Ben Johnson SOUNDS OFF On Chicago Bears Playoff Chances, Caleb Williams & MUCH MORE!

Ben Johnson SOUNDS OFF On Chicago Bears Playoff Chances, Caleb Williams & MUCH MORE!

Good morning everybody. Welcome into Chicago Bears now. My name is Harrison Graham. Wanted to react to some of Ben Johnson’s press conference from late yesterday afternoon. Thought he hit on some interesting topics and wanted to give my reaction here on today’s show. And before we do that, I just got to ask, you loving the Ben Johnson era so far? You loving that he’s in Chicago? I mean, I’m watching the Raiders last night and you know, Pete Carol feels like a dinosaur out there and I’m just like, “Thank God Ben Johnson is the Bears head coach.” If you’re with me, hit that like button. All right, Bears playoff chances. Ben was peppered uh with the playoff talk yesterday and uh he was not having any of it if I’m being completely honest with you. Here’s what he had to say about the seven and three Bears playoff chances. He said, “We are way far away from that. I haven’t been thinking about that. We’re really in the third quarter of the season. We’re in a good spot right now for where we want to be at this quarter of the season and we have a tough opponent coming here on Sunday. Look, obviously some of that’s coach speak, coach talk, whatever you want to call it. I think the Bears are aware of where they’re at in the standings, but I do think that this staff has done a very good job of just taking every day for what it is, which is let’s focus on the task at at hand. Today is an off day for the players. They don’t practice on Tuesdays. The coaches are going to dive into the game plan for the Steelers tomorrow. Players back in the building, they’ll be back on the practice field. Like, I I think they have done a nice job of kind of keeping everybody in the building focused on the then and there. Now, players aren’t idiots. They check the standings. They look at scores. They know what’s going on. Uh, but I think you can do that and still ultimately lock in and focus on what’s important. And right now, what’s important is getting ready for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Like Ben said, a good opponent coming into Chicago. So, uh, we will see how the Bears, uh, handle this game, uh, here in 5 days. Now, as far as the playoffs go, obviously for us as Bears fans, you know, media people on the outside, that’s for us to talk about, right? And it is very exciting and it is very real and it is very possible that this team not only makes the playoffs, but could even win the NFC North if they continue to improve and win some games. So, uh, obviously we’re all allowed to be excited about it, and I’m sure deep down Ben is like, “Yeah, man.” Like I I was optimistic, but seven and three, we’ve won seven out of eight. Like we’re we’re trending in the right direction, but it’s his job to keep these guys ready. And like I said, Pittsburgh’s up next uh in week 12. Then you got the Steelers on Black Friday. Then you go to Green Bay. I mean, like this, it’s going to really ramp up here. Even the Browns at home with Miles Garrett, he can take over a game. Uh you got the Packers, 49ers, and Lions to finish up obviously. So you can’t afford to look ahead if you are Ben Johnson and the Bears. But at the same time, you’ve put yourself in this position for this to be a talking point. And at the end of the day, you want to be in position to be a playoff team, to be a contender, and the Bears have shown up to this point that they have a chance of being just that. I’ll ask you guys, will the Bears make the playoffs? Simple yes or no question. Type Y for yes, type in for no. All right. Ben was also asked about his assessment of Caleb Williams game against the Minnesota Vikings. And I kind of thought he said basically what I thought about his game, which was this quote, “The best thing he did was keep the ball out of harm’s way. He did a good job throwing the ball away when it wasn’t there. All in all, I thought he played a pretty good football game.” And I think that’s a totally fair assessment. You know, 16 to 32. I thought early on he was a little just, you know, ramped up, which we’ve seen at times this year. I think he started two for seven. Then I thought he settled in after that. There were some untimely drops. three for sure drops with uh Luther over the middle, DJ over the middle, and then Durham Smi. I think there might have been a fourth in there, too. So, let’s just call it three. 19 to 32 for probably 250 if those are caught. That’s that’s a much better looking day. Uh if that if those balls are caught. Uh but I think sometimes, and I want to give Adam Hog credit, I saw him I think he was on the score saying this like, “Hey, like sometimes the game calls for being a game manager.” That was one of those games. That was a knuckle fight, a fist fight. Don’t turn the football over. Like, that doesn’t mean shy away from throwing the ball. And there might have been a couple cases of that. Like, you know, you don’t want to make a mistake. But I still thought the Bears were cautiously aggressive at times attacking the middle of the field. They took the deep shots early, which obviously they didn’t connect on. But that does open up other things. And listen, your guy managed the game, didn’t turn the ball over. Their guy did. That was a big reason why the Bears won. And sometimes in these games, this isn’t college football. You know, Caleb Williams at USC used to being in these shoot shootouts having to be Superman. That’s kind of been the beauty of what Ben Johnson’s brought to Chicago. Like Caleb, you don’t you don’t have to be Superman that much. And I think Caleb has understood that. Sure, he picks a few times a game where he’s extending plays, trying to make something happen. That’s just part of the skill set. But he doesn’t have to be the savior. Just just play well. And I thought he played well enough to win the game. And just again, a little side note, last two weeks, the drops have been really bad. I mean, not only the volume, but the timing of some of these. Um, at least nine drops the last two weeks. You could argue closer to like 12. Uh, it’s got to be better. It has to be better. Uh, they’re leaving chunk plays on the field, uh, offensively. If they can clean that up, uh, they’ll be in a much better spot and they won’t be in a situation where you got to rip off a kickoff return to put yourself in position to win that football game. All right, more from Ben Johnson to react to, but we are sponsored by Brunt. The best working boots in the game can be found at bruntworkware.com/hat. $10 off with that promo code. The holidays are coming up and if you’re looking to get your pops, your brother, any of the fellas in your family a gift, boots from Brunt are a great option. Other gear available as well. 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Brunt Workware. Our listeners get $10 off their entire order with code chat at checkout at chat bruntwork.com. Use code chat. Order today. Let them know we sent you Bears now from Chat Sports. All right. Uh, a couple more topics been discussed that I wanted to weigh in on. um just kind of the trust and the confidence that Ben and this coaching staff have in both of the Bears running backs. Obviously led by DeAndre Swift, but also seventh round rookie Kyle Madungi. Uh he said, quote, “We’re very comfortable with Swift and Mungai. Both have proven they are more than capable with the ball in their hands. They’re very dependable in pass protection. That team we just play stresses the interior of the protection and both of our backs stepped up to the plate to try and shut that down. I’ve got a lot of confidence in those guys. It might be series by series. it might be the hot hand. We kind of uh go by what we see in practice a lot of the time, too. I feel really good about both of these guys, and he should. I mean, the numbers play that out. The tape shows that both are uh well-rounded backs. They’re both uh reliable on, you know, in the screen game catching the ball. Many uh has improved in pass as the years gone on as a rookie. I think Swift is having a really good year in pass. I give Eric Benemy a lot of credit for that because he was not good in that area last year, but the efficiency has been there. Both are averaging over four and a half yards per carry. That is the the baseline goal that Benemy sets for these guys. They’re both at 4.7. And again, that’s with the slow start. Remember, the first month, uh, the running backs really struggled to get loose and they’ve cleaned that up. The run blocking, the combo blocks, the tight ends have really helped spring some runs loose. Uh, combined for eight total touchdowns. Uh, we talked about this yesterday. The Bears, they’re second in the NFL in rushing. Uh, just under 150 yards a game. Only Buffalo is higher. And again, that’s with a poor first month. So, what they’ve been able to do since the by-week uh to get these running backs going, uh I think this is an offense that wants to run the football and throw play action off of it. When this team is moving the ball consistently, that’s what they do. Run the football, play action, intermediate shots over the middle. That that’s that is the bread and butter of this offense in my opinion uh this year. And uh when they’re when they’re looking uh their best and kind of getting into that flow like that 15 play drive, right? like a lot of runs, some play action completions for Caleb Williams. Uh that’s that’s like a textbook 2025 Chicago Bears drive. That’s what it looks like. So, uh I like this combination right now. If it continues to look like this, I’d be cool with this combination next year. You know, long term, like it’d be cool to have like a like a souped up back, but like I I feel good about what they’re doing. Swift’s vision has improved this year. His cutback game has been really good. He’s trusting the blocking. Manungai brings the physicality. It’s fun to watch, man. And uh hopefully it continues and I think it’s something that can translate into the postseason especially in bad weather games which uh would benefit the Bears as well. All right, subscribe to the channel. We go live every Monday and Thursday and game day. We also post daily content, long form videos, short content as well. Uh we do it all. News, rumors, injury updates, game previews, uh you know, live game day shows, all that stuff, mailbags, you name it, we do it. Subscribe, turn on notifications. It’s 100% free. Ben was also asked about kind of the the idea of more 50/50 balls, more deep shots, which to be clear, I think are two different things. So, I don’t know if it was the best worded question. Uh, but here’s what he had to say when it comes to the 50/50 balls. He goes, “I’m not a big guy uh on 50/50 balls. Uh, you can look at my track record of calling games. I like to get guys open more than just throwing it up for grabs. That’s not what we want to be about.” Now, don’t forget this. remember I think it was at the owner meetings in the springtime when Ben I don’t know what he was asked specifically but he was like we want to have receivers that get open and have yards after the catch opportunities I mean you watch Detroit the last couple years St. Brown, one of the best yak guys in the league. Jame Williams, ball in space, yards after catch. Now, you can still take deep shots, and you should. Deep shots aren’t necessarily 50/50 balls. Like, if you dial something up and your guy beats the uh corner, that’s not a 50/50 ball, right? Like that that missed throw from Caleb to DJ, that’s not a 50-50. That’s just a mis throw, right? The Rome one’s closer to 50/50 because the corner is pretty close, but that’s a one-on-one on the outside. Rome has a step. Like, that’s that’s a calculated shot. Uh I you know so I think what Ben is saying like I take pride in my ability to scheme these guys open and then I trust the players to go execute it. Like I shouldn’t bank on my quarterback and receiver to make play after play after play and contested catch situations. Now sometimes you need to do that. Sometimes you need Roma Dunay to make a play. Sometimes you need Coloulston Lovelin to make a play. They’re capable of doing that. That’s why that’s part of their skill set. But at the same time I think Ben Johnson takes it on his shoulders as a coach. like it’s my job to design plays uh that should get guys open and it’s up to the players to get open and that is what they want to do. And uh that’s why again I think like the middle of the field, the crossers, the deep ends, like that’s when this team uh generates their best plays because that’s where Caleb I think is most comfortable attacking uh as a passing quarterback and I think that’s what’s uh generated the most uh open plays for the most part. So, um, you know, I Ben Johnson does not just want to throw the ball up for grabs, as he’s saying. Uh, he wants to, uh, design and call an offense that generates open plays and, uh, for the players to execute. All right. What is your confidence level in the Bears right now? Scale of 1 to 10, one being not at all, 10 being very, I feel pretty good. They’re still making a lot of mistakes, but, you know, they’re finding ways to win. I don’t know, 7.9. Uh, I think the Bears are in a good spot and, you know, we’ll obviously have to improve and continue to tighten things up as these games get tougher, but uh, seven and three is seven and three. I’m pretty confident and I trust what Ben Johnson is trying to do. All right, that’s going to do it for this edition of Chicago Bears. Now, appreciate everybody for tuning in to the program. We will be back later today with another episode. So, hit that subscribe button, follow me on Twitter, hml, and as always, bear down.

Chicago Bears Ben Johnson sounded off on several topics in his latest press conference including his thoughts on Caleb Williams’ game against the Minnesota Vikings. Johnson thought Williams played a “solid game” as he took care of the ball in the Bears win over the Vikings. Johnson also completely dismissed any Bears playoff talk as all focus remains on the Steelers this week. Chat Sports host Harrison Graham reacts to Ben Johnson’s press conference on today’s episode of Chicago Bears Now.

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Ben Johnson on Bears playoff chances:
“We’re way far away from that. I haven’t been thinking about that. We’re really in the third quarter of the season. We’re in a good spot right now for where we want to be at this quarter of the season and we have a tough opponent coming in here on Sunday.”

Caleb Williams’ stats vs. Vikings:
– COMP/ATT: 16/32
– PASS YDS: 193
– TD/INT: 0/0
– RUSH YDS: 26

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Bears head coach Ben Johnson on Caleb’s game vs. Vikings:
“The best thing he did was keep the ball out of harms way. He did a good job throwing the ball away when it wasn’t there. All in all I thought he played a pretty solid football game.”

Agree or disagree with Chat Sports host Harrison Graham by commenting on today’s Chicago Bears Now video:
– Will the Bears make the playoffs? Type ‘Y’ for Yes or ‘N’ for No
– Confidence-level in the Bears right now? Scale of 1-10

Chicago Bears 2025 Draft Picks:
– Round 1, Pick No. 10: Colston Loveland (TE, Michigan)
– Round 2, Pick No. 39: Luther Burden III (WR, Missouri)
– Round 2, Pick No. 56: Ozzy Trapilo (OT, Boston College)
– Round 2, Pick No. 62: Shemar Turner (DT, Texas A&M)
– Round 4, Pick No. 132: Ruben Hyppolite II (LB, Maryland)
– Round 5, Pick No. 169: Zah Frazier (CB, UTSA)
– Round 6, Pick No. 195: Luke Newman (OG, Michigan State)
– Round 7, Pick No. 233: Kyle Monangai (RB, Rutgers)

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