down. I think he was more decisive on his throws. He was more decisive when he wanted to take off and scramble. And I thought, you know, especially the last drive of the game, there’s nothing more you can ask your quarterback to do. So, I think he’s making the progress that Bears fans should be excited about. Yeah, Jim, to to piggy back off the point where you’re saying, you’ve seen him improve every single week, and I I think we can agree with that, but also, I think today, the one thing I saw a lot more was playing in structure. I thought we played a little bit better in structure today. And specifically when it came to looking for checkdowns, I know there were so many times the last couple weeks where we were starting to say, “Hey, it’s right there. Just take it.” And it’s easy for us to say when we’ve got, you know, the eagle view, we can see everything in front of us. Uh but but there were a couple moments I know there was a pass to a check down to Lovelin that he missed. We were kind of like, “All right, like that’s that’s wide open. You have to take that and just take the first down.” But there were other times where he just said, “Okay, well, I’ll just give it to Kyle Manungai and let my guy make a play.” And especially when it came to getting a hot hand and uh Kyle Manungai was hot today. I would have liked to see Ben Johnson use him a little bit more, especially in short yardage. And I think that’s a Ben Johnson thing. But I think I came out of this game having more gripes about a lot of other places than Caleb Williams, especially when he’s starting to do things like check down, take the safe play. And that’s a big reason why they were way three an hour away from having a very basically a flawless game. Caleb Williams now with five fourth quarter comebacks since 2024. That is tied for the second most in the NFL as the Bears beat the Bengals 47 to42. We need to take a quick break here on After the Whistle, but when we come back, we’re going to give some mid-season grades here, as well as talk about the trade deadline coming up this week. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] All right, back here on After the Whistle. Tina Win, Pat the Designer, Chris Krinski, and Jim Miller hanging out with you. Uh, you guys good? We good now? I think I’m done sweating. This just in. Tina, Jim, I don’t know if you guys Jamar Chase, I know the game’s over. Jamar Chase has caught another pass for 25 yards. Oh, I we can’t stop him. Even after the game, we can’t slow him down. Well, guess what? Someone who couldn’t be stopped today. Kyle Manungai, the rookie seventh rounder out of Ruckers. Going to read a few comments here from our viewers. We’ve got, do we make Manungai the starting running back now? Kyle Manungai is an absolute stud. But Jim, I want to start with you. What did you make of the rookie today? I I thought he had made some tough runs. I I think Ben Johnson typically likes thunder and lightning. I do think he’s a good in between the the tackle runner. He can get you the dirty yards uh that you need inside. I think you saw he can push the pile when need be. And it’s kind of like what Ben Johnson had in Detroit with Montgomery and Jamar Gibbs. And and that’s what I think Swift is to me. Swift, not that he can’t run inside, you can run inside zone with him, but he’s better in space. And I think Manunk guy can do the dirty work uh for you. And I thought he was gritty today. I think you saw it. I mean, they were giving up. The Bengals were 157 yards a game and and the Bears exposed it and a lot of it was Kyle Manungai making guys miss tackles, falling forward with the football, being tough, lowering his shoulder, uh getting some dirty yards and getting gritty and it kind of wore it wore Cincinnati out. You saw a lot of guys that were had their hands on their hips and you know that can wear on you and I thought Kyle did a great job really wearing down the Bengals. Yeah, Kyle Manungai rushed for 176 yards today. I talked about it when I watched him in the preseason. I love the way this guy runs, man. He He’s aggressive. He’s tough to take down. But what did you like most about him? I it’s exactly what we’ve seen from Kyle Manunga. And I think, you know, if you if you’re not paying attention to him, even when he’s had the four carry days, even when he’s had two carries, we’ve gone, yo, they kind of can’t stop him from moving forward. He keeps his feet turnurning. He runs hard. He looks for the contact and looks to run through that contact. I wasn’t surprised by the day that he had today. 174 is a little crazy. I don’t know if I expected that, but I think what it did to Jim’s point, it it opens up that thunder and lightning consistency. Remember last week when dealing with the groin injury, Ben Johnson, I think he gave uh 14 carries to DeAndre Swift. Gmanai was back down to five carries on the day. I want to say to me this now get affords you the opportunity to kind of run a little bit of maybe Swift gets 10, maybe Mungai gets 10. What we saw from Montgomery and Gibbs in Detroit where there were times where guys got full drives to go out there and try and operate to build that lather up that running backs often need to be able to navigate through the defense. So to me, I think I I don’t know if I’m going to say, you know, he’s the starting running back or you’re looking to move on from DeAndre Swift, but what it does feel like you could have here is the confirmation that you have to have this young man a part of the game plan week in and week out. All right, let’s talk about some mid-season progress report. Remember when we were in school, we’d always get some kind of progress report here. We’re midway through the season now. Yours were great. Mine’s wearing great. Mine were okay. It it was usually a conversation of like you’ve got three weeks to get this right. Did you get it right in three weeks? I usually got it. Okay. I got it okay. All right. Well, let’s start with this Bears offense. Chris, what kind of grade would you give? I give the Bears offense I give it a B. I give it a solid B. I think we’re we’re at the point where we’re seeing I mean this is a 47point day. I mean the offense scored all 47 points. There’s no special teams kick return touchdown. There’s no defensive touchdown. I mean it was all on the offense and they got I mean they they they just moved. But we’ve seen this offense move the ball consistently. Ben Johnson mentioned it last week that we’re moving the ball, but we got to finish in the end zone. This was that day where they proved, hey, we can finish in the end zone, guys. And I know it’s the Benles, but I know we’ve talked about it before, but there’s that cliche of as long as you see the ball go to the basket once. Okay, now we’re starting to understand we’re understanding the system. We’re understanding how it works. And I mean, is it far from perfect? Yeah, absolutely. It’s it’s very far from perfect. I think getting Kyle Manungai more into the offense there is is showing how confident that running back room is. When I was talking to Britain Brown earlier this week, he was saying, “Hey, every single person is confident in this room.” And I think that’s a really good testament to Eric Benemy. But u I I think it goes forward into the problem spots where we’re seeing the offensive line is still struggling. We’re seeing the quarterback position improving. We’re seeing the wide receivers that started out really hot starting to taper off a little bit too. But I think we’re see starting to see a lot of the positions kind of level out in the point of this is a good offense. It’s not great. It’s not it’s not iconic like it was last year with Ben Johnson in Detroit. But it’s good. We’re starting to see a path for it to get to be great. Going into this week, one of the focus for an emphasis for this team was red zone, right? And today four for six in the red zone. Jim, what kind of grade would you give this Bears offense? Yeah, today was a good day. Part of that was Cincinnati. I I’ll give him a C plus. I would have given them a a C, but I’ll give them a plus for add a plus today. So, I I think they’re a C plus. They still they leave a lot of offense out there. There’s still more better pass protection that needs to get done. I love how creative Ben Johnson is. It’s going to start to get better and better. This is an offense that should score high 20s every single week. They haven’t done that up up until today. They’ve been able to do it. Um, so and I think that was more about Cincinnati’s defense, but moving forward, it should be getting to the B to the B+ level, if not A minus by the end of the year, in my opinion. So, they’re making a ton of progress in my opinion. And Johnson has said what he expects this team to be playing their best football in December. What kind of grade would you give? Listen, I’ll split the difference. I’ll go B minus. Reason being, I think that there’s been a lot of C and D performances where you say the offense was okay, but other things had to pick you up in those moments. But today, listen, today was an A+ day. And trust me, as somebody who had to get those grades up real quick, when you throw an A+ on there, it gives you the boost you need. Uh, so I’ll give him a B minus. Uh, uh, for the offense on the season, it’s going to be up and down. And honestly, most of the season probably is going to level out around that B to C area. But what you’re hoping is from now on that you start to see what you saw today a little bit more consistently. Today was the first day of the season, I would say, even including that Dallas game we put up 41 where you saw a marry of the run and the pass today. Usually we’ve seen one or the other get themselves going. Yeah, just what life and growth. It’s not linear. It’s up and down, up and down. All right, let’s talk about this Bears defense. Oh, all right, Jim, I’ll start with you. What kind of grade would you give this Bears defense? I I love them in terms of the turnovers what they did the previous four weeks leading up to today, but no, it’s to me it’s a D. you know, there’s not enough pass rush. I think the because of the secondary issues, it’s it’s below average. I I do like the safeties. I think Stephvenson needs to get back into the mix of things here, but to me, they’re light about two corners. And maybe they will, you like Tariq Woolen. I think Tariq Woolen is going to be available out there for the Seattle Seahawks. He’s got the length and the speed that probably Dennis Analin is looking for, but to me, they’re one or two light. They’re still young at linebacker. you saw today behind Edwards and behind Edmonds uh like Noah Su. I like Noah Su, but he, you know, he blew a coverage today. So, it’s, you know, there’s some areas where they need some growth, but to me, it’s it’s the lack of pass rush in the secondary, and that’s why I’m going to put it at a D. Yeah, for me, I I I got to go a little lower. I got to go D minus. Um, and I will say this, the special moments have been very special. The takeaways, the turnovers, right? Those are the ones that you really feel comfortable with. But if we’re being honest about this defense, we’ve talked about the same thing just about all season, and it’s the highest paid part of your defense right now, and it’s the defensive line. You just haven’t seen it consistent enough at all. You’re starting to have to ask the question, hey, is Javon Dexter kind of plateauing out here? Is is this kind of the player that he is, which is a fine player, but it’s not somebody that you thought he was going to grow to be? Feels like he’s starting to get, you know, just just leveled out here. Haven’t seen enough from Grady Jarrett. Maybe Austin Booker gives you a boost like what he did to Orlando Pace today when you know he was handling Montes Sweat pretty well on that left side there. Um but overall you’re not creating enough uh pressure to force quarterbacks to struggle. We’ve seen some good quarterback days from quarterbacks that we don’t think are very good quarterbacks versus this Bears defense. So for me that’s a tough uh that’s a tough situation for you to be in. Yeah. I mean I’ll pick it back with you right there. It’s It’s got to be a D right now because I mean it kind of reminds me of the old Katy Perry song, hot and cold. You know, some days they’re hot, it’s fantastic. When they’re cold, oh man, it’s cold. And they’re when they’re yes, oh, it’s a yes. But when it’s a no, oh, it’s a no. And today was a massive no. And a big reason is because those turnovers have were put up that facade right now. It’s put up that that face of like, hey, we thought this was a good defense. We thought this was a team that had the wherewithal and the veteran leadership and the players cuz they’re paying them so much to to go out there and compete at a high level. And I I I don’t think this team is a corner or two away. I think I know Jim, you mentioned it. You could you can go and trade for these guys, but I think this this defense needs pieces all across the board. I don’t think it’s worth leveraging draft capital right now just to pick up guys that maybe marginally improve your defense when it’s a D right now. And that that that includes a lot of changes you got to make in an offseason. But right now, I mean, you got a guy that’s going to eventually come back in Jaylen Johnson. You got a a Pro Bowl, allp pro corner that’s just sitting there just getting better. But I think right now it’s there’s just too many concerns for me to to say that it could be anywhere near a seat. I mean, it’s closer to C a D minus than it is a D+ at this point. Big Katy Perry guy, Chris. You know, rock Katy Perry back in the day. Yeah, you dabble. You dabbled a little Katy. Yeah, dabble. Shout out to you. Dabble a little bit. All right, Pat. Special teams. Uh it’s tough, right? Because I think there’s there’s two conversations that you have to have realistically with special teams. They have won you games. Um the blocked punt or the blocked field goal wins you a football game. That is important. Um K Jake Moody’s game-winning kick wins you a football game. So there are there are the highs that you have to have, but I think that those have masked some of the lows that we’ve seen. And so I have to go I’m sticking with kind of the same grade here. I got to go with D. I’ll go D+ maybe to say that there’s there’s those high moments. But the problem with me on special teams is the wins have massed the fact that all season this team has struggled to stop the kickoff uh um and has allowed big returns almost in every single game. They have struggled completely with this kicking game and there’s been a ton of questions there. The one time it felt like it was secure, it’s from the other kicker who maybe he gets the job, maybe he doesn’t. And I think just on the general special teams overall, Kairo Santos gives you a little boost. I’m sorry, not Kyro Santos, uh Tory Taylor gives you a little bit of boost where you feel like, you know, he’s starting to really show what he can do with his leg. But outside of that, there’s more questions on this special teams unit than there are answers. And they’re questions that I think it’s time you got to start asking on Richard High tower. Chris, I mean, it’s tough. It’s tough because the highs of this special teams unit won them games. The lows haven’t lost them games. It came real close today. Oh, it came real close today, but the lows haven’t lost them games just yet. And but I think it equals out to a C minus. And I think right now you got to start asking questions. I think you go to the off seasonason to start to say, “Hey, was it really worth having Jade Walker have this roster spot over a Tyler Scott, over a guy that played special teams really well?” and this and it but those are questions that I mean it’s tough because Tyler was going to have to work his way to earn a roster spot with the Bears but it’s one of those things where you have to go all the way to the top. I mean there’s so many things. It’s the holes, the penalties, it’s the mis assignments on blocks. I mean we we’ve seen Deon Duivere get solid returns, but how many of those were wiped out with a penalty? And I mean the kicking game we’ve already talked about the the back and forth there. I mean it’s it levels out to a C maybe C minus. I mean, the extremes are what make this unit. I like how detail oriented they are. Like Scott Daly noticing the snap thing with the Raiders that led to the block field goal. And there are some guys in individually on that special teams unit that get it that are top tier players, but there are a lot of them that are holding them back. Jim, what about you? Yeah, it’s a it’s a C for me. The best part is Tory Taylor, their punter. That that guy’s a game changer and he can flip the field. And it tells you about the Bears, the bottom of the roster. It’s the first year of Ben Johnson and typically what are the bottom of the roster players? Those are players that Richard Hightower is going to fight for that hey I the backup linebackers got to play special teams and he’s got to be a good special teams player. So I I think what you just made the point about is about a guy like Tyler Scott who is a special teams demon. You know those guys are important for for your team. And so I think you know probably those fights because nobody knew how the dynamic kickoff was going to work. And I think a lot of teams are still fighting what type of guys are we going to put on kickoff return. Are we going to put uh or pick kickoff coverage? Are we going to put the bigger guys? Are we going to put the speedier guys? I still think some special teams coaches are working that out and that is going to affect the bottom of your roster. And so yeah, so I’d give it a C. The best part is Tory Taylor, their their punter. That that guy is he is a weapon that nobody knows about. All right, Jim, what kind of grade would you give Ben Johnson now? Yeah, I I I’d give him probably a B minus. I’d give him a B minus. I think uh the offense he’s agreed it hasn’t come along fast enough. Uh it’s probably at the pace of what it should be for a first year head coach, but he’s going to put the blame on on himself and and he’s bringing along a young quarterback. He’s uh he’s learning how to be a coach. We saw the the opening gaff of, you know, not kicking it through the end zone or kicking it out of bounds where he’s made some mistakes as a coach. But I love this about him. I love his tough-minded approach. I love his demanding style because I think when you challenge highly competitive players uh and pro athletes, they will respond. And I think Ben Johnson is getting the response that he’s needed. It may not have come as quick enough as he’s wanted it to because the Bears have been a bad team. I think we know that there’s still going to be a lot of roster changes. So, it’s not perfect for him right now, but I I’d give them a pretty solid B to a B minus with with where they’re at. I I don’t think anybody thought they’d have the wins that they have right now currently at this point of the season. This may be hot take. I’m I’m going with an A. Ben Johnson’s developing the quarterback. Ben Johnson has the offense starting to figure it out now. Again, verse the Bengals. We’ll see. Uh I I really like I think he’s made coaching decisions this year that have won the Chicago Bears games. one of those challenge flags that he threw. And I I feel like he’s doing everything that we’ve asked him to do. Oh, by the way, he’s doing it while when he was in Detroit. One and five. One and six, right? Five and three right now for the Chicago Bears. So, doing that while winning, that’s that’s a great day for me. I got to go A for Ben Johnson. Look, I’ll give Ben Johnson a B+ because there’s still some questions you got to figure out. There’s a left tackle thing that I think we’re still going to see players rotate in and out of there, too. But I think right now the Bears are winning games they’ve lost in the past. their Bears are winning games they lost recently in the past. He’s got this team believing they can win games. That’s a B+ for me. If he can get some of these questions figured out by the end of the season, he’s an A for sure. All right, lastly, Caleb Williams. Jim, uh Caleb, I I’ll give a C++. I still think, you know, he’s making a ton of progress. He’s extremely talented. He still has a long way to go. He right now he just needs a lot of polish. You know, he’s got to continue to do what he’s doing. Coach is being demanding with him and I see him responding. I see him. He’s He’s like today, he didn’t make the mistake he made a week ago. So C++ and we know he’s got an A+ grade that he’s got to reach. So he still needs a lot of polish, a lot of work to do. But it is getting more consistent, I think, week in and week out. So he’s making good progress. And from when I saw him at training camp, I would have given him an F. So to to get into the C range, he’s made a ton of progress. No, agreed. You can’t say it’s been amazing this season. I’m going to go with a C++. I feel like Caleb is improving a ton. I feel like this is clearly the best day that we’ve seen from this offense as a whole and he was the commander of that. He kept everything really on track today in one of the most tense moments that you can be and you were up two touchdowns. He had to think this game was over and then all of a sudden I got to go out here and lead a game-winning drive. I’m going C++ moving in the right direction. Very similar to Jim. I give it a C++ too. Especially when you compare them to the last two guys that the Bears had, Mitch Trabiscy and Justin Fields where the forward pass just seemed like a challenge. But now, I mean, I always keep coming back to what Randy Travers, his uh his his high school head coach, told me when when he’s at the scouting combine is like, you believe you can win games with them. And the Bears have won games because of Caleb. How many how many times did they win games because of Justin and Mitch? I mean, there’s only a handful in two, three plus seasons. We’ve got a handful of them now in a season and a half. Yeah. All right. So, the Bears now 5 and three on the season as they beat the Bengals 47 to 42. We got to talk about the trade deadline that’s coming up on Tuesday. uh deadline is at 3:00 here our time. Fox Sports Jay Glazer reported earlier this morning that he expects the Bears to be aggressive at the trade deadline. Uh Jim, I want to start with you. What do you want to see this team do at the trade deadline, but do you expect them realistically to do anything? Well, yeah. I mean, one, can you fit the the contract of a player that you think you can be a differencemaker or can it be a moderate move where you know you’re not giving up too much compensation? If you want to get a legit pass rusher, it’s got to be Bradley Chub down there for the Miami Dolphins. Um, he did just sign an extension, I know, with Miami, but that guy brings some juice and and he can play and he’s the big type of defensive end that Dennis Allen is looking for. And I brought up secondary players Tariq Woolen. He’s a former first round player uh by drafted by Seattle. He’s kind of fallen out of favor with Mike McDonald, the the head coach out there, but he’s exactly what Dennis Allen is looking for defensively. He is an over 6’3 corner. He comes with a ton of speed, 4 foot or 43 speed. And I don’t think you’ll have to give up a lot of compensation for him. You’re not going to have to give up uh hydro. We’ve seen first rounders go for for six round picks. And I I’m I’m talking about first round quarterbacks now like M. Jones went for a six round pick to Jacksonville for God’s sake. So I don’t think Woolen would really take a lot. Plus he’s got a rookie. He’s under his rookie contract. So I don’t think that would take a lot of compensation. But Bradley Chub, because you’re taking on the contract, you would have to give up compensation, but not in the in the high first three rounds. I think it’d be like a fourth rounder, but you are taking on that contract of his. And that’s something I don’t know where the Bears salary cap is to determine that. Yeah, this this is the problem. When you have Jim Miller on, he just takes all your best talking points. Yeah, Bradley Chub is the name that I thought about. I mean, if you’re if you’re going to make a move for anybody, it needs to be on this pass rush. I don’t think you can go for one of the massive names of a Trey Hendrickson or a Max Crosby. By the way, they both said that they’re not getting moved. So, to me, I think Bradley Chub’s the name and you might have to move a player who you thought was a part of this future of the team to do it. I I mean, I I don’t know if I’d even do that. I mean, I don’t know if I’d be aggressive if I was the Bears of the Trade deadline only because some of these players are going to they’re going to require a lot of trap capital. And I mean, not that if you could part with the sixth, seventh round, fifth pick, fifth round pick even, like sure that’s fine because how many times do those picks pan out, but I mean, if you’re the Bears, you’re still picks away. And like we were talking about what Jib was talking about having a a special teams demon. You f some of those guys you find in the fifth, sixth, seventh rounds of those kinds of guys. It’s tough. It’s tough to part with that, especially when you have a guy that’s maybe a rental for a year or two. I mean, I think it I think they should stay pat. I don’t think there’s a lot that they can do that can really flip the script of the season, especially when they’re maybe a year away from being true contenders. Yeah, we’ll we’ll find out soon enough if Ryan PS and the Bears decide to make a move. Once again, the trade deadline this Tuesday at 3:00. By the way, we see all your comments here. Keep them coming on after the whistle. We’ll read them after this break. And also, we’ll hear from head coach Ben Johnson as well. [Music] [Music] [Music] Back here on After the Whistle, Caleb Williams now with his fifth fourth quarter comeback that’s tied for second in the NFL as the Bears beat the Bengals 47-42. Let’s listen in on head coach Ben Johnson. Overall, just really proud of the the group and how resilient they were. There’s a number of things that that weren’t pretty, that weren’t clean. Um and yet, I think what you what you learn about this group through the first half of the season is that they are an extremely resilient bunch. Uh they they show up and they’re going to fight you all 60 minutes and they really don’t waver. I give them a lot of credit for their poise. Uh with the way that game went, you know, you’re up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and you know, they get the onside kick, they take the lead and and uh it it’s easy it’s easy to fold and our guys didn’t do that. They they kept the faith and and found a way to come out on top. And so, um there’ll be a lot of tape that we we can coach off of and we can clean up. Uh, I think the best thing is you go in the locker room and it’s an exciting win like that and yet there’s a number of guys that are pretty disappointed with how they played and so I think that’s the sign of a good football team is they can recognize it immediately and and we’re going to be able to clean it up and and get it fixed. So, um, you know, you don’t apologize for for winning in this league. It’s too hard week in and week out, especially on the road. And so, uh, you know, it’s it’s as a coach, you don’t uh you don’t take these things for granted. So, with that, I’ll go ahead and open it up. Ben, what was the uh emotional experience for you in the last two or so minutes? Uh, yeah. No, I I try to keep it pretty steady. I mean, we were on top of it. I just try to keep levelheaded in terms of uh making sure we have enough time for our own rebuttal and and so we were using our timeouts and you know, that’s kind of worst case scenario, but you’re kind of thinking that way and making sure that you got a chance. And, you know, we came back and we needed a field goal and just about a minute left and a and a timeout. So, we felt pretty good about about those that scenario. Um, so yeah, I mean, you go it’s easy to go up and down and and ride that roller coaster, but I I think the coaching staff did a pretty good job just staying level-headed throughout. It looked like in the sequence that you’re talking about with uh the Bengals going in, it looked like you weren’t conceding anything, but you were preparing for the at least the probability that they were Yeah. Yeah. You know, and and you could see it in their intent as well. you know, they got down in the red zone and started running the ball to try to drain some of the clock off. And so, um, you know, that’s that’s part of that game is they want to have the last last score themselves and and win the game and we want to have enough time just in case to to rebuttle. So, uh, yeah, it’s a that’s the strategic part of it that that can be a little bit fun. What’s going through your mind on Coulson’s play? thinking, “Okay, he’s got he’s going to be a field goal.” And then he kicks off and runs away from Yeah, I just told Jeff um that I really I was hunting one coverage there before halftime and end of the game and the in the two-minute scenarios and uh couldn’t get it. Couldn’t get it. There was probably three or four calls I had and I just didn’t get it. And then finally we got it on that particular play and Caleb did a great job seeing it. Delivered a good ball. Uh figured it was going to be explosive. wasn’t wasn’t expecting it to be a touchdown though and I I think that was Colston’s speed just just taking off and and going for it. So it was good to see we needed on that on that play is Coulson the number one. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. You we we’ve gotten used to how you’ve talked about how even killed you are. I mean where’s how challenging was it though for you in those final two minutes to really stay uh shoot I was actually probably more even killed then than I was earlier in the game. Um you could ask our offensive coaching staff. I I’m not too I can say some things on the headset that aren’t too pleasant, but uh but no, I I think overall I think that the whole group, coaches and players, they handled it really well. Ben, how about Caleb’s ups and downs throughout? Speaking to coach uh throughout the week, we knew that this an explosive offense. They can score at any moment. They can score. He’s I mean, he said it before the game uh a day before the game or so that you know, we get up by two touchdowns, don’t don’t feel good or comfortable or anything like that. You know, it’s a and that’s what they did today. I mean, they they made plays and um we knew it was going to be a shootout. We knew it was going to be one of those games. And um obviously, we have to, you know, play better on different sides of the balls and things like that, but um us coming through in this way, I think this has been really the only way that we haven’t um this this year. And so, uh being able to show all the variety of ways to win the game that we can um is really important for our confidence as a offense, as a team, and things like that. Um and and the guys after the game. Um it doesn’t matter that they put up how many points they put up. We’re all excited for this win. This is a big moment for us. Um, you know, to be able to go into this next quarter of the season, uh, five and three. What does it say about a team though that after the on kick and score go ahead, a lot of teams wouldn’t be able to practice that’s that’s that’s where we are. Um, when things don’t go our way, when adversity hits, uh, we find ways to win for each other. That’s that’s that’s it. Um, I think that’s been what it’s been this year. Uh, offense not scoring, defense shows up. um you know uh defense and offense may give up a touchdown. Special teams puts us in good field position. Um and you know we kick gamewinners and things like that. Today we have to put up a bunch of points to to be able to help our brothers. Um and I think uh I think us doing that today uh builds confidence in those guys on the other side of the ball. Obviously our side but the other side of the ball um building confidence that that they know that we have their back. Your final pass today. Can you take us through that entire sequence? Yeah. Um in that moment I was a little bit of a emotional roller coaster just because um it was around 30 30 so seconds or around that time and you know you throw that pass and you want to get in field goal range um and and get down clock it and then kick the gamewinning field goal. Um Coulson made a great great play all line block well you know threw a solid ball to to Coulson. He made a great play for us, bouncing off a few tackles and taking it the distance. And so, um, in that moment, it’s like, uh, it’s like Steph Curry with Steve Cerr, uh, where it’s like, oh, no, no, no, no. Yes, yes, yes. Um, so that’s that that’s where I was in that moment. Um, and and, uh, like I said, Coulson made a great play for us. That’s why we I mean, that’s why he’s here. You’re a little nervous he’s going to get caught there. Yeah, I was uh I saw I think it was 28 starting to track him down and um, I was like, let’s go, Coulson. Pick up the legs and get in the end zone. You’ve you’ve you’ve took it the distance now. Go finish the game. Williams said Ben said that he was looking for coverage. You just heard from Bears head coach Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams there. I mean guys, this team we were just talking about it up two scores with about two minutes left to play. And I for one moment I thought, okay, is this team about to completely have a meltdown, but today we saw them pull out with a win here. Uh Jim, this has to give them certainly confidence that knowing that they can win these kinds of games. Yeah. Well, I I think you just you got to understand that anything can happen in the National Football League. You you just got to keep playing. No matter what bad things happen, you just keep playing. I go back to 2001. We were down three touchdowns to Cleveland and we scored three touchdowns and won the game with literally less than a minute left in in the game. So, anything can happen with highly competitive individuals that are extremely talented. I think the coach said a couple things there. He was diligent with his timeouts. Caleb was aware of it because he got the key scramble that they had the timeout left to use that set up the big play that coach said he was looking for. I was hunting for a coverage, he said. I was hunting for a coverage and finally they lined up in that coverage and what do we know about Caleb? He’s good with his first read and sure enough Lovelin was his first read. The rest is history. The coach played it beautifully with how we saw it playing out, the timeouts that were left and managing the clock. Caleb did what was required of him. So, everything hit on cylinders where they were able to make this great comeback. But, it’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of dedication and and I give coach credit because he prepared them. We’re going to be in a shootout. We we could be up two touchdowns and it’s this game is not going to be over. So, they knew they were going to be in a grinder and it ended up being a grinder today. Uh we just heard Caleb Williams making an NBA reference with Steve Kerr and Steph Curry there. Love the story you just shared. Uh, Jim, especially when you were playing back in 01. Kevin Garnett, anything is possible, man. Anything is possible. Uh, I want to read some viewer comments now. Let’s start with P Kid. He asked, “How do we feel about Austin Booker’s contributions today despite how the defense looked, Jim?” Encouraging. Need to see more. He’s been a preeason wonder. He made a really splash play today. That was a big play, but more is expected. We need somebody to step up on that defensive side of the ball. And if if I’m Booker, I’d be saying to myself, why not me? Why not me? I can be the guy. I can be the answer. And maybe he can be the answer. Yeah. I think the the big thing that we saw from Austin is when he got some limited opportunities to go out there and make plays today, you saw a really, really big one from him. It reminded you of what you saw from him in preseason. Those are the things that that win you over with a coach who maybe isn’t as big a fan of you. Remember Austin Booker could have been activated for three weeks off of IR and the Bears continued to keep him there. That probably means that you know he the Bears felt that there were better options than him ahead of him that you needed to have on the field. Austin Booker’s trying to show you right now in limited snaps and trying to get more of those. Hey, there is no better option than me. I am the best option and you got to make more than just that splash play today. But it was a really big play. I mean, you want to go one step further than that. There are two guys that were basically preseason ponies that were Dom Robinson and Austin Booker. Two guys that made a lot of plays in the preseason, but we’ve been waiting to see it in the regular season. Dom obviously has been hurt. But when I was talking to him before the season, all the way in training camp, he said, “Hey, it feels like this staff has given me a chance. It feels like there were times in the previous regime where it felt like I wasn’t given that shake that I needed or the opportunities or the reps that I needed to get better, but it really seems like this staff knows how to put guys in position to to go out there and earn the opportunities, but also to capitalize on them, too. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the uh this is the one of many Austin Booker plays that we’ll see this season because we’ve seen Dom make plays in the regular season, too. And uh his Dline coach was tell texts me all the time every time he gets a sack and that’s happened plenty of times this year so far. Right. I mean, this is one of those things where you got to you got to put faith in this coaching staff, and this is the part where we’re seeing the depth come and rise and and maybe that’s a big thing that happens, especially in the back back end of the season. All right, we’ve only got a few minutes left here on After the Whistle. I want to read one final comment here from Amber Buelos, who says we should definitely see more of 25 and less of four going forward. Kyle’s proven he’s the better running back. Uh Jim, do you agree? Uh, I think he’s an angry running back, much like his brother in there where he went to school, Isaiah Pacheco, who now runs for Kansas City. He’s an angry runner. He runs with a purpose. And yeah, there’s always a place for guys like that on the field, and he’s earned it. I I think every time he’s stepped on the field, he has not done anything to disappoint me, and I don’t think he’s done anything to disappoint that staff. He runs angry. He runs with a purpose, and you can tell uh he he wants it. So, give him the ball. He’s He’s earned that right. Yeah. Listen, I I think Kyle Manungi, you just got to feature more. I don’t know if he’s going to be the starter at any point, but I love the fact that if you get DeAndre Swift back to being who he is, and you’ve got Kyle Manungi now running this hard, you’ve got a great running back tandem. We didn’t say that to start the season. I mean, the one thing that Kyle that we’ve shown that today, he makes the Bears versatile in the running game. He’s a big bowling ball. You got Swift. Jim has mentioned as a guy that’s better out in space. It makes it that makes the Bears versatile in the running game. And I think that’s going to help especially going to the back end of the season where you’ve got games you can win against the Giants, the Browns, the Steelers, the NFC North games, too. It only helps them going forward. And on that note, the Bears will take on the Giants next week for a week 10. That will do it for us here at Tina Win. Pat the Designer, Chris Kazinski, Jim Miller. Bears win uh 47 to 42. They improved to 5 and three on the season. We’ll see you here next week around the same time. Thanks for joining us.

When the Bears game is done, Tina Nguyen takes over with guests Jim Miller and Pat the Designer.