Caleb Williams' ugly NFL debut saved by Bears' defense in historic win vs. Titans

[Music] welcome to the under CER podcast this is a joyous day the Bears on the lakefront defeated the Tennessee Titans 24- 17 I think a lot of us had the final score but we damn sure didn't know how both teams were going to get there the Bears defense carried today along with the special teams in a herculan effort to snatch Victory away from the Titans Bears quarterback kayb Williams was 14 of 29 for 93 yards and a rating of 55 but no interceptions and he could have thrown a couple let's start off there right away guys it was heat and pressure up the middle you had Simonson sweat sweating it through and they had our boy Shelton on his backside but starting with Caleb your thoughts on Caleb's performance um of course it wasn't great but was there any uh silver lining in Caleb's performance today let's start with that before we get into all the bad stuff man so I mean I think the Silver Lining is just that unlike a lot of teams really most teams that would have a quarterback in this position the Bears have really built something to allow for this and not let the frustration build and kind of get Caleb down like I think it's very useful for him to go through these growing panes and get a win like after the game he can go up there and be like hey like we got to win I got to be a lot better like he was for like hey I'm gonna get better this is not the standard but we got to win and it it's not everything's not on his shoulders like I think from a play standpoint I thought the amount of pressure the Titans front seven got really really sped him up I thought in the second half especially I thought the inaccuracy was just him playing too fast I think that the really poor play of Coleman Shelton Nate Davis Ryan Bates teevin jenkinson the entire interior really just kind of ripped whatever game plan the Bears had up I mean they talked all week about not knowing what the Titans defense were going to do they weren't going to chase goats they just kind of went in there with the plan and I think tandre SWAT and Jeffrey Simmons pretty much wrecked that plan like they could not run the football they couldn't do anything and then once it got on Caleb it was just like he he just played too fast he was inaccurate he missed a ton of throws that he probably doesn't normally Miss he had a bunch of balls batted down um and look it's just going to be turbulent sometimes we've talked about that for for months right there's just going to be these games where he's just not very good and it I mean it doesn't have to mean anything other than the fact that the Bears still won because Ryan P's put together a pretty good roster that can support a rookie quarterback through through times when it's like this and eventually the idea is he comes out the other side and the offense can carry the day yeah there's really not much else to add other than it was not very good uh one guy who all add to the list of Titans game records Sebastian Joseph day I mean the it I discussed this a little bit leading into the game this was a game where the Titans strength happened to match up with the Bears weakness and that was on display all all day long I mean Matty refle talks about how effective it is for a defensive line to Dent the middle of a pocket and how that affects the quarterback and yeah Caleb Williams was mightily affected by that the batted balls you know I saw people suggesting oh the batted balls because he's 61 n batted balls because the Titans defense basically lived in that back field all day long um the other thing that's again like I don't know that it's cause for concern it's week one in what we knew was going to be an up and down bumpy year for a rookie quarterback is that he just wasn't in sync with the wide receivers you know Keenan Allen drops a touch down that doesn't happen very often the Deep shots just weren't close you know uh romad dun same thing they just didn't seem to have that chemistry developed yet and and that's something that we've seen throughout Camp is that that chemistry has been a little bit slow to come along but the one dude who he has had chemistry with throughout training camp is the dude who he linked up with the most and that was DJ Moore so if there's a civil aligning it's that you know DJ Moore and Caleb Williams that looked that at least looked like a decent connection the other stuff is just going to maybe take a little bit and you know if they're playing a team without Jeffrey Simmons without Sebastian Joseph day without ton Dre sft without all these dudes I mean pretty much dominating the interior of the Bears offensive line maybe things will go a little bit more smoothly what should Caleb's Focus be moving forward now of course you're not going to have those tackles on every team Simmons we were we were oping for the Bears to make a move for Simmons a few years ago before couple years before before he got extended down with the Titans but Josh you mentioned him playing fast I also felt like still some of the inexperience and it's not a knock this is the first game former rookie going into the NFL highly anticipated with a Titans team that probably W has something to say too with this much heralded rookie coming in and most people probably having them losing to this rookie in his first game which we already know is a rarity with first round first picks in in the first round quarterbacks usually don't when there's only been four in the Super Bowl era but what can he do better and was there a little bit of inexperience a part of this too not just him playing fast or was him playing fast due to the inexperience I should probably ask yeah I mean Caleb Caleb said that the that he didn't feel like the the speed was different he said that it felt like it probably looked like that because there were so many miscues and misfires that they were just all out of sync and he and he had to speed it up that way um I I think a lot of it's an experience and I think what Caleb said he would go back to the drawing board and work on is is what he should do and that's just getting with the receivers as Alex mentioned and and trying to get on the same page right it's extra reps after practice it's just building that chemistry and I mean I think this is just a game also where like and this will happen sometimes Ken in football like you know when things go wrong things are just going wrong like on Third and one they have a screen to DJ Moore and it's going to be at Walkin first down and Caleb drops a snap and all of a sudden like okay well now we're scrambling we're throwing out of the back at the end zone and I think he kind of felt you could see the frustration on his face in the second half being like man like what like what is going on and they said hey he's even keeled on the sideline I'm sure he was but it's I mean he said it's obviously the worst game he's played since Notre Dame last year and it's probably one of the worst games he's played in a long long long time right and for a guy who is so talented and has kind of manifested his way to the Heisman and the number one pick and all these things to come out and and kind of just like put up a dud which a lot of rookie quarterbacks do and it means absolutely nothing um it's just going to take time all of it's going to take time but they really do have to run the football like this this whole thing was built on the idea that hey we could just lean on DeAndre Swift when we need to like we can just give him the ball 15 20 times and and he's gonna he's gonna be able to carry it 10 carries for 30 yards I mean start of the fourth quarter the Bears leading rushers were veis Jones and Caleb Williams both with 11 yards that's not going to get it done with any rookie quarterback like you have to take the pressure off him especially in games when you don't block a punt for a touchdown and you don't get a pick six when will Levis just I don't know has an outof body moment and just flings it up backhanded so uh they got a lot of work to do but like like we talked about they're just going it's just GNA go up and down all year and the idea is just when you when the season ends you're in a good spot for next year I'm glad you mentioned the Run game because that's something I was going to bring up is that you know like it's tough for any quarterback let alone a rookie making his first start to win when your number one guy is 10 for 30 and by the way 20 of those 30 yards came on that one rush in the fourth quarter there for for a lot of that game DeAndre Swift was averaging less than one yard per carry I don't care who you are like you're you're not going to get a lot done when when that's your when you're at second and 10 and third and 10 constantly uh and it and it was worse than that at times because they were getting behind the sticks there were some pre- snap penalties there were the Holdings so in terms of what Caleb can can do in addition to the the getting on page with the with the um the wide receivers clean up the pre- snap stuff you know that's part of the quarterback he has a hand in that uh the Holdings are maybe less his fault hard hard to say um but there's that and if we're looking for another Silver Lining you touched down at Kenneth right at the top it's the no turnovers and this is one of the things that made Caleb Williams so great at USC is he so rarely throws interceptions and he maybe got away with a throw today that could have been picked but he did get away with it and he did drop a ball but he did pick it back up and avoided disaster so there were moments where Caleb Williams was able to avoid disaster and the Bears winning the turnover margin was obviously a huge huge huge reason it is the reason why they won this football game Caleb Williams did not throw the interception ions Willis did Bears win so if Caleb Williams can continue to take care of the football while he makes these improvements they'll they'll be okay they'll be on the right track Titans 16 first downs the Bears 11 third down conversions Titans three or 14 the Bears two of 13 we mentioned russing yards net yards the Bears had 84 Titans had 140 passing net 104 for the Titans 64 for the Bears my guys just talked about penalties the Bears had several penalties 455 yards with one turnover I think the biggest thing was time of possession 34 at Point 53 am 34 minutes 53 seconds for the Titans 25 minutes and 7 seconds for the Bears this was a this was a lucky game in a good way that the team was built where they could they could pull off some mess like this with an offense that wasn't getting things done I I wanna I want to get to the passing in a minute but I want to stick with the Run game guys and this I don't remember post game now seeing the reporters in the locker room since before covid hit um is is that this year where they postgame that we you guys been back up I don't remember seeing like the Bears have video from I felt like am I wrong correct me we've been in there yeah okay just making sure just making sure what did the what running wise how much of that comes with the offensive line play because if we're talking about between the tackles and you're talking about the dent that those tackles were putting in that offensive line there's not a lot of running that you're going to be able to get away with but also I want to say this why was and if this question was asked why didn't we see the change of pace and I know it's not the same because the SP is pretty fast too but we didn't see K Herbert was that due to the fact that he was now in kick return because veis for some odd reason was back there and muffed a punt and then kicked it to the opposing team why didn't we see khil Herbert we saw Travis Homer being the change of pace guy instead of DeAndre Swift no it's a it's a good question it's a question we'll probably ask I can ask we can ask flu tomorrow um you know I think the thing is though I mean they gave Herbert I think when he come in the second or third drive he got a first down and then we didn't really see him again and I think it was around that time that I I the Bears just kind of like they didn't abandon the run but they really like I think they got a sense about the third fourth drive like they were just not going to be able to line up and do it so like the change of pace back I don't even know if that I don't think that's going to do anything I think they like honestly went into the locker room at halftime and pretty much scrapped whatever whatever game plan they had put together you know they went no huddle in the third quarter just trying to get trying to get stuff going right like we got to find a way to move the football and you know when Ryan Bates is getting put into the turf by tandre sweat and Nate Davis looks like a Turn Style there's just no there's just no there's just no rush Lanes like there there there just wasn't I mean veis Jones might be the most physical back he had 11 yards like it was just a game where like if the offensive line is not going to block at all like the interior if they're not going to do their job at all that they're not going to run the football it's just not going to happen so I think they just scrapped it and tried to find a way to manufacture a way to move the ball down the field with screens with short passes and then as Alex mentioned when you get when you get the holding calls you get the presap penalties I mean they finish two series at Fourth and 30 they don't have a play for fourth and 30 it just doesn't exist right the good old four 30 play Josh yeah yeah yeah Caleb's taking a 19 yard sack to get out of field goal range like that's not it's not good right so it just like I said it was a lucky game where pretty much everything that could go wrong went wrong on offense except for the interception that that should have been because he missed DJ like three yards and it they are very lucky that that wasn't picked off you know you say lucky game I'm I'm Gonna Be Good Vibes only one more time here one more time for you I'm Gonna Be Good Vibes only and spin it is maybe this is a another signal that the Bears have turned Turn the Page from Rebuilders to you know competitive football team and it's something that we've been talking about you know is this team ready to be competitive in the past two years three years this is a game that either the Bears look like the Titans where they dominate for 58 minutes and then lose or they get dominated as like they were today and then there's just like you know they fight back a little bit and come up short but over the past three years this you know is an easy Bears loss the Bears lose this game pretty much every time in the past but now they have this super talented roster filled with a ton of Playmakers on defense and their special teams looks like a strength right and they're able to lean on those strengths and come up with those plays and get a win and they beat a team that on paper they're supposed to beat and you know is it lucky I mean yeah like things went their way as as much as things did not go their way things also did go their way right right with Will Levis hucking it up oh that you could see it coming though you you knew that exactly but it coming it was coming it was coming right you know the Bears like hung around they fell down 17 points they fell down 17 nothing and then the second half defense didn't allow any more scoring and they did all scoring themselves essentially Cairo Santos is perfect he's he makes all three of his kicks a 50 a 48 yard and a Chip Shot like back in the day maybe there's a Miss in there but no CYO Santos is perfect today you said The Vibes are going to be well good all I'm saying is all I'm saying is a good team finds a way to win when everything is going wrong when they're go up up against a what is perceived to be a lesser opponent th did that today it was ugly it was so ugly but they found a way to win I mean yeah yeah true true but to to to the luck point they're the first team in NFL history to win a game which they trailed by at least 17 points and had fewer than 150 yards offense in NFL history history never the look The Look never happened Trend Setters Trend you st okay we're now brand NE Builder doing some uh some Game of Thrones is right there wide receivers guys um DJ Moore showed why DJ Moore got the bag um there was commmunication though there wasn't a connection it's a better way for me to phrase that between Caleb and Keenan I didn't really see a lot of passes targeted towards Rome but also and again I know in a game like this where the the and you said this Josh The Playbook basically gets scra the old shenan I got 15 plays that I'm going to run through we're tossing that bad boy out but we also really didn't see the the tight ends in play like there seems like a a myad of ways to try to attack that that defense if something's not working there's several levels due to the players that the Bears have as receivers and tight ends that they can attack an opposing team's defense and I ne didn't necessarily see that along with running backs in space I think they needed to use those tight ends as extra blockers I think the tight ends got taken off the table as pass catchers because we needed the extra help with the protection uh we saw Cole K in line a lot next to the tackles helping to Chip and stuff like that um we even saw eral Everett in line a little bit as well which was surprising to me so I didn't come if I think that would have been part of the reason why you didn't see the tight ends staking down the field I appreciate that all right offensive line guys um what what can we expect from this offense like this is something and I know people get tired of I didn't like I didn't like it I didn't like it tell for years for years and years and years I still I still don't like it I didn't like it in August I didn't like it in July I don't like it now well who okay let me ask you this who performed the the best on the offensive line taking in how poorly as a unit they performed this this morning no it's afternoon I meant to say that's a good question it's one of it's one of the it's one of the tackles so this gotta be Darnell I think it's Darnell I would say Darnell I mean I was so focused on how bad the interior of the line was I I can't tell I was like man like because I mean I didn't have time for the tackles to really blow assignments because if Andre sweat was just in Caleb Williams laugh every play yeah that was kind of my sense I didn't I didn't notice the tackles a ton I did notice Braxton Jones get out in space and lay out a couple good blocks a couple of those outside rushing plays that worked well Braxton Jones was was laying the wood on people out in space so te props for run blocking so what was what was what was the issues with we we can't be a proe podcast and not get on te if he has had a bad game what did our guy what was wrong with his performance today he got beat yeah I mean it just it I mean just it just wasn't good I mean Tevin you know I think we all pretty on the trch on the same page that he's got a lot of talent I think he could be one of the best guards of the NFL but he's had some moments like this like he's had some games in the past even when healthy where he's just been kind of stinky um and he just he just wasn't good today and I think that I mean that he's facing an elite defensive tackle and Jeffrey Simmons and I think to Andre sweat is really really freaking good that guy's a that guy's a load like we in no offense we know Nate Davis stinks you don't I didn't need to watch him go against dandre SED I told you we knew he stunk last year he's gonna keep stinking uh Tevin is a good guard he's still relatively new at playing guard and I think when he goes up against Elite Talent he struggles sometimes anything else offensively we were talking about tandre sweat as a is a top talent and then the character stuff came it was it it was Jaylen Carter like you know Jaylen Carter was this unbelievable Talent who had this unbelievably public character situation tandre sweat had the same thing happen in like a much condensed scale where he was also very very talented I think some people were talking about him as a first round Talent uh one of the top tackles off the board and then some of the character stuff came up and he fell uh but on the football field he's really good player boy when you condent the offensive line like that man yeah yeah that's ridiculous that it's it's hard to move the ball it's almost impossible and that's why the Bears went so much shotgun three wide receiver let's try to go quick pass and they just weren't on the same page okay but expectation should be that there's a chance that this can happen with one Simmons Simmons you know and you had to you had to scout sweat just in case you were gonna dra even if you had to scout him to knock him off of your board you had to scout you Talent yeah right he's play and also he's playing to let alongs side of a stud so that's going to benefit him because if there's a double team initially it's going to go Simmons way so you knew the heat was coming up the middle for the most part and it didn't seem like offensively they planned accordingly in my opinion and it doesn't get easier I mean coming up next Will Anderson and denil Hunter you know instead of coming in the middle they're coming at the edges but now now we can watch tackles now it's not like the Titans have the only good defensive line in the NFL there's a lot of good defensive line lons uh the Lions have one and then next you know next week it's two premier pass rushers but coming from a different area so yeah no it's they're gonna be tested they're gonna be tested throughout the year yeah it could I would hope though in that situation the Run game particularly just we're talking about as far as between the tackles more just as far as off the guards should be improved and perhaps now we have to see this because we know that Caleb likes to run out that perhaps climbing the pocket like we we did see on a couple of plays with Will Levis where he was really functional by climbing the pocket and executing that perhaps we can see that and that's something that most young quarterbacks who have some Mobility they don't do because they're so used to running out the backside of the line so hopefully that will be part of the lesson that we see in next week's offensive game planning offensively anything else positive that stood out we're going to talk about of course when we get to special teams we could just with veis and the why I don't know why veis was out there and I don't that was crazy we'll get there we'll get there but V still ve still being a very raw player as a running back he he looked good I mean particularly when we're talking about how tough it was to run against this team DeAndre Swift show why he was the guy that I think a lot of us wanted the Bears to go out in free agency and pick up what are the offensive players even with the offense that didn't perform well seem to at least cat Peak your interest as far as you know if that that was a good pickup or at least he had a decent day today with the offense being overwhelmed I mean look ke Kean Allen I think the chemistry is going to come right 11 targets he is open a ton he's still such an incredible route Runner um you know he's he I mean he spent you know all preseason torching DBS I don't think that's going to change I think once him and Caleb get on the same page as long as uh as long as the health checks out you know I know he was limping after that that deep shot and we didn't talk talk to him after the game because he was getting treatment um on the heel I assume so as long as he's healthy I mean I I remain incredibly impressed with with Kean Allen being able to do what he does at 32 and I think he's going to be a vital weapon um you know we talked about the tight ends I uh I know they were into block a lot but I mean Gerald ever out snapping Cole KT kind of caught my eye it's kind of just an interesting interesting nugget to kind of monitor um given how how well-rounded Cole is and how Gerald is is not a is not a blocking is not a blocking threat so that's just something to monitor going forward one thing I'm curious is what does the active roster look like next week because I think Tyler Scott is actually guy had who's had good chemistry with Caleb Williams when it's been clunky he's actually been able to connect with Tyler Scott um on some deep balls and that's something this offense could use because they I mean they they really didn't have any big chunk pass plays um maybe one intermediate one in the middle of the field so I'm interested to see if Tyler Scott gets a jersey that was a surprise for me I talked with Tyler after the game just being like yo what's up and he basically was like I had an inkling this might happen um and it comes down to special teams it comes down to special teams stuff you know he he's not the Special Teams contributor that the Bears thought veis Jones was gonna be uh that DeAndre Carter is now we do know that the the Bears do like veis Jones on punt like cover team and and like on the return team as I I don't know the exact name it's not the Jammer but he plays a role in the punt return team kind of in line as well um so they like him at other at other special team spots even when he's not returning the ball whether that's enough to give him a jersey I don't know especially if Roshan Johnson remains hurt and khil Herbert remains in whatever dogghouse he might or might not be in uh I have a lot of question uh but but Tyler Scott is a guy where I'm like hey maybe maybe you put him out there to take the top off of a defense because he's had a little bit more chemistry with Caleb Williams and some of the other guys like DeAndre Carter I mean if you're Tyler Scott aren't you just asking in practice this week to catch a 100 punts yep be like I just let me catch a 100 punts just let me just get really good at it so I can get on the field because if all veis has to do to get on the field is pretend he can catch a Kick let me catch the kicks and then I can actually be a weapon on offense uh one more thing I'm I'm good on on guard platoon any sort of offensive line platoon I know that Nate Davis has been hurt and Ryan Bates just back from his shoulder and that was the explanation for the for the platoon keeping them fresh pick five go find five and stick with the five if you think Nate Davis is bad then just don't play him just don't play him what have to play them now though if we're if we're looking at the returns from Center I mean listen well look yeah I mean about moving Ryan Bates to Center well yeah we move Ryan Bates to Center we spent all we spent all of August getting Caleb Williams coverable with Coleman we got your Center blown up all right off the ball off the ball I tell you what Ry didn't look much better at Right Guard you could you could definitely be right I'm talking about best five out I don't know if you need to me right now and we when we're talking about Center between the traits with Shelton and Bates it's speed and Tech I guess versus strength and and when I'm thinking strength I'm also thinking weight and the last thing you can have is someone putting both their hands on someone's shoulder and knocking them back onto their backside right there is the anchor of your offensive line like that that can't he can get beat believe like I'm not everyone gets beat you can't get beat like that that's the issue for me Alex but you seem like you disagree I don't disagree okay I'm just like I don't know I don't know what the answer is I don't know what the answer is I and it's again wow well the the the answer was finding a legitimate long-term Center five months ago that was the answer that part that part that part that was the answer uh hold on one more one more offensive please sir get all just just to leave us with uh with some good feels Caleb Williams averaged 3.2 yards per pass attempt that is the second fewest by a number one overall pick in NFL history in their debut in NFL history only Bert Jones in 1973 had fewer excuse me who is B who did Bert Jones play for just so we all know we don't know Str I mean I can look it information of Bert Jones The Great uh maybe you could also tell us what university play for since we're all getting this that's the thing about and I mean I'm not young so it's uh B Baltimore Colts oh shout out shout out to the Baltimore Colts did you want the uh that you want the you want the College of course I want the college go tigas LSU okay all right all right maybe B maybe B Jones could spin it a little bit it's not very far how did B johnes do for the rest of his career who cares all right all right moving along to have you heard of him I think that I think that answer no I mean usually you would think we kind of know like oh yeah so and so I heard of him I haven't heard Al he did he did win an NFL MVP in 1976 okay so we got Le Jones name if you ask me Bert Jones athlete actor or something or other I would have been like an actor in a heartbeat if you asked me if you just said the name B Jones or sing I would have said Lancaster comes to something Bert Reynolds I would have went straight with acting or singing before I went like Bert Jones QB number one former MVP sorry and that was that was second viewest by a first round pick not number one overall pick F Jones went second behind Johnny Unitus wow wait wow second no no no Johnny United was there Johnny United was with the Baltimore courts way before the the 70s was sorry he was chosen number two overall to be the era parent to Johnny unit by time Johnny United May almost headed to the Chargers or wherever John yeah John unit was headed out I was like something adding up that's that's that's your that's your Bert Jones minute all right all right the Bears defense had a great game uh initially they were stifling the the Titans oh but the third series Bill K Bill call had the Bears D spinning um parlot broke a run for 26 yards in the TD um in the Right Guard pull let's talk about the Bears defense um definitely had some spots where you know first of all they had some spots where you want them to be more Stout but they're playing against a professional offense so any really decent to good offense you're going to get scored on there's still some questions about the Titans but the Titans have talent is really can Will Lis execute and had his growth as a second-year quarterback but if you look at their wide receivers and you even look at the line until they're Right Guard went out the line was playing fairly well but Josh thoughts on the Bears uh defense this day yeah I think outside of uh you know what those two those basically those two drives um I'm going to take out the one where veis played soccer and they had like a 20 yard field and gave a field goal but the two touchdown drives uh outside of those two I thought they played they played pretty well um those two touchdown drives uh not very good Gap discipline with a lot of M tackles I mean we had TJ Edwards and TR emans they were we were whiffing um outside of that man they were really good and I was I was really impressed with the weakness of this team which is the pass rush I thought the pass rush was was good I mean d Daryl Taylor was was freaking good Andrew Billings played his absolute tail off um dvon Dexter had a sack montz sweat uh remains a wrecking ball like just watching how easily he gets off blocks is impressive um and we know how good the secondary is and like I mean will Levis it didn't really have a chance like once that once the pass rush really heated him up I didn't think he really had a chance I thought thought it was just the Bill Callahan thing is interesting because Bill Callahan is probably the best offensive line coach in the NFL um him and uh stoutland right and I thought they they kind of had the Bears in hell for a little bit with Tony Pard which is impressive because this defense only allowed 86 yards a game last year on the ground and Tony Pard kind of chewed him up but they they got they got right Gap discipline improved tackling really improved um and once the tackling improved and the pass rush heated him up um you know I mean they couldn't really move the ball and then uh yeah Tyreek Stevenson takes to the house and that's that's all she wrote I want to shout out a Matt eflu halftime adjustment as well uh when they were in hell and when the pass rush was not really getting home for a little bit they started hot and then they really cooled off and they couldn't generate pressure and will Levis was kind of chewing him up and we were looking at each other in the Press Box was like is Will Levis good this year and then flu did something we saw last year again which is dial up the heat he started bringing pressure he started bringing blitzes uh linebackers we saw coming shaine Edmonds was coming Tyler Gordon was coming he started dialing up the heat that clock for will Levis sped up and all of a sudden they started making plays so it was late it was late Mr Anderson was at us talking about the draft today and I usually don't see during the game because he was like they should have drafted Ed RIS and I'm just like no they need to create like I didn't I didn't understand in the first half and you don't have to all you have to do with is like twice if you don't have to become Greg Williams and just send the kitchen sink every down but what that's that's awesome that's awesome though this when you have these defensive backs and I I we know that the the linebackers were whiffing but the coverage ability of let's just say you're center fielder and Chaine Edmond right you have his coverage ability with those defensive backs what's the point of having them if you can't send an extra man like and then you saw as as time went on that they got tired the offensive line got tired they their Right Guard went out you were able to just send four and you were able to mug and show that you were blitzing and then get back into coverage but sometimes some teams you're not gonna be able to wait till the second half to be like yeah I'm G send some heat because I want to stay with no sometimes you're going to have to use a little bit of that and send an extra man earlier in the first half that's just for how I feel so so k a little earlier he wanted third yes yes yes you're 17 points in the first make that adjustment again like but it's but that's not this isn't a you thing I'm not put I'm not put it's not even a halftime adjustment I'm not getting to him you know like for me usually halftime adjustment would be how are they getting this guy open let's figure out how to stop this guy from getting open or how are they beating our guy flip side how on the blitz do they keep getting to this guy or this you already know if you're not getting there with four you better do something and you learned last year and of course you can use Excuse that montz sweat is montz sweat but even with that you know there's only so much and then where it comes to because D Daryl Taylor had two sacks this game the the the the one trick pony you need I I thought the trade was a good trade you needed a young one trick pony Yanik was not gonna be the guy you got that in Taylor but you also got know since you don't have another stud as of right now not to say that there's nobody on this roster that can't we saw Demarcus Walker show some flashes or whatever he says he's healthier he says that he has more spring in his step this season but you're going to need sometime to dial up a little heat I'll just say this you should dial up a little heat just so when you sit in the mug it scares them a little bit more you know just to be like just just just just do it just so I have this let me show you it that's it no they've done it it is on tape also we gotta give Demarcus Walker some flowers too I don't think he showed up on the stat sheet as much but he created some excellent pressures and I believe he was the dude who was really in will eff's face on the he the one that yes he was the one that got him he he he got him and then got up and then got up and was ready to block for Tyreek Stevenson yeah in case anybody was following him which they were yeah that one that that is that's I think why we all were saying you if you had one more guy all these guys will fall into place you know because now there's enough Talent here and it doesn't have to be a a guy that's like he's an Allstar it just had to be a guy that always gets eight sacks like if you just had that guy he a hot seven but I want to ask sticking with that what about the three technique here and of course we got to give Andrew billin his props but what about Javon Dexter how how did dvon Dexter look to you guys in this game he had a sack what was your impression of how he performed today I thought it was kind of up and down you know kind of with the rest of the defense there were moments where he felt them and then there were moments where it was The Parting of the Red Seas in the middle and gervon Dexter was a part of those guys being parted and Tony Pard you know running wild or will Levis running through those B gaps for big gains you know when will Lis is running through that Gap it's it's Geron Dexter who has probably been vacated uh in in some of those cases so I don't think he was bad I don't think he was phenomenal I think he was he was fine he was solid he made some he made some good plays he made his presence felt at times and then there were times he he got beat and the Bears got cashed yeah I mean he had a sack two quarterback hits um just not not as not as impactful as the Bears need him to be right he just remains a guy who he flashes and you see it and you're like hey there it is and then it goes away for a while and then another quarter goes by like hey there it is and then it goes away and I think it just really reemphasizes how important Andrew Billings is to this defense and that's why they are having him play nose play some three technique really do everything and they really need Javon Dexter to be better because they are going to wear Andrew Billings down and he Andrew BS played de a little bit today five at one at one Andrew doing it all and if gervon Dexter is going to be a maybe maybe not guy or a hit sometimes miss a lot guy Andrew Billings is gonna get tired and then the Bears interior defensive line is gonna have a big problem they got to put a little bit more coin in bck Billings paycheck um yeah ex another another contract a year a year give something this drew the false start too the the move it doesn't just work on the Bears offensive line also worked on the Titans offensive line that's five yards baby that's five yards when can we perhaps ex expect Zack Pickins to be back not saying he's a world beater but it's another body uh yeah I don't know if we back this week I mean the Bears didn't sound optimistic late in Camp that he'd be ready for this game so we kind of knew he'd be active he's got a groin you know those can be kind of Mii um so I I don't know I I'm I'm going to guess and this is based on just the fact that he wasn't doing a whole lot of moving when we were out there at practice it's probably not next week maybe maybe week three but just I mean just depends and I with the defensive line uh all the talk about Austin Booker didn't even really play yeah just complet just completely seven snap now on Ice rookie we don't have time for that right now we we got you know flu didn't even Flo didn't even need to try to find the hot hand just was like I was going to I was going to play Daryl Taylor I darl Taylor was the hot hand he turned out to be theot we didn't have to try to find it we just all no it's him it's this guy it's 52 yeah on clear passing Downs that that's the reason why you brought him in let him go to work he's not in the three4 put your hand down go up that's all you're doing ears back go yeah unless it's a rushan quarterback and you got to contain if it's some a statue and we lels can move but just get your ass up field basically um any other wait we JJ of course almost had two um even though that that first one will L should have been a touchdown will L totally messed that one up and JJ was able to recover Jaylen Johnson but he did get an Inception the thing let me ask you guys about this of course Jaylen Johnson's performance but it's expected but Tyreek Stevenson had another up and down game what but the up was better than the down basically where you were able he's always going to get picked on right now until he can show that he's more resilient and send guys back to the other side to Jaylen Johnson's way but your thoughts on Jaylen Johnson and Tyreek Stevenson who basically who won the Bears of the game with his interception pick his interception and his uh pick six to take it to the house yeah I mean I think Jaylen if I had to like pick who I thought the Team MVP would be this year I would pick Jaylen Johnson I think he's primed to have another incredible season I think he's incredibly motivated um as all great athletes are by small slights like second team you know second team All Pro um not being on the top 100 list things of that nature I think he's taking his game to the next level and with Stevenson the Bears don't need him to be Jaylen Johnson like the boom bust aspect is completely okay as long as the busts are limited like he's gonna get beat and that's fine he takes gambl but he's also a big play guy and if he's gonna be that big play guy when he gets targeted a ton that's fine as long as he's not getting you know beat for 11 catches a game like Mike when Mike Evans gave him the gave him the what what like if he's getting beat for you know one touchdown by a quro and then gets a pick six okay cool that's good and then and then people are just going to keep not throwing a Jaylen Johnson because he's one of the best corners in football so I still think the secondary is one of the best in the NFL um Tyreek got growing to do but he's super talented uh he's got all the tools he's just got to put it together I have nothing to add third phas guys special teams listen DeAndre Carter was doing his thing today all right with punt returns and that kick return for 66 yards um the be T Tory Taylor uh was had a nice punt kicking punts he was very good at the distance that he kick with punts in the hang time um you had that muff punt I that's funny mentioning Tyler Scott because I knew Tyler Scott was a clean scratch but the time it really stood out was when the Muff punt with veis where it was just everything was going downhill cuz the first thought was muff and then when you see the kick it was like oh um but special team special team starts also shout out Daniel Hardy um with the black Punt and them talking about that believe Tyreek Stevenson was talking about that they had planned for that all week and of course Jonathan Owens who got hit with Jonathan BS during The Telecast U I was like wow they really they called him Jonathan bils hit him with that's tough why the San the San chise hit him did him like that yes I believe of course it wasn't I got all right mean troop it was a San I was like whoa don't do my man like that but anyway thoughts on the Special Teams guys yeah I mean great great great day for Richard High Tower's unit outside of I mean look veis Jones I'm just good I'm good good I'm good on the kick return stuff I'm good on the punt return stuff if they want to use him as a running back for four carries a game okay but I'd still rather just have DeAndre Carter doing the punt return the kick return and make Tyler Scott active I don't see the value in veis Jones um I don't you know hey we got to give top top three round picks three years to work out no you don't man if it if he's not very good he's just not very good he's just taking up a roster spot I'm good was good last year and I'm very good now because this is no longer a team that can afford to go through these stretches where hey he might some figured out we can just kind of deal with these mistakes that cost us because we're not trying to win this team is trying to win that can't happen I'll use this time to shout out Scott Dy the new la for the Chicago Bears the operation was excellent all day and that was a huge question mark when Patrick manaly Patrick Manley oh my God what year is it SC when Patrick scales oh dear I was like you were anyway guy go get yours guy you were hdden keep going when Patrick scales went down uh and it became clear oh wait this guy's might be gone for a while and then it also became clear that cam Lions wasn't getting the job done who had that job all throughout camp that became a huge question mark because special teams I mean that is such a precise operation it is so minute it's so exacting that everybody's got to be super dialed in for things to go right and everything went right today there were no issues with the snaps with the holds with the whatever we already said it CYO Santos was perfect we already know that Cairo Santos is the most accurate kicker in Chicago Bears history he obviously has a huge role in that but so does Scott Dy and Tory Taylor uh it's obviously different doing it in a real real game for the first first time which they all did together today you know uh and it went really well so hats off to that group because uh you know we asked Hewer like how do you how do you speed the chemistry of this group and he's like basically you can't uh and he he dealt with this at the 49ers where I think they had two long SN ERS go down so he's dealt with it before and he's like I have learned a few things here and there but really there is just no replacement for time on task and there's no replacement for experience together so those guys in their first game together the fact that it was a clean operation and obviously it was a tight game you know one possession game all of those kicks matter uh hats off hats off to the whole unit and also newcomer Scott Dy yeah I it's nothing like the third phase working I I feel like anytime the Bears have been good their special teams was in locking step with the defense and uh seeing that you mentioned Cairo Santos with the 50 yard kick um just carried the Bears the defense and the Special Teams and you need that um and we know that anytime the Bears again are good that's the Special Sauce because the offense is somewhat unpredictable even though we expect the offense not to be unpredictable we expect their offense I meant to say not to be unpredictable this season anything special team wise Josh that you got to say before we get up out of here locker room notes guys any locker room notes that stood out to you guys before I asked a lot of guys basically on offense I talked to a lot of the offensive players like hey does it take a little bit of the pressure off knowing that you guys can have a huge dud like this and uh the defense and special teams can still win you a football game like do you feel better knowing like okay we have some time to figure this out they are that good and to a man they're all like no it doesn't no it does not take the pressure off one iota uh we know we need to get this done now like we got to get this figured out as sap it is a luxury that we have this excellent defense and excellent special teams that got us this win but there's going to be a day when when they don't got it when they're up against a really tough opponent and they don't give up 17 points they give up 24 points and we need to hold up our end of the bargain and we need to do that sooner rather than later later so I thought that was interesting that you know I thought it it would be nice to be like okay we got a little Runway here the defense can carry us a little bit no way they were like quite the opposite no you always want to do your job you never want I mean it's it's comforting you didn't lose but it's never where like yeah we you know you didn't help us like that's never the greatest feeling I would say just in general anything that did we learn anything today did you learn anything Josh about this team today in this small sample size um no I mean not not really a ton like I said I think when we opened I I I think that what Ryan poles has built around Caleb Williams while not perfect um should allow for him to get better and for this team to be competitive at the same time which I think is pretty rare with a rookie quarterback uh kind of a something just popped into my head as I was leaving not leaving so F this we were going back up to the Press Box after after interviews it was funny ju position I remember after the last the last game last year Justin's final game when the Bears scored whatever six points uh they lost to the Packers there were people outside chanting we want Justin today once again the Bears scored no offensive touchdowns they scored no again same no offensive touchdowns and people were chanting Green Bay sucks at Soldier Field as they were leaving which I just thought was an incredible just glimpse into into the excitement uh that has kind of been delivered by a guy who threw for for 93 yards I think he's going to be good um I don't think we learned a lot I have no Grand takeaways from Cale Bloom's first start there's going to be a lot of rough moments and I'm sure there's going to be games where he throws for 300 yards and four touchdowns because I think that's the talent that He has I learned the defense is really good can I can I get in the in the weeds one moment real quick that I thought was cool because I talked with Andrew Billings about him playing de Demarcus Walker called that which I thought was really interesting Billings was like yeah that was DW walk's call and I was like what he's like yeah he he told me to go out wide and then I'm pretty sure Demarcus Walker then went wide n no I think he went wide nine I'm I'm not positive I'm not positive on that detail but I think that he pushed walk to the five and then he went nine I could be wrong he might have he might have gone in I got to rewatch it okay um because it was happening so fast it was like wait Andrew Billings is at De and then like this the snap was happening and the play was live so I kind of missed it uh and then I was like dwok called that and he's like sure enough yeah and then I talked to the two of them kind of at the same time about it and that just comes down to trust they're like us on the defensive line and now the two of us where we have this chemistry and we do have this Rapport we've played we've played some games together where if he says that I'm just gonna trust him and I'm gonna do it and it's gonna work and it did work because uh Demarcus Walker generated a pressure on that very snap so he was like yeah man dwok called it I listened it got the job done we trust each other in those moments where if somebody says something like that we'll respond and we're going to trust the other to get the job done and and sure enough we got the job done in that snap and I just thought that was so cool like such a cool microcosm of what's going on with the defensive line in those in those sometimes weird and wacky moments all right everybody um you know under Center here on NBC Sports is winding down at the end of this month um it's been a great time for all of us but as far as the three of us right here this will be the last time you see the three of us on this show together a gentleman that I guess I've been with on this show since March of 20 2021 um when Eric Strobel Alex Shapiro myself uh filled in for all the former hosts that ran this show um Cam and JJ Lawrence everybody that came prior to us and set this up for us to be able to step into this space Alex is moving over to Alex you break down what's going on with you I don't have anything else to say this is yours uh yeah so today is my last day at NBC Sports Chicago which is kind of uh a crazy thing to say out loud uh it's been unbelievable to work here for nine years uh I said this on football night in Chicago and I will I'll repeat it when I went to school at USC to study broadcast and digital journalism my goal was to one day work at Comcast sportset Chicago and and the fact that I made it that I was able to cover the Bears that I was able to cover the white socks the Bulls at times the Blackhawks at times all of these teams in my hometown uh is basically been the most rewarding thing of my entire career and and this under Center podcast has without a doubt been my favorite thing about my entire time here and it's been you guys that make it so fun so I want to thank a bunch of people uh first Claire and Tony without Claire and Tony Clare philippy and Tony Gil this show doesn't happen they're the ones that that make it go we would not be able to do it without them behind the scenes editing producing scheduling literally making the links for us to click in to do this room e everything happen yeah everything everything happens because of CLA phpy and Tony Gil so thank you to the two of them off the top uh you two guys Kenneth you've been my guy since the rust talk days the fearless leader the rust talk the straw that stirs the drink the rust talk days and we knew we were gonna Dodge that one I'm sorry please go ahead you're right you're right Josh you've been like the most excellent co-host co-panelist and I don't know we've had so much fun we've had so much fun doing this the three of us uh our past dudes strobes we're always calling out for strobes with the stats and with the history and with the everything strobes just such a great guy he is moved on to greater things within NBC Sports Chicago and is still the wonderful person that you remember from back in the day and of course Adam hog like hog was a phenomenal co-host as well and I learned so much about football from Adam hog and about how to do this how to do this I learned about from Adam Hogue um which also brings me into another for former guy David Kaplan and Lawrence Holmes those are also dudes who I've learned via osmosis and also from very real advice that they have given me about how to do this thing they were excellent excellent hosts of this show they have each given me wonderful tutelage in my young career so thank you to the two of them uh gotta mention JJ and cam as you said the dudes who were the stewards of this show before us uh it's unfortunate that NBC Sports Chicago let them go and you know I don't think any of us wanted this opportunity because they left but they built this audience for us and they did such a great job and it's been an honor to take it over for them um and then also got a shout out John Moon Mullen like one of the ogs rip he was a great guy when I first started at NBC Sports Chicago as a video editor he was the Bears Insider and again a dude who just talking to him at company parties I learned so much about what it takes to be an NFL reporter before I had any idea that I would be an NFL reporter one day so John Moon Mullen a real one and then Michael allardice uh the guy who who put us here who put us in this space Michael allardice was such a great boss leader Mentor he gave me this opportunity uh as a video editor he gave me this opportunity and I'll forever be thankful I would not be here today without the opportunity that he gave me and then same to John Shipman who put this who put this this humble program on the airwaves who said yeah have a TV show and and gave us that Runway so there might be people I'm forgetting if I am I'm sorry but a lot a lot of people went into this and I feel like I've grown more doing this than I have doing anything in my entire life not just professionally but as a person it's been a joy I have truly loved it so much I have every single episode looked forward to joining you two gentlemen and talking about the Bears just shooting the breeze about the Bears I can't believe it uh so Kenneth just said in the chat close it out the show no man you got to close out the show it's only right you're the co-host so so again from the bottom of my heart thank thank you so much it's been it's been a pleasure and now I am going to kick it back to our fearless leader my host forever Kenneth Davis to close this bad boy out take us home KD take us home I just want to thank y'all but Alex you know you mean a lot so it's going to suck not being around you and talking to you even though we still have phones to communicate and I wish you nothing but the best and everybody that's transitioning from NBC Sports um that have found a spot and have not found a spot I only wish you all to find something as far as one financially and then happiness too because you still need the money to be happy but uh really everybody we're still Josh Josh and I are still gonna be here towards the end of this month so we're still gonna be providing content that Tony and Claire are gonna be having us up to Snuff and ready to go and everything popping um but we do appreciate the time that you've all spend with us and we will see you later on this week to one preview the game with uh whoever have from the Houston I can't remember who we have coming in for Houston help pre preview the game and of course whatever happens with the game we be right there to tell you and to talk about that Josh and I so we will close out the month but we appreciate Alex and Alex we look forward to seeing you whatever you do down the line my guy congrats you finished the video if you want to build on that success download the NBC Sports Chicago app it's got highlights exclusive insights and push alerts tailored to you everything you need to be a real Chicago sports fan download it now