Do the Bears have a playoff-caliber defense? (Hour 2)

0:00Get your morning starting with hot and pain on 104 three the score. I don't know if this weekend I feel like it's kind of hit me. Like going through the preseason and then make the official roster and then now you're starting to get into like like last night I was watching the film prepping for the game and kind of like geez like I'm really like where I wanted to be like being that little kid and it's just been a great experience. It's really exciting. Obviously it'll be a new experience but at the end of the day you know I'll be playing football so I think I think I'll feel comfortable and it was nice to kind of get some preseason games in my belt just to you know continue to wrap the plays and work with my teammates. Good Tuesday morning Chicago. Welcome to the Han Patent Show Chicago Sports Radio 104 three the score. Welcome to the Chicago Sports Network audience. Simulcast until nine o'clock this morning it is of course game week. It is the countdown five days away now bears and panthers in Charlotte.

1:03Dylan Theaneman hit him over the weekend. Hey look I'm a bear. I'm a starting safety. I have the responsibility of being the last line of defense deepest to deepest. Why does the widest all the things? So I ask you Jared Paidin and let's start there. Although we have a lot of people want to check in 312644 67 67. Where is your confidence level in the bear defense because when it comes right down to it we can have the conversation about Ben Johnson as we have. We know what we know about Caleb Williams and the obsession with his completion percentage and need to take the layups and we know that. But to me starting Sunday in Carolina this bear season will go as far as its defense allows it to go. They will be as good as a defense allows it to be. The defense is going to be the determining factor for this bear season because I think there are certain things you can assume about the offense that to me are safe assumptions.

2:04I don't know this word there with a defense where you're relying on potentially Sunday three rookie starters. I don't want to sound like I'm not panicking. But I am a little worried because I don't know how this defense is going to look. And I think with all of the questions that are still surrounding at certain positions it concerns me a little bit. The saving grace is the offense. The offense I know because of the head coach, the quarterback who's underneath center, the expectations from him and the weapons that he has at his disposal. It makes me feel a little bit more at ease. But it's going to be this defense is going to be tested and they have to find a way to show that they can hang because you are going to need them at some point throughout this season. When I know bears fans are all excited about, you know, scoring 35 points a game. I get that. But your defense is going to have to be able to make stops in some critical moments.

3:06Yeah, you know what it went to the season? Anything but optimistic. You have a playoff caliber team. All this Super Bowl talk and the NFC championship aspirations are valid and legitimate. You don't want to talk anybody out of being excited about what's ahead. What you do also want to be though is realistic about what you're looking at and what you're looking at is a bear defense that lacks elite players at every level. I mean, they have, they have Jalen Johnson, they have Montess wet. And I think you could make the argument that maybe Montess wet isn't in that category. But you could also look at those are two players that every offensive coordinator begins every preparation session and meeting for the bears knowing how to what are they going to do, where those guys on the field and what are they, how are they going to try to either avoid them or design things away from them. But other than that, the bears really have a lot of players who have something to prove. I alluded to three rookie starters.

4:08That's if Malik Muhammad starts the nickel back, which is possible. That's if Jordan Van der Berg starts a defensive tackle, which he'll be part of the mix, but rotation. It's more of a rotation. He'll play a big part. And of course, Dylan Theedeman, who is the first round draft pick that had a okay preseason, but I don't know that he flashed in a way that a lot of us expected. And he'll be in a position now where against Carolina, play off team by the way. He is going to be tested. Tep Mcmillan is a problem for that bear secondary. The rain, he came off a rookie season. He was a rookie offensive player of the year. He's big. He's rangel and he's got great hands. That to me is you have Hubbard in the running game and all the things, but you have to make sure that Mcmillan doesn't get behind you or make a big play that changes the momentum. What about if you had, and I'm just asking this because I know it's a question, but let's

5:14say that you had Kobe Bryant healthy and you bring in Bush as one of your new linebackers, but you still don't have that pass rush. Let's say everything was, everybody was healthy. Did you have a better vibe of this defense a little bit or still with some of the undrafted guys that are going to have key parts in rotations in this defense? I think the health factor is important. Yeah, Austin Bucker could make a big impact, but he's not proven. He's not proven. The bears are relying on a lot of unproven players. They're trusting their scouts, they're trusting their coaches. They're trusting a lot of things that play off teams don't typically trust. And on defense, they resemble more of a team that is on the rise up and coming or less proven. On offense, they have a much different scenario. It's like there's two different teams on the same locker room. Yeah, but for me, it was more of you were adding certain pieces because you lost some

6:15pieces on the back end of that defense. You added a rookie, first round rookie, and then you were adding a guy that just coming off of a super bowl championship where I was like, okay, makes me feel a little bit more at ease of knowing who a guy like Kobe Bryant is alongside Dylan Thinamann that, oh, I get a chance to watch these two grow. Now that has changed because of an injury situation. The only big, probably the biggest question was, how are they going to get after the quarterback? And I think that's what everybody's been talking about heading into the summer because they didn't really address that situation. And so you were going with guys that are either coming off of injury or someone that's unproven. And that didn't sit well with me as I was like, I don't know if there was a move to be made, but this is what you're rolling with as a season comes in. Well, other teams made moves. Other teams made moves to address their biggest weaknesses. And I think the problem that may be persists or maybe the thing that bothers bear critics

7:18or analysts or even fans is that as you are five days away from week one and the season opening against the Panthers, the biggest weakness on defense remains the same as it was. Yeah. Last year heading into the playoffs. Can the Bears get to the quarterback? Can the Bears get the Jordan love and the first playoff game? Can they get the Matthew Stafford, the second playoff game? You know, to some degree, football is always about getting to the quarterback, but I think when you have a weakness in that area, it's a more glaring omission from what you don't have. And the Bears still don't have that. So that, while I say you worry about, the theme and you worry about the three rookies, yes, absolutely. You worry about the fact that your biggest weakness is still what the biggest weakness was a year ago. Yeah. At least on the offensive side of the ball, you have two, you're running backs both at practice Monday. So you're hopefully that that's going to be a huge part of the success of running the

8:21football. And that's going to be the calling card of this team this season. That is true. Both running backs did return to practice. Deandra Swift, Kamenangai, healthy and back at it. That was the good news at House Hall. The not so good news. And we don't have any clarity because Ben Johnson has spoken since last month. It seems. What's the last time we heard from the Bears coach? I know that we've been away for a while the holiday weekend, but I don't know that we've heard from him in a very long time. I understand the season starts today, but it would be nice to have some little bit of clarity, but we have none because Roma Dunes a mispractice on Monday, which would be no huge thing if not for the Roma Dunes a injury history. The foot could be a problem. Wasn't that the same thing last year? And we heard from Roma Dunes a who walked it back, talked it back, sort of kind of maybe. His new normal was going to be situations like he's facing right now. But I don't know that you have a ton of confidence in Roma Dunes a if he can't stay on the field

9:23for practice. And this is five days away now. There's a big, big moment for him coming into this season after the way last season ended for him. So I was hoping that this would be a breakout year where he would go, okay, now there's the absence of DJ more. Now you have a chance to kind of get your feet wet just a little bit more. Have another year off season with Caleb, but it comes down to injuries and this foot problem if that is the new norm, it's scary because he has to play a part in this offensive for them to be successful. I get Luther Burton and Colson Lovelin. Those guys are who they're going to be. But to have an added bonus of another big body receiver, they can go get the football. But the fact is that we don't know weekend and week out how this foot's going to be is very concerning. Most reports from preseason, practice and in games, you could see Roma Dunes a looking pretty fluid getting in at a breaks, running the routes, being the kind of guy that you can

10:26envision having an impact like a number nine overall pick should. But I just think he's got to stay in the mix and you can't miss valuable time. Maybe it's just a precaution. We'll find it later today when we hear from Ben Johnson. Text from the 2-1-9. Said you guys are praising the Bears' offense. Did you forget that? Oh, just jumped about the last two games again and the play of Cicola throwing five interceptions. I feel like sometimes we do praise this offense a little bit too much. I feel like I do in the sense of where I am banking on that it's not going to be the exact same as last year where we're going to see this offense start faster than we did last season. And that's what I'm banking on. And maybe that's foolish for me sometimes without seeing a lot of it, whether I wasn't at all the joint practices, we see a limited amount of reps when it comes to the preseason because guys don't play a lot.

11:27So we are banking a lot on this offense to do something that we didn't see it do a lot last year. Why I think that you saw it come back seven times and when games in the quarter by no update, but that ain't going to that's not when you're a super bowl. You have to be more consistent than that this year. But you have to believe in something and to answer the question, why do you keep mentioning the offense? Well, it's what the Bears do best. And you also have a coach that you trust talking maybe Ben Johnson sounds like he's over his skis a little bit and talking about being the wanting to be the best offense ever, wanting to be the not only beat teams, but really run the score up and on teams. I would settle for like victories, 11 victories. I mean, I'll take it. And you would settle for 28 to 30 points a game and not turning the ball over and you left

12:27tackle protecting the quarterback. You don't have to think there's somewhere in the middle. They don't have to they don't have to be great, but you can't be awful. And I think the Bears need to maintain the level of consistency, which I don't think maybe they had last year, which bothers some people because for the first three quarters, you saw Caleb Williams with a lot of room for improvement. Yeah, it was just it's too hard. We're banking on that. And I'm rightfully so just because you're going into another off season, you're hoping that Caleb's going to take another step. But yeah, this this often still has something to prove to me, even though I think that is the the biggest bright side of this team going into the season. They still have a lot to prove. And for Caleb, it's really the easy things. It's the what take what defense is giving you. Check the ball down when you need to. I want to see more of that than I want to see the spectacular throws or you know, the putting your cape on in the fourth quarter to be able to come back and win. That's all good and dandy.

13:28I'll take it. But I do want to see more consistency out the gate from this Bears offense because what happened last year, more likely is not going to happen this year and having all those opportunities to come back and win just like on the defensive side of the ball. I don't think we're going to see a bunch of takeaways. So this defense is going to have to play different. They're going to have to find ways to impact games different, which those you can't bank on those takeaways being there. What the bears did in the way they approach the offseason defensively. What they did in leaning into the whole idea of we need to be better coaches and we're going to coach them up, which is what Ben Johnson essentially said. What they did to remind everybody as we sit here five days before the opener as they put a lot more pressure on Dennis Allen, the defensive coordinator. Yeah, they put pressure on the staff and the individual position coaches and all of that and the defensive line coach and to get the most out of this committee approach defensive

14:28tackle, they traded Jervan Dexter and that reinforces whole idea that the pressure this season is as much on bears coaches defensively as it is on bears players defensively. And if this doesn't go well, this, you know Chicago. You grew up here. Yeah. You don't have to tell you. I don't have to tell fans to follow the bears for years. If the bears defense starts to not be so consistent and give up more points and the season that is to get off to the kind of start people want it to, Dennis Allen will feel the heat. And when you lean into coaching the offseason, if you can't come through during the season, that's where the pressure will fall. My, my thing will be give me, give me more talent if I was him. I mean, more, you need more talent to be able to win games like you're expecting him to, that's putting a lot on him and there was a lot on him last year though as well. It was, it was a lot of pressure to come. When you're first year defense coordinator though, you have a lot more leeway.

15:30Yes. And you are giving a lot more grace. But somebody who is returning to coach a team that doesn't have a proven, a proven past rusher opposite, opposite your best past rusher and who went out and reshaped your defense with his input and with players that fit his specific scheme and wants. Not having a past rusher is like on the offensive side, not having a number one receiver. Like how, you know, difficult that is. So it comes down to, okay, just coach and I am the believer that it comes, it is, they want to say we have the coaches inside of this building to get guys better, but you also need talent. You got to have ballers. You got dudes that can get out there and there are dogs out there on the defensive side of the ball. And he, there's a lack of them in my opinion. Three one two six, forty four sixty seven, sixty seven. I'll go out to the phone lines.

16:30Eric is on the road. Eric, welcome to Hawn Peyton. Hey, how you guys doing? I'm kind of heartbroken. Wulking right now because I'm at, but Jared, I loved your dad so much that I named my son Peyton. Sorry, I can't nervous. That's okay. That's okay. But that Western Michigan. I was, I was getting so angry. I thought you were going deep in this one. You were in my heart. I was like, oh man, it's, it's, it's, it's all coming and then you threw out that Western Michigan band and it's exactly what I needed this morning. Thanks Eric. Appreciate the phone call back to the phone line.

17:32Did you think it was going to like this emotional? I'm coming with you. I thought it was deep in the soul. I thought it was deep. I thought it was coming deep in the soul. Did you watch that Western Michigan game? They got robbed. Maxion deserved better and they did. Brian is in Lake Geneva. Brian, welcome to Hawn Peyton. Good morning. Hey Jared, I have a bone to pick with you. Uh oh. What's up Brian? No. So November 20th, 1977, I'm a five year old Vikings fan going to my first NFL game. My dad brings me there. What does your dad do? There's runs up and down the field against my Vikings. That's the record. Crushes me. Thanks. I'm sorry, Brian. Wow. I hope you enjoyed the game though. Let's go. Let's try. All right. We're all for two. Let's go for Tony. I'm John Rogers Park. Tony, welcome to Hawn Peyton. Thanks guys. I would like to agree with what Jared just said. When Jared mentioned that, um, they didn't really go out and get Dennis Allen in the talent.

18:33David, you said, well, they put that on him. Okay. They put that on him. But our we as fans expected to dumb ourselves down and feel expect that defense to be good. Well, you didn't give the defensive coordinator any talent. I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to put that on Dennis Allen. I'm going to put that on the general manager. I refuse. Show me a defense that won anything without a lead talent. There isn't there isn't anything. So me as a fan, no, I'm not going to doubt Dennis Allen at all because he's approved a defensive coordinator when he has talent. They didn't give him any. Thanks guys. Tony, that's a great phone call. Yeah, I appreciate it. I don't withhold that. But I also think that the pressure, that's a very good phone call. It is. But Jared, that's a fact of almost life in every NFL city though. It is. You you never going to have enough talent. You're always going to have weaknesses. You're counting on your coaches and certain coaches have more pressure on them than others. And I think Dennis Allen has a lot of pressure this season. He does have a lot of pressure, but as fans, we're not stupid. We know. I know. We know.

19:34I didn't want to suggest that. Tony knows. Like we know that we see what's going on. The lack of of of of additions to this defense. We know it's going to be put on him. If it doesn't work out, it's going to be put on DA and that is not fair. But what about 1977, Jared, you weren't even bored. I got a phone to pick with you. That's what I was like, I was like, I'm not even, I wasn't even here. And you're mad at me. We come back. Let's talk about the Bears. Let's talk about Miami football. Let's talk about all the things NFL and college football with Dave Wonsett. He joins us next. It's on page. Chicago Sports Radio. One or four, three, the score. Dave Wonsett. Bears had coach for six seasons. Stop Bears. Stop Bears. Super Bowl champion. How much did he have? He has the greatest mustache you've ever seen. Some say it's a symptom of manliness. Others are cons. The mustache. How long did it take you to grow that mustache? Don't believe it, Ethan. I wish I could grow one. Dave Wonsett with Haim Payton.

20:35Open up the door. It's Dave. Who? Dave. G-A-B-A-D. Dustin, we're not going to waste airtime on it. On 104, three, the score. How do you know coach Wonsett? Everyone knows coach. Welcome back. It's on page. Chicago Sports Radio. One, four, three, the score. Time now to go out to the plumbers. 911 hotline plumbing emergency. Call 1-8-3-3. Plum 911. Local 130 plumbers. Get the job done right. The first time Dave Wonsett is our football insider man about town. He's not in studio because he's on the golf course. Good morning, Dave. How are you? I'm not on the golf course. I'm going to do a charity thing on the golf course. I'm working my way there. I'm just kidding, Dave. I'm just kidding. I love that you're doing your job and talking to us about the Bears because you know what? It's game week, five days away. Dave, let's just start or continue our conversation. Jared and I were having with callers last segment. Does this bear defense look like a playoff defense to you?

21:41I would say potentially. How's that? Does that dodging a question? Yeah, just a little bit coach. Yeah, only for the practice is a lot of unknowns. You know, and you got to start with that defense of line. I was thinking about that this morning, you know, the Gallagher Street. I mean, you know, there's three or four guys on there that I honestly don't know much about. Okay. Except that they've been in the league for five, six years. They bounced around. They're really looking for an opportunity. So, you know, they're going to get great effort. There's no question that their character guys, they're going to get great effort. Now, does that compute making enough plays to be in great defense? I have no idea guys. I honestly don't. And to me, that defensive line, it gives me the question. The difference is what happens.

22:42And Jared, from your experience with Miami that you know, when you have a great defensive line, your line doctors, I mean, they got to be great players. Everybody does, but it takes a lot of pressure off of them. Let's just put it that way. Okay. So, when you don't have a dominant defensive line, when you don't have a dominant defensive line, that puts a pressure on everybody else to make a lot of plays. So, these guys make plays, I don't know. That's what we got to wait and see. Yeah, coach, it's tough. I mean, that's what we're going to have to wait and see as a season kind of approaches. But you've been a part of defenses, informing defenses that force turnovers. And that was a big part of Dennis Allen in this ball club last year. We're going into a new year now. So, what's one of the traits the bear's secondary has to have if that past rush is not there to be able to generate some turnovers?

23:43Well, you got to have guys that do their homework and anticipate the play. I remember fired last year when he was the E231 game. I can't remember the game. And they asked him about it after the game. And his comment hit me right in the face. He said, you know, that's their favorite play. And we had studied that, practiced that. And I anticipated that. So, remember one thing, you got to have guys that do their homework and understand the tendencies, not just the plays, but this receiver likes to, you know, run around this particular way. He likes to lean here. He'll drop his arms when he comes out of the break. He did these little things that the real pros do that separate themselves and environment make that comment. And I said to myself, this guy is a real pro.

24:46Talk with Dave Wandsett here in the hall on Peyton Show, Chicago Sports Radio 104, 3, the score. Dave, you've been in this situation before coming off a winning season, coming off a season where a lot of things went right and the, one of the enemies might be complacency or might be just learning how to handle success. What's the key for Ben Johnson and this coaching staff to handling success? And maybe the weight of these expectations because they are as high as they have been in many years around Chicago. Yeah, it can be a little bit dangerous. It can, and what happens for my experience of winning a championship, and now what are we going to do the next year? The two things that gets you when you win a championship and have a great year, and this is no different than the score if you're rated to top station, and Chicago on and off. Two things happen. One, you do get a little bit of complacency. You know, we call it when you win a Super Bowl,

25:49the Super Bowl hangover because everybody's patting you on the back and you're going, you're on the social circuit and the second thing that happens is internally guys are saying, I'm not getting my share. I should be getting paid more. I should be getting more recognition. I should be whatever it might be. I should be getting radio shows. And those two things are the number two things, in my opinion, that take a football team and organization to be in great, back to being just good. And so, you know, a lot of those things are internal guys, and I'm sure that Ben, you know, Ben's been there and he's on these guys and Dennis Allen's been there. So you gotta address it. You can't, he's kind of like it's not there. That's the key. You can't stick your head in the sand and say, oh, well, that doesn't happen with our team.

26:49Yes, it does. Well, I think a lot of people are banking coach on just Ben Johnson and just the culture that he's built so far that they can kind of build off of that and not get complacent. But I also think about this team on the offensive side of the ball. We talk a lot about defense and how much we question how this defense is going to hold up. But on the offensive side of the ball, we know Caleb's coming into another year. We know that's an off season with Ben Johnson. Are you banking on, like I'm banking on, that this offense is going to start fast this year instead of waiting till the fourth quarter to figure things out? Yes, and from what I've seen in practice, the offense was practicing fast. And they were practicing a very efficient level. Let me use that word. In other words, they were throwing and catching the football and getting blocking people. So they were, they were one of the needed

27:52to be probably ahead of schedule. I'm going to say with Caleb, they were probably ahead of schedule. And so that would be fantastic. You know, the, the, the, the, the thing thing in this, the elephant in the room, you mentioned it earlier, Jared, is, you know, we had 33 takeaways last year. We let the NFL, you know, how many are we going to get? Because that's a lot of extra offensive positions that we get the ball. We give it to our offense. Okay, that's, you know, I mean, I'm going to get me. That's almost almost to a game over one game, for sure. And, and one of those possessions were inside the opponent's 50. Easy positions are easier to set through offense up the score. So that's a big part of it. If we don't get turnovers, and now we've got to drive the football 70, 80 yards and put it in the end zone, that's going to be a little bit more of a challenge to us.

28:54And in my mind, this is the year of one of Dunes, and I guess it's Luther Burton now. You know, there's no DJ more. So we can say what we want. I got down on them like everybody a little bit for different reasons. But we can say what we want. But the guy made a lot of plays to win a lot of games. So he's gone. And now, Lumberland is not a secret. Okay. He's not a secret. And, you know, we're going to have to deal with that. That's the reality of it. Is it, you know, whether he's double covered? Okay. That's fine. Double covered Lumberland. We're going to throw the ball to Roma Dunes. Well, you better be ready to step up on that. This is your third year. It's your time. That's a great point, Dave. That's why his injury status is so important. And he'd mispractice a Monday. We'll find out more clarity later today from Ben Johnson. Dave, we have to get to the college football over the weekend because I know a great job on sports Sunday, by the way, with Luke Canales on NBC5.

29:55You mentioned that you talked to somebody in the big 10 officiating office about what happened in Ann Arbor. How would you describe what happened in terms of what you learned later? And did you feel like everyone else that Western Michigan deserved better? Well, now here's what happened. No, I talked to Bill Corolla, who's the head of the big kind of officials, Dave. And you're right. And he explains something to me that I do know is a coach. If any play that's out of bounds, and the ball's thrown out of bounds, or someone's standing out of bounds, or is considered out of bounds, whether it's a player, a coach, a referee, a fan, a cheerleader, if that ball touches you, and you are out of bounds, the clock stops. OK, let me just show the player that touched the ball. The Western was number 18. Teams out of bounds came in, touched the ball,

30:57they stopped the clock. Here's what I did not know. An hour and a half before every game, OK? The replay officials get together with the people from the stadium, and they synchronize their clocks. So they are exactly the same. And Bill made the point to me. He says, we're somehow, somehow way. And they were synchronized correctly and hour and a half on both parts on the stadium and the replay. But go back to play. And here's the point that brings it to life. Two plays before the Hall Mary. If you remember, they ran a play and they stopped the clock. And they said, there's eight seconds on the clock. We'll miss you again. And the official said, no, we checked our replay.

31:59One second, there's nine seconds on the clock. So two plays before that, it was evident that they were a second off on the clock. And that's the point that I'm making here is that it was evident. And now all of a sudden, that comes up in the game. And so Chicago, the replay guys, they are going to call it as they see it. And that's what happened. That's what happened. Unfortunate for everybody. Sorry. I know Michigan celebrated, but it shouldn't come down to that. Dave, we've got to let you go. But before we do quickly, what do you predict will happen Sunday in Charlotte? In Sunday in Charlotte, the bears are going to win. I'll start there. It's going to be a hot one. And I will say this, Carolina's defense is better

32:59than what anybody gives them credit for. They were a middle of the road defense last year. I expect them to be a little bit better test than what anyone is really talking about for the bears. So, you know, and I have no idea about Carolina's offense. They were 2017, the NFL last year, guys. They were in the bottom five teams, worst teams in the NFL. But yeah, but yeah, Carolina won their division with eight wins. So there's going to be a lot of excitement with the fans and this football team of, you know, because of the winning division, anybody would be the bears are. So that's going to give them a little bit of momentum. We'll see what happens. Dave, you're the best. Appreciate your time this morning. Have fun at the golf course where you're talking. OK, Shonswood, guys. All right. Dave wants to score a football expert. I didn't even get a chance to ask him about the cams. Oh, well, I tried to keep you guys apart.

34:00That would have taken the up the entire segment. Oh, how great were we, Dave? On Friday, oh, we were great. Were we great, Jared? Yes, we were great. OK. Throw up that you, baby. They definitely were. Were they the most dominant team looking over the weekend? Yes, they were. I could be able to take very long dominant performance. Yeah, because I just think with the quarterback and with Malachi Tony, they really showed off on Friday. So we got more. Well, hey, can't wait to come to Notre Dame. There's plenty of time to count down to that one. When we come back, Dave wants to mention something that I think we want to explore. Carolina did have a very interesting offseason. Did something that the Bears didn't do? We'll talk about it next. It's hot, Peyton Chicago Sports Radio, 104, 3, the score. Welcome back to Ha and Peyton on 104, 3, the score. These are one of the freakiest athletes I've ever seen. So I think for him, just to kind of let it loose. And you know, under Sanger, he needs to be his communication

35:02has gone up 10 fold since I've been with him his rookie year. And I think this comes from the certainty now that he has playing the position, understanding the intent of Run plays. And where we're trying to hit him and things like that. And maybe the first few years, I was always going to give him a call. Or like, hey, where are you going here on this one? And now his process at the Sanfayst is so good. And I feel really good when I'm on that right side playing with him, just because you have a good feeling of knowing that he understands what's going on. It really helps me do my job at a faster rate as well. Welcome back, it's Ha and Peyton Chicago Sports Radio, 104, 3, the score. That is a voice of Colt Comet talking about right tackle, Darnell right. And why are we talking about right tackle, Darnell right? Five days before the opener. Because as Dave wants to alluded to, the Panthers have a defense that addressed their maybe biggest offseason need in a way the Bears did not.

36:03Jalen Phillips, and by the way, are a segment with Dave wants that was sponsored by EOC golf, play any golf course at home today. Jalen Phillips was an expensive free agent. Four years, $120 million, Jarrett. But the Panthers believe that Jalen Phillips, who typically lines up on the left defensive side, opposite Darnell right, which is going to create one of the biggest matchups. If he stays there, he has moved around at times. But if he's going one on one, a lot of times with Darnell right, that will be one of the biggest matchups on Sunday. $120 million, $30 per year. That's a lot of money to get a game wrecker. Jalen Phillips is the closest thing to have to a game wrecker. Do you think he can wreck the Bears game plan on Sunday? Is he priority one if you are Ben Johnson, neutralizing Jalen Phillips, so he does not take over? Yes, because they do like to, Carolina does like to line up

37:05their best pass rusher on that right side where Darnell is. So they're, they're going to have a matchup back and forth. What Jalen Phillips brings you is that first step explosion off of the ball. He's, he's a Miami guy, so I know he's that cross-chop to be able to get the arms down. And then what he likes to do is kind of flatten it out to try to get after the quarterback. This is, this is going to be a test for Darnell right. And this is what, this is what you want. This is why you pay to him the money and the big bucks. Because if you can find a way to neutralize Phillips during the game early on, especially to me, the best way to do that is don't let him feel comfortable. And where are the Bears having success the most? And we saw it last year was in their run game on the right side of that line. I run right. I'm running. I'm running. I am running at him right at. Because at some point, over time, he's going to get tired of having to, which he is a good against the run.

38:06He's going to get tired of getting bulldozed and have to fight all the game. That, that weakens you a little bit as the game goes on when you're trying to get after the quarterback. So you can get into a, have a lead early in this game. Don't let them pin their ears back and run the football that side. Then that's to me is how you neutralize. I'm passing this. We've spent so much time this off season talking about in training camp, the left tackle competition. Who's going to play at left tackle? The blind side for Caleb Williams, Braxton Jones needs to protect it. Oh, no, not Braxton Jones. When's Ozzie Chappillo coming back? Because we need him. All the things, when really in week one, are you going to give all of your help to the left tackle because you worried there and leave Darnel right on an island at times with their number one pass rush of the guy they're paying handsomely to wreck your game plan? Yeah, you're going to have to. Really? Because you paid him to do that? That's why you paid him. This is, this is bucks for generations of wealth. Yes, generation of wealth. Yeah, this is why you paid him.

39:07The big money matchup. He is going to have to find, find a way. And we know how comfortable Darnel is in the run game. He is in the past game. There's certain situations because people don't always win. It's hard because you're going up against top tier talent right across from you. But yeah, that's why I paid you. I paid you that money so you can go up against the best and we don't have to worry about it. And this is where you get tested week one. This is a topic for another day, but I am always curious about guys who move around sometimes like Micah Parsons does and how versatile and dangerous that makes them versus guys who stay in one side like Montess wet right in. He's going to come at you or whatever side it is. I don't know why they do it. I would move guys around all the time, especially if you have, I know every team doesn't have a Micah Parsons, but if I did, yeah, I want you to get a bunch of looks. It's too easy for you to know if I'm going to be at one side that I can help out, whether that's with a tight end to help chip with a running back to help chip on that edge.

40:07I want to see guys move around because it makes it harder for offenses to figure out who they're calling the mic, how they're calling out their protections. When you have somebody that is versatile and moving all up and down the line. Jaylin Phillips, Darnel Wright, one of the biggest matchups Sunday in Carolina and we will talk to our next guest about that one and much more. It's Biggs time right here in Han Pagan, Chicago Sports Radio, 1043, the score.